I’m sure Master Kamui is intended to be the ‘harmless old perv’ archetype, but I’m in no mood to be merciful to him today : P

I made an outline for the rest of 4.0! Should be complete in roughly 8 chapters, including this one. Maybe fewer tbh. This one was not super inspiring to me so my apologies if it seems kind of bleh. That’s why it took so long for its short length…

Chapter 55: The Land of Dead Hope

 

Chapter 56: The Second Duel

Oboro had taken Jacke, Tsubame, and Rinala to visit an old master of his village, who lived high in the mountains. But Master Kamui immediately sent the men away again, to hunt beasts to turn into medicine for him, while inviting ‘the little swallow and the kitty-cat’ to remain behind. Rinala would just as well have gone hunting too, but Tsubame had shot her an anxious look, and so she stayed. Jacke and Oboro departed again, Jacke grumbling irritably the whole way. “Enlightenment, my arse! This old coot’s a real piece o’ work…”

Now they sat in the grass at Master Kamui’s feet as he rested on his rock, surrounded by vibrant pink plum blossoms. Which was weird because in the valleys below, scarlet and brown leaves were falling from the trees. “They say that the plum blossoms have been in bloom here since before the dawn of time,” Tsubame murmured to Rinala, catching her gaze.

That was… nice? She guessed? How did new trees grow then, though? It didn’t really matter, though. It was pretty, but she was not really in the mood to enjoy it.

Despite his supposedly-aching back, the master got them tea and chattered at them about his life. Rinala wasn’t sure what to make of him – whether he really was a creepy old man, or whether he was a sentimental old man who just enjoyed having pretty girls around. Tsubame joined in the conversation with an artificially bright tone, laughing too much and making inane comments, and Rinala tried to imitate her. If only to protect her from taking the entire brunt of the old man’s attention.

She tried to think of it as a game. ‘Keep the target occupied until back-up arrives’. Something Thancred would do, as an expert in undercover operations, information gathering, and seduction. But Thancred was far away, dealing with things in Ala Mhigo, or whatever it was he was doing. Even if she told him this story, he probably wouldn’t care like he used to. She’d be lucky to get an absent-minded headpat out of it.

No – she wasn’t doing this for his approval. She was doing this because it was important to her friends who were right here with her. And she needed to focus. Achiyo and Kekeniro were running the Scions all over the country trying to determine where the Imperial forces were most concentrated, and Rinala and everyone was doing their best on little food and less sleep.

“Why, you should have a spot of meditation right here,” Master Kamui was rambling. “A good meditation leading into a nice nap is very good for you! Come, come, I’ll rub your shoulders for you…”

Never mind, he was a creepy old man. Tsubame tittered behind a demure hand. “Master Kamui, you forget yourself!” Rinala also giggled behind her hand, if only so that Master Kamui wouldn’t see how grossed-out she was.

“Come now, my little swallow. It’s the only path to true enlightenment!”

“I have returned,” Oboro announced loudly. “I bear the ingredients for the medicine, Master Kamui. Captain Jacke stayed below to… keep watch.”

Master Kamui bounced up. “Ohohoho! My favourite medicine – never fails to put a spring in an old man’s step.”

“But Master Kamui, we have not begun to boil the-” Oboro began, staring, then cut himself off and bowed politely. “Forgive me. What I mean to say is, it warms my heart to see you well.”

Master Kamui now readily agreed to tell the tale of Sasuke, and why this Hanzo from Hingashi might hate him. “Thank you, Master Kamui,” Oboro said. “This has proved more enlightening beyond my wildest hopes.”

“Glad to hear it, boy – but don’t think I’ll take kindly to you interrupting my blissful enlightenment again,” Master Kamui said, and turned to Tsubame and Rinala, reaching out to touch their cheeks. “As for you, my little swallow, you’re welcome to come back any time. You too, sweet kitty from afar – don’t be a stranger!”

“I’ll probably go back to Eorzea when we finish the mission,” Rinala said, unable to bear giving the old man even a little hope of seeing her again. Then, equally unable to bear sounding even a tiny bit rude, added: “But thank you for the tea! And the story! Your home is beautiful!”

