I don’t know why the boss battle took me so long to write! But my head’s been swirling with story ideas… for literally every story I have on the go, and even some I haven’t started yet. I’m getting pretty into the idea of continuing the SWTOR Inquisitor story for a bit, but I want to finish FFXIV Season 1 first. Only one more chapter for that, I think!
My mini-raid group has been trying Alex Savage, we’ve gotten through the first two levels with just the four of us unsynced. Cool! We’re going to be running Gordias 4 so that I can get the DRK sword, and then a lot of Creator because our BRD wants the PLD set and the WHM staff. All for glam, of course.
Chapter 4: The Knight and the Harpy
Chapter 5: Lies of the Free
The Waking Sands was as dark and quiet as they had left it, and Tam lit his little lantern that they might not trip over the debris still scattered about. The bodies were gone, of course, but no one had been in since. Though the floor was oddly clean… had someone been in to scrub away the blood, without tidying up anything else?
Cid looked about grimly. “I… I had no idea. I can only imagine how you all felt when you returned that day…”
Alphinaud was looking at the clean floor, and looked up to meet their eyes inquisitively. “Tell me… does aught here strike you as odd? I see signs of recent habitation. Could it be that we have trespassers?”
“I can’t imagine how that could be…” R’nyath said. “This place was always presented as ‘that old warehouse’…”
“And after the commotion the townsfolk heard on our last day here, I’d think they’d avoid it,” Chuchupa put in.
Alphinaud straightened, a hand to his chin in thought. “Hm. Mayhap it is just my imagination. Come, let us proceed into the solar.” He strode boldly to the door and pushed it open briskly.
In the darkened corner of the room, something moved, startled, and Rinala jumped back, also startled. A woman’s voice called, frightened and angry: “Who goes there!?”
Alphinaud chuckled. “Now, now, Yda, is that any way to greet a friend?”
The mysterious crouching figure got up and stepped into the light, holding up a hand to shield her …mask. On recognizing them, she began to bounce in excitement. “Oh- oh! You’re alive! You’re all right! All of you!” She rushed forward to envelop Rinala in a hug, which Rinala returned enthusiastically.
“Yda! I’m so glad you’re all right.” She squeezed Yda’s slender but sturdy waist, felt Yda squeeze her shoulders and pat the back of her head. “I was- we were worried about you! You’ve been all right?”
“I… I’ve been… coping…” Yda caught sight of the last member of their group, and froze against her. “Cid!? Wait, is this a dream?”
Cid grinned and lifted a hand in greeting. “Not that I’m aware of! It’s been a while, Yda.”
She stepped back from Rinala, lifting a hand to wipe under her mask. “I… I don’t believe it… I was sure you’d been…”
Cid nodded, then gestured to Minfilia’s battered office. “This place has seen better days.”
Yda shuffled, wrapping her arms around herself. “Uh… you know, I wasn’t actually here when… I-I was still in talks at the Adders’ Nest… The first I knew about it was when I came back, and… and I saw…”
“Yda…” Rinala patted her shoulder, trying to be of comfort. Yda put her arm around her again, leaning on her a little.
“The church had taken care of the bodies, but that still left… the stains… I-it was hard to know where to start… If Y’shtola hadn’t been here to help me…”
Rinala brightened. “Y’shtola is here too?”
Yda nodded. “Yes. But she’s not here right now. She’s gone to Ul’dah to meet a man who might know what happened to the others. Papalymo and Minfilia weren’t among the dead, according to the church. Y’shtola thinks they were taken somewhere.”
“Upon the orders of the Black Wolf, no doubt,” Alphinaud said.
“We think she’s right. Urianger, and Tataru, too.”
“But we don’t have a hint as to Thancred, have you seen him?” Rinala asked, hoping, fearing.
Yda shook her head. “I’m… I’m sorry, I have no clue. He’s clever, though, and used to working on his own. He could evade the Empire forever. Why would the Black Wolf want the others, anyway?”
“Because they possess something he desires,” Alphinaud said, “knowledge of another power that can be brought to bear against the primals – one that Gaius has yet to harness… The Echo. …Though that does not explain how the Empire came to know the location of the Waking Sands in the first place…” He shook his head. “No matter. The Empire has shown its hand, and now we must act. It is up to us to rebuild the Scions and save Eorzea. Can I count on you, Yda?”
“What? Oh, yes – yes, of course! Whatever you need!”
While they rested and waited for Y’shtola to return, Rinala sat beside Yda, who put an arm about her. “Are you okay?” Tam had suggested that they sleep so that they could be ready to move as soon as Y’shtola got back, but while she was tired, she couldn’t sleep just yet.
Yda nodded. “I mean, physically I’m fine. I… I can’t help thinking, though…”
“Yes?”
“I should have been here… How would it have been if Papalymo and I had switched places? I know I had to visit the Serpents for a reason – I’m good at cajoling people, you know! – but if I’d been here and he’d been there…”
“You would have gotten hurt or captured,” Rinala told her. “I know you! You’d have gone punching all the Empire, but they had the scary tribunus lady and she was shooting basically everyone.”
