Been working hard on both Achiyo and Rinala’s MSQ in-game! Achiyo’s also almost level 50 so she can equip super-shiny PLD artifact gear! This chapter I just finished, so it may be subject to editing.
Alphie, don’t weight-shame the wind goddess >.>
Chapter 4: The Knight and the Harpy
The slain Scions had been buried, Noraxia’s body returned to her people. The timid, gentle man at the Church of Saint Adama Landama was revealed, by Alphinaud Leveilleur, to be named Cid Garlond – a Garlean engineer who had allied himself with the Eorzeans before the Calamity, or so Achiyo gathered from Chuchupa. Garlond was still recovering from his Calamity-induced amnesia, and still moved and spoke with uncertainty, almost as if in a dream, unless he discovered some mechanical puzzle to solve. Now they were off to the Northern Black Shroud to discover what had become of Cid’s marvelous lost airship, the Enterprise.
Achiyo was marking the perimetre of camp early in the morning when she saw flickering lights in the distance, behind a cliff. That way led off to the rocky tangle of paths southwest of Fallgourd, and beyond that, the massive curved impossible piece of what the locals whispered to be Dalamud.
She glanced back at camp. Alphinaud was writing, Cid was examining his tools, Tam was preparing breakfast, Chuchupa was sitting up and yawning, and Rinala… was not there at all. She set off in the direction of the lights.
Behind the cliff she met a strange sight: Rinala brandishing an old thaumaturge’s staff, her feet apart, the energy of the void swirling around her hands. She was channeling Fire spell after Fire spell into clay golems as they blindly charged her. Her tail was steady with concentration and balance, but the tip was twitching. The young mage’s face was covered in a sheen of sweat, though the morning was cool, but from what Achiyo could see of her face, her teeth were set in determination and her eyes were fierce and mournful.
“Do you need any help?” Achiyo asked quietly, not wanting to startle her, and Rinala shook her head, an angry set to her shoulders. She switched to Ice for a moment to regain her energy, then transposed back to Fire.
When the last golem had crumbled under her magic, Rinala sheathed her Black staff on her back next to her White one. Her big blue eyes were anxious and petulant. “I didn’t mean for anyone to see that…”
“Gomen, Rinala. I saw the light and I was curious.” She looked worriedly at the healer. “Forgive me if I’m rude, but why are you practicing Black Magic again? Are you all right? Do you want to talk?”
Rinala wrapped her arms around herself, scuffing a rock with her toe. “I’m all right… I think. It’s just…” She took a deep, shuddering sigh. “You saw Noraxia’s Echo, too. The Empire was… completely ruthless, towards us, towards their own people. They’re cruel murderers, and I… I just feel my healing magic, Stone, Water, Air, isn’t enough to fight them with. I… I need the destructive elements too.”
Achiyo stepped forward until she could give Rinala a careful hug. She wasn’t really comfortable with physical contact, but Rinala was, and she looked like she could use the comfort. The Miqo’te melted into her arms, her chin on her shoulder, still rambling. “They took our friends so easily, our strong Scion friends, and they couldn’t do a thing about it… Not even Thancred… Although we don’t know he was there, I guess. But he probably couldn’t do anything even if he was there. And if he couldn’t do anything, how can I do anything with just a rock?”
Achiyo squeezed gently. “I know how you feel. My sword feels so fragile and small, my shield so thin, when I think about fighting the Empire directly. I won’t tell you not to keep practicing. But I know you don’t want to hurt anyone.”
“Leaving the hurting up to you is cowardly, though, isn’t it?” Rinala muttered.
Achiyo had to think for a moment. “Don’t rush to throw away your innocence,” she said finally. “I’m not sure you believe me, but you are no less important to the Scions because you loathe violence. We don’t want to see you break because you force yourself to hurt our enemies to… to fit in, or something like that. You are no coward. You stood beside us at Ifrit and Titan, and everything in between. Does… does that make sense?”
Rinala sniffled a little. “Yes… Yes, it does. I’m sorry for worrying you.”
Achiyo shook her head as she stepped back. “Don’t apologize. The Empire is cruel, and no one can fight it alone. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed. So keep practicing. Control over your powers gives you more control over your fate. The kami may guide our destiny, but you also have some say in it.”
Rinala managed a smile. “I understand. Thanks, Achiyo. I won’t let you down.”
“I know you won’t.” Achiyo smiled back. “…We should go back before Tam comes looking. Are you ready for breakfast?”
Privately she wondered if Rinala was ready for this. She still had a choice. The Empire still didn’t have a clear idea of who the Scions were outside of the Waking Sands, as far as anyone knew. She could go back to Ul’dah, back to her parents, and live a normal life as a healer. She was only nineteen. She didn’t have to go through this difficult journey. Her love for Thancred would only sustain her so long.
But if she’d turned back to Black magic… Under the fear and desperation, there was something stronger awakened in her than Achiyo had seen so far, something more grim and determined than a teenager had any right to be. She knew; she’d been that way herself. There was more endurance in that soft, innocent mind and body than they gave her credit for. She only hoped it wouldn’t end in tears.
“Be careful,” Serpent commander Vortefaurt had said to Achiyo specifically. “They may take you for an enemy.”
“Why’s that?” Tam asked.
Vortefaurt had squinted suspiciously at Tam, but answered anyway. “The Ishgardians have been fighting Dravanians for nigh on a thousand years. They don’t involve anyone else in it, but nor do they allow anyone else near to them. Isolationist. Anyroad, your friend there looks Dravanian.”
“I’m from Hingashi,” Achiyo had said, confused. “What does a Dravanian look like?”
“Like a dragon,” Alphinaud had supplied, and then everything made sense.