A pair of falcons touched down at the other end of the pond. “Sorry to interrupt yer lecherous prittle prattle, but the princess here’s got news to share – an’ I’m afraid it ain’t of the good variety,” Jacke called, and Princess Yuki jogged forward to meet them.

“Oboro, we must move quickly!” she cried. “Our men afield have reported that the Kagekakushi clan musters their forces in full, and means to march on Doma!”

“…No doubt Hanzo has figured out where the other half of the scroll lies,” Oboro said, leading the group away from the dreamily-waving Master Kamui. “There is no time to lose. We must return at once and prepare to defend the village.”

“They’re bold to come into Imperial-occupied Doma in force,” Rinala said. “We should tell Kekeniro.”

“You think we could lead them into battle with the Imperials?” Tsubame said, and shook her head. “They are clearly equally skilled to us. The Imperials will not notice a thing.”

“I bet Kekeniro could arrange something,” Rinala muttered loyally, mounting the falcon.

 

Yugiri ran up the slope in Castrum Fluminis to where the abducted villagers were gathered in a sad huddle, followed closely by Achiyo, Vivienne, R’nyath, and Aentfryn, the last still awkwardly shedding pieces of Imperial uniform. “Listen to me, all of you!” Yugiri cried. “We have dealt with the Imperials for now, but you must flee this place, quickly!”

The villagers looked up, but none of them moved. Most of them looked horrified. “D-dealt with them?” exclaimed one man. “Oh… oh no… you didn’t kill them, did you?”

Vivienne’s lip curled inside her helmet. She had had it strongly impressed upon her that any loss of Imperial life was a misstep in this operation, so she had not so much as unsheathed her sword. So they hadn’t killed anyone, only knocked them out with Yugiri’s shinobi drugs. Why weren’t they running? Could they not just disappear back into the villages? Maybe the Empire still had lists of people they wanted to abduct, but it would still take them time to do it again, and every moment of freedom was another moment of tacit defiance.

“Are you mad!?” cried a woman. “There’s no escaping the Empire! Running will only make it worse!”

“To stay is to die. You know this to be true.” Yugiri waved her arms at them desperately. “Even if you lack the will to fight, surely you have the will to live! Or has that, too, been beaten out of you? Is this what has become of Doma!?”

“Hear,” Vivienne said dourly. Cooperating with the Empire would not make it lenient, only emboldened. No one was getting a pat on the head for tying themselves in knots. After twenty-five years of it, she would have thought they would have figured that out by now.

Isse stood up, trembling with emotions. “You are Lord Hien’s retainer? Trained to fight without fear and obey without question? Well, we’re not! We’re lost and afraid! We hate this – all of this – but we can’t do a damn thing to change it! And trying will only make it worse. It’s a pathetic existence… but it’s all we’ve got. And when people like you come here pretending it can be different, it- it doesn’t help, all right!?”

An old man beside him with two black eyes put a hand on his shoulder. “Peace, boy. Peace. She came to help, and for that we should be grateful.” Isse turned away and looked at the ground.

Yugiri looked grieved. “Elder, your face…”

The old man reached up to touch his bruises gingerly. Eos came to him and touched his face gently, and it began to heal. “We all have scars. Some too many to bear. Too many battles, too much lost. Our friends, our family, even our liege. We who survive are forced to bend the knee – to sell our souls and surrender our dignity. How are we to lift our heads when this shame weighs so heavily upon us? Your courage, your resolve… They are as salt in our wounds.”

Yugiri bowed her head, and Vivienne heard her murmur: “If they only knew what you would do for them, my lord…” She looked up at them. “You have made your plight clear, and I shall impose my will no more. But know this, brothers and sisters of Doma. For all you have suffered – for all the horror and the ignominy – you are still here. You are still alive. My lord- My lord prays you value your life as highly as he does. As for me… I swear by all the kami in creation that I will free you from this torment. No matter the cost.”

“As do I,” Achiyo said. “But we wish no further harm nor anxiety to come to you, nor should you be shamed for what has happened to you. For now, please – go home and live your lives. If you cannot trust us nor hope with us, at least believe us that you will return safely this day.”

“…If the Imperials come for me, I will tell them we were tricked by Auri women,” said a Roegadyn man after a long pause.

“Tell them whatever you must to keep your loved ones safe,” Yugiri said quietly.