Yda sagged. “I know… But I’m not afraid of her! And… I think Papalymo would be more helpful right now than I am.”
“No no no!” Rinala assured her, snuggling closer. “We need you too! I-I like having you around, you make me braver.”
“Aww, thanks. All I can do is punch things, though. I can’t come up with clever plans to save the others…”
“That’s okay. We have Kekeniro – and Alphinaud I guess – to tell us what to do.” Fortunately Alphinaud was in the other room at that moment. “I’m not much good for anything besides healing, myself. But if you go punch things, I’ll keep you safe!”
“All right!” Yda said, smiling at last. “And I’ll make sure to punch anything that even looks at you. We’re a good team!”
“We are!” Rinala said, giggling a little.
“The Scions have a lot of badass ladies, don’t they?” R’nyath said to Tam.
“Mm,” was all Tam said.
Yda swatted in his general direction. “Flatterer!” But immediately she pulled back and thought about it. “Well, I guess you’re right, actually! What do you think, Rinala!”
“Y-yeah, there are!” Rinala blushed at having the temerity to include herself in the ‘badass’ descriptor. Healing people was vital, and she did her best in everything for the group, but she wouldn’t have called it ‘badass’. What a strange word, really. Would her mother be okay if she said it? Probably not. “But really everyone in the Scions is strong. We’re a very special group.”
“That’s absolutely right,” Yda said. “And as soon as Y’shtola gets back, we’ll go prove it to the Garleans. We should rest like Tam said so we’re ready to go.”
“I’m all excited now,” Rinala said, giggling. “I’ll try, though.”
“It’s a wonderful view,” Achiyo said, scanning the mountains surrounding Monument tower. “I’m afraid I can’t see Biggs from here, however…”
“Ugh, and it’s such a climb down to the bottom,” Chuchupa groused.
Tam took a step forward, and Achiyo saw that he was grinning. “I think I can make it.”
“Just because you Elezen are bloody tall-” Chuchupa began.
“Now what’s that supposed to-” Achiyo started.
“You can Raise me at the bottom if it doesn’t work. See ya!” Tam jumped.
Rinala screamed. “No! Tam!” She bolted for the stairs, Achiyo behind her. The two women skittered down the interminable stairs, past the startled knights partway and at the bottom, and out the front door, fully prepared to see a bloody crater in the snow, or a body of shattered bones. Wedge jumped to his feet as they dashed by, doing his little panic dance and following them cautiously.
Tam was leaning casually against the doorframe, smirking at them. “Sure, it stung a bit, but I’m still alive.”
Rinala shrieked. “Don’t do that again! I can’t Raise you if you’re a puddle! Tam no baka!” If he hadn’t broken his legs, she was going to do it for him, for scaring her!
Tam laughed heartily. “Come, everything is fine. Let’s go find Biggs!”
Chuchupa appeared in the door behind them, bending over and wheezing. “Damn dragoons…”
The walls of Castrum Centri rose about them, tall and black and impenetrable. Rinala felt her heart pounding, felt her legs shaking in her stolen uniform. But she couldn’t look nervous, even though she was quite certain she couldn’t hide the fear in her eyes if anyone looked. Why, oh why had she been chosen for the team that would rescue Minfilia? She had R’nyath and Chuchupa with her, and Biggs and Wedge to operate the magitek Reapers now nicknamed Maggie and Wally, and yes, she was the only true healer on the team besides Y’shtola who had her own part in the plan, and Minfilia and company might need a healer, but of all things she hated, she hated sneaking and subterfuge the most. It wasn’t fighting – true, she didn’t like fighting, but that was for different reasons – it wasn’t diplomacy, it was the most terrifying thing in the world for her. She wished she’d been allowed to go with Y’shtola and Yda, Yda wasn’t the least interested in subterfuge. And she quite felt for them as she would for sisters, she wouldn’t have been nearly as scared then. But Tam and Kekeniro had been assigned to do that.
The other Imperial soldiers weren’t currently taking the least notice of them, but surely that was only a matter of time. She was going to go hysterical before ever they found Minfilia and the others, and bit her lip urgently. She wanted to bite her fingers instead, to block the mirthless giggles she could feel rising inside her, but that would attract too much attention. Was her tail twitching again? Would that thing ever behave!? And her ears! Oh, Twelve preserve her, because she certainly couldn’t…
And she had a hope, and a fear, that they might find Thancred here. Mayhap the reason the others hadn’t seen him yet was because he’d marked Minfilia’s capture and followed the Imperials, and was even now about to break them out himself. He would do that sort of thing all by himself! She… no, she didn’t doubt he could do it, but he didn’t have to do it alone. Baka.
Or mayhap he’d already tried, and failed, and been captured? They might not have heard anything about it from the communications. In any case, if anything she did managed to make things better for him, she’d go along with this insane plan.