But what choice did they have but to venture into Coerthas in search of the Enterprise? Achiyo couldn’t very well stay behind, could she? Not when they might fail for lack of her sword and shield. She would simply have to keep going and attempt to convince them of her innocence on arrival.
Coerthas was as frigid as the worst of Hingashi winters. Achiyo wondered how Alphinaud could stand to travel in his usual light clothing, which sacrificed covering in favour of style. He shivered but did not complain, even though it was several hours from the snowline to the Observatorium, where they might find records of the Enterprise’s passage.
And the guards took one look at them all, took a second look at her under the hood of her cloak, and shouted an alarm. Achiyo did not draw her sword in the face of the half-dozen spears pointed at her, though Chuchupa, Tam, and Rinala reached for their weapons. Aggression would only make things worse.
“Hold a moment!” Alphinaud cried. “I am Alphinaud Leveilleur, of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn. I know what you’re thinking, but our companion is no Dravanian – she is from Hingashi.”
“Talk is cheap!” answered the guard. “She doesn’t even try to hide it!”
She couldn’t, even if she wanted to. She was no shapeshifter. She bowed formally, humbly. “I am but lately arrived in Eorzea. I-”
“Begone, beast!” At least two of the spears jabbed at her, and she stumbled back a step as Chuchupa and Tam deflected them away from her.
“What is going on?” A new Elezen had jumped out of a small building near the Observatorium’s gate, ready for battle, and looking confused to see only a few travelers. “Report!”
“We’re under… attack?” the first guard said, faltering under Alphinaud’s steely glare.
“Then why is the gate not closed? Why do these people appear to be…” The captain’s gaze fell on her and he frowned. “What do you do here, Dravanian?”
“I am not a Dravanian,” she said. “I am an Au Ra from Hingashi.”
“I will vouch for her,” Alphinaud said. “I am Alphinaud Leveilleur of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn. And you are Captain Portelaine, unless I am very much mistaken.” Who was Alphinaud? She wondered. He spoke as if everyone should know him.
The captain’s face did not change. “I will speak with you, Master Leveilleur, but your companions must wait here. You have brought your… Hingan friend at a poor time if you wished to prove her not a spy.”
Alphinaud seemed to be gone a long while. The rest of them shivered under the baleful gaze of all the guards in the Observatorium. When he returned, he did not invite them in, but came to conference with them, out of earshot.
“It seems Captain Portelaine believes me regarding your race, Achiyo,” he said. “However, there is an Inquisitor visiting the Observatory right now, and we’re only fortunate that he hasn’t made an appearance yet.”
“What does that mean?” Chuchupa demanded.
Alphinaud sighed. “Inquisitors seek out heresy among the Ishgardians: anyone who is sympathetic to the Dravanians – or secretly is a Dravanian, howsoever that might be – must be put to death. Therefore, the good captain will allow us to enter, but Achiyo will be accompanied by four guards at all times. And away from the Inquisitor, lest everyone involved, both us and them, be accused of heresy. It’s demeaning, but…”
“That ain’t right!” Chuchupa said. “Ye mentioned how we killed Ifrit and Titan, right?”
“I did. But Ishgardians have less fear of primals than other Eorzeans, given that they have never had to deal with them. He was not as impressed as he ought to be.”
Achiyo was at war with herself. How much humiliation was she willing to put up with for this cause? “Perhaps I should go back – or at least remain outside the Observatory.”
“I don’t recommend it,” Tam said. “This night will be brutally cold.”
“And they might send out search parties to keep an eye on you, and bring you in by force anyway,” Alphinaud added.
She frowned and pulled her cloak tighter about her. “It seems I have no choice. Very well.”
“Don’t worry, Princess, I’ll watch yer watchers,” Chuchupa said, elbowing her leg in what was meant to be an encouraging fashion.
Coerthas had not made a pleasant first impression on her. She was watched by four Elezen, three male and one female, but all were as tall as male Au Ra, even the female; they kept her in the inn away from most of the Observatorium, helpless to aid her friends.
And of course her friends had been tainted by association with her, and they were also watched more closely than they might otherwise have been. But, with or without her, they managed to do some small favours for the Ishgardians, and she thought they were making progress.
The fourth night they were there, however, she was seated in her now-usual spot in the corner of the inn, with her hood well over her face, when Tam sauntered in. “Evening, all.” He took a seat next to Achiyo. “We’ll be leaving shortly.”
“Oh! Did we-”
He cut off her questions with a very slight gesture of his fingers and she subsided. They’d tell her later.
“Captain Portelaine will want us to accompany you,” one of her guards said.
“Very kind,” Tam drawled. “Though we’ve secured his permission to leave, and he didn’t say anything about a continued escort. Seems we’ve been helpful enough. And we can certainly find our way back to the Black Shroud without your guidance.”
The Black Shroud? Had they already found what they came for? “I am ready,” she said, trying not to sound anxious or confused.
“Good,” Tam said, and stood and left without further preamble. She hurried after him, and her guards stumbled up after her.
Outside, Tam grabbed her up into his arms and ran, the weight of her armour and the shape of her shield apparently bothering him not a bit. She inhaled with surprise and perhaps a little bit of indignation – so undignified – but he had a plan in mind, did he not? She would not ruin it with a scream, or slap him with her tail, though she almost did out of reflex.
He didn’t stop until they were a little ways outside of the Observatorium, reunited with the rest of their friends. “What’s going on?” Achiyo asked urgently. “Why are we running in the night?”
“There’s a young lord accused of heresy,” Tam said. “But older, wiser folk say he’s innocent. We’re off to warn him, even if it looks like us heretics are warning another heretic – he’s better off knowing. And from there… he’ll give us a foot in the door to another of these High Houses.”
