After half a dozen+ fight scenes, this ridiculous thing is over.
…For Season 1. Next up, Bahamut… synced… ilvl120… uh-oh…
And yes, I know Rinala cheated a tiny bit in two of the fights; it’s for character development, okay? XD
Started a new SWTOR Imp Agent, what? (I hear it’s good, though. I wonder if I should keep slogging through the other storylines that I haven’t finished, either? Maybe one at a time?)
Chapter 6: For the Light
Cid, as it turned out, did not wait remain behind with the main host after they’d been briefed on Phase Three of Operation Archon, but commandeered a random Reaper – this one in better kept condition than Maggie and Wally had been in when they acquired them – and joined them in their daring, near-suicidal assault on Castrum Meridianum. The good news was that yet again, the Grand Companies were making the distraction – a frontal assault on the main gate of the castrum, while the nine Scions smashed through a different gate and began breaking things in their quest to shut down the magitek field around the inner Praetorium.
The bad news was that even after their attempt to shut down the spotlights illuminating the outer bailey, there were still dozens of Garleans rushing at them. Cid’s Reaper helped, but Rinala’s tail was in a state of permanent fluff, jumpily reacting to every movement around her, casting heals even on those who did not need it. Aentfryn frowned at her. “Stop wasting your mana. You may find yourself lacking when you truly need it.”
The criticism struck a little harder than he’d probably intended it to, and she had to swallow a few times to choke back the stress-inspired tears. “I-I know.” She didn’t want to admit she was overwhelmed.
“It’s fine,” Kekeniro told her. “Remember I’m supporting you, too.”
“Right.” It was true. While Ifrit-egi charged the Garleans and Kekeniro certainly wasn’t skimping on throwing out Ruin spells, he sometimes caught something that she or Aentfryn or Eos overlooked, staunching wounds with his weak Physick until one of the others could assist.
By the time they reached the inner bailey, she’d almost calmed down. But not for long, as the white-armoured tribunus jumped down from a high wall in her white Reaper, crying out in anger. Rinala flattened her ears back as she recognized her – the one who had led the attack on the Waking Sands, who had murdered many people, including her own soldiers. Whatever her doubts about slaying other Imperials, she had no qualms whatsoever about fighting her. If Kekeniro said it was all right, she might even use her black magic staff.
As they stared at her, the tribunus surveyed them, instead of blasting at them immediately. “I see that Garlond is not with you.” Cid had fallen behind to… investigate something, he’d said cryptically. “More’s the pity, I had hoped to slay him myself. But never mind the traitor for now. I have so looked forward to this meeting… Warriors of Light.” The white-armoured tribunus’s voice was mocking. What had Alphinaud said her name was? Livia? “Yes, I know much and more about you. About your strengths… and your hidden talents. I would sample them firsthand… and you will indulge me.”
“We’re not ‘indulging‘ ye or yer mad sadisms, murderer!” Chuchupa growled.
“The rat pirate, calling me a murderer? What a jape. My lord was quite taken with you and the power you possess – the “Echo”. Naturally, I could not help but wonder whom these paragons among men might be… Only to discover that you are but another lot of adventurers. No better than the multitude. Yet in spite of this, the masses hold you their champions, and shower honours upon your heads.” Garlean soldiers rushed up; had Livia been delaying until reinforcements could arrive? They did not attack, hanging back until she would be done speaking.
“Just wait until we defeat ye,” Chuchupa said. “Ye ain’t seen honour-showerin’ yet, and ye won’t until our true enemy is defeated – ye!” She grinned. “It’s gonna be real nice, I tell ye.”
Livia dismissed her with an incredulous hand gesture. “It defies all reason. How is it that you could be such a thorn in our side? Wherever you appear, you leave havoc in your wake. You even slew Rhitahtyn, one of our very finest.” She shrugged. “Well… I will not speculate. Truth be told, I couldn’t care less how you have done these things. What matters to me is the fact that you have done them.”
“Nophica’s tits, she’s thick as a brick,” R’nyath snarked softly. “You tried using logic, lady?”
Livia’s Reaper took a heavy step forward, and R’nyath took a startled step back. “Silence! If you are allowed to continue, you will eventually deprive me of all that I have toiled for – all that is mine by right! My minions, my comrades… even my lord Gaius! Well, you cannot have him! His dreams and ambitions, his body and soul – they are mine, do you hear me!? All mine!”
Rinala shivered. The woman loved Gaius… but love was too weak a word for it. She was obsessed, consumed; nothing in her life mattered other than her idol. And she shivered with fear, because she could feel her heart had already begun to slip that way for Thancred, from love, through insecurity into despair and darkness. What Livia felt wasn’t love, not anymore. Menphina help her, she did not want to end up like Livia.
“Yandere,” muttered Achiyo, and Rinala glanced at her, for she did not know that particular word.
Livia pointed at them with her wrist-mounted pistols, her voice and gestures enraged. “I lost everything once before! I will not suffer it to happen again! I will kill you, adventurers! Only your death can bring me peace!”
Achiyo jumped before Aentfryn, raising her shield just in time – the bullet’s ricochet cracked off her enchanted shield, leaving a slight dent. It was a new shield, a temporary loan while her own was being repaired by Ul’dahn smiths. “Kekeniro! Your orders!”
“First of all, scatter, find cover! Don’t let her target you!” He matched action to words, jumping behind a pile of stacked pipes.
“K-Kekeniro,” Rinala stammered, holding out her black mage staff, not wanting to distract him but also… also wanting to blast this woman with flame for all she had done to them. “If I may…”
“Is that all right, Aentfryn?” Kekeniro looked at the other healer.
Aentfryn frowned at her, but she met his gaze stubbornly. He rolled his eyes and nodded.
Her first attack, she nearly froze up. For the first time in her life, she was deliberately attacking a fellow person with intent to harm them, to kill them. Then the memories of the slaughtered Scions in the Waking Sands filled her mind, she gritted her teeth, and let fly.
Chuchupa had found a Garlean defense cannon, and commandeered it to shoot at Livia’s Reaper. It only took a few shots before the heavy projectiles shattered the white Reaper beyond use, and the tribunus jumped out, screaming in anger.
But now she was only faster, more agile, a match probably for Yda in terms of unarmed martial prowess. While the others fought the Garlean soldiers, Chuchupa left her cannon, meeting her blow for blow, leaping, spinning, kicking, punching. And of course dodging the shots from her wrist pistols. Rinala sent in what spells she could, more lightning and ice than fire now, she didn’t want to risk burning Chuchupa.
It wasn’t going badly until Livia spun in the middle of a kick and fired on Tam. “Augh! What!?” The tall dragoon doubled over, half-crumpling to his knees, barely avoiding a stab from the soldier he was facing. Blood was spreading from a spot on the left side of his lower back.
“Need you back!” Aentfryn called, casting Lustrate on Tam as Vivienne moved to cover the dragoon’s position against the Garleans.
“Right!” Rinala cried, swapping staves again and adding a Benediction. Tam straightened cautiously, then nodded to them both and jumped back into the fray.
Chuchupa snarled as she aimed a kick at Livia’s midsection. “Dirty trick.”
“Says the pirate scum.” Livia blocked, and punched at Chuchupa’s head, firing again. The bullet missed and ricocheted off the metal decking, rattling away in the distance. The two traded strikes, ever faster and deadlier, their breath coming in short shouts of exertion.