The others didn’t seem too worried so far. Even Wedge, nervous Wedge, seemed quite in control, at least while he was in Maggie’s driver’s seat. And R’nyath seemed to think this was fun. She herself would find it fun when they could all meet at the Seventh Heaven in Revenant’s Toll and laugh about it later. Where was Minfilia?
Minfilia, Urianger, Papalymo, and Tataru released from bondage and captivity, they raced for the southern exit, where Achiyo, Cid, and Alphinaud would be waiting for them. The entire Castrum was rousing against them, and now she did giggle hysterically, almost sobbing, casting off her useless Imperial helmet, her useless Imperial uniform, lightening her load and allowing air to circulate under her Ul’dahn tunic against her overheated skin. R’nyath had also cast off his stolen uniform, and Chuchupa had abandoned at least her helmet, and they both laughed, though not out of nervous energy like she did. Together they sprinted, Tataru not least among them, and the gate was open, the gate was open!
And beyond was a cliff into a deep gorge, and the bridge across it was up. They were completely trapped. The Garlean soldiers slowed their advance, certain their prey was cornered. Yet surely they knew how dangerous the Scions were – they would not go back easily. Rinala tightened her hold on her staff, her nervous energy settling into battle focus. She’d defend Minfilia with everything she had.
The Imperial Centurion pointed his gunblade at them. “Take the leader! Kill the rest!” The other Imperials followed suit, and suddenly they were facing a firing line and she felt panic welling up again. How would she defend against this? Her shields weren’t that strong!
Just as the first gun fired, a white blur dashed in front of her, and Y’shtola spread her arms, generating a powerful blue aetheric shield around all of them. Bullets bounced off like marbles against rubber, and they inside were yet unharmed. “Y’shtola!” Rinala cried, and added her aether to hers, strengthening the shield further. Thank the Twelve!
“Y’shtola!” Minfilia also cried, when they could hear again, relief in her voice.
“Pray forgive us our delay!” Y’shtola answered, dropping the shield as the soldiers gave up shooting.
A soldier was charging at her while her back was turned, but then Yda was there in a flash, punching him away. “Papalymo! Minfilia!”
“Yda!” Minfilia cried.
“What took you so long!?” exclaimed the less sentimental Papalymo.
“Well, it’s nice to see you too!” Yda teased.
The soldiers were rushing at them, attacking piecemeal, but they wouldn’t be able to hold for long. Papalymo blasted one behind Yda, and Tam dropped down from the very sky and impaled another one in the leg. And yes, there was Kekeniro’s Garuda-egi, blasting lacerating winds at a third. But in the gates of the castrum were a hundred more, under the watchful eye of the white tribunus.
“The reunion must wait,” Y’shtola said.
“Right, first things first!” Yda agreed.
“Aye, let’s cut through these fools!” Chuchupa said, hefting her axe, grinning maniacally. Surely she didn’t mean to face the entire army? But Tam was grinning too… oh dear.
“Yes, let’s get back to being heavily outnumbered,” sighed Papalymo. They were going to have to fight. There was no way around it. She wondered if she should switch to black magic, wondered if she would be able to hold her own in the coming violence… She didn’t want to kill, but if she had no choice she’d fight for her life and the lives of her friends!
There was screaming from inside the castrum somewhere, and Wedge and Biggs came charging out on their Reapers, leaping over the heads of the soldiers and landing heavily between the Imperials and the Scions. They jumped out, looking back as if afraid their rides would explode.
“We could have used those,” Kekeniro pointed out mildly, flipping through his spellbook. “Let’s see. Y’shtola, Rinala, we’re going to need a very strong Protect to even have a chance at-”
“This is Cid!” came a voice on their linkpearls. “Can you hear me!? I need you to count to five, then jump! Understood!?”
“No, I don’t understand!” wailed Rinala. “Jump off the cliff!?”
R’nyath took her hand. “It’ll be okay! Just stick close to me!”
“One…” Kekeniro began to count. “Two… three… four… five!”
Rinala screamed as R’nyath pulled her off the cliff with him, with the others, then yelped suddenly as she bounced on something soft and leathery and blue – the Enterprise’s main balloon! They slid down the sloped surface to the back, where R’nyath grabbed the edge and neatly swung them both onto the main deck. The others had no trouble following suit, even Kekeniro, who had once professed that acrobatics were one of his least favourite things to execute. And there was Achiyo, and Alphinaud, and Cid was at the helm. Oh, they were safe! And she could sit against the siderail and just breathe, just relax for the first time since this mission had been detailed. Thank the Twelve, thank the Twelve, thank the Twelve, everyone is alive.
But, now that she recovered herself, Thancred was still missing… He had not been in the castrum at all… Where in Eorzea could he be?
A green bolt of aether sliced through the sky just beneath the hull of the Enterprise, blasting out into the sky ahead of them, and Cid gasped and banked sharply. “What in the seven hells-!?”