The villagers finally got up and trooped out, R’nyath and Aentfryn following them. Though with every guard between them and the gate incapacitated, there should be little danger for the moment…

Isse lingered, staring at Yugiri. “Why would you…? After everything…” He caught Vivienne’s helmeted gaze and bolted.

 

After cleaning up the mess they’d made of the Imperial sentries and their gear, the Warriors of Light and Yugiri returned to the House of the Fierce. Achiyo and Yugiri had had a long conversation by the banks of the One River, probably commiserating on being two non-Doman Raen women motivated to fight for Doma, but Vivienne had not been privy to it. They were already heading for the House of the Fierce when a new sound split the air and they saw a Garlean airship fly up the river.

“There you are!” Lyse cried as they emerged into the House of the Fierce, dripping wet from the secret entrance. It had still taken them several bells to get back. “What happened? Are the villagers all right?”

“W-we freed them, among with many others,” Yugiri said, and turned quickly. “Gosetsu – we spied an airship bound for the castle. Know you aught of it?”

Gosetsu nodded grimly. “Aye, that we do… The crown prince is come to Doma.”

“We suspect this is the result of recent events in Gyr Abania,” Alisaie said, gesturing up at Tam who stood behind her. “Tam’s thought is that: our recent defeat notwithstanding, there may be concern in Garlemald that subversive elements may be rallying in other provinces. Though Yotsuyu governs Doma, Zenos remains the province’s anointed viceroy – and it would seem he has come to assess the current situation in person.”

Yugiri’s face set in determination. “If Zenos is here, we must seize this opportunity and kill him.”

Alisaie shook her head. “Would that it were so simple, Lady Yugiri. You may recall that we encountered Zenos at Rhalgr’s Reach. We have seen firsthand what he can do. His power defies explanation. He faced the Alliance, the Resistance, and the Scions, and he defeated us all. We survived and learned from the experience, it is true – but if we are to defeat him, it will not be through simple opportunism. We will require a flawless plan.”

“What do you think, Husband, o maker of flawless plans?” Lilidi asked. “He’s not a primal, right? We can dogpile him.”

“Dogpiling is probably the wrong strategy,” Kekeniro called from further back, examining his semi-Allagan grimoire and doing mysterious arcane things to it. “We don’t want to do one at a time, that’s suicide – but he’s definitely got massive advantages over us either way, from what I understand. We want… a group large enough that he can’t deal with us all at once, but small enough we’re not getting in each other’s way like when we fought Xande. I wonder if we shouldn’t just try and get some artillery? No, that’s too slow, and his armour is sure to…” He trailed off, mumbling.

“Is this the right time, however?” Vivienne said. “Don’t get me wrong – I’ll be happy to go toe-to-toe with this arsehole. Let him try to kill me! But given the outcome in Gyr Abania, is this not the time to lie low until he’s gone? We’d seem to succeed better in our overall goal without intelligent leadership on the Imperial side butting in.”

“After all, our goal isn’t necessarily to kill him yet,” said Alisaie. “We must eventually, but Doma’s liberation need not require it now.”

“Should it not?” Achiyo argued. “Else he shall return and crush whatever gains we make, as he did in the last uprising. As he did in Gyr Abania.”

“Or we can use his appearance to our advantage in some other way,” R’nyath said. “…What that could be, I have no idea, haha.”

“But if he’s really good at strategy, then if we kill him, then the army would be way weaker, right?” Rinala said. “He’s scary, but it would be a big step forward, wouldn’t it?”

“It would. We know his strengths,” Yugiri argued. “A prodigious swordsman trained from childhood by the finest Imperial tutors, reputed to be without equal on the battlefield. Which is why we must not meet him there. Nay, we keep to the shadows – the domain of the shinobi. And thence we strike. You need only give me the chance.”

“Or me,” Achiyo said, her eyes hard. “I am no shinobi, but I have been training for this. I will make that training count.”

“I’m wi’ ye,” Chuchupa said. “Though I am gonna be honest: if he’s better’n Princess, he’s prob’ly better’n me.” She meant ‘definitely’, Vivienne thought, but she would not quibble aloud.

“Just because we know his strengths does not follow that we know his weaknesses,” Aentfryn said. “If he has any.”