Then one of Livia’s kicks struck Chuchupa in the head and sent her hurtling away. Rinala shouted, she had been in the middle of casting a Stone spell and could not cast a heal yet, and Livia turned to her, arm outstretched, about to fire her pistol.
Rinala’s stone struck her in the chest, right over her heart, and she saw the armour crumple, denting heavily inwards. Livia staggered, and Rinala knew with a wince that her heart was suddenly interrupted, her sternum cracked. The woman fell to her back, but she lifted up one arm to the heavens. Her voice was a whispered, choking plea. “No… It’s happening… all over again… Please… I cannot bear it… Don’t take him… away from me… My lord Gaius!!!”
Her hand fell to the ground, her head rolled to one side, and she lay still. Rinala sent a Cure 2 in Chuchupa’s direction, then clutched her staff to her chest, wondering what emotions raged in her heart now.
She would not pity her. She’d slaughtered the Scions. She’d been insane for the object of her desire. Rinala should be glad she was dead! And she almost was. She had killed her before she could hurt anyone else. She had killed her…
As Chuchupa climbed to her feet, holding her head though it oughtn’t to hurt anymore, Cid stepped forward, into the light, and sighed. “Another poor fool who craved Gaius’s affection over all else… May her soul know rest.”
The other Scions were respectfully silent.
Cid turned to them with a wry smile, gesturing that they should head back, and they followed him. The Garlean soldiers had either been slain, or had fled. “’Tis a miracle no harm has come to you, my friends. One for which I will happily give thanks.” The wry smile began to broaden into a mischievous grin. “…And the wonders do not end there. Truthfully now – did you really mean to send that assault craft crashing into the generator tower? If you did – you’re a bloody liar. If you didn’t – well… you’re too modest!”
They couldn’t help but laugh, all of them but Aentfryn, who rolled his eyes. “Of course we didn’t not do it accidentally-on-purpose,” R’nyath said, chuckling. “I am a pretty good shot, you know!”
Cid shrugged. “Whichever you are, you’ve managed to open the way to the Praetorium. The only problem is, we can’t reach it on foot. Nay, we’ll need to take the Enterprise. I left her at the Ceruleum Processing Plant, so let’s regroup there. This is it! The final confrontation awaits!”
It was far too soon, Rinala thought, that the Enterprise touched down on a platform high on the walls of the Praetorium. They’d had time to grab a little food, sit and rest for a grand total of five, maybe ten minutes, and then they were off again. She looked over the edge of the platform – surely they were as high off the ground as the peak of the Royal Palace in Ul’dah, yet the entire structure was of cold dark metal standing sheer to the ground hundreds of fulms below. She turned away, hurrying after the others who were walking to the gate into the fortress without a second glance.
“So here we are…” Cid said. “The Ultima Weapon will almost certainly be housed in the depths of the complex.” He turned and nodded to Biggs and Wedge, standing by in the Enterprise. “This is it, my friends!”
“Aye,” Achiyo said quietly. “Thank you for coming with us all this way.”
“Wouldn’t miss it,” Cid said.
“Let’s go!” R’nyath exclaimed, doing a little hop of excitement, and Rinala couldn’t help but smile. They could do this, right?
The fortress was dark within, less well-lit than Rinala had expected, for all the Garlean reliance on artificial electric lighting. The dark matte metal absorbed much of what was there, and the Garlean soldiers seemed almost to blend in with their dark matte uniforms. But they saw the adventurers well enough, and for a while all was confusion about her, shouts and weapons and spells. Rinala was beginning to be able to make sense of it all, however, and to zero in on any of her teammates who were injured. Not as quickly as Aentfryn, but the two of them had tacitly agreed that keeping Achiyo alive was Rinala’s job – she had been doing it ever since they explored Sastasha Seagrot so long ago, after all. Achiyo’s shield defended them, and she defended Achiyo.
Down a magitek lift, and through great wide and tall halls, Cid guided Achiyo – though he’d never been here before himself, but he seemed to have a sense for Imperial architecture. The halls were curved to follow the outside of the Praetorium tower, and to her it almost seemed unfinished. So much wasted space, for what? Did Ultima walk these halls, or was it to allow passage for other infernal machines?
Cid led Achiyo into a room filled with a glowing, sickly-yellow screen on one tall wall, and a wide bank of glowing other-things underneath it. It was all clearly magitek, and she wouldn’t have the least idea what any of it meant if she even had the chance to examine it, she was sure. But she did not have a chance, because a familiar black-armoured figure turned to them on their entrance, and she gripped her healing staff tighter. Did she dare draw her black magic staff against the Black Wolf, or would he just laugh at her?
“Gaius!” Cid cried, startled, unwilling to attack him. Rinala looked, and saw Achiyo stayed her hand, and followed suit.
“Ah, Cid, my boy… You are late.” Gaius considered the screens for a moment, then turned to face Cid full on. Rinala didn’t understand what they spoke of, of Cid’s father, and the Meteor project. Even after Cid had regained his memory, he hadn’t spoken much about his past, and none of the Scions had asked – but clearly the distance between him and his late father pained him. She wondered how it felt, and was glad she didn’t know.
“What do you want, Gaius!?” Cid exclaimed at last, in angry exasperation.
Gaius reached out a commanding, lordly hand. “I want you at my side, Cid. Take up your father’s mantle, and become the Empire’s lead engineer. It is your destiny.”
Cid snorted. “My father had a change of heart – you said so yourself! Besides, I have long known my destiny, and I assure you, it lies not with the Empire!”
“Destiny, shmestiny,” R’nyath muttered.
“A pity.” Gaius shrugged, then turned to the rest of them. “And what of you, adventurers? Will you not consider making common cause with me? With your powers joined to mine, we might do much for this realm. Together, we could bring order to Eorzea, and usher in a lasting peace.”
She froze in place, wondering if that invisible helmeted gaze were on her at all, then shook her head frantically. She’d come here to fight, not to join them! The Empire was cruel and cold, it had no part in her home.
Chuchupa didn’t mince words. “Go to Hells, ye arrogant wretch.”
Tam simply shrugged as if the offer was uninteresting, but R’nyath and Vivienne growled, and even Kekeniro’s mild gaze hardened in refusal.
“No,” Achiyo said simply, but with a hand on her sword.
Gaius cocked his head. “No? And I can expect no better answer than this?” He looked around at them again, then shrugged as if it made little difference to him. “So be it. It was your strength that made me proffer my hand in friendship, and it is your strength that makes me proffer now my blade. Save as allies, you are too dangerous to be allowed to remain.” Rinala hadn’t seen a signal, but the floor began to shake behind her, and she turned to see a two-story tall colossus mech stamping towards them, its massive blade balanced on its shoulder. Gaius began to sink into the floor, on a lift, but he wasn’t important anymore, the impending doom before her was. “Run, Cid. Or stay. It makes no matter. You cannot escape the past.”
“Gaius, wait!” Cid reached out his hand, then noted the impending colossus and decided to move out of its reach instead. And Gaius was already gone down the lift. “…Damn it!”
The colossus was big, and well-armoured, but slow and easy to dodge. Kekeniro was the one who wore it down to immobility. With the distraction down, Cid moved to the bank of glowing things, moving confidently to control them. “Knowing Gaius, he is headed for the Ultima Weapon. If we find him, so too will we find our quarry. With these instruments, we can monitor every nook and cranny in the castrum.”
“Then you should remain here and guide us via linkpearl, and we’ll continue the chase,” Kekeniro said.
