Let us remember the story of Strelitzia, a character named after a very beautiful and colorful flower of paradise. The flower she was named after is mostly orange and blue in color which resembles the colors of daybreak or sunset. She is a very shy girl who first saw or noticed our character in KHUx from her secret and favorite spot: atop the roof of a house near the fountain square. She witnessed how our character waited in vain for Ephemer. She then realized that she must have crossed paths with our character so many times before, and ever since that day, their meetings became frequent. After some time she also realized how special our character is. She wanted and longed to say hi. She felt that she and our character have this mysterious bond, like how she felt that she already know him even if our character does not know her. But she is too shy. She is… a secret admirer.
Then later on she was appointed as a Dandelion by Master Ava. She learned many things about the upcoming keyblade war and the dreadful destiny of the other keyblade wielders. She was told that being a Dandelion, she will not perish in the keyblade war and will become a future union leader. Like a true Dandelion, she will be carried by the wind faraway and will be the seed for the future. She was flattered at first, but like our character, she grieved over the fact that those who are not Dandelions will meet their demise in the near future because of the war. And then she remembered our character—she remembered that our character is not a Dandelion. She wanted our character to survive. She wanted to tell our character the things she knew, so she waited and sought our character.
And then inside a dark room where her chirithy thought our character was, someone attacked her and stole her own copy of the Book of Prophecies, the indication of her being a Dandelion. After she woke up, she hugged her chirithy who was very sorry for her, and then she weakly walked outside of the room. And just before she faded away, she wished that she had had the courage to talk to him before. And, like a lingering echo of a whisper for a beloved, a lone yet pristine heart floated in the air, out of the dark room to the radiance of the day, after those last wishful words of her.
Who attacked her? The best bet we have is Lauriam or Marluxia. He was the last one to arrive in the meeting of the five Dandelions, and the reason for his tardiness might be his hunt for Strelitzia. Aside from the aforementioned, Lauriam or Marluxia is also portrayed as a thorny rose. And a thorny rose is a symbolism for joy and pain—of love and death. Let us remember how Marluxia’s final form in KH Chain of Memories is also a Grim Reaper.
So the flower of paradise might have been killed by the thorny rose. She like, Roxas, was like a sunrise or a sunset who shone so bright yet so ephemeral (Roxas being the sunset or twilight of Twilight Town while Strelitzia as the sunrise or daybreak of Daybreak Town). She wished that she had had the courage, but is she truly lacking of courage? I believe that she is not. She willed in the end to see our character to save him from death. She died in our character’s place in the process for us to live. She is not only an admirer, but a true lover. True love is to will the good of the beloved even if it will demand us to sacrifice many things even our own self or life. All of nature, history, and good stories always retell this sublime truth and story. Love and death is intertwined like how the beauty of the rose is also connected with the thorns. Joy and pain follows each other like a cycle in this life like how a sunrise is also followed by a sunset. And each sacrifice is not in vain. A death of one will mean life for another. I believe that because of her death, something good will happen in the future in the story of KH especially to our character. A seed dies in order for it to be resurrected and bear plentiful of fruits. In the end, Strelitizia and Lauriam were contrasted: the former died for another person while the latter died because of his own selfishness. The former became like the True Rose of love while the latter became like a withered, pale, and false thorny rose of pride, hate, and selfishness.
How about Strelitzia’s feeling that she know our character even if she is still a stranger to him? I will invite the reader to ponder on these following words by George MacDonald, a brilliant writer who inspired countless of brilliant storytellers like G.K. Chesterton, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and, perhaps, the writer of Kingdom Hearts.
“I knew now, that it is by loving, and not by being loved, that one can come nearest the soul of another; yea, that, where two love, it is the loving of each other, and not the being loved by each other, that originates and perfects and assures their blessedness. I knew that love gives to him that loveth, power over any soul beloved, even if that soul know him not, bringing him inwardly close to that spirit; a power that cannot be but for the good; for in proportion as selfishness intrudes, the love ceases, and the power which springs therefrom dies. Yet all love will, one day, meet with its return. All true love will, one day, behold its own image in the eyes of the beloved, and be humbly glad. This is possible in the realms of the lofty Death. 'Ah! my friends,' thought I, 'how I will tend you, and wait upon you, and haunt you with my love.'”
—George MacDonald, Phantastes. London: Smith & Elder Co., 1858
"Death alone from death can save.
Love is death, and so is brave—
Love can fill the deepest grave.