“We’re hoping he will,” Alphinaud corrected with a frown.
Tam smirked faintly. “He will. Achiyo, perhaps he’d better not see you – plausible deniability. Head on ahead with the others to Camp Dragonhead. I’ll take the warning.”
She had no footing in this situation, so she agreed.
Tam caught up with them on the very gates of Camp Dragonhead, looking subtly satisfied with himself. The guards there waved them through, and Achiyo kept her cloak pulled close about her, but they did not seem to notice her… differences.
Besides, Tam was taking charge again. “I have a letter for Lord Haurchefant” gave them entry to the main hall on the eastern side of the castle, where a young, steel-grey-haired Elezen man in chain-mail was warming himself at the fire and speaking with other so-armoured knights. He turned to greet them with a cheery smile. “Ah, the unmistakable swagger of well-traveled adventurers. If you are come to pay your respects, be at ease, friends. I am not one to stand on formality. Truth be told, I would gladly welcome many and more brave souls like you all. But enough chatter,” he said with a slightly self-deprecating laugh, “pray tell me why you have come.” His voice was melodious and light-pitched, strange to hear in so stern a face, and yet it seemed to suit him perfectly somehow.
“Lord Haurchefant, I presume,” Tam said, extending the letter to him. “I bear tidings from your dear friend Lord Francel.”
“I give you thanks,” Lord Haurchefant said with another smile, opening the letter immediately.
Achiyo could feel her heart beating hard. He was friendly enough now – very friendly, compared to the last lot – but he had not looked closely at them all. What would happen when he discovered her? Would he be any less prejudiced than the folk at the Observatorium? Her cloak was but flimsy cover against curious eyes, and the knights were mostly looking in wonder at Alphinaud in his unwintery clothing, but that would not last.
Lord Haurchefant grimaced as he folded the letter again, his expressive face filled with concern for his friend. He asked again why they had come, and Alphinaud introduced all their names, and related their quest for the Enterprise.
To her surprise, he did not write it off as a fool’s ambition, nor as an impossible secret, but pledged to do all he could to help. “In the meantime, please enjoy the hospitality of Camp Dragonhead. I will see that you are afforded every courtesy as a guest of House Fortemps. Are you cold, my lady? Draw closer to the fire,” he said to Achiyo with her cloak so tightly about her, and faltered as he caught sight of at least part of her face.
She flinched, wanting to run, fight, beg him for understanding. She saw Chuchupa’s face darkening, Rinala growing pale, Alphinaud inhaling to speak. The knights behind Lord Haurchefant were going for their swords.
Lord Haurchefant smiled and raised a hand, forestalling the swords. “You are not a typical adventurer, I think, Lady Achiyo. I believe Master Alphinaud said you hailed from Hingashi?”
“Yes, Haurchefant-sama,” she answered, the honorific coming automatically to her lips. “I am an Au Ra of Hingashi, but lately come to Eorzea. I thank you for your understanding.”
“An Au Ra! We see very few of those here, and fewer still in Ishgard. You can imagine why. But you are welcome here. Please, feel free to remove your hood within Camp Dragonhead. You will not be harmed under my roof!” She bowed low to him in thanks.
“My lord,” exclaimed one of the knights. “Have some caution, and be not so quick to trust! With Inquisitor Guillaume’s investigation turning up so many heretics…”
“A Hingan adventurer in the Scions of the Seventh Dawn can have but little to do with heretics,” Lord Haurchefant said firmly. “Lady Achiyo is free to go about Camp Dragonhead. Make sure all know.”
Oh, she was grateful – so grateful to this strange, friendly Elezen lord. Not at all like the lords she had known in Othard. But in a land so cold and unforgiving in its people’s hearts, she hadn’t expected such an unaffected and genuine show of amiability.
By the next morning, they were all on a first-name basis. Which suited Tam fine – he despised meaningless formality. There were a bare handful of people who were granted genuine honorifics or titles from him, and while he vaguely liked Haurchefant and would give him all the respect due to an honourable man, that didn’t mean he would bow to him automatically. Rinala, however, already adored him, her wide-open heart responding eagerly to his kindness.
This whole thing interested him very little, as a matter of fact. He understood politics with an ease few others did, but was firmly of the opinion that it was an unnecessary evil, and this Ishgard was beginning to remind him uncomfortably of home. He didn’t want to be running around questioning folk about airships and getting answers about religious scandals, half-hearing threads about these High Houses and their noble members, about these Temple Knights, about this archbiship. He didn’t want to be digging through the mail looking for those strange but easily identifiable fang necklaces that they called ‘rosaries’. Saving Francel from a dragon-thing was a nice change, but it was all too brief.
As an adventurer, he was a little frustrated, but at the same time rather pleased to be on the outside of the political turmoil. He probably ought to care a lot more. He wasn’t really paying much attention, to be honest. Alphinaud and Achiyo were doing fine, and Haurchefant was their director through their tasks and the resultant implications; they couldn’t do much without his guidance anyway.
Technically he himself was a knight, and the ruby medallion hung irritatingly heavy under his coat whenever he remembered. He wanted to tear it off and fling it from the Steel Vigil when he did remember. The young prince had been as ready as he’d ever be, and yet Tam couldn’t help feeling like he’d failed him… The one person he could sincerely swear his loyalty to as a knight, and he didn’t know if he lived… thanks to that blasted unicorn…
But while he was here, it was pleasant to be in a realm where no one knew his reputation back home, where people actually appreciated the strength of his lance and the depth of his woodcraft. And, too, there was the benefit of magic, that was new. His lancework had been improving past mere physical limits. He wasn’t sure he’d want to return to the Adhemlenei if it had only been for that.
