Don’t mind me, just shoe-horning my size-12 adventuring party foot into a size 5 cutscene shoe…
Chapter 46: An Echo Across Worlds
Little Ala Mhigo was hot and dusty and in the middle of its brief spring already, and Rinala was trotting along out of the Temple of Quarn with Alphinaud and some Warriors of Light after listening to this so-called Griffon give a rousing speech to his Resistance, when she heard a huge gasp. “What are you doing here, Rinala!?”
“Yda!” Rinala screamed, and flung herself at her for a hug. “You’re all right!!”
“I could ask you the same thing, Yda, Papalymo,” Alphinaud said from behind them, almost laughing in joy.
“Well, well, this is quite the surprise,” Papalymo said. He glanced at the crowd milling about. “Might I suggest we continue this conversation in more… agreeable surroundings?”
“Certainly,” Achiyo said with a smile, and led them swiftly from the Temple.
“By the Twelve, am I glad to see you all!” Yda said. “Of all the places to meet! It has to be fate!”
“It seems like it’s been forever!” Rinala cried, still arm in arm with Yda. “I missed you so much! We’ve been worried!” At last, nearly all the Scions of the Seventh Dawn were back together! They just needed to find a way to get Minfilia back from Hydaelyn, which sounded impossible, but stopping a thousand-year war had sounded impossible too so what was a little impossibility to them now?
“Words cannot express how glad I am to see you both alive and well,” Alphinaud said.
“And you!” Yda said. “Though it was pretty obvious the Warriors of Light would be fine.”
Papalymo snorted. “The Crystal Braves never had a realistic chance of capturing any of the Scions, divided as they were and distrusted by the better part of Eorzea.”
“Where were you, then?” Vivienne demanded.
“…Repaying a favour,” Papalymo said. “After the banquet, we had no choice but to flee Ul’dah, and we would not have been able to do so without the aid of some old friends from the Resistance.”
Yda nodded. “That’s right. They smuggled us out of the city and sheltered us in Little Ala Mhigo, all at great risk to themselves. Obviously, we couldn’t let that go unacknowledged, so we offered to help them out with their operations for a while.”
“When we learned of the Scions’ exoneration – that Lolorito had severed all ties with the Crystal Braves, and that General Raubahn had been reinstated – we resolved to make contact,” Papalymo said. “But having long since discarded our linkpearls as a precautionary measure, our options were rather limited. To make matters more complicated, we were embroiled in a delicate operation at the time, leaving me with little choice but to entrust a letter to a courier. I gather from your puzzled expressions, however, that you never received it.”
They all looked at each other with the aforementioned puzzled expressions. “Tataru would have been all over that,” R’nyath said. “That was moons ago. Where did you send it to?”
“To the Rising Stones, naturally,” Papalymo said.
“Huh… We had people there,” Kekeniro said. “We were in Ishgard a lot, I guess maybe you heard, but we still kept the office going. And Urianger’s still in Vesper Bay, of course.”
“Vesper Bay isn’t that far away, even if you don’t hit the aetheryte in Horizon,” said Vivienne.
“Oh, it’s all right, Vivienne,” Rinala said. “It’s easy to get caught up in things!”
Yda shrugged. “To be honest, we thought this might happen. While the Masks are happy to let the refugees spread the word within the community, they’re pretty strict about communicating with outsiders. We weren’t even in Thanalan most of the time. Gyr Abania really is pretty far from Vesper Bay.”
“That would explain why we heard absolutely nothing about this,” Aentfryn grunted.
Yda nodded. “Oh, and besides that, we also heard a rumour that the Griffon doesn’t want us meddling in his affairs.”
“The Griffon mistrusts the Scions of the Seventh Dawn?” Alphinaud asked. “Curious. It is well known that we are no friends to Garlemald. One would think the man we saw beseeching all and sundry to join his cause would welcome our support.”
“Ah, I should say that the man you saw was not in fact the Griffon, but an impersonator,” Papalymo corrected him. “And a talented rabble-rouser, to boot. ‘Twould not surprise me if he were responsible for the majority of these public appearances. As you may have gathered, the Griffin is an extremely cautious and distrusting man who has made every effort to conceal his identity. Even when we participated in a raid under his direct command, we were not permitted to approach him.”
“It’s hard to know what to make of it all,” Yda sighed. “The secrecy, the impersonators, the masks…” She stopped and looked at everyone staring at her. “What!? It’s not as if I’m making all of you wear one! And mine only covers half my face. It’s completely different!”
“Agreed,” R’nyath said, grinning. “Totally.”
“Anyway, when we heard the Griffon was due to give a speech, we thought it might be a good opportunity to get a better sense of the man behind the – uh, to get a better sense of the man.”