His turn brought them back over the castrum, and looking down, Rinala beheld the giant primal-slaying machine with wide eyes. “Oh no…” Alphinaud said softly. “It’s here!”
“Twelve preserve us,” Minfilia said. “They finished it – they finished Ultima Weapon.”
“So it has a name,” Alphinaud said.
Minfilia glanced at Urianger, and commenced an explanation. “It is a relic of ancient Allag, excavated from its resting place deep beneath Ala Mhigo. The Allagans used it to crush primal and foe alike… and now the Garleans mean to do the same!”
“Damn you, Gaius!” Cid growled.
Alphinaud pointed suddenly. “Look! There, beside the Black Wolf! An Ascian! An overlord, no less.” Rinala scrambled to her feet and looked – there was a man in black robes, a frighteningly familiar sight. She remembered the one she had fought at Thancred’s side.
“His robes are certainly fancy enough for that,” Tam said. “But he has a different glowing mask than the one we fought, Yda, Papalymo.”
“Lahabrea!” Minfilia said. “It could only be him.”
The Ascian looked up and saw their pale, anxious faces, then bent to remove his hood and mask. And Rinala cried out, her heart stopping – under the hood was a heart-breakingly familiar fluffy white mop of hair over dark eyes. Thancred seemed to chuckle at their reaction, then turned away as if they were completely unimportant – as if he truly didn’t care! No, what was going on!?
“He was Lahabrea…?” Minfilia said. “No… No, this cannot be!”
Ultima Weapon was charging another shot in its claw. “We have to go now!” Cid cried. “Hang on!” The Enterprise banked again, and began to pick up speed, away from the castrum. Away from Thancred.
“No!” Rinala cried, reaching out to Thancred. She had to- She had to get to him- Tam grabbed her, just before she tried to climb over the rail. “No, please – Thancred-”
“Thancred!” Minfilia called, despairingly, and Rinala’s heart echoed her.
It was a silent group that sat upon the Enterprise’s deck ten minutes later, heading south to Vesper Bay – or wherever Cid had decided to go, Rinala didn’t know or care. She was lying curled in a miserable ball, with her head in Yda’s lap, weeping silently.
Even if she’d managed to land in the castrum without dying from the fall – she was no dragoon, she couldn’t ride the wind – what would she have done? Even if Ultima didn’t step on her, or Gaius shoot her, what could she have done for Thancred? What could she have said? If he’d truly been an Ascian – a traitor all this time… If he really didn’t care about any of them… about her… She would have been helpless, and mayhap he would have killed her. Though in that moment, to die at the hand of the one she loved didn’t seem like such a bad fate…
She hardly heard as Alphinaud began to speak – first to blame himself, then to try to plan their next move. Minfilia suddenly received a call on her linkpearl, and excused herself to take it.
There was hope and determination in Alphinaud’s voice now, and she roused herself to listen. “The situation may have taken an ill turn… But the battle is far from over. And so long as we stand together, there shall ever be hope of victory. The people of Eorzea falter for want of such hope. Let us provide it. Let us bear to them the tidings that the Scions of the Seventh Dawn are returned!”
That was true, she mused. Despite her personal heartbreak, they’d rescued four people they’d thought lost, four precious people, and that was something good. She sat up and tried to recover her focus.
“Matters are coming to a head,” Alphinaud said, looking at them all in turn. “I hope we can count on you.”
Minfilia finished her call. “I am ready. Let us pay a visit to the council of Alliance leadership.”
Back in Vesper Bay, in the Waking Sands, they convened in Minfilia’s office. Wedge hurried to light the lamps, while Biggs and R’nyath and Yda rushed to put the rest of the room in order. Rinala went with Wedge, who pulled her sleeve and whispered: “What do you think, Rinala? Was she impressed? Do you think she might consider… you know…” He glanced at Tataru, who was simply looking around with her usual sweet expression.
“I hope so,” Rinala said, managing a smile. Wedge’s crush on Tataru was very cute, and it brought her some happiness amid her own sorrow.
Minfilia, looking around at them all as they finished their ministrations to the room, beckoned them close and smiled. “I cannot well express my relief. To think that the Alliance came so close to surrender…”
Cid nodded. “But the fire in their hearts has been rekindled, and now they will fight to the last.”
“I would know something – was that your power at work earlier?” Alphinaud asked.
“Nothing of the sort,” Minfilia said, smiling. “The leaders of Eorzea had lost their way – I merely helped them to find it again.” Her hand went to her ear – another call on her linkpearl. “Oh, hello! …Yes, we have returned. How close are you?”
‘At the door’ was evidently the answer, for she went out, saying to Cid as she passed, “It’s all right.”
“We must needs plan our next move,” Alphinaud said as she opened the door, speaking to someone out in the hall. “Pray continue liaising with your respective nations. Cid, would you be our man in Ul’dah?”
“I’ll be whatever and wherever you need me to be!” Cid answered enthusiastically.