Haurchefant might have been a lord by appointment, but it was plain that he was a knight first and foremost, which was a step up at least. And he had the affection of his soldiers, which meant he really was a decent sort, not just pretending to be, which laid Tam’s initial suspicions about his intentions firmly to rest. If he actually looked, he reminded him of the prince. He didn’t like looking, yet the comparisons were… intriguing. And so he felt just a little bit uneasy when he saw how much stress the young man was taking on himself, stress he couldn’t alleviate as an outsider to Ishgard. It had only been a week and he could feel himself getting involved.
Haurchefant was looking at him, now – of course he was, he’d come striding in to report on the luggage situation. Which was full of rosaries. He tossed them on the desk beside them without a word. Rinala, seated by the fire sewing winter clothing for herself, jumped at the sharp rattle and nearly pricked herself on her needle with a reproachful glance at him.
“More draconian rosaries!?” Haurchefant exclaimed, reaching out to them and then recoiling, as if their touch would contaminate him. They hardly had any magic – any aether in them, Tam wanted to say. They were completely harmless, except for what they symbolized, and he didn’t believe in the symbology anyway.
“In every Haillenarte package,” he said instead.
“Every single one? That beggars belief!”
“Certainly it smacks of a conspiracy, but on which side?” Tam said.
Steely grey eyes blinked in confusion. “How do you mean?”
Tam shrugged. Was it worth getting into? “Lord Francel is being framed, we’ve known that for ages. But this is uncharacteristically clumsy of the framer – so tell me, did he overreach, or was he betrayed?”
“I could not say,” Haurchefant said, with an oddly admiring look. “But even the inquisitors must acknowledge that this is no more than a crass attempt to sully House Haillenarte’s reputation. And praise Halone for it! Lord Francel’s trial is upon us, and we must act now if we are to clear his name!” He was already hurrying across the room for pen, ink, and parchment.
“I wonder if you realize, this doesn’t unequivocally prove his innocence,” Tam said. “A sly mind might suggest the original rosary was true, while these were added to give the appearance of being framed.”
“Surely not,” answered Haurchefant confidently. Ah, what beautiful, practical naivety. They would see how it would play out. Strength of arms did seem to count for more than it ought in these lands, and the Scions had plenty of that if properly applied. “I need to prepare a formal statement regarding these developments for the Holy See. In the meantime, I would have you bear my words to Inquisitor Brigie. Tell her that House Fortemps asks… nay, demands that Lord Francel’s trial be postponed until a full investigation has been conducted!”
Which demand was not well met.
Haurchefant looked up from his letter with a look of horror. “To Witchdrop? They took him to Witchdrop!?” Rinala looked between them in anxious incomprehension.
“The hour’s later than we thought,” Tam said grimly.
“This is madness!” Haurchefant exclaimed, jumping up from his desk and pacing frantically, letter temporarily abandoned. “The inquisitor does not have sufficient grounds to subject him to that manner of trial!”
“What does it mean?” Rinala asked anxiously. “What’s Witchdrop?”
“Suspected heretics are thrown from the cliffs of Witchdrop, and the wicked assume the form of Dravanians and are shot with arrows,” Haurchefant explained. “But the innocent… though they take their place in Halone’s halls, they are still dead upon reaching the bottom.”
“We’re not about to let him die,” Tam said, about to propose something reckless.
“Absolutely not!” Haurchefant was ahead of him for once, and slightly less reckless, even in agreement. “Tam, Rinala, take Achiyo and Chuchupa and hurry to Witchdrop! I shall dispatch three of my knights to accompany you. All I ask is that you forestall the proceedings until such time as I am able to join you and petition Inquisitor Guillaume in person. I will endeavour not to keep you waiting too long!” He put a hand on Tam’s shoulder with a look in his eyes halfway between pleading and determined. “Do whatever you must to keep Francel alive!”
Tam gave him an almost-salute and headed for the door, little Rinala at his heels.
“Look, look!” cried one of the Fortemps knights. “Lord Haurchefant is come!”
Tam backed up a step from the melée and looked, and found a strangely great relief in the sight – Haurchefant, riding valiantly to battle on… a chocobo, of course. Those things would never be graceful to him. But the reinforcement was welcome – the inquisitor and his guard had taken offence to their interference, and they were slightly outnumbered. And Achiyo was yet again being accused of being a heretic, what a surprise. She’d have to fight a Dravanian in front of the inquisitor himself to prove herself.
Haurchefant swung out of the saddle, silver blade shining in the thin sunlight. “In the name of House Fortemps, I demand that you lay down your arms!” He met Tam’s eyes and smiled.
Of course he had come. He had said he would be there as soon as he possibly could, had probably thrown the letter to the Holy See at a messenger and rushed off immediately… and to save his best friend from being tossed to his death. Yet… to fight alongside him… not as knights, not even as brothers in arms…
Suddenly Tam saw him, and knew him for a friend.
It turned out Haurchefant was a simple man: you saved his best friend, you were his new best friend – alongside the old one, of course. But when they were retiring for the night, Tam brushed past him in the hall to the guest rooms… and ruffled his hair, just like he might have done to the prince. And Haurchefant laughed good-naturedly and blushed, he was a man grown after all, even if still quite a young one – just like he knew he would.
Many things had happened since Francel’s rescue. The inquisitor had been revealed to be an imposter, and now Lord Drillemont was nearly as friendly to them as Lord Haurchefant, if less overwhelmingly effusive about it. Word had spread about Achiyo, and Ishgardians no longer drew their weapons upon sight of her. The Enterprise had been found and reclaimed, though assaulting the Stone Vigil to get there had nearly cost them Achiyo’s life several times – the dragons within were fierce and terrifying. There was a lot of screaming, mostly from Rinala, but far too much from the others as well. And at the end, they had been confronted by the Ascian Lahabrea, and something about his smirk seemed to Rinala to be… She didn’t know.