“…For all the good it did,” grumbled Papalymo. “And now you have heard the whole of it. But tell me – what prompted you to take an interest in the Griffon? If, as you say, you knew nothing about it until now?”
“What’s taking Thancred so long?” Alisaie had sighed impatiently, having put herself on duty to wait for him. “By the Twelve, was the aetheryte not to his liking?”
“Umm, he can’t Teleport anymore,” Rinala said, and explained about his and Y’shtola’s disabilities. Alisaie waited quietly after that. Rinala decided to wait with her.
By the time he finally did arrive, Yda and Papalymo had re-attuned their new linkpearls to the Scions’ linkshells, and were off on another mission – this time for the Scions, to investigate the Griffon’s camp for the crystals which were allegedly no longer there. But at length, in the late afternoon, there did arrive a dusty chocobo porter, with a dusty white-haired man on its back who dismounted and nodded to them. “Kept you waiting, eh? My apologies. Ser Aymeric was kind enough to offer me an immediate direct flight from Ishgard to Ul’dah, but of course I still had a ride after that.”
“Thancred!” Rinala cried. “Guess what?”
“What?” he said obligingly, though she would have just continued even if he didn’t.
“Yda and Papalymo are here! They’ve been with the Ala Mhigan Resistance this whole time! They’re here and they’re okay.”
Thancred smiled. “You mean to tell me that while we were worrying ourselves sick, Yda and Papalymo were here all along? Well, Y’shtola will be relieved.” He put a hand to his chin and looked contemplative. “And also angry. Mainly angry, I should think.”
“They sent a letter, but it didn’t arrive,” Rinala explained, laughing. Y’shtola would certainly scold them up and down. “They’re checking the Griffon’s camp for the crystals, just to double-check that they aren’t there.”
Thancred looked at her sharply. “That they aren’t there?” So she explained. All this while they had been heading over to Achiyo in one corner of the central gathering place of Little Ala Mhigo. Achiyo nodded in greeting and turned to Kekeniro.
“Right,” Kekeniro said. “Now that we’re all here, here’s the plan I’ve been working on. We don’t really know what to expect at any stage of this quest, so we may have to adapt. Our objective is to get to the Bowl of Embers to forestall any Ifrit summoning. Firstly, I want Vivienne’s team to act as a decoy to distract and tie up any Amalj’aa who might try and stop us. Secondly, Achiyo’s team has fought Ifrit before, so they’ll be the first ones heading to the Bowl of Embers. Vivienne’s team will rejoin when they’re clear. Thirdly, Alphinaud, Alisaie, and Thancred are going to go with them to take care of any more Amalj’aa who show up at the last minute. But stay well away from Ifrit, and behind cover, of course.”
“What about the Warriors of Darkness?” Vivienne asked. “They’re sure to be about.”
“We can’t predict where they’re going to be,” Kekeniro said. “They may not be there at all; they never did show up when we went to stop Titan. But any of our groups can face them for at least a couple minutes before we can get the entire group together. And am I correct in thinking we don’t actually want to kill them?”
“Speak for yourself,” Vivienne said. “Sob story or not, they are here to hurt us. If they attack me I will strike to kill.”
“If they could be persuaded not to attack, then mayhap we can speak on how to help their world,” Achiyo said.
“That would be acceptable,” Vivienne said. “But do not forget what they have done. The dead, the orphans, the chaos they have left in the wake of their schemes – and they tried to murder Alisaie and I will not forgive them.”
“That’s flattering, but Achiyo has a point,” Alisaie said.
Vivienne nodded. “I will not be the first to attack; that much I can promise you. The rest is up to you.”
The Amalj’aa had been guarding their gates fiercely, and so Vivienne’s team and Achiyo’s team had to split up almost immediately upon entering Zahar’ak. But it was strange: the further Achiyo’s group pressed into the canyons, the more calm it seemed. To be sure, dusk was deepening, so many of the Amalj’aa might be going to rest in their warm caves against the cold desert night, if they were not on watch. “You’d think there would be more obvious signs that something was afoot – but, if anything, the place seems quieter than I remember it,” Thancred said, leading the way.
“Couldn’t that be a sign in itself?” Rinala asked.
“Could be, could be,” he said.
“Is it possible that we’ve been deceived?” Alisaie asked.
“The Griffon-copy said they had been sending the crystals to the Amalj’aa,” Tam pointed out. “Yda and Papalymo haven’t called to suggest otherwise. They didn’t just disappear. If they exist.”
“I trust Thancred’s too good at his job to’ve sent us on the trail of crystals what don’t exist,” Chuchupa said.
“What reason would the smugglers in Ishgard have had to lie?” Achiyo answered. “That seems an elaborate charade even for the Warriors of Darkness.”