Minfilia had returned already, bearing a small bundle – the call had been from a courier, perhaps? “Thancred’s fate weighs heavy on my mind. I cannot bear to think of him in thrall to an Ascian.”
Rinala blinked, her tail standing to attention. “Wait, what?”
Minfilia looked at her reassuringly. “Mayhap you know this already, but the Ascians are immortal beings without physical form. Since time immemorial, they have fanned the flames of chaos from the shadows. That they might work unseen, the Ascians entrap and possess mortal men by means of malign artifacts known as Crystals of Darkness.”
“That’s an incredibly dull name,” Tam said. “What if you need to use that name for another set of artifacts? A more significant set?”
“Could always call the new set Crystals of Shadow, or summat,” Chuchupa said.
“Please take this seriously,” Achiyo scolded them. “I’m sorry, Minfilia.”
Minfilia shook her head. “It’s quite all right. I know they only jest.”
“So you’re saying Thancred isn’t a traitor?” Rinala said in a tiny voice, hardly daring to hope. “He’s still there, inside, mayhap?”
Minfilia nodded. “One such Crystal may yet be the key to saving Thancred.” She unwrapped the package and held out a large indigo-purple crystal.
“This is a Crystal of Darkness?” Alphinaud asked, frowning at it cautiously.
“A mere replica,” Y’shtola assured him. “Created using data obtained from anomalous crystals found across Eorzea.”
“It comes to us courtesy of the Students of Baldesion, our distant allies,” Minfilia said, laying it on the desk. “Even for an Archon, Thancred’s talents are exceptional. We all had complete confidence in him. It was for this reason that none among us foresaw the danger in sending him to investigate the Ascians alone.”
Tam snorted softly, but said nothing. Rinala kicked him again and he elbowed her gently back.
“Thancred had been striving to fill the void left by Louisoix,” Papalymo said. “Yet it was plain, in hindsight, that he was overtaxing himself.”
She’d seen it. Hadn’t she seen it? But he himself had put her off with reassurances that he was fine. Oh, if only she hadn’t listened!
“Yes, he would volunteer for everything and work till he was dizzy,” Yda said sadly.
“And the toll taken by his exertions made him more vulnerable to Ascian influence…” Alphinaud said.
Minfilia nodded. “The Crystal that binds Thancred must be somewhere on his person. If we could but destroy it, his Ascian possessor would be compelled to relinquish control over him.”
“So he can be saved,” Rinala said softly, hope truly blooming within her with sudden warmth. She stepped closer and took another look at the Crystal on the desk. “I… I think I saw Thancred with a necklace of black crystal, once… I forget when, but he did not want me to touch it, I think. It was not like this, though – it was black, like obsidian. Might that be it?”
“I think you have the right of it,” Minfilia said.
Tam patted her head. “Trust our little catgirl to notice such a thing! Well done.”
She swatted his hand away and fixed her hair. “It did not seem like a big thing at the time.”
Minfilia smiled even more broadly, gesturing to all the newest Scions. “You have all proven the stoutest of allies, standing with us through thick and thin. Yet the most perilous struggle is still to come. For the sake of the realm – and Thancred – I ask that you lend us your strength once more.”
“Yes, yes, I am with you,” Rinala assured her.
“You have my blade,” Achiyo said, bowing formally in the Hingan style.
“I’ve nothing better to do,” Tam said.
Chuchupa chuckled. “Me either. And I suppose ye’ve grown on me, ye and yer foolhardy heroism. ‘Tis nice havin’ folk look up to me like that.”
“I’m not leaving!” R’nyath cried. “My bow is yours!”
“And I as well,” Kekeniro said.
For a moment, it looked like Minfilia was going to cry. “I thank you. From the bottom of my heart.” After a moment to collect herself, she continued, a merry gleam in her eye. “As I am sure you are aware, the realm was saved from certain doom five years ago by the Warriors of Light. What you may not be aware of is that your many feats in service to the Scions have prompted folk to make certain… comparisons. I must confess, you do remind me of them. Yet remember this: however glorious the past, it is the hero’s lot to be judged on the deeds of the present. A new darkness threatens the realm, and the people cry out for saviors. I believe that you are they – Warriors of Light all, here in the present, guided by the Crystal’s will.”
“That’s a great honour,” Kekeniro said softly, and bowed deeply. “Thank you.”
“I feel that’s going a little far,” Chuchupa said. “Let’s not jump overboard now.”
“If they say it, I’m not going to stop them!” R’nyath said. “But thank you, Minfilia.”
The Antecedent laughed at them all. “Come, my friends! Let us fight to safeguard the future of our beloved Eorzea!”
As they waited for the Grand Companies to assemble, Rinala found herself sitting with Wedge in the common room. “Is everything okay?”
He turned to her with a plaintive look behind his odd goggles. “She hasn’t said a word to me since the rescue. Was it all for nothing!?”