Cid nodded. “Exactly what I was about to suggest. Be careful, all right?” He turned to scan the glowing screens, muttering to himself: “Where in the hells are you, Gaius…”
The floors below were much the same as the floors above, but the way onwards was blocked by a strange hardened silver goop. Even though she cast a Fire 3 on it, and Vivienne stabbed it, their strikes had no effect. Cid directed them to the Reaper storage bays, where they found both Maggie and Wally, and Chuchupa and Kekeniro walked them back to the reinforced bulkhead to blast it open. Maggie and Wally stopped there to rest, but the rest of them pressed onwards, down yet again.
In the course of their progress, they came into an open, circular room where a man in red armour awaited them. He wore a helm shaped like a stylized dragon’s head, but his deep voice was sardonic. “You have been leaving a fine mess in your wake, adventurers.”
“Who are you?” Vivienne asked. “Wait, I don’t care. Prepare yourself, Garlean.”
Cid spoke up through their linkpearls. “Is someone there!?”
The man adjusted something on his wrist, and began speaking to Cid directly. “Garlond, old friend. How it warms the heart to hear your voice again after all these years.” His voice was insincerely, sarcastically cordial.
She could hear the frown in Cid’s voice. “…Nero? Is that you!?”
The strange man chuckled. “You sound well. It would seem this savage land agrees with you.” Rinala’s tail bristled, just a little.
“The highest ranking tribunus of the XIVth…” Cid said slowly. “It was you all this time?”
“Tell me, Garlond. How long do you intend to keep all the glory for yourself?”
“Uh… what? You’ve lost me.”
The man’s voice hardened. “Don’t play the fool with me. Ever since the Academy, I have been condemned to live in your shadow. By all objective measure, I was the more talented of the two of us, yet that fact counted for naught beside your privileged birth. You were admired as the young prodigy simply because your father was the great Midas nan Garlond! When you defected, I felt sure my star would finally rise… But by disappearing, you acquired the status of a legend – your reputed genius gaining credence merely by dint of your absence! Instead of cursing you for a traitor, the people actually came to think of you more fondly! To this day, you are still the young prodigy of magitek! I, meanwhile, have ever been made to feel second-rate – I who have continued to serve our nation faithfully. Whenever I fail to excel – why, it is only to be expected! Yet when I exceed all reasonable expectations, people proclaim that I walk in the footsteps of the great Cid nan bloody Garlond!”
He was shouting now, gesticulating furiously, and Rinala could only imagine his terrible expression under his scarlet helmet. She didn’t know what to do with all this anger and frustration that wasn’t even directed at her.
Nor, did it seem, did Cid, and it was directed at him. “Nero, I… I don’t know what to say.”
Nero continued ranting bitterly. “It matters not a whit what I achieve. Your existence has rendered mine worthless. Even Lord van Baelsar saw fit to offer you a place at his side – and this in spite of your betrayal! Did he extend any such offer to me – the man who has remained loyal to him for all these years?” A brief, bitter laugh. “Why, no. He did not. Long have I endured this injustice… but no more.” He took a step forward and clenched his fist. “Lord van Baelsar is in the midst of activating the fully powered Ultima Weapon. It is my magnum opus – the creation that will win me the recognition I am due. I will not let anyone interfere.”
“Nero! What are you-!?”
The tribunus waved casually at his wrist device, and Cid’s voice cut off abruptly.
“What did you do?” R’nyath cried.
“To Garlond? Hmph! Nothing. You are my focus now.” The fierce helmet tilted curiously. “Ever since I first set foot in this benighted land, I have watched you all – every move you have made, every step you have taken.” Rinala took a step back in surprise and slight disgust. He had been watching them? How disturbing. And creepy. “You have felled eikons, a feat made possible by the Echo, a peculiar power which shields you from their corrupting influence. It is of little wonder that my lord has taken an interest in you. As have I, if truth be told. It is my desire to harness your power for use in the Ultima Weapon.” He raised one hand high, and before any of them could move forward to overpower him, a massive spiked hammer fell from the distant ceiling. “Should I succeed, Lord van Baelsar will surely take notice! Beside this, Garlond’s achievements will be as child’s play! Come, adventurers, and yield to me the secrets of your power!”
“Try all you like,” Vivienne said, “but you’ll learn very little before we kill you.” Ahead even of Achiyo, she strode forward and swung her immense sword as Nero swung his hammer. The two heavy weapons collided, bounced off each other, collided again, and stuck before Nero backed away, triggering something as he did so.
“I have taken the liberty of preparing an electrifying stage for you.” He chuckled to himself as the exterior edges of the room lit up suddenly in blue sparks, crackling viciously. Kekeniro screamed as he was caught in it, though Garuda-egi flew away completely carefree. Rinala cried out in a panic, swinging her staff to Rescue Kekeniro to her side, and casting Cure 2 on him as he collapsed momentarily at her feet. Eos was also at her side, touching Kekeniro’s brow gently with her tiny hand.
“What’s electrifying mean?” Tam asked, completely serious. “Something to avoid, clearly.” He stabbed at Nero, but pulled back before Nero could smack his lance away with the hammer.
“Lightning!” Chuchupa called. “Garleans harness it, I thought ye knew this!”
“Never heard the word.” The tribunus was fighting well to deal with both Vivienne and Tam together, but the rest of them were coming to assist, at least as soon as Rinala had Kekeniro back on his feet. He wouldn’t last long, would he?
“Are you all right?” Rinala asked Kekeniro anxiously as he clambered to his feet and flipped a page in his smoking spellbook.
“I’m quite all right now, thank you. Everyone, watch out for more tricks!”
“More tricks, you say? Happy to oblige.” Nero swung his hammer at Vivienne, driving her back a little even through the guard of her greatsword. Before she could close again, he did something with his wrist device. “Meet some of my creations. You might find them a handful.” A huge mechanical hand fell from the ceiling as his hammer had done, but it floated about five fulms from the ground, hovering ominously and swiftly towards them. Four more followed the first.
“Oh noooo,” R’nyath said, chuckling as he aimed at the newcomers. “He really is a punster! No!”
“Stealing yer spotlight?” Chuchupa asked, somersaulting beneath a hand as it tried unsuccessfully to snatch her up.
“No, now I’m starting to like him! But I hate him! Argh!”
“What are you talking about?” Vivienne asked. “Shut the hells up and fight! Achiyo, you’re going to have to deal with those things, the bastard and I will take care of this lunatic.”
And all was chaos again, with those terrifying claws floating at them, trying to capture them, or mercilessly raking them with spear-like tips when they resisted.
“Ahh! Help!” Kekeniro was the first to be caught, the diminutive man lifted easily high above their heads.
“I gotchu, buddy!” R’nyath was firing arrows repeatedly into the thing’s joints, but though one finger fell off, the claw was intact. Kekeniro’s spells had been the most useful against these things. Rinala cast Aero upon it, and now it shuddered and began to weaken. It dropped Kekeniro, but before Aentfryn could catch him, another claw seized him by the robes and continued carrying him off.
“This is undignified!” Kekeniro complained, attempting to cast Bio and failing.
“I am in agreement,” Aentfryn said, casting his own Bio, and catching the Lalafell as he plummeted into his arms. “Ware to Rinala.”
And Rinala screamed as she felt steel claws close about her, lifting her effortlessly from the ground. She wriggled, tail lashing, to no avail.
But from her higher vantage point, she could see everything much more clearly now, could see Vivienne and Tam dueling Nero, could see that the Garlean, for all his strength and powers, was weakening against the two wild fighters. He was breathing hard, and his mighty blows were slower. She heard him shout: “I will not suffer… to be in another’s shadow!”