“We must not jump to conclusions,” Alphinaud said. “Not until we have braved the Bowl of Embers.”
They moved forward, finding the road that led to the summoning grounds of Ifrit, and now it was more silent than ever except for the crunch of their footsteps on the hard gravel. There were no Amalj’aa around at all. Even the insects they had heard before had gone quiet.
Thancred paused on the lip of the Bowl. “This isn’t right. The Amalj’aa would never leave this place so poorly guarded.”
There was a thud from ahead, and a rattle of falling weaponry. “Not willingly, no,” Alisaie murmured grimly. Together, they ran into the Bowl, where there came into view the Warriors of Darkness, in combat with a band of Amalj’aa – who fell slain at their feet in moments.
The warrior turned to them, panting, and laughed shortly. “Ahhh, the saviours of Eorzea. Slow as ever.”
“Okay, ye beat us to Ravana, but we beat ye to Garuda and Titan!” Chuchupa yelled. “We’re even, okay!”
“You didn’t beat us to Bismarck, nor to that stupid Moogle,” retorted the enemy archer.
“J’rhoomale,” said the warrior, and she subsided, still smirking.
Alphinaud made an angry, incredulous gesture. “By the Twelve… Will you never learn?”
The warrior snorted. “You know, you’re right. Mayhap it is time for a change of tack. Killing primals, tormenting beastmen, hastening the birth of a new god… It’s all a bit much, isn’t it?”
“Ah,” Achiyo said to herself. She had not quite understood their plot, until this moment – the Ascians would suggest the beast tribes turn to worshipping Zodiark. She felt a little foolish. She had thought previously that the beast tribes would simply summon new gods like to their old ones. No thanks to Tam, who, if she recalled correctly, had divined the answer immediately and used sarcasm when asked about it.
“And, frankly, we don’t have the leisure to do it,” said the warrior, swinging his axe up to rest on his shoulder. “Killing the Warriors of Light, on the other hand – that would soon plunge Eorzea into chaos. Even just killing the Silver Lady might be enough.”
“I’d like to see ye try,” Chuchupa snarled, banging her brassknuckles together.
“One life for one world!” cried the warrior, sounding almost hysterical. “A fair exchange – wouldn’t you agree?”
“No,” Achiyo said. “If chaos comes from my death as you say, it will not just be my life for your world. And I will not let you take so many!” Could she sacrifice herself for an entire world when she had so much to live for now…? No! There had to be another way. A better way, a more certain way.
Thancred drew his blades. “Lest you forget, you’ve more than one opponent!”
“It’s been time fer a rematch!” Chuchupa cried, bouncing from foot to foot.
The archer loosed an arrow at Alphinaud, who summoned his carbuncle in the nick of time, before Achiyo could shield him. It bounded into the air and caught the arrow in its mouth, prancing as it hit the ground again, proudly parading its prize. The archer smiled coyly. “I sense you will offer more than mere target practice. Unlike your sister.”
While they were all distracted by Alphinaud’s carbuncle, the enemy black mage Swiftcasted a Fire spell that struck Alisaie, knocking her back and to the ground. “Alisaie!” cried Alphinaud in panic, and he, Achiyo, and Rinala all cast heals on her at once.
Alisaie pulled herself to her feet, a strange gleam in her eye. “Did… did I not tell you, Alphinaud? I am not the girl I once was.” She grinned at the Warriors and wiped dirt from her face. “My brother was always the clever one, while my talents lay elsewhere…” She tossed her grimoire in the air, and from it drew a slim crystalline blade of pure aether. She flourished it experimentally, then saluted with it defiantly. “If you would dare to stand against us, to destroy all that we hold dear, then you shall die by my sword!”
“That is wonderful,” Achiyo said, smiling at her. Between the new clothes, and the new weapon, and her new almost cocksure confidence, Alisaie was shining nearly as brightly as her sword. R’nyath would pull out his big-brother-cheerleader routine as soon as he caught wind of this.
“Oh, so that’s what you were doing,” Tam said. “Well done.”
The warrior flourished his axe. “I don’t care. Let’s finish this!” He charged, the paladin behind him. Achiyo and Chuchupa charged back.
She aimed for the paladin, and happily, Chuchupa read her and went for the warrior. She… found it difficult to face him, when he looked so much like a younger version of someone dear to her.
The warrior tried to get around Chuchupa, but every step she moved with him, and he was threatened by Thancred on the other side. “We’ve come too far, sacrificed too much to stop now!” cried the warrior.