“No, of course not!” Rinala assured him, though mayhap she was not the best person to reassure him – her own efforts to gain Thancred’s attention and affection might be completely in vain, if they could not save him. No, they would certainly save him! “You were so very brave, and you did free her! But you saw how she rushed to get her paperwork in order as soon as the meeting was over, right?”
“That’s true, she works very hard,” Wedge said, considering. “And she probably wants to be busy to keep her mind off her ordeal in captivity. Did you know one of the guards fell in love with her? I don’t blame him, but I really hope he didn’t bother her.”
“I hope so too,” Rinala said. “Maybe once she’s settled into her work a little, you should go and ask how she’s doing. Or maybe bring her some tea, before we all have to go and fight again.”
“That’s an idea!” Wedge said. “I’ll do it.”
Tam was sitting on the front step of the Waking Sands, watching the quiet movement of Immortal Flame soldiers through Vesper Bay, sniffing the late-afternoon sea-breeze. He really wasn’t fond of the sea, but as long as he didn’t have to go in it, he didn’t mind it being there, being… salty, and fishy, and seaweedy. Mostly seaweedy from what he could smell.
Then he quirked his head curiously as a tall and vaguely familiar pair of warriors left the stream of soldiers and headed in his direction. “Well, well, look what the garlic dragged out of the sea.”
“What?” Vivienne snapped in confusion. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I don’t know,” Tam lied. “What’re you two doing here?”
“Nothing to do with you,” Vivienne retorted.
Aentfryn shook his head. “That is not true. Admiral Merlwyb suggested there was a mission fitting for our skills to be had from the Scions.”
“I suppose she’s not wrong,” Tam said. “Shall we go inform Alphinaud that we have eight instead of six to fight the Ultima Weapon?”
“Ultima Weapon?” Vivienne said softly.
“Sounds Allagan,” Aentfryn rumbled. “The scholars always do have to give their technology such melodramatic names.”
“A machine that devours primals…” Vivienne said. “I would not say it was so farfetched, myself. We’re all likely to die against it. You! Bastard!”
“Aye?” Tam drawled.
“Take us to your Antecedent. What are you waiting for?”
“Sniffing the sea air, hoping it won’t kill me,” Tam retorted. “It’s more likely than Ultima at this point.”
“What?” Aentfryn muttered to Vivienne.
“The strain has done him in,” he heard Vivienne say to Aentfryn as he began to head down the stairs. She probably didn’t realize what exceptionally good hearing he had. Tataru waved cheerfully at them all.
“Then it’s a good thing he’s only a dragoon,” Aentfryn answered. “We’ll leave the raising to the Miqo’te.”
Tam rolled his eyes and went to poke his head into Minfilia’s office. “Couple of tall, dark, annoying strangers to see you.”
Minfilia stared, frowning and blinking, for a good few seconds, before her expression cleared. “Ah! You must mean the two who aided you with Titan. Y’shtola mentioned they were involved. I am glad! Their strength will be a boon to you, especially in the fight against the Ultima Weapon.”
“Right.” The Echo protected against primals, could it possibly useful in a battle against a primal-powered machine? Nahhh. He opened the door wider to show Aentfryn and Vivienne inside.
“I’m so glad to see you!” Minfilia said. “I think you for your aid in this perilous time.”
“This doesn’t mean we’re becoming Scions,” Aentfryn said. “Only that you have found yet another battle we wish to join.”
I understand,” Minfilia said solemnly. “Welcome to Operation Archon. Tam, would you find Kekeniro to brief them on your group’s role in the mission? I believe Alphinaud is out coordinating with General Aldynn…”
An hour later, and Rinala was double-checking her equipment, both her white mage and her black mage staves, her potions and elixers, snacks to keep her physical energy up, when she heard a doleful sigh behind her and saw Wedge sitting on a box with his chin in his hands. “Tataru… I suppose it wasn’t meant to be…”
“Wedge,” she demanded. “Did you go give her tea like I suggested?”
“I can’t find a teapot!” Wedge protested. “Anything that could be used to boil water is smashed or dented!”
“Don’t give up so easily!” Rinala scolded, tail standing up in determination. “You can’t just abandon your feelings!”
“But…” Wedge wailed. “But it’s scaryyyy!”
“I know,” she said, reassuringly. “It really is. But we have to try, because it will be worth it if they return our feelings, right?”
Wedge looked at her, mouth hanging open in an exaggerated expression of surprise. “You- you’re in love with someone too?”
She nodded vigourously, blushing. He hadn’t noticed? Everyone else noticed! Oh well, they were friends now. She hadn’t expected it, but it was happening. “So I’ll support you, because I know what it feels like!”
“Th-th-thank you,” Wedge stammered. “So… um… what do I do now?”
“I’m not sure,” she said. “It’s too late to make tea, we’re leaving in five minutes. And going to talk to her now might look a little desperate… But on the other hand, don’t you want to talk to her?” If she’d had to leave Thancred in five minutes, she’d definitely seek him out first!