“Not our problem!” Tam shouted back, stabbing down at an angle to trap the hammer. Vivienne followed up, and Nero was forced back, dropping the hammer.
Then Kekeniro’s spells melted the claw above her, and she dropped to the ground, landing neatly on all fours – she was a Miqo’te, after all, and dancer-trained – and it was back to work healing. And there was not much left for her to do, all the claws had been destroyed. The one that had seized her had been the last one.
But something pinged from Nero’s side of the room, and he growled: “This changes… nothing…” Then the room was engulfed in pitch blackness as all the lights went out.
Rinala frantically cast a new Protect – he might sneak up on any of them in the darkness! Possibly especially her, she was suddenly very conscious of her lack of armour. But though the bright flash of magic illuminated the room for a split second, all she saw was confused movement.
Suddenly the lights flickered back on, and they were all still alive, but Nero was gone, and his hammer with him. His voice echoed around them. “Ahahahaha! The Ultima Weapon is activated, and it brims with the power of eikons! Nothing can withstand its might!” His voice faded, and her Miqo’te ears heard a magitek door slide shut.
And at that moment, whatever he had done to their linkpearls must have gone with him, because they heard Cid’s voice again. “Are you all right!? Answer me, dammit!”
“Yes, I believe we are,” Achiyo said, a little uncertainly.
“What of Nero!?”
“He fled,” Vivienne said in disgust.
“…Fled!? Damn it! In the instant prior to the blackout, the instruments detected a massive power surge from the deepest chamber. Gaius is certain to be there! We have no time to waste!”
“Ultima,” Achiyo said softly. “Even if he couldn’t defeat us, he was buying time for it to be powered up.”
“I agree. I should warn you – the chamber which houses the target appears to be saturated with aetheric energies. There’s bound to be heavy interference. But even if we lost contact, you must go on. Just don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, all right?”
“Perhaps it would be more sane to do everything you wouldn’t do,” Vivienne muttered.
“But since when has sanity been in our job description?” Chuchupa responded, cackling and rushing off.
They ended up in a large room with a long diagonal shaft descending down into the darkness. There was a large square platform upon it, a platform big enough to accommodate Ultima and to spare.
Cid could still see them from the control room, it seemed, but his voice was getting fuzzy in her ear. “Look for the lift’s control panel – it’ll be somewhere nearby. Take the lift down, and you should find yourself in the chamber of the Ultima Weapon. Keep your eyes peeled – Gaius could be waiting for you down there. Oh, and don’t even think about dying. You’re too bloody useful! The interference is getting worse. I don’t think the connection will last much-”
At that precise moment, Cid’s voice ceased abruptly with a sharp burst of static. There were a few more anxious crackles, and then nothing.
“Well then, no more nursemaid,” Tam said. Achiyo shrugged and stepped onto the platform to investigate the lift controls. Rinala followed her.
“As if we need one,” Vivienne said.
“I have concerns?” R’nyath said. “Kekeniro, buddy, you can figure out how to fight this monster machine, right?”
“Probably,” Kekeniro said, frowning at Garuda-egi. “I didn’t see any obvious weak points when we observed it at the Howling Eye, but we will have to find one, one way or another. Just stay on your toes and dodge until we do.”
There was a clanging step and they turned to see Gaius van Baelsar standing on the platform with Achiyo and Rinala. None of them had seen him arrive, or from which direction. The eight of them scrambled for weapons, but their enemy simply stared and asked: “Tell me… for whom do you fight?”
They looked at each other. Who should be their spokesperson?
Rinala surprised everyone, but especially herself, when she said in a tiny voice: “For Eorzea.”
Now that dark helmeted gaze was definitely on her, and fear and defiance warred within her. She felt so very small before that proud warrior. “Hmph! How very glib. And do you believe in Eorzea?”
“Yes.” Rinala cleared her throat, even she had barely heard that answer, even had her blood not been rushing in her ears. “Yes! I do!”
The helmet tilted, and she gained the sense that he was speaking to her as a patient teacher might to a wayward student. “Eorzea’s unity is forged of falsehoods. Its city-states are built on deceit. And its faith is an instrument of deception. It is naught but a cobweb of lies. To believe in Eorzea is to believe in nothing.”
“The hells ye on about?” Chuchupa demanded. “’Tis the Empire that fosters deception!”
Gaius snorted. “In Eorzea, the beast tribes often summon gods to fight in their stead – though your comrades only rarely respond in kind. Which is strange, is it not? Are the “Twelve” otherwise engaged? I was given to understand they were your protectors. If you truly believe them your guardians, why do you not repeat the trick that served you so well at Carteneau, and call them down?” Chuchupa and Aentfryn both growled, but Gaius continued smoothly on. “They will answer – so long as you lavish them with crystals and gorge them on aether. Your gods are no different from those of the beasts – eikons every one. Accept but this, and you will see how Eorzea’s faith is bleeding the land dry. Nor is this unknown to your masters. Which prompts the question: why do they cling to these false deities? What drives even men of learning – even the great Louisoix – to grovel at their feet? The answer? Your masters lack the strength to do otherwise!!”
“And where the hells do you get off with summoning Bahamut?” Aentfryn bellowed. “That beast near destroyed the land, glutting itself on aether and death – because of you!”
“Bahamut was not the intended outcome,” Gaius said. “Only Meteor.”
“It was the outcome nonetheless, and even you cannot deny that!”
Gaius inclined his head. “Very well. You have your point. However, mine own point stands. Your ‘gods’ are only harming you, yet you continue to worship them to no right end.”
“Does he even think that Hydaelyn is a… an ‘eikon’?” Rinala whispered to Kekeniro.
The Lalafell frowned. “I’m not sure. It’s possible.” He raised his voice to Gaius. “Yes, the beast tribes summon their primals when they feel threatened – which is more and more of late. You ask why we do not summon the Twelve, perhaps it is because we do not feel as threatened as they? Perhaps it is because we do not risk our gods lightly? Only a wyrm of legend drew such a response from us – a last resort, a desperate measure, for we do not wish to drain the land dry of aether. Believing in the gods does not make us ignorant, nor weak, nor fools.”
“Aye, you wish for us to summon the Twelve to fight your Ultima? Is that it? Don’t be ridiculous,” Aentfryn said. “That overwrought machine will be destroyed by mortal hands. We need not test our gods by begging them to do what we can do ourselves.” Rinala nodded.
“Then perhaps you show a glimmer of understanding, though still it is buried beneath the indoctrination of children. Another reason I had thought you worthy to join me. But ultimately, for the world of man to mean anything, man must own the world.” Gaius drew his gunblade and held it high, gazing at it. “To this end, he hath fought ever to raise himself through conflict – to grow rich through conquest. And when the dust of battle settles, it is ever the strong who dictate the fate of the weak.” He gestured, raising his hand to the ceiling as Nero had done, yet no additional weapon appeared – electricity crackled around him, and then he was enveloped in an explosion of golden light.
Rinala blinked, putting up a hand to shield her eyes, and when the light cleared, Gaius’s armour and gunblade had been transformed into gleaming yellow gold, sparkling in residual light of the aetheric transformation – for it was aetheric, was it not? Some strange magitek had done this, but for what purpose? He pointed his gunblade at them and she stared down the barrel in fear. “Knowing this, but a single path is open to the impotent ruler – that of false worship. A path which leads to enervation and death. Only a man of power can rightly steer the course of civilization. And in this land of creeping mendacity, that one truth will prove its salvation.” The blade flashed under the fluorescent blue lights. “Come, champions of Eorzea, face me! Your defeat shall serve as proof of my readiness to rule! It is only right that I should take your realm. For none among you has the power to stop me!”