“You think you are the only ones to have known sorrow!?” Alphinaud cried, casting spells at the archer. Tam sailed by overhead, and bonked the Lalafell white mage on the head; she fell unconscious, though Tam was struck by a lightning bolt from the black mage, sending him spinning to one knee; Rinala healed him with a twirl. Alisaie was charging at the archer with her new sword, forcing her to skip backwards quickly, but even distance did not help, for Alisaie paused and cast spells that looked like blades at her, and she had to skip away again, loosing arrows back, but they missed in her haste.
Achiyo was locked in combat with the paladin; it was like fighting Hoary Boulder, except much more aggressive. He was also more experienced than Hoary, and was affording her no openings to strike past his guard. Their last encounter had been brief, and she had been taken by surprise then; this time, at least, she was not getting bulled back. Their swords flickered rapidly without directly clashing more than once or twice, angling for position, feinting. There was a split second – she took it, and grazed his cheek, but she would have to do more than that to put him down. Alphinaud began to cast spells at him, and that did more, and the paladin could not get past Achiyo to attack Alphinaud.
The warrior howled. “No, NO! We will not be denied so easily!” A blaze of light filled the valley, and when it faded, all the Warriors of Darkness stood again, looking as if they had never been injured. The scratch on the paladin’s cheek was gone.
“Is this… the power of the Echo!?” Alisaie gasped.
“That’s not one we know,” Chuchupa said.
“But we know we don’t know very much,” Tam said, weaving between arrows to close with the archer. “Minfilia told us that repeatedly.”
“Remember the Blessing of Light, when we fought Ultima?” Rinala asked. “It resemble-” She was struck by a stone and knocked from her feet to lie still.
Achiyo tried not to gasp in horror. “Tam!”
“On it!” He backflipped away from the archer he had just laid out cold, and scooped Rinala up to carry her away. “She’s still alive!”
“Drat!” said the white mage. “I didn’t hit her hard enough. At least she’s quiet now!”
“You be quiet!” Chuchupa cried, sliding past the warrior to punch the white mage in the face.
“Take care of her!” Achiyo said to Tam. “We shall weather this until the others come!” Aentfryn could restore her. But they could not use the Echo to heal themselves as their enemies had… She had Clemency, but she needed space to cast. Perhaps the twins could cast some healing…
Once more light burst from the Warriors ill-named of Darkness, and they stood before the Scions unharmed. “Again they rise!” Alisaie cried, panting. “Have these warriors no limits?”
The warrior snarled. “No more games!” He flung out his hand, and aetherial chains shot out at all of them, coiling around every one of them and holding them still.
“Godsdammit, I can’t break free!” Thancred growled, trying to kick.
“Tam!” Achiyo cried with all her voice. Though could he fight all five of them alone? But he was their last hope, unless the other four were within hearing distance…
The warrior gripped the chains tightly, and with his other hand, raised his axe, setting it against Achiyo’s neck. Her heart was frozen – not with fear, but with grief, that this face that she knew so well was filled with such a desperate grim triumph, as if he did not like what he was doing either and was determined not to think about it until later. Once his look-alike had told her to live, no matter what…
“Don’t you dare!” Chuchupa screamed, trying to thrash free.
“It ends, now!” he said, panting, and tensed to strike.
A spell came in from Achiyo’s left, shattering the aetherial chain that bound her and knocking her back, away from the axe, safe for a moment. Other spells blasted the other chains he held, setting everyone free. The warrior hopped backwards defensively, and everyone looked to see who would do such a thing. Was it Kekeniro-?
It was the grey-haired Elezen who had been with the Warriors before. “You snake,” growled the warrior. “You would betray us as well?”
“He that holdeth fast unto his convictions shall never count betrayal amongst his crimes, though all the world may call him villain,” Urianger said calmly. “My path is unchanged; my creed sacrosanct. This I believe with all my heart. But say, Warrior of Darkness, and speak true – what dost thou believe? That rendering up the souls of thy world in service to the Rejoining will grant it salvation? Nay.”
“By the Twelve! Urianger!” Alphinaud cried. Achiyo would not have recognized him until he spoke – how could she, when he normally covered his eyes, and now he covered his mouth? She saw Tam standing at the top of the cliff, ready to intervene, yet waiting.
Urianger pulled the mask from his face and discarded it on the ground. “Mine apologies, Master Alphinaud. That the brightest light might shine, duty did compel me to walk in darkest shade.”
“You sweet fool,” Alisaie said in a low voice, both pissed off and immensely relieved. “I was almost willing to believe you had turned against us. I expect a full explanation when this is over. For now, may I assume you have turned your cloak for the last time?”
“Thou mayest, my lady.” He drew his grimoire again and flourished it with unnecessarily flashy gestures. “By thy leave.”
“No matter!” shouted the warrior. “We’ll crush the lot of you in one fell swoop!”