Wedge shrank into himself. “N-not really… What would I talk about?”
“Ummm…” It was hard to think of something, because Wedge and Tataru weren’t already friends like Thancred and she were. “Just ask if she’s okay, and tell her that you’ll be back soon?”
“What if she doesn’t remember meee?”
“Tataru remembers everyone! It’s okay. Quick, go, before Cid comes to round us up.”
Wedge went, but he only got about five steps before he turned around and went scurrying back to his box. “No! I can’t. It’s too scary. And I ought to focus on the mission. The boss needs us at peak capacity.”
“Okay,” Rinala said. She wanted to push him, in case he regretted it later, but that would be mean, to force him to do something he really didn’t want to do. And forcing him meant it wouldn’t really be him talking to Tataru. They’d have to work hard so that he had the chance later! “Let’s focus, then!”
Now all eight of the adventurer warriors had broken in to Cape Westwind, to confront the newly arrived Tribunus Rhitahtyn, the only Roegadyn tribunus in the Empire currently. While the Flame detachment raised hell outside the fortress, the Imperials were spread too thin to prevent the Scions from walking in with minimal fighting – for now. They had to take him out before he could call for reinforcements from Castrum Marinum.
He was easy to spot, once they’d fought through the guard to the inmost gate of Cape Westwind – a Roegadyn in heavy, ornate armour, black with gold trim, and huge shields built into his arm guards. With him was a small platoon of Garlean soldiers, who jumped to see rag-tag adventurers within their walls unopposed.
Though his expression was invisible under his heavy helmet, the tribunus did not sound surprised to see them, nor did he immediately order his men to attack. “It would appear we have unexpected guests. Now, where have I seen you before? Ah, but of course – the heroes who felled the mighty Titan.”
The soldiers with him started and stepped back. “The eikon-slayers!?”
“That’s us!” R’nyath said cheerfully. “Heya!”
“I see,” Rhitahtyn said. “The commotion without is naught but a diversion. Allow me to hazard a guess: by eliminating me, you hope to undermine the garrison at Occidens.”
“That is correct,” Aentfryn said. “You are as cunning as they said.”
Rhitahtyn tilted his head curiously. “A bold strategy, to be sure, but have you the strength to see it to fruition?” He gestured to the soldier next to him, who saluted.
“Sir!”
“Send word to Castrum Occidens. Tell them the Lominsans are coming.”
“At once, my lord!” The man ran off and was behind a wall before R’nyath could shoot him.
Rhitahtyn paced towards them slowly, his guards waiting behind him. “Fifteen years have come and gone since Lord van Baelsar first set foot in Eorzea, yet his ambition for the realm burns as strong as ever it did. Know you what fuels it, adventurers? The desire to deliver the people from their suffering. The lands he has conquered were all beset with problems – poverty, starvation, lawlessness, and strife. My homeland was no exception. Had my lord not reached out and claimed it for the Empire, it would eventually have destroyed itself. But under his sage leadership, my people enjoyed such peace and stability as we had never known. And he only desires the selfsame for the people of this realm. Under his rule, Eorzea would be free from the shackles which bind it – the shackles of false faith. There would be no feeble leaders to misguide the masses, no eikons to bleed the realm dry. True peace would reign, and the people would be free to live their lives without fear of persecution or oppression.”
“That’s a lie,” Achiyo hissed, and Rinala drew back from her sudden vehemence. “You lie!”
Rhitahtyn spread his arms. “Should you doubt the truth of my words, I bid you look upon me. I am no son of Garlemald, yet Lord van Baelsar saw fit to raise me to a station of great honour. He measures a man not by his birth, but by his worth. Such is his sense of justice. By the grace of His Excellency, I am where I was born to be – upon the field of battle. He has given me a noble cause to fight for, and worthy adversaries to smite.”
“Certainly,” Achiyo said, colder than the Ishgardian icicles, and Rinala stared – she had never seen Achiyo like this before. “But Lord van Baelsar is but one man in all the great devouring machine that is your Empire, and he does not personally rule everywhere. I do not know your homeland. But I have seen the ‘peace’ and ‘stability’ you claim, and I tell you it is a lie! Have you spoken to the smallfolk of such conquered realms? Have you looked into their eyes and seen aught but fear and resignation? Starvation and punishment labour and misery is their lot! Free from fear of persecution or oppression, you say! You may have been treated with honour, but you are one man plucked from thousands of silenced voices, and you say ‘there is nothing to hear’! By the kami! You are blinded and sheltered from the truth!”
The Roegadyn hesitated only for a moment. “I do not know where you have traveled, adventurer, but such words only describe a new province in the Empire, one which has not accepted their new identity and seen their accompanying prosperity awaken. But enough! It is plain neither of us shall conquer with words. I am not wont to bare my steel needlessly. But if you are deaf to reason… In the name of Lord van Baelsar, I, Rhitahtyn sas Arvina, do swear to strike you down!”