Fortunately, Cid’s airship still flew, and now the inventor spent every waking moment working on putting it back in perfect condition, and Rinala wasn’t sure he slept these days, either. The Scions, on the other hand, had been all across Eorzea looking for a key to Garuda’s stormy lair, and were now making final preparations in Ul’dah before rejoining Cid for the attack.
Rinala was checking over the apothecary’s wares in the Sapphire Avenue Exchange when she felt something soft punch her in the hip. She flinched and looked down, and saw something made of black and white felt. “What is-”
“Here, take it and mope less,” Chuchupa said gruffly, shoving the felt doll into her hands and marching away.
Rinala held it up to look at it and her eyes widened greatly, her tail half-curling in interest. It was a most adorable recreation of Thancred, with a tiny body and oversized head, roughly stitched together in places but completely recognizable if you knew him. It was seemed to have hard pieces inside, perhaps it was also a mammet? She hastily paid for the potions and ethers she’d bought and hurried after the Lalafell. “Chu- wait, where did- why did-”
Chuchupa gave her an orchid-tinted glare. “Toy shop, ’twas in the window. Because I know ye’re thinking about the ass constantly, and it’s getting annoying.”
“Forgive me, I never meant to be a bother…”
“If he’s half as good as ye think he is, he’s just fine,” Chuchupa told her, and began to march away again. “Now stop scrunching up yer forehead when ye think no one’s looking. It’ll stick, and then what’ll ye do when he gets back?”
“Chuchupa! …Thank you!”
“Shaddup.”
“Achiyo! Achiyo-” Rinala dashed up the stairs from the airship landing at the Carline Canopy as fast as she could, when she ran headlong into someone.
Said someone had much better balance than she did, catching her in strong, wiry arms and steadying her, saving her from falling head over heels back down the stairs. “Easy there, Rinala-lass! I’m happy to see you too, but there’s safer ways to show your affection, neh?”
Slack-jawed and uncomprehending, she blinked up into the yellow eyes of R’nyath, who grinned maniacally. “R-R-R’nyath?”
“’S me, yesh.” He laughed, chucking her under the chin before she flailed at him, batting his hands away from her in wild embarrassment. He leaned back on the stair railing casually, his bow and quiver hanging over the edge, tail swaying gently back and forth. “How’ve you been?”
Her tail swished in confused, happy agitation. “How’ve I been? Where have you been? What happened to you?” She caught sight of Kekeniro further up the stairs, his carbuncle trailing after him. “Kekeniro! You’re all right too!”
“Yes, we are well,” Kekeniro said, smiling. “We were on assignment in the Black Shroud when word came through that the Scions were destroyed.” His smile dimmed to sadness. “We feared the worst for all of you.”
“Is it true, that everyone else is dead?” R’nyath asked anxiously. “Please tell me sweet Tataru isn’t dead.”
“A lot of people died, but we saw Noraxia’s Echo before she died – some of the Scions were taken prisoner. Tataru’s among them,” Rinala said. “Minfilia, Urianger, and Papalymo, too. Oh, but I’m sure Y’shtola’s safe – she was with us up until just before the attack. We don’t know anything about Yda or Thancred, though.” The plushie was safely stowed in her sleeping roll, and she hugged it to sleep every night. Maybe it was childish, but it brought her comfort, though she’d have traded the doll easily to know if the real one was safe.
“At least there’s some hope,” Kekeniro said. “We knew nothing for a long time. R’nyath wanted to go investigate, but Mother Miounne said it might be too dangerous for us in particular to go back to Thanalan. She suggested we should lie low until she could learn more, so we’ve been spending much time in the South Shroud.”
“Until we got sick of the poachers, and eft stew,” R’nyath said. “Or at least until a Quiverwoman brought us news of you; sorry we missed you in Little Solace. And the first thing the good Mama told us when we arrived was that you’d returned and were down below. But you were looking for Achiyo?”
“Ah, yes! Have you seen her? Cid is nearly ready, and Alphinaud wants to go over the plan again.”
“I have not seen her, I thought you were all down here.”
“I will find her,” Kekeniro said, turning to stump back upstairs. “And I assume you’d like Tam and Chuchupa as well.”
“Yes, please!”
“I hope Alphie gives us time to tell stories,” R’nyath said. “I assume we’re off to fight Garuda, the Quiverfolk and Wailers have been talking about nothing else, and since Scions fight primals…”
“Yes, you’re right,” Rinala said. “It’s taken us more than a month just to find everything we need to make an attempt. Would it could have gone faster, but…” she shrugged. “I guess it would have been impossible to fight her otherwise.”
“Fair, fair. But I do want to hear what you all have been up to! And Kekeniro feels the same. Would it be too much to hope that you’d like to hear about me?”
That was a flirty wink, wasn’t it? Ugh. “I’m sure everyone would like to hear,” she said, smiling anyway, turning to go back downstairs. He chuckled and followed her, hands clasped casually behind his red head. Suddenly, she stopped, and he almost bumped into her again. “Wait, did you call him Alphie?”
“What did you call me?” Alphinaud demanded from the entrance to the airship dock.
R’nyath cackled. “Nothin’!”
Alphinaud rubbed the bridge of his nose, frowning. “Pray refrain.”
“Okaydoke!”
The Enterprise descended through the whirling green-tinted clouds and wobbled to a stop just above the ground. All the Scions were clinging on for dear life – the barrier might have been negated, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t terrifying. Both Rinala and R’nyath had fluffier tails than was strictly necessary.