He glanced meaningfully at the black mage, who nodded and raised his staff. “Understood.”
Alisaie brandished her sword. “Hearken to me! We only have one chance! Channel your aether into my blade that I might strike before the mage casts his spell! I cannot do it alone, but together… together we can defeat them!”
“As you say!” Alphinaud cried, raising his hand to her and channelling a stream of aether to her sword. About Alisaie grew a bubble of light, and light streamed from the ground beneath her, brilliant, stabbing in rainbow shimmers into the heavens.
“Trying to beat us at our own game? Hah!” cried the warrior, and charged. Achiyo slid into his way, smacking him back with her shield, her resolve hardened. No longer would she let his face distract her. She would be the one to shield the others.
“You good down there?” Tam called from the top of the cliff. “I don’t want to leave the kitten alone unconscious.”
“We shall endure!” Achiyo called back. “Call the others!”
“Already done. Have fun!”
She was distinctly not having fun, even if her heart was more firmly set. She ducked the axe, stabbing back, forcing him on the defensive. She wasn’t even looking at his face now. And now Alisaie was calling. “I must have more aether! Achiyo, you’re the only one left!”
“You heard her!” Thancred said, smoothly stepping into the warrior’s way. “Go to her!”
“You won’t get away that easy!” the warrior cried, but though there came a hail of arrows at Achiyo, she raised her shield and backed away carefully. Still standing between Alisaie and the archer, she sheathed her sword for a moment to reach out her hand and channel what aether she could in Alisaie’s direction.
Alisaie grunted, struggling to weave her spell. “The aether-! Hngh… It’s not enough!”
“Now, Blanhaerz! Kill her while she’s weak!” cried the warrior.
She saw the paladin move, saw what he was going to do – bull into Alisaie to interrupt her spell. Urianger was closest, but he could not stop him, unarmoured as he was. She had to move first, and surged forward, tail flicking behind her, throwing all her weight into latching onto his shield and redirecting him like the sumo wrestlers she had seen in her youth. It worked, and as he staggered past her, she drew her sword again and stabbed. If they could not permanently die, she lost nothing by lethally incapacitating him for a moment! He grunted and staggered again as her blade pierced between plates, but it had not been a deathblow, and he turned to face her with a horrible grimace.
“I can feel it- just a little more!” Alisaie cried.
“This has gone on long enough!” snarled the warrior. “J’rhoomale – kill the girl!”
“You won’t get away this time…” muttered the ranger, and bent her bow.
“Chuchupa, don’t let her!” Alphinaud cried.
“Ye got it!” Chuchupa bounded away from the white mage and towards the archer, rolling forward to spring up and kick her bow from her grasp. The tension in the bow sent it sproinging away impressively far, the arrows falling randomly about them. The archer dashed to recover her weapon, but Chuchupa tripped her with a blow to the knee. She would have done more, but the warrior darted to protect his friend, and Chuchupa faced him and retreated.
Though the light flashed once more and their enemies stood again, the warrior was beginning to sound weary, the hope draining from his voice, only cold desperate determination left. “Hurry it up, Naillebert!”
“A little more…?” Alisaie cried.
Achiyo spun away from the paladin, but he lunged after her and caught her across the shoulders. Her armour held! But she was sent flying forwards, rolling to a stop at Alisaie’s feet, reaching up to channel all the aether she had left to her.
“Tis done!” Alisaie cried, the light swelling to blinding around her. “With this blade I banish the darkness!” Achiyo saw her slash, and then the world turned white.
When she could see again, the Warriors of Darkness had fallen to their knees, dropping their weapons. What aether they had had left was depleted. The warrior in front was gasping for air. “No… Not like this…”
But Alisaie too fell to her knees, clutching her side, and Alphinaud sprinted to her. “Alisaie! Are you hurt?”
Alisaie managed a smile. “A touch dizzy, but otherwise fine. Thank you.”
“Don’t tell me we missed it all!” came a shout, and there was Vivienne, and the others, running up into the Bowl of Embers. Tam jumped down from the cliff, bearing a just-waking Rinala, and Aentfryn immediately cast healing upon her. Her ears and tail perked up before she sprang to the ground, casting a group heal of her own. Vivienne ran to defend the weary Scions, her blade already at the ready.
Thancred gestured expressively. “And there you have it. Our friends are too stubborn to die.”
The warrior panted and growled. “We are far from finished.” He pulled himself to his feet, picked up his battleaxe. “Or have you never considered how we came to this world?” He smirked and drew a glowing scarlet crystal from his pocket.
Kekeniro frowned. “Crystals? You mean… like the Ascians?”
“Just so,” said Urianger. “As the Ascians flee unto the rift ‘twixt planes with Crystals of Darkness, so did these warriors come hither with Crystals of Light.”