“And I, Kensaki no Achiyo daughter of Kensaki no Tamehiro, do swear to strike you down in the name of the free peoples of Eorzea!” Achiyo brought her sword and shield together with a gleam of light, calling upon her Sword Oath, and sprang forward, charging to meet the gun-augmented shields of Rhitahtyn.
By Menphina, where had Achiyo been? Were things really so bad in Hingashi?
“Fight with care!” Rhitahtyn advised his men, before Achiyo could cover the distance between them. “Individually, you are no match for them. Watch each other, exploit any weakness you find, and we shall prevail!”
“Chuchupa- oh, you’re going with her. Rinala, keep an eye on them, would you?” Kekeniro gestured with a shimmering swirl of aether, and a new summon appeared, Titan-egi. “Everyone else, let’s get ready for these soldiers!” For the small platoon of soldiers who had been with Rhitahtyn when they came upon him were rushing at them now, shouting a desperate warcry.
All they had to do was to slay the Roegadyn. They didn’t have to kill all the soldiers. Rinala cast a protect upon Achiyo and Chuchupa, as Aentfryn cast one on everyone else, and immediately had to squeak and cast a Cure 2 on Achiyo as she was struck in the face by one of Rhitahtyn’s shields.
That seemed to shake the recklessness out of Achiyo, and now as Rinala watched, she seemed to be fighting with something closer to her usual grace and care. It still wasn’t perfect, but she circled the much-larger man more warily, darting in with her sword to strike at a weak point. She had mastered her anger now, from what Rinala could see, but her passion was still plain, as she wove around Rhitahtyn’s blows, Chuchupa bobbing around the Roegadyn’s feet as she did the same. Rhitahtyn drew back from the Lalafell, unwilling to get his knees broken.
Oh Menphina, the screams of injured and dying men made her flinch. She did not hear the voices of her friends yet, but she was tense as a bowstring waiting for them. She saw a pair of soldiers heading in her direction – she had no choice but ducked behind Titan-egi as she cast Stone at them. She couldn’t get attacked, she had to focus on Achiyo and Chuchupa!
Chuchupa finally delivered a kick to Rhitahtyn’s side that made him flinch, some of his armour falling askew. Rinala’s eyes brightened with hope; then she cried out in fear as Rhitahtyn punched her back, crushing her to the ground with a spray of blood. Rinala frantically cast Cure 2 after Cure 2, and Achiyo was between Rhitahtyn and her fallen comrade, weathering terrible punishing blows on her shield. There was a horrible set of sounds as Chuchupa finally recovered herself and rolled out of danger, and Achiyo’s eyes were blazing with anger and pain as her half-crumpled shield fell to her side, her arm shattered. More Cure 2! She was beginning to feel drained, and prayed that they would not come to further hurt before they- before they-
Achiyo dropped her useless shield, taking her sword in both hands. As Rhitahtyn swung his wall of a shield at her, she leapt up and over it, and her silver blade stabbed through Rhitahtyn’s upper chest where his armour had been knocked away. He staggered back, falling to the ground with the small Au Ra half on top of him. His voice had begun a cry of denial but halfway through it faded abruptly – his lung must have been pierced.
Achiyo pulled away as his head fell back, and the noise around them faded as the Garlean soldiers realized their leader had been struck down. As one, they turned and fled.
The adventurers collected themselves, breathing hard. Vivienne strode over to inspect Rhitahtyn’s body, but he had ceased to breathe – Achiyo had indeed struck his deathblow.
“One more thing,” Kekeniro’s voice was quiet in the sea breeze. “We must destroy this transporter to prevent the Imperials from leaving Castrum Marinum by this route.”
Vivienne swung her massive sword, hacking away at the huge ring of metal that stood at the cliff’s edge, until something gave and a blast of red aether erupted into the air before fading. “That should do it.”
Rinala clutched her staff, blinking in the twilight, wondering if it was all right to feel sorry for Rhitahtyn. He hadn’t seemed evil, like the woman who attacked the Scions… but he was still their enemy. Her heart was still too soft. She couldn’t let her conviction waver, not now, not when they were so close to driving the Garleans from Eorzea entirely! She had to remind herself that was what was truly important – and for that, she was willing to fight with all her strength.
She jumped as the linkpearl in her ear went off, and apparently it was a group call to all of them, for all eight of them put a hand to their ear to connect the call.
“’Tis I!” came Cid’s voice through the linkpearl. “It seems you’ve done it again! I’d raise a tankard to you, but I’m afraid we’ve no time to savour the victory. There’s still the small matter of infiltrating Castrum Meridianum and destroying the Ultima Weapon!”
“Just a teensy issue, huh?” R’nyath said, laughing. “Would you like tea with that?”
Cid chuckled back. “I know, I know – no rest for the preternaturally gifted. Now stop feeling sorry for yourself, and make your way back to the Immortal Flames’ encampment. I’ll be waiting for you with the main host.”