Cid, fully recovered of his memory and former self, had moored away from the direct centre of the storm’s eye. As they slowly climbed out and advanced down into the mountain valley, a tall wooden fence with a gate became visible through the mist and trees. Why Garuda should fence off her private sanctum seemed a little strange to Rinala, since Garuda flew, the Ixal did not, and who else was she expecting here?
Alphinaud laid a hand upon the gate. “All our efforts… all our travails… all of it was for this.” He turned to them. “Make ready, for the end is nigh – be it hers or our own.”
“Damn featherbrain better be ready for us,” Chuchupa grunted, but just at that moment distant wild shrill laughter came ringing through the mist and she shivered. “Dammit. Don’t like that sound.”
“I’d rather she weren’t ready for us,” R’nyath said. “Ah well, I’ll shoot her down, just keep her off me.”
“Who says you’re the one to slay her?” Tam asked sardonically. “I’ve learned to ride the wind as the Ishgardian dragoons do.”
“Beauty before age, darling,” R’nyath retorted cheerfully.
“I don’t think that’s how it works,” Rinala muttered. “Can we go? I’m nervous.”
Achiyo gave her a comforting look. “Hai, we shall go, then.”
Alphinaud bowed. “After you, my lady.”
Achiyo pushed open the gate and began to walk further into the valley, her pace deliberate and unhurried. Rinala wished she could appear so calm; she was so much stronger than she had been when they fought Ifrit, but the laughter had unnerved her, and she had heard so much about Garuda’s unstoppable power. She wished that Aentfryn had been there, that she didn’t have to heal alone.
Kekeniro seemed to understand what she was thinking. “Rinala, I mostly know offensive spells, but I’ll help you heal as I can. No offense, I am only thinking we’re a little heavy on melee and light on magic, that’s all.”
“Thank you,” she said gratefully. “I appreciate it.”
And they came out of the trees and beheld a ten-fulm tall woman with wings sprouting from her entire body – her back, her hips, even her head. She was watching them, idly floating in the air, green wind-aether swirling around her. She opened her mouth and a harsh, shrill, multi-toned voice erupted from it. “Who dares intrude upon my sanctuary!? Your insolence shall not go unpunished, landwalkers!”
“Twelve preserve…” Alphinaud exclaimed softly, slowing his walk at Achiyo’s side. “She’s… she’s huge!” Privately, Rinala thought Titan was actually huge, but certainly Garuda was plenty big enough.
“As I live and breathe…” Cid agreed, but he was looking around what else was visible of the valley. He pointed. “Over there – look. Amalj’aa and kobold prisoners. But why would the Ixal bring them here…?” There were half a dozen of each beast-tribe, bound securely, under the watchful gaze of about twenty Ixal, who began squawking and screeching, brandishing weapons at the sight of the adventurers.
Garuda swooped a little closer to them, flinging her head back with another insane cackle. “Wherefore come you hither, foolish mortals!?”
“Garuda!” Alphinaud pointed an accusing finger at her, one hand on his grimoire. “We are come to put an end to your reign of terror!”
Garuda turned to the Ixal, bending close to her followers with a mockingly sweet look. “Hear you this blasphemy, my children? These landwalkers would bring me low!” She whirled back upon them, her voice booming terrifyingly through the valley and echoing from the mountains around. “You who are bound to crawl upon the earth should revere me – FOR I AM THE WIND!”
“Did we not take to the skies, and slip your defences!?” Cid cried. “We are bound by nothing, Garuda!”
The wind’s howling began to increase. “You think your playthings give you strength? They will not help you here, landwalker.” Garuda snarled, fanged teeth bared and stone-like eyes narrowed. “This is my realm, where none can challenge my supremacy! Struggle though you may – I shall slake the roots with your blood, and festoon the canopy with your ENTRAILS! HAHAHAHAA!” She twirled, as if to show off her freedom in the air.
“Charming,” R’nyath said, readying his bow. “Very celebratory.”
“She does like to hear the sound of her own voice,” Tam said, lance on his shoulder. “It’s an interesting voice, but let’s get this over with, shall we?”
“Aye, let’s go!”
The Ixal squawked ever louder, threatening to offer them as blood sacrifices to Garuda, but Cid and Alphinaud looked at each other and nodded. “Leave the Ixal to us, my friends! We will keep them distracted while you deal with her!”
“I’ll help ye,” Chuchupa said flourishing her axe and running to his side. “Two against twenty ain’t good odds.”
“Do not fail!” Alphinaud said, also running after Cid, grimoire in hand and Carbuncle beside. “Remember: you fight for the Scions! For Eorzea!”
“For Eorzea,” Rinala murmured to herself, gripping her staff tighter. She was ready. Achiyo exhaled once, then ran forwards, aether bursting in a flash of light from her hand, reflecting off her silver armour.
Garuda’s mouth was open in a demented grin, watching Achiyo come at her. “This worm would die by mine own hand!” She flexed her wings, sending gusts of air across them all. “Come then… I shall grant you that which you seek!”
The battle erupted into chaos, and at first Rinala didn’t know where to look, where to cast, where to run and stand. Achiyo’s shield was small compared to the winds, but though they beat and buffeted against her, they could not tear it from her grasp. Tam was with her, leaping high in the air and then coming back down upon the harpy like lightning; R’nyath and Kekeniro were at Rinala’s side, the one firing carefully into the storm, the other sending his carbuncle forward while helping mend the hurt the wind aether was tearing from them. She was not afraid to be beside these two, though she had never fought with them before, and she reached up to the heavens, calling on the land’s aether to heal her friends with all her concentration. She was… she was strong enough to stand with them.