Vivienne only just noticed him. “You! …It’s you!?”
“He is not our enemy,” Achiyo told her. “He fought at our side. Though he does owe us an explanation.”
“Eloquent, as always,” said the warrior to Urianger. “Aye, like the Ascians, we too are beyond death! You cannot defeat that which is eternal!” He made as if to move, and Thancred and Chuchupa drew their weapons to stand beside Vivienne.
“Wait!” cried Alphinaud in a loud voice, and all looked to him. “Such methods as the Ascians employ require the renunciation of the flesh. You… you would have had to…”
The Warriors of Darkness slowly looked down in great pain. Then the Hyur raised his head and fixed them with a gaze torn between grief and defiance. “At long last, you see. To save our world, we gave our lives.”
Everyone flinched. “Well maybe we’d understand sooner if ye told us!” Chuchupa muttered.
“Aren’t we the same? Couldn’t you have asked us for help once you got here?” R’nyath began.
Achiyo silenced her friends with a step forward, almost putting herself in range were he of a mind to hurt her still. But she did not think he would attack her now. “Would you tell us your story?”
He inhaled, exhaled his despair. “We were just adventurers trying to make our way. An odd job here, a favour there – we never aspired to be Warriors of Light. But word of our deeds spread, and soon people were calling us heroes. They placed their hopes and dreams on our shoulders and bid us fight for all that was good and right.” Achiyo glanced at her friends, and they were looking back at her and each other.
“We fought and we fought and we fought… until there was no one left to fight. We won… and now our world is being erased from existence.” Every one of the Warriors of Darkness looked on the verge of tears. The warrior clenched his fiery red crystal as if he would break it in his frustration. “We did everything right, everything that was asked of us, and still – still it came to this! You of all people should understand! We cannot – we will not falter. We brought our world to the brink of destruction, and now we must save it.”
She wanted so badly to help. To hear his suffering, his grief, his horrible crushing situation, it would have broken her heart even if he had not looked so eerily familiar. But whether he did or no, she reached out gently. “I will help you. I am not ready to die, but mayhap my life will aid you better than my death anyway.”
He could not look her in the eyes now, and looked to his friends, instead. “I’ve died before, Arbert. I’m not afraid to die again,” said the paladin.
The white mage nodded. “No matter how many times we fall, we must rise and carry on the fight. For those we left behind.” Each of them drew out a crystal and held them up, and they began to grow brighter, resonating with each other.
Urianger stepped forward, his eyes skyward. “To have known the depths of sorrow and embrace the highest sacrifice – nonetheless… Master Louisoix, guide my hand, I pray you, as fate’s thread spinneth upon this most capricious spindle.” He turned to the Warriors of Light. “Quickly! Thou must needs invoke the power of thy crystal!”
Rinala gasped and pulled out the one colour that was missing – the deep blue of water – and the completed set of six elemental crystals shone bright as stars.
They blinked and found themselves in the void, a void full of stars and ever-shifting colours washing over and around them. Achiyo remembered it well – this was the void wherein she had always met Hydaelyn, where she perceived the Blessing of Light as woven by the crystals they had gathered during her first year in Eorzea. The Scions of the Seventh Dawn stood on one side of the gently glowing six-sided magic circle that accompanied the Blessing of Light, and the Warriors of Darkness stood on the other side.
“What is this place?” asked Alphinaud in tones of wonder.
As if in answer, a feminine voice echoed softly around them, seeming to come out of the void itself. “Such pain… Such sorrow… Oh, my dear children…”
Thancred gasped in painful hope. “It can’t be!”
Urianger looked up into the deep blue emptiness and called in a loud voice. “Mother Hydaelyn, hearken unto Your children’s plea! From two worlds do we gather, and from two worlds do we offer a bounty of Light. In this desperate hour, we do beseech Your intercession! We beg an audience with the Word of the Mother – with Your chosen, Minfilia!”
Everyone stared at him. Achiyo wondered how he had known to say that.
“Your cries go not unheard…” answered the ethereal voice. “Nor your sacrifices unnoticed… Though many are lost, there are those we can yet save… Whom I can yet save…” A shining light appeared far above them, descending rapidly, and as it came within the range of their vision they saw that it was Minfilia. She floated to their level, yet her feet did not touch the ‘floor’ that they stood on.
“Minfilia!” Alphinaud cried. Thancred stared, eyes wide with emotion.
Minfilia smiled at them, but turned first to the Warriors of Darkness. “Blessed children of the First. The light of your world hath grown blinding in its radiance, but it is not yet absolute. I will hie me to your world and there take unto myself the Light which riseth even now to drown it, as Darkness once did drown another.”