Love loves on beneath the wave.”
—George MacDonald, The Light Princess
Let us remember the story of Strelitzia, a character named after a very beautiful and colorful flower of paradise. The flower she was named after is mostly orange and blue in color which resembles the colors of daybreak or sunset. She is a very shy girl who first saw or noticed our character in KHUx from her secret and favorite spot: atop the roof of a house near the fountain square. She witnessed how our character waited in vain for Ephemer. She then realized that she must have crossed paths with our character so many times before, and ever since that day, their meetings became frequent. After some time she also realized how special our character is. She wanted and longed to say hi. She felt that she and our character have this mysterious bond, like how she felt that she already know him even if our character does not know her. But she is too shy. She is… a secret admirer.
Then later on she was appointed as a Dandelion by Master Ava. She learned many things about the upcoming keyblade war and the dreadful destiny of the other keyblade wielders. She was told that being a Dandelion, she will not perish in the keyblade war and will become a future union leader. Like a true Dandelion, she will be carried by the wind faraway and will be the seed for the future. She was flattered at first, but like our character, she grieved over the fact that those who are not Dandelions will meet their demise in the near future because of the war. And then she remembered our character—she remembered that our character is not a Dandelion. She wanted our character to survive. She wanted to tell our character the things she knew, so she waited and sought our character.
And then inside a dark room where her chirithy thought our character was, someone attacked her and stole her own copy of the Book of Prophecies, the indication of her being a Dandelion. After she woke up, she hugged her chirithy who was very sorry for her, and then she weakly walked outside of the room. And just before she faded away, she wished that she had had the courage to talk to him before. And, like a lingering echo of a whisper for a beloved, a lone yet pristine heart floated in the air, out of the dark room to the radiance of the day, after those last wishful words of her.
Who attacked her? The best bet we have is Lauriam or Marluxia. He was the last one to arrive in the meeting of the five Dandelions, and the reason for his tardiness might be his hunt for Strelitzia. Aside from the aforementioned, Lauriam or Marluxia is also portrayed as a thorny rose. And a thorny rose is a symbolism for joy and pain—of love and death. Let us remember how Marluxia’s final form in KH Chain of Memories is also a Grim Reaper.
So the flower of paradise might have been killed by the thorny rose. She like, Roxas, was like a sunrise or a sunset who shone so bright yet so ephemeral (Roxas being the sunset or twilight of Twilight Town while Strelitzia as the sunrise or daybreak of Daybreak Town). She wished that she had had the courage, but is she truly lacking of courage? I believe that she is not. She willed in the end to see our character to save him from death. She died in our character’s place in the process for us to live. She is not only an admirer, but a true lover. True love is to will the good of the beloved even if it will demand us to sacrifice many things even our own self or life. All of nature, history, and good stories always retell this sublime truth and story. Love and death is intertwined like how the beauty of the rose is also connected with the thorns. Joy and pain follows each other like a cycle in this life like how a sunrise is also followed by a sunset. And each sacrifice is not in vain. A death of one will mean life for another. I believe that because of her death, something good will happen in the future in the story of KH especially to our character. A seed dies in order for it to be resurrected and bear plentiful of fruits. In the end, Strelitizia and Lauriam were contrasted: the former died for another person while the latter died because of his own selfishness. The former became like the True Rose of love while the latter became like a withered, pale, and false thorny rose of pride, hate, and selfishness.
How about Strelitzia’s feeling that she know our character even if she is still a stranger to him? I will invite the reader to ponder on these following words by George MacDonald, a brilliant writer who inspired countless of brilliant storytellers like G.K. Chesterton, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and, perhaps, the writer of Kingdom Hearts.
“I knew now, that it is by loving, and not by being loved, that one can come nearest the soul of another; yea, that, where two love, it is the loving of each other, and not the being loved by each other, that originates and perfects and assures their blessedness. I knew that love gives to him that loveth, power over any soul beloved, even if that soul know him not, bringing him inwardly close to that spirit; a power that cannot be but for the good; for in proportion as selfishness intrudes, the love ceases, and the power which springs therefrom dies. Yet all love will, one day, meet with its return. All true love will, one day, behold its own image in the eyes of the beloved, and be humbly glad. This is possible in the realms of the lofty Death. 'Ah! my friends,' thought I, 'how I will tend you, and wait upon you, and haunt you with my love.'”
—George MacDonald, Phantastes. London: Smith & Elder Co., 1858
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