And the lift began to move away, swiftly, taking Gaius, Achiyo, and Rinala with it.
Rinala cried out for the others, and Tam dashed forward, making a mighty leap with his long legs. He barely landed on the edge of the platform, teetering on the brink, before Rinala grabbed his arm and pulled him up. “I imagine to fall would mean to fry in that ekeltrisse stuff.” The others had run forward, but the platform was too far, and they stopped at the edge.
“Electricity,” she said. “I think you’re right.”
“We’ll find another way down!” she heard Kekeniro’s voice call to them.
Achiyo looked to them, then to Gaius, waiting patiently for them to make their move. “I will protect you. Shall we?”
“Ready,” Tam said, his teeth flashing in a feral grin.
“Ready!” Rinala said, taking a deep breath and relaxing her shoulders into her stance.
Gaius spun his blade as Achiyo and Tam moved to engage him. “Let us dance, champions of Eorzea. I will take you all on myself.” He let them charge at him, standing easily, while Rinala hovered in the back, watching with pounding heart and twitching tail to see who might get hurt first.
Aether swirled around her two friends as they attacked, Achiyo slamming beams of light down around her, and Tam leaped high in the air and came down lance-first with a crackle of blue-green sparks. Gaius dodged both of them, not even attempting to block. “Impressive! Now it is my turn!”
He had shown great speed already, but now his counterattack pressed her two friends back, his gunblade flickering as he sparred rapidly with them both. She gasped as she watched them; Achiyo and Tam faltered for a moment, then rose to the challenge, and the three skilled warriors whirled across the platform, from one end to the other, sparks flying as their blades met and clashed on the others. The pace was blistering, and her few added Stones were but carefully placed so as not to strike her companions. They didn’t need to be distracted by her. Achiyo’s face was intent and concentrated, but Tam was on the verge of laughter whenever she looked at him. She wondered what Gaius thought of him.
The walls rumbled past with rather alarming swiftness, and neither Gaius nor the Scions seemed to be gaining an advantage – no, perhaps the Scions had a slight edge. But all three of them were fighting magnificently, and she felt quite extraneous besides her healing powers.
Without warning, Gaius disengaged a step and laughed harshly, in satisfaction. “I had not thought to be so hard-pressed. Your strength is… most impressive. Such power befits a ruler! Yet you lack the resolve to put it to proper use. A waste.”
“I have no interest in ruling,” Achiyo said quietly.
“I have less than no interest in ruling,” Tam said, laughing. “I find your definition of strength and its uses… amusing.”
“If you had joined me, you might have learned the truth. But your time is up.” The platform stopped smoothly, and she saw that they had arrived at the bottom of the long ramp. Ahead was a massive door, and Gaius turned his back on them and strode towards it. It slid up into itself at his approach, revealing a large chamber beyond, and within it… the Ultima Weapon.
“Wait for us!” came a distant cry from further up the shaft, and Rinala looked back and up to see the rest of their companions ziplining down the long ramp by a power cable suspended from the ceiling. Achiyo and Tam forbore to chase Gaius, waiting as the others requested.
Chuchupa landed first. “Good, we haven’t missed anything important.”
“No, but it took you long enough,” Tam answered, amused. “Look, he’s getting away.”
“Shaddup, cloud-sniffer.”
They assembled in the doorway; Gaius had used Ultima’s claw to lift himself to its shoulder. “Allow me, then, heroes, to do that which you will not!” He disappeared around the back of its neck, and they heard metal clanging and sealing. The machine’s eyes lit up with an ominous light, and it flexed first one claw, then the other, shifting its feet and tail. Beneath them, the floor shuddered; they were on another lift, and it was rising slowly through another shaft, vertically now. She didn’t want to know what would happen once it reached the surface. From the serpent-like head boomed Gaius’s voice, amplified by some magitek: “Bear witness to the true power of the Ultima Weapon!”
Rinala stared up in frightened incomprehension at the massive beast. It was easily fifty, maybe sixty fulms tall, and its black armour looked thick and solid. How were they supposed to begin to damage it? She felt so tiny, so squishy, so insignificant.
“Well, we must begin somewhere,” Kekeniro said. “Achiyo, Vivienne, you are the ones it will most likely follow – can you draw its attention over there, to the right? The rest of us will be in a semi-circle around the back, where we will be less likely to be attacked. Watch out for its claws, we know it has those green beams. Keep your eyes out for anything else, as well. I’ll do my best to call out what I see. Rinala, take the right end of the semi-circle; Aentfryn, please be on the left. Everyone else, hit it with everything you have!”
“Right!” she cried, with everyone else’s affirmatives. His quiet confidence was just what she needed. She didn’t have to figure out the battle. She knew her part, and she could do it well.
Aether erupted as they flung themselves at the monster; Tam’s Dragonfire Dive, Achiyo’s Circle of Scorn, Vivienne’s Dark Arts, all of them calling on the magic around them to aid them in defeating their magic-powered foe. She looked up at the writhing, drake-like tail above her, the massive clawed toes as long as her arms, felt the writhing, trapped aether inside it, and she cast Aero on it. Insignificant, but every little bit would help, would it not?
“The Ultima Weapon has partaken of the power of eikons! None can stand against it!” The left claw swung as Ultima stomped forward, and Achiyo jumped out of the way, a green beam scorching a line across the floor where she’d been. The rising platform shook under its tread, and it flexed its shoulders and a series of small missiles burst forth from its back, zipping around and targeting each of them individually. There was much screaming and diving for cover, of which there was none, and the wind was picking up to a howl around the outskirts of the room – Garuda’s ability, stolen and mechanized. As they stumbled towards the centre, under the feet of the behemoth, there was a cracking as of rock beneath their feet, and an explosion of stones and dust about them, surely Titan’s power. And in case they weren’t battered enough, Ultima flexed again, its wings snapping out, and a wave of fire reminiscent of Ifrit washed over them, blasting them back out into the wind.
Rinala found herself praying rapidly to the Twelve, her ears flat back against her skull, arms and legs shaking like leaves – but they were still alive. And she had to act quickly if they were to remain so! She raised her staff, desperately calling on all her skill to cast the best Medica of her life, and another, and another. She couldn’t think about what the others were doing, only that they were still alive, their wounds healing, their pain fading. Ultima, it seemed, had to charge up its primal-powered attacks, so they had a moment to regroup and strike back.
The chamber grew strangely light for a moment, and she heard a ringing, tranquil voice in her ears. “Hearken unto me, crystal bearers. Thy foe is Darkness clad in steel. If thou wouldst triumph, thou must look to the Light.”
With the voice came a cool sensation, one that restored all her energy and healed her injuries, and she heartened to feel it. She saw all of her companions react to the voice – of course, all of them had the Echo, they were all under the protection of the crystals she carried, surely all of them could hear Hydaelyn. But how were they supposed to ‘look to the Light’?
Perhaps it was time to throw in some attacks of her own. Ultima hadn’t launched missiles again, Achiyo and Vivienne were dodging those claw beams, and the claws themselves, and no one else really looked to be in pain. But she didn’t dare switch to her black mage staff, lest the situation change more quickly than she could anticipate. It would take too long to attune herself fully to her fire aether. She cast a Stone.