The warrior ground his teeth in raging despair. “Now you deign to answer our prayers!? I will suffer this farce no longer!” He raised his axe and charged, and though Achiyo or Thancred would have sprang to her defence, Minfilia simply put out her hand and stilled him in his tracks with a gentle touch on the axe haft.
Still she spoke gently. “As the Ascians must serve as instruments of Zodiark’s will, so too must others carry out the will of Hydaelyn. But for the boon you have granted Her, She has grown strong enough to set me free, that I might serve as Her emissary. Your suffering, your sacrifice, your supplications – She has heard all. We will not let the First fall to Light.”
The warrior, his will to fight gone, stepped back and bowed his head.
Minfilia turned to look at the Scions, and there was a flicker of familiarity there, as though she was returning to herself from being the Voice of the Mother. “Thank you, Urianger, for bringing everyone here. It fills my heart with joy to look upon the faces of my friends once more.”
“In taking you unto Her bosom, I knew that Hydaelyn had bequeathed to you a sliver of Her grace, granting you strength long sought,” Urianger said. “And in treating with the Ascians, I learned of a star like unto our own – a doomed world of fallen heroes, in whom I glimpsed ourselves: the First. Full long did I search for a means to save this world, concluding at the last that the answer lay in the power of blessed crystals. And thus did I labour to set Light against Dark. Yet I knew from the beginning that this salvation would not come without sacrifice, for the instrument of the First’s deliverance would of necessity be required to journey thither… there to remain, mayhap forever.”
“You orchestrated all of this, not to save her, but to send her away!?” Alphinaud cried, greatly upset.
Urianger bowed his head in regret, then looked at Minfilia. “One life for one world. Such was the bargain, and you the coin, though it were not mine to spend.”
Minfilia smiled, shaking her head. “Have we not walked together in the light of the Crystal, and at Her bidding borne witness to the joys and sorrows of this land? Each and every one of you knows my heart. If this be the price I must pay, I pay it gladly.”
“Was there not an easier way to do this?” R’nyath exclaimed. “Or any other way? Can’t we go with her?”
“Ways and means are limited when the Ascians are involved,” Aentfryn said, and R’nyath sighed mournfully.
Thancred finally found his voice, and it was weak and heartbroken. “…You would go alone, then?”
She floated to him and caressed his face, smiling affectionately. “My dearest Thancred… You who have ever watched over me… I am truly grateful for all you have done on my behalf, as would my father be. Your kindness, your compassion, your love… These are your gifts to me, and our gifts to them, forming a bond which transcends time and space.”
Thancred bit his lip to stay his tears, but then mastered himself. “Sometimes I forget you are not the child I once knew. Make me proud.” He gave her a brave smile.
She returned the smile, resolute and kind, then turned to the other Scions. “Long have I watched you from Hydaelyn’s side. Watched as you nurtured and kept safe the light of the dawn.” She held out her hand, and the remains of the staff Tupsimati appeared in it; she handed it to Achiyo. “The dark recesses of the world hide untold secrets and dangers. Thus do I entrust to you Tupsimati. I pray you keep to the path that you may never have need of it.”
“I thank you,” Achiyo said. “May fortune go with you until we meet again.”
The black mage looked down at his crystal in his hand. “‘Twould seem the power of our crystals is all but spent. Perhaps… if there is naught else to be done…” The other Warriors of Darkness nodded, or shrugged in acquiescence.
The Hyur reached out to Minfilia. “Hear me, servant of Hydaelyn. If you would have us place our trust in you, then I would ask a favour. Take us with you. Take us home.”
Minfilia nodded, and reached out her hand that began to glow.
The warrior looked at Achiyo. “We were blind to the truth once. So I tell you this, as one fool to another. Light, Dark, it doesn’t matter. What matters is how you choose to use them. We made our choice, and you see what came of it. So please… forge a different path. Seize a better fate.” He managed one last, awkward smile, and with a flash each of the Warriors of Darkness turned into brilliant spheres of incorporeal light.
Minfilia turned back to them once more, an almost playful smile on her lips. “‘Tis a strange feeling. So many times have I watched you depart, my heart filled with worry, and ever did you return to me in triumph. Someday, when I have found a way to free this star from her sorrow, I promise you I shall repay the favour.”
“We’ll come help if we can!” R’nyath cried. “Or we’ll be here when you get back!” Minfilia nodded, and then she too turned into pure light.
They appeared outside of the gate to Zahar’ak as dawn crept over the horizon opposite to them. Alisaie began to say something in Thancred’s direction, then thought better of it. For a long moment, all were silent.