And spellcasting was not all Kekeniro did: he called to them all, giving tactical commands in a calm voice, a little hard to hear over the wind, but guiding her in ways she had not thought about. “We had better duck behind these rocks for a moment, she seems to be throwing barbs at us. Achiyo! Could you please lead her a little farther over west? Rinala, perhaps if you cast Fluid Aura, it will negate those feathers.”
“Does he always do this?” she asked R’nyath, who did not seem surprised by it all in the slightest. They ran to throw themselves behind another pile of rocks, as a small tornado came blasting at them, tearing the first pile to the ground. Her heart was pounding, her breath came fast, but though she had a deathgrip on her staff and sweat was trickling down the back of her neck again, her confidence was soaring. Garuda wasn’t as frightening as she’d feared. She could weather this fight! They could win, and she would help!
“Oh, yes, always,” R’nyath said. “Every battle’s a puzzle to him, not a conflict. Comes of being a summoner, no doubt – too many books!”
“I have no come-back for that,” Kekeniro said. “Are you having trouble?”
“Hnn,” R’nyath said. “I figured it would be easy to damage a bird by shooting it, but these winds are making it tricky… I might have to get in close!”
“We’ll protect you,” Kekeniro said, and Rinala nodded, swirling her staff for a Stone spell. R’nyath grinned and and charged forward, sliding on his knees on the slick grass, a trio of arrows ready to loose into Garuda’s wings. As the arrows sprang up, Tam came down from the sky, white lance flashing, and two of Garuda’s wings fell limp and broken at her back.
Garuda screeched and flung out her arms, and they were all knocked back, tumbling head over heels. Achiyo skidded, still upright, but R’nyath was flung into a pile of stones and lay unmoving. “No!” Rinala cried, casting her strongest Cure.
The acher roused himself, another arrow already on the string. “Thanks for the save!” And Rinala saw that Kekeniro’s carbuncle had flung itself under his head, protecting him from striking it on the rocks.
The arrow flew true, Tam and Achiyo struck boldly, and Garuda reeled back. The harpy queen was visibly shaken by their blows, wings flailing without coordination. Rinala froze, panting, looking up at her warily… but she could feel their triumph at hand.
Then Garuda pulled herself upright and laughed shrilly once again, talons flexing.
Cid gasped. “What!? How in the hells!?” Chuchupa and Tam echoed him.
“This… is… MY REALM!” screamed the harpy queen. “You have no hope here! None! NONNNE!!! Did you truly believe you could defy a god, landwalkers!?” She glowed, green aether flowing from every direction towards her, a dazzling display of power. “My power is limitless! My children legion! And they have rendered unto me a wealth of crystals. All shall worship none but me! The one true god!” She laughed again, and Rinala saw with despair that she was completely healed, completely unharmed, all her vicious energy back in her rapid movements.
Alphinaud brightened. “…Of course! Worship! So long as the Ixal keep praying, she will never fall!”
“Then let’s stop them more permanently!” Cid cried.
“I’ve been doing my best,” Chuchupa grumbled. “Hard to kill things as a distraction, without getting swamped!”
“I know,” Alphinaud said. “But we must try a different tacti-”
A wall of tornados arose in front of the chattering Ixal, tossing Alphinaud, Cid, and Chuchupa from their feet. Even Kekeniro stumbled back, and he wasn’t even near them.
Alphinaud grunted as he hit the ground, and Chuchupa swore roundly. Rinala’s mother would not approve.
Garuda screamed with psychotic laughter, spinning about in the air, ranting deafeningly about taking over the world to everyone and no one. But then she turned on Rinala’s band. “You, landwalkers – you who dared to raise your hands against me – you shall be the first to pay for your sins! Not with your deaths – but with your LIVES! You will serve me, landwalkers… to your last breath!” A great wind enveloped them, tinted blue as Ifrit’s flames had been blue. Rinala flinched, but it only whipped at her hair, and she certainly didn’t feel any more inclined to worship Garuda afterwards.
Garuda’s eyes narrowed, then widened in shock. “No, NO!!! I claimed you! You should be MINE!” She writhed, flailing in the air, and as Achiyo began to glow with a strange light, and the rest of them with the Echo following her, a green Crystal of Light emerged from Garuda’s chest and fell into Achiyo’s hands.
The harpy reeled back, looking suddenly much more frail. “What… what are you? What have you done to me!? No mortal should possess such power! This… this is impossible! Why do you not tremble at my might? Why do you not beg for mercy!? Why do you not DIE!?” She gesticulated wildly as she screamed.
“Get ready for round two,” Kekeniro said softly, but he was interrupted by a mighty shout.
“Is that all!? O Lady of the Vortex! O mighty Garuda! Of all primals, the most terrible!” A knight in black Garlean armour stood upon the edge of the valley, and his voice raised even stronger. “I say again… Is – that – all!?”
“Gaius!?” gasped Cid.
Garuda seethed, her voice low and terrible, and then a sudden shriek. “…Is that all? IS THAT ALL!? Insolent mortal! I shall make you suffer! That foul stench… I see now… She has touched you! Very well…”
Tornados lashed at the imprisoned beastmen, and the amalj’aa howled to the heavens. “O Lord of the Inferno! Almighty Ifrit! Grant us succour in our hour of need!”
The kobolds, too, chittered and wailed. “Save us, Titan, Lord of Crags! Ah, it hurts us so, the pain, the pain…”
Alphinaud gasped. “What is she- Twelve preserve, she cannot mean to-”
The beast tribes, all three of them, dissolved into aether, the green flowing into Garuda, the red and yellow streaming into the sky, where they coalesced into familiar frightening forms that dropped to the ground with a thud. All three primals looked at each other, and then at the black knight.