Even as her spell struck against Ultima’s chassis, a glittering flash of green burst from Ultima’s chest, coalescing into a green-feathered harpy, who spread her wings, faltered, and faded into nothing.
“Garuda’s essence… torn from the Ultima Weapon!?” Gaius exclaimed, his voice booming from the weapon’s speakers.
“Be free!” Rinala cried under her breath, smiling. She didn’t really have any sympathy for Garuda, and she really didn’t want to fight her again, but she didn’t like the idea of imprisoning her the way she had been, either.
And now it seemed, though Ultima had been weakened, its powers had been recharged, and once more the ground exploded beneath them, and erupted in massive gouts of flame, and she ran and dodged until she hardly had breath left in her body. She only had eyes for her allies, looking to see who was showing pain, looking to see who might be in the path of danger next – and of course, for herself in relation to Ultima, so that she didn’t die to a stupid accident.
Tam’s long purple coat flew out behind him as he jumped and stabbed again, a manic grin on his face. With a spray of golden sparkles, a massive lumpy form emerged from Ultima and slumped forward onto the floor before disappearing. “Titan’s as well!? Impossible!” Gaius exclaimed.
“Keep it up!” Kekeniro said. “That’s the way!”
“We can win this!” Achiyo cried. “Have heart! We’re all together!”
And that was all Rinala wanted to hear. Now the fire increased in frequency and intensity, but though she could barely keep up, yet somehow her concentration was unbroken. Her friends were still fighting with all their strength!
But even as she saw R’nyath reel away from an eruption of flames, his tail and clothes smouldering and his face a mask of agony, a bright glowing figure fell from Ultima’s form and, like Titan before it, slumped onto the floor before vanishing. Rinala dropped a Benediction onto R’nyath and he shook himself, grinned at her, and turned to shoot again.
Gaius roared. “No! How… how are you doing this!?”
Rinala’s heart was rapidly pounding like a drum, hammering the inside of her ribcage like a desperate god, and she was drenched in sweat, every limb of her body shaking with nerves and exertion, but Ultima’s attacks suddenly slackened, then ceased, at least for the moment. The eight of them fell back, panting hard, watching warily. The machine was slightly dented in places, sparking in a few, and had lost most of its primal aetheric charge, yet it was still largely mechanically undamaged as far as she could tell. Gaius cried out in frustration from within the head. “But the Ultima Weapon is all powerful! Why does my enemy still stand!? Can their strength truly be so great?”
A black-purple rift in reality appeared by Ultima’s right shoulder, and Lahabrea-in-Thancred’s-skin appeared there, floating easily despite the movement of the lift. Black-purple flames flickered around his body. “It is the Blessing of Light that confounds you.”
The massive cobra head turned slightly to observe the small man. “Lahabrea…”
“Your foes act under the protection of the Crystals they bear.” The voice was not Thancred’s, not at all, and Rinala wondered how it was so.
Ultima’s head turned back to look at them again. “So, this is what empowers them.”
“Beyond mortal limits. If you are to prevail, the hammer of Darkness must needs be brought to bear upon the shield of Light. And so it shall, for the Ultima Weapon is host to a power of which you are as yet ignorant.”
“Speak plainly, Ascian.”
Lahabrea smiled and it was unpleasant to behold such a sinister expression on Thancred’s face. He gestured to a large smooth eye shape upon Ultima’s chest. “The Heart of Sabik. It is the Weapon’s core – an enigma whose surface even the vaunted scholars of ancient Allag failed to scratch. The magic within has lain dormant for eons.”
“So Ultima was around since before the Allagans… They did not create it,” Kekeniro murmured to himself.
“Of what magic do you speak?” Gaius demanded.
“A spell without parallel. Ultima. I sought the life force of the primals for no other reason but to quicken the core. For the true power of the Ultima Weapon lies within its now-beating Heart!”
Ultima reached out with its right claw to backhand the Ascian, but quick as thought, Lahabrea dissolved into black flames and disappeared. “Lahabrea… What have you done?”
Lahabrea appeared at Ultima’s other shoulder, smirking faintly. “No more than was necessary… for my god to be reborn.”
“Damn you, Ascian!”
Lahabrea grinned, and his scarlet mask of aether covered his face. He swung out an arm towards Ultima, who began to flex as if unable to contain its own energies. “The hour is at hand! Behold but a sliver of my god’s power!” The eye shape on its chest flared sky blue, a ring of aetheric swords began to revolve around it, and a star began to shine blindingly from above as lightning filled the chamber. “And from the deepest pit of the seven hells to the very pinnacle of the heavens, the world shall tremble! Unleash Ultima!”
She could not Protect against whatever was coming. All that was to be done was to hope, ironically, that their greatest enemy spoke truly, and to trust in Hydaelyn. And a light was shining in her chest, a light was shining in all of them, so her trust was not unfounded. She covered her eyes with one arm against the blinding blue light above them and reached out to Tam for comfort.
The ground shook violently, nearly knocking her from her feet. She could feel massive energies coursing around her… and yet that was only the prelude to the actual attack.
She had no words to describe it. Light so bright that it was blinding behind her closed eyelids. Noise that should have shattered her eardrums. It must have been a colossal explosion, greater than what every thaumaturge and black mage in Eorzea could produce working together.
When she dared to look up again, she saw nothing but darkness and flames. Ultima still stood before them, bathed in the eerie light of the flames devouring what was left of the Praetorium. The platform they were on had not collapsed into the depths of the earth – had Hydaelyn done that too? The flames roared around them, licking hungrily at the blackened metal, and in the not-far distance, things were continuing to explode. When she looked up, she could see the stars and the moon.
Lahabrea threw back his head and cackled in exhilaration. “Ahahahaha!”
Ultima’s head swivelled, and Gaius’s voice was full of anger. “Such devastation… This was not my intention…” Oh gods, Cid had been upstairs somewhere. If he hadn’t left once they were cut off from him, he might very well have died in that explosion…
Lahabrea laughed to himself, ignoring Gaius entirely. “Oh, Hydaelyn… it seems the task of keeping your champions alive has exhausted what strength you had left.” He turned to face Ultima. “Van Baelsar… Your enemies’ shield is broken. The rest I leave to you.”
Gaius’s voice simmered with controlled fury. “We will speak later, Ascian.” Black flames of the void engulfed Lahabrea, and he was gone. Ultima focused its baleful glare back upon them. “But first, I must deal with you. The question of who is mightier remains! Come, adventurers! We settle this once and for all!”
But by Menphina, she was so weary. They had barely survived the first round with Ultima. She had been healed of her wounds, but she hardly had the energy to even be afraid anymore.
The black metallic figure still towered above them, no longer glowing, ancient and mysterious and malevolent. This was the end, maybe the end of everything. If they died, everyone else would die. But there was no escape for any of them.
Gaius still wanted to fight. He wasn’t weary. Achiyo and the others, they still wanted to fight, whether or not they were weary. She had to try. She had to turn her resignation into defiance once more.
“You led the first attack, shall I lead this one?” Vivienne said to Achiyo.
Achiyo looked up at their enemy and nodded. Rinala thought she could detect her swordtip trembling from fatigue. She wasn’t the only one who was tired. She had to encourage the others to do their best.
Vivienne swung her greatsword around to a ready position, baring her teeth ferociously as Ultima stomped towards them, claw glowing for a beam attack. “For Gelmorra!”
“I’ll take care of you! Let’s do this!” Rinala brandished her staff and cast Medica 2.