Alphinaud inhaled sharply and spoke first. “Well. There is yet work to be done. The crystals-”
“Leave them to me,” Thancred said, rousing himself from his mournful reverie. “I will go back into Zahar’ak and secure them. The Amalj’aa will still be in disarray after the thrashings they’ve received this night. They are not like to notice a long bard skulking about.”
“But Thancred, you-” began Alphinaud.
“Don’t have to do this, I know,” Thancred finished. “But I want to. I will see you at the Rising Stones.” He slipped in through the bars of the gate and was gone. Achiyo saw Rinala gazing anxiously after him, as she expected, but there was nothing she could do about that right now.
“…I should go and find Yda and Papalymo,” Alphinaud said wearily. “They must have finished searching the Masks’ camp by now. Not that it matters anymore…” He began to Teleport to Little Ala Mhigo.
They arrived together at the aetheryte. “I have questions,” Aentfryn said. “While Alphinaud goes to find Yda and Papalymo, maybe you can fill in what we missed.”
“Also, Alisaie, what was that sword you were using?” R’nyath exclaimed. “Get it, girl!”
“Oh, this?” Alisaie said, summoning her blade again. “Get what?”
Yda and Papalymo returned with Alphinaud in due course, and when everyone was thoroughly informed of all that had occurred – and Yda had a strangely awkward encounter with old Gundobald – they made a second, longer Teleport to the Rising Stones. They would have to wait some time for Thancred to join them, but first the other Scions had to make much of Yda and Papalymo returning.
Hoary Boulder immediately challenged Yda to a squat competition. Ocher Boulder was scolding Aenor, whose unquenchable thirst was at least for the moment daunted by his disapproval. R’inwa and R’nyath appeared to be playing tag with a couple of Doman children. Lilidi greeted her husband with a kiss and eagerly asked him for his part of the story. Achiyo made her way to F’lhaminn, who read her face and assured her with only a little catch in her voice that she did not have to tell her anything.
Thancred arrived late in the evening, and though he claimed to have eaten on his journey, he was not loath to accept the celebratory food they had saved for him. “I have Ser Aymeric’s assurances that the Temple Knights will henceforth keep a close eye on the Ishgardian crystal trade. Oh, and he extends his deepest apologies again for your dinner having been cut short. Courteous fellow, isn’t he? You would never guess he was a politician.”
Achiyo was confused, until Tam explained: “Of course, because he’s too sincere to be a good politician.”
Together, the senior Scions and Krile gathered in the Solar with drinks. Alisaie sat off in a corner, and Urianger hung back with a permanently guilty look. Krile was officially made a Scion, to the delight of everyone. “That is, if there are no objections?”
“Hells no!” Chuchupa cried before anyone else could speak, thrusting her ale mug into the air. “It’s about bloody time ye were officially aboard!”
Krile laughed. “It would seem that I’m a Scion, then. Hmm… Some derive comfort from such titles, but I cannot say that I feel any different from before. Well, mayhap a twinge of pride…”
Urianger apologized once more for his actions. Achiyo found she forgave him, more readily than Alisaie, at least, though she could not forget. He had abused their trust, though it were for a good cause. She would trust him again… but she had no assurance that he would not do something similar again. He was even more for secrets than Thancred with his spy training, and it seemed arrogant of him to concoct such a plan without consulting a single one of the other clever folk in their group. In the absence of a leader, did they now have a chessmaster?
Yet his heart was in the right place, and that was what mattered.
Alisaie was also enticed to throw her lot in with them, though she claimed not to care for organizations. Aentfryn commiserated with her.
Discussion of the future gradually split them into small groups – here Alisaie, R’nyath, and Vivienne spoke of Alisaie’s new abilities, there Rinala and Y’shtola talked with Aentfryn and Krile of the Blessing of Light. Thancred, Yda, Papalymo, and Kekeniro were talking about the Empire’s recent actions. Tataru was threatening to make a new outfit for Chuchupa, who reacted in utter horror. Tam put a hand on Urianger’s head and sighed, and Urianger looked as confused as he could with his goggles still on.
Alphinaud stood beside Achiyo and folded his arms. “Look at them, Achiyo. The Scions of the Seventh Dawn. Look how far we’ve come… The people we’ve met. The moments we’ve shared. The losses we’ve suffered. The tragedies we’ve overcome. All of it has made us who we are today. Where we go from here and what the future holds, only the Twelve know… …But I know that we will find out… together.”
“Together,” she murmured.
Chapter 47: The Edge of Gyr Abania
Author’s note: excuse me while I cry everywhere when Minfilia pops in to the Rising Stones to say goodbye to F’lhaminn DX T_T
But also, in the Chronicles of Light, Minfilia on her eighteenth birthday calls out Thancred for being a ho lol
Typical Alisaie, using the LB3 to blind the party. XD