“No…” murmured Alphinaud blankly. “No, this is all wrong…”
“Stop gawping, boy!” Cid barked, slapping his shoulder. “We must run!”
“An excellent strategy,” Tam said, and everyone followed Cid back towards the Enterprise. Rinala nearly slipped on the slick dewy grass, clutching her staff and wondering how they were going to win this, if they even escaped.
They could still hear Garuda shrieking. “Surrender yourselves unto me… I would feast upon your aether. NONE SHALL STAND AGAINST THE WIND!”
And a massive metal shape plummeted like a meteor to the valley before the three primals. “Bear witness to the glory of the Empire!” the black knight bellowed.
Rinala didn’t stop to look at what was happening, but she heard the roaring, felt the earth shake, nearly knocking her from her feet… and when she clambered onto the Enterprise’s deck after Alphinaud and did look back, the machine was glowing with red and yellow pieces and Ifrit and Titan were nowhere to be seen. Cid lifted off, but lingered, all of them desirous of learning how the situation would end, despite the grave danger.
The knight pointed at Garuda. “It is you who will suffer, Garuda! Ancient Allag had ways of dealing with your kind. Now, look on their ultimate weapon, eikon, and despair!” Quick as a flash, Garuda sprang upwards, seeking to escape, and for a moment, Rinala thought she might.
But the metal monster was faster, a long clawed arm whipping out and catching her by the leg, slamming her into the ground. It picked her up like a doll and she shrieked piteously. “No… Nooo! NOOO!”
The monster bit down with its serpent-like head and the screams burst into green aether.
Rinala shuddered in sickened horror, wondering at what point she had started to feel sorry for the primals. As the machine added green to its mix of colours, the black knight regarded it with satisfaction. “Magnificent! It exceeds all expectation! Such is the fate of those who oppose the Empire!” He turned to the Enterprise, and pointed at them. “There will be no Warriors of Light to save you this time. If your leaders are as wise as they are reported, they will surrender.” He gave them a sardonic nod of respect. “Your skills are impressive, but they will not be enough.”
“Can we go?” R’nyath demanded softly, tail lashing and fangs bared, and Cid wheeled the Enterprise around, bidding the valley farewell – forever, hopefully.
Safely in the air, well away from the Howling Eye, Alphinaud shook his head with awe-filled eyes. “Twelve have mercy! What chance have we against such an ungodly creation!? And who was that armoured devil!?”
“That was Gaius van Baelsar, legatus of the XIVth Imperial Legion, and supreme commander of the Garlean invasion force in Eorzea.” Cid’s voice was filled with distant thoughts; there was some conflict in him that Rinala could not know.
Alphinaud nodded vigourously. “Of course, the Black Wolf – how could I not realize? Grandfather mentions him in his journal!”
Rinala shivered. While studying in Gridania, she’d heard stories of the Black Wolf, his intelligence, his ruthlessness, but had never expected – had hoped never to see him in person. Especially with the horned helmet, he was even more terrifying than the tales said. R’nyath patted her shoulder comfortingly.
“An oddly dramatic set of coincidences,” Tam said, as if to himself. “That Garuda should just happen to have those prisoners, that this Gaius should choose the same day and time to approach as we did… How did he get in, I wonder? And what was she doing before we arrived?”
“How can you be so calm about this?” Rinala demanded. Tam only shrugged.
Cid’s gaze was distant. “I was never so naive as to think the man would abandon his ambitions, but these developments are beyond my worst expectations…” He turned to glare at Alphinaud. “What have you been doing these past five years? How could something of this magnitude have escaped the Alliance’s attention?”
How would Alphinaud know? Rinala wondered. He’d only just arrived at the same time as Tam, if she remember correctly.
“We heard no whispers, saw no signs,” Alphinaud answered, only a hint of defensiveness in his tone. “In the wake of the Calamity, the Empire seized land and built outposts, but that was the extent of their aggression.”
Cid growled to himself. “Damn it, Gaius, where in the seven hells did you find that thing?”
Alphinaud sighed and turned to the rest of them, though he seemed to have forgotten his initial pessimism. “It has been a day of unexpected developments, but the fact remains: Garuda is no longer a threat. While I take no comfort in the manner of her downfall, it does mean that we may safely put the matter of the primals to one side – for the time being, at least. No beast tribe will dare summon their god so long as that weapon exists. Truly, a more effective deterrent I could not imagine. It almost seems a shame to plot its destruction…”
“Are you mad?” Rinala exclaimed, unable to keep silent anymore. She might not have Alphinaud’s education or intelligence, but it just didn’t add up to her! “Everything’s worse, not better! That… thing has the strength of three primals! Even all of us together can’t fight that! And throwing Eorzea’s Grand Companies and Free Companies at it would surely be an even worse idea!” Hastening the Empire’s victory and the useless deaths of hundreds, even thousands of good men and women, and turning what remained of Eorzea into a second Gyr Abania. Every prospect seemed hopelessly impossible and terrifying to her.
“I agree with Rinala,” Achiyo said. “I would rather fight primals indefinitely than that monster.”
“But the Allagan weapon can only be in one place at one time,” Alphinaud pointed out. “And it’s certain to have weaknesses more easily exploitable than a fist of primals, for whom power can vary with the number of worshippers and crystals offered.”
“And if it doesn’t?” Kekeniro asked. “I can only offer small-scale tactics, not clashes of armies.”
“’Tis true that weapon poses the greatest threat to Eorzea,” Alphinaud said. “It must be destroyed, I make no argument there. But first, we must needs find out all we can.” He turned to Cid, turned to look out across the clouds with a confident smile. “Let us make for Vesper Bay. We shall rebuild the Scions. All is not yet lost, my friends – for we bear the Light, and shall surely lead our people from the darkness.”