Ultima was upon them like a great metal voidsent, its power and fury unabated. She gritted her teeth, concentrating on her task, listening with half an ear to Kekeniro’s rapid initial directions. The power in the broken chamber was palpable, as her companions flung themselves once more valiantly against their foe. The rage and noise of their attacks shook the walls of the Praetorium, seemed to her like they shook the very stars in the sky. Her heart sang as it pounded in her ears; now it held a glimmer of hope.
“This is most… unexpected,” Gaius said. “You are possessed of great might, this I will allow. Yet yours is not the might of a ruler! Such is the difference between us – a difference that will assure my victory! I need not the power of eikons to defeat you!” And with a shout, he released a massive charge of energy that knocked them all back. Rinala ducked, skidding backwards several fulms but keeping her balance. He wouldn’t get them today!
About them, the ring of fire burned hot, and the rest of the Praetorium was burning as well. With a resounding report, a piece of the outer wall collapsed, sending debris down onto the platform. If the remains of the lift were to break and send them hurtling back into the depths of the fortress, none of them would survive…
A piece as large across as Rinala’s parents’ roof landed with a crash, sending Chuchupa scuttling; the platform trembled, but held. Of course, Ultima was still stomping across it, and it was far heavier than any of this debris. It still didn’t look terribly damaged, its movements still fluid and deadly. How would they ever penetrate that gleaming black hide?
And then she made a shuddering gasp as she felt fear stab through her gut. The machine had come to a stop, and that eye shape on its chest was beginning to glow again.
Gaius howled in frustration. “U-Ultima!? Curse you, Ascian! How much destruction must be wreaked before you are sated!?”
Faintly, she heard Hydaelyn’s voice in her heart. “I have not the strength… to shield thee again…”
“We must destroy it before it casts again!” Kekeniro shouted. “We have about thirty seconds! Attack the Heart!” Thirty seconds… no longer than a blink, in a battle. But… no one was badly hurt, Ultima had ceased attacking in all other ways… she could attack it herself, lend her offensive strength to the others! She snatched at her black mage staff – how much Fire 3 could she throw out before it was too late?
Ultima leaned back, opening its clawed arms as if to embrace the moon, more and more pale blue aether gathering in its chest. This was it… now or never…
As Tam leaped high once more, stabbing with his white spear, and a veritable storm of magic assaulted the Heart of Sabik, there was a great cracking sound, and the light faded as Ultima convulsed, small explosions rippling through its insides.
From inside Ultima’s head came a cry. “No… No, no, NO! Ungh!” The back of Ultima’s neck exploded, and Gaius was flung out. He landed with an awful clanging crash, and rolled a little. His armour’s golden sheen was gone. For a moment he lay still and groaned, then he lifted his head and looked towards them. “Heed me… The subjects of a weak ruler must needs look to a higher power for providence… and their dependence comes at a cost to the realm. The misguided elevate the frail… and the frail lead the people astray. Unless a man of power wrests control… the cycle will never be broken.” His voice was weak, and fading quickly. “You… You of all people must see the truth in this. You who have the strength to rule…” He stared at them for a brief moment more, and then his head fell back with a thump.
Achiyo shook her head, but before she could answer, Ultima made an accelerating, scaling whine, sky-blue light shining out of it, and then it exploded in a cloud of blue light. They all ducked as massive pieces of armour were blasted over their heads, and when everything had settled, there was not much left where Ultima had stood. Rinala found it surprisingly underwhelming, considering the quantity of aether that Ultima had needed for the first attack. More debris fell from the Praetorium, though it did not strike them.
Lahabrea appeared in the centre of the platform where it had been, facing Gaius, facing away from them. His voice was filled with contempt. “Pathetic. You boasted of unrivalled power. You were entrusted with the ultimate weapon. The ultimate magic! And still you failed. So much for the glory of man.” He turned to glare haughtily at them. “The growing imbalance afflicting the planet must be redressed. If it is permitted to worsen, the very laws of existence – both aetheric and physical – will be warped beyond all recognition.” He pointed viciously at them. “Know you the root of this corruption? Hydaelyn! Like a parasite, She must be burned out if the planet is to recover. And naught but the return of the one true god will ensure Her complete excision.”
“I’m gonna say… false,” Chuchupa said.
“What the actual hells are you talking about?” R’nyath asked.
“To pave the way for the master’s return, a chaotic confluence of untold proportions must needs be brought about. And that necessitates the presence of the primals. Needless to say, both you and your Scion accomplices can not be suffered to interfere in this endeavour. You will not leave this place alive. It is past time your flame was extinguished… ‘Bringers of Light’.”
Rinala’s heart jumped once from nervousness, and then she collected herself. This was finally her chance, her chance to fight for Thancred, her chance to save him. It had to be now. She stepped forward, even ahead of Achiyo. She wanted to rush forward, to throw her arms around him, to compel him with the touch of her body to return to himself, but that wouldn’t work, probably, so she only clenched her fists and learned forward earnestly. “Thancred! I know you’re still in there. Fight him! Don’t give up hope! We’re here for you!”
“Hope is dead, child,” Lahabrea said contemptuously. “He is mine. Your love means nothing.”
“I’ll save him!” Rinala cried, tail standing up, eyes flashing. Even such a terrible look on the face of the man she loved didn’t scare her now. She knew it wasn’t him. He would never make that expression at her. “I will! I don’t care if I die, I will save him!”
“Then come, and meet your death.” Lahabrea spread his arms invitingly, but Rinala was already dodging sideways against the dark spell that shot out at her. The eight of them spread out, moving cautiously, uncertain both of Lahabrea’s capabilities and whether they might hurt Thancred by attacking him.
Lahabrea, of course, had no such worries, and blasted them all with spells – black flames, opening portals to the abyss beneath their feat. Vivienne was the first to retaliate, rushing forward to attack. She had no special reason to refrain from killing Thancred, though Rinala hoped that she might for the sake of what she had just heard. But she needn’t have worried for his life: Lahabrea waved at Vivienne while hardly looking at her, and she was struck with a black orb, knocking her back and to her knees.
Rinala cried out and ran forwards, casting Cure 2 on her, then continued forward. She had to get to that crystal necklace, right? If she could pull it from Thancred’s neck, they would win.
“You accursed knave,” Vivienne gasped, pulling herself back to her feet, her green eyes flashing strangely. “You think you are the only one who can use the Darkness!?” But Rinala headed past her, intent on those dark eyes behind the scarlet mask. “Where are you going, girl!?”
Lahabrea knew she knew better than the rest, knew she was dangerous to him, and turned his full attention on her as she came at him, pale but determined, heart beating wildly. He flung an orb at her; she ducked around it. He opened a void at her feet; she jumped over it. His next orb struck her in the chest, knocking her back into Achiyo, but though she screamed, she pulled herself up and cast a heal on herself and began again. She’d never felt this way before, that she wouldn’t give up, that she couldn’t give up, that she would keep trying no matter the pain, no matter the cost.
She saw all about them turn white, saw ethereal ghosts of the Crystals of Light around each of the Scions, and heard Hydaelyn’s voice again: “If thou wouldst triumph, thou must look to the Light.”
But she didn’t know what that meant, so she pressed on as the light faded, as the ghostly Crystals faded. Lahabrea gave a great cry and spread his arms, and a burst of dark light erupted from him, ripping through them all. Though she was forced to her knees, she reached up with her staff and cast Medica, then crawled to her feet and kept going, leaving Aentfryn to cast Succor behind her. Dimly she sensed many of her friends were fading fast, brought low by the dark energies running rampant through the chamber.
She had almost reached him, was close enough to see the sneer behind the scarlet mask, was about to reach out to his neck, when he made a swatting motion and she found herself knocked to the ground by another of those dark orbs, too close to dodge. Pain shot through her, a dark, burning pain, and she wailed, tears in her eyes.
Lahabrea laughed at her, mocking, yet impressed she had reached his side. “Ahahahaha! You are strong, Warrior of Light!” He leaned over her, taunting. “Yet know that if I should perish, so too will the mortal within whose flesh I reside. Now make your choice and live with it! Mwahahahahaha!” He raised his hand high for a spell, dark aether gathering ominously in his hand, madness in those eyes she loved, and she heard Achiyo scream her name urgently.
But Hydaelyn’s voice spoke gently in her mind again. “Mark not the Dark Minion’s subtle words. Only Light may banish the Darkness. Receive of me this power, my child, and raise thy Crystal aloft!”
The Crystal… did she mean the ones they had collected, the ones Rinala now carried? Which one? She scrambled for the pouch and pulled one out – the blue water one, the first one – and held it high, in Lahabrea’s face.
Light swelled from it, and Lahabrea flinched back, his spell dying before he could cast it. Rinala blinked, and found herself in the void, with all of her friends around her, standing on that magic circle with all six Crystals of Light about the edge. Lahabrea stood before them, half-crouching, his face silhouetted in darkness and his red mask before him.
Hydaelyn’s voice echoed around them. “If thou wouldst pierce the shadows… make thee a blade of Light.”
A blade of light? She concentrated on the aether around them, the aether in the crystals, so much aether, too much aether… and felt Hydaelyn’s comforting presence rising behind her. She didn’t have to look to know.
Lahabrea reeled back to see the Mother Crystal. “What!?”
The blade of light was not a physical sword – it was in her heart. And with it, she would defeat the Darkness without harming Thancred. Without consciously knowing what she did, she flew forwards, straight at him, passing through him. And as she did, she felt him separate into two bodies.
She heard Lahabrea scream, something about “the Light” and “they are too many!” As the others appeared at her side, having followed her, she heard Lahabrea’s screams grow more intense, until suddenly with a small shattering sound, they ceased. She turned, and saw only one body floating there, small and dark-robed and white-haired. He was limp and unconscious, his mouth hanging open. When she looked to his throat, she saw no trace of that black crystal necklace that had been there.
She began to float towards him, but Hydaelyn spoke and Rinala looked up at her gratefully. “Hear… feel… think… Warriors of Light. Beloved children. The Darkness hath fled before the unclosed brilliance of thy spirit. Yet it lingereth still beyond the sight of men, in forgotten corners of the world. In the depths of the abyss yet resideth the Dark One, watchful ever. Till this evil be cast out, never shall the world know aught but a passing peace. Yet for the present, a gentle light shineth o’er the realm of Eorzea with thee at its heart. From sparkling mote shall it swell to glorious sun, and all the world shall bask in its warmth. Blessings and joy be upon thee. Go forth, my children, and be as a beacon of hope for Eorzea and the lands beyond, through all the days of thy lives.”
They returned to their selves in the same place they had left, in the middle of Ultima’s burning platform. Gaius’s body was still sprawled to one side… and in the centre of the platform, Thancred lay, still cloaked in black robes.
Rinala sprinted forward, heedless of any other danger, flinging herself down over him, checking his breath, his pulse. She could feel his aether was still present, he was still alive, but how hurt was he? But his breathing was steady, if shallow, and his pulse was strong. “Oh thank you, Hydaelyn,” she breathed, as she allowed herself a small indulgence and bent to put her arms about his shoulders, lay her head on his chest.
“He is all right?” Achiyo asked for all of them.
“He’s all right,” Rinala answered, smiling, without moving. The world might be ending around her, but she was… happy. Her feelings were sparkling brightly.
A less-distant crash of falling metal girders snapped her head up, and her embrace became protective. The world might be ending around them, or at least the Empire’s little part of it, but that didn’t mean she had saved Thancred just so they could die together in it! But what could she do? What could they do? They were surrounded by fire, and there was no clear path out of the wreckage, no clear way off the platform that didn’t involve finding some way across a chasm too wide to jump.
The others had begun to discuss that very dilemma after they heard about Thancred, but they all looked around as they heard pounding footsteps, far too heavy and mechanical to be any mortal being. Something was moving quickly towards them, and Maggie and Wally leaped from behind a shattered wall to land heavily on the platform beside them.
“Mags! Wally!” R’nyath cried.
“You came back for us?” Achiyo said, hope strengthening in her eyes.
Tam had already jumped up into Maggie’s pilot’s seat. “Quickly, up and on! Pass me Thancred – bundle him with Rinala if you have to, she’s not letting go, is she…”
“I can let go!” Rinala cried indignantly, as Vivienne scooped Thancred up and heaved him up to Tam.
“Up you get, you’re in charge of making sure he doesn’t fall off,” Tam said, taking her hand and pulling her up behind. There wasn’t going to be a lot of space… Chuchupa was next, and finally Achiyo. On the other Reaper, Wally, Aentfryn was in the cockpit, and Kekeniro squished in front of him, R’nyath clinging onto the back, and finally Vivienne, hanging dangerously off the side. “Time to go!”
Rinala clung desperately to Thancred’s limp body as the Reaper surged beneath her, leaping off the platform and across the chasm. They landed running, every stride jostling every bone in her body, and she clutched at his waist as they pounded into a narrow tunnel. She didn’t ask how Maggie knew where to go. She couldn’t see much around Tam’s shoulders, anyway. There was no time to worry about anything. The heat was increasing, and she couldn’t tell if it was because they were passing near a particularly large fire or if the Praetorium was erupting in one final explosion behind them.
As she glanced back past the second Reaper, she saw that now there was a wall of fire racing towards them; perhaps the latter was correct after all. Maggie careened around the next corner, and she almost slid off, if Chuchupa hadn’t reached out and seized the shoulder of her tunic in an iron grip. She near crushed Thancred trying to keep him put, he was sliding about all over the place.
“Only a little more,” Achiyo said quietly, hardly audible over the raging fire about them and the thunderous footsteps beneath them, and Rinala glanced forward again, catching a glimpse of starlight around Tam’s shoulder. She put her head down, her ears back, and clung to Thancred as Maggie made one last desperate leap.
The air suddenly turned cool about them, whistling as they flew, and they landed not on metal, but stone and earth. Maggie’s suspension creaked mightily, but she held together, and then began to trot forward down a gentle slope into Thanalan as Wally nearly collided with her, making the same leap she just had. Behind them, the earth shook as the final death throes of Castrum Meridium consumed all that was left of the Empire’s authority in Eorzea.
There were small figures ahead of them, rushing towards them – their fellow Scions, and the Alliance leaders, and Cid! Oh thank the Twelve, Cid was all right, and Biggs and Wedge were with him too.
“Look! Thancred is with them!” cried Yda, as she reached them, the most eager and longest-legged of all the Scions coming to meet them.
“Thank the Twelve!” Papalymo exclaimed, huffing and puffing behind her, and the two of them actually exchanged a high five. Yda whooped with joy.
“Thank Hydaelyn,” Y’shtola murmured, as Maggie and Wally knelt to discharge their burdens into the willing arms of their friends.
Rinala, with Achiyo helping to support Thancred, looked up into Minfilia’s smiling eyes. The Antecedent reached out to wrap all three of them in a hug. “Welcome home.”