“Everyone has some weakness, surely!” Lyse said.

Gosetsu shook his head. “I cannot condone this path, and had I known the Scions also were considering it, I would have spoken sooner. Were this but a matter of personal revenge, I would not presume to bar your path, for I myself crave that same vengeance. But to draw steel against the Emperor’s son is a grave decision, and one that will shape our nation’s future. Do not forget Lord Hien’s words, Yugiri! Even should you succeed, Zenos’s death will not win Doma her freedom – more likely her doom. Can we defend our people against the Emperor’s retribution? We few against a legion? Do not be a fool, child!”

Yugiri stepped up to him, eyes blazing. “What, that we should sheathe our swords if the people lack the will to fight!? I will not squander this opportunity! If we do naught, our master’s life is forfeit!” She dropped her gaze. “…Mayhap I am a fool with foolish dreams of a future that will never be. But I cannot – I will not forsake them!” She squared her shoulders… and turned to run from the House of the Fierce.

“Yugiri, wait!” Lyse cried, but Yugiri did not stop.

“…What now?” Alisaie asked in bewilderment.

“Aye, what now-” Vivienne began, looking at Achiyo, who was watching Yugiri, and lurched headlong into another damned Echo.

 

“At least I’ve still got all my teeth,” Percival said, looking weirdly proud of himself for the number of fresh bruises on his face. The Hyur and the Au Ra were leaving a small Doman village like to Namai; behind them Vivienne could see villagers picking up the wrecked remains of carts and market tables.

“The ‘fine art of Garlean manipulation’, hm?” Achiyo said sourly, as they marched on. “All you did was get yourself hurt.”

“Sometimes you can spin them so no one gets hurt,” he said. “But hey, no one got arrested.” He sighed. “Or worse. I’ve seen them outright maim and kill, for no more offence than you saw today. Stabbing, shooting, choking… there’s nothing they won’t stoop to.”

“But that’s… that’s wrong!” Achiyo cried, emotional with a youthful passion. “Kami, how can they do that!? It only makes everyone unhappy, it doesn’t make them work harder or… or anything!”

“Making them work harder isn’t the point for them,” he said. “It’s certainly not to make life better for anyone. It’s all to make them feel powerful, and nothing more.”

“But-” Achiyo struggled for words. “Why can they do that? Can’t we stop them? Can’t we appeal to their superiors? Or fight back somehow?”

Percival frowned at her. “What, you want to fight the empire by yourself? Liberate the nation just like that? You think they haven’t thought of that, that they haven’t tried?” Achiyo pressed her lips together unhappily, unable to object. He sighed. “Their superiors don’t care. Or are the ones who order them to do it. We can’t fix everyone’s problems, Twelve know I understand wanting to – but we can make life a little easier.”

“Is that why you came to the other end of the world?” Achiyo asked, angry. “To do chores for everyone suffering from oppression?”

He blinked – and turned his back to her silently. She froze, eyes wide in frightened realization. “Percival – I apologize-”

He strode off down the path and she had to trot to keep up.

 

The Echo skipped ahead. It was dusk, at a small dell beneath a grey limestone cliff. Percival sat down heavily in the dell with a sigh. “Achiyo…”

Achiyo threw herself to the ground in front of him, kneeling with her forehead nearly touching the ground. “Percival, I apologize. I spoke wrongly and I am very sorry for hurting you-”

“Wait- no- stop that,” he exclaimed, pushing her back up. “Don’t- don’t bow to me like I’m a… It’s okay. I mean I appreciate the… um… apology but not like that- Anyway don’t do that. I’m not a lord or something.”

“You are someone I respect,” Achiyo said, her voice quavering with the struggle of holding on to her emotions. “And I did not respect you. It is unforgivable-”

“Don’t be so dramatic,” he began. “Well. You’re a teenager. They’re dramatic. I forgive you.”

She seemed at a loss for words. “I…”

“What, you want me to still be mad at you?”

“…Maybe…”

“Why, for Azeyma’s sake?” He looked genuinely perplexed.

Achiyo couldn’t answer.

“Nobody’s perfect,” he said, and dumped out tentpoles from his pack. “Forget about it.”

The camp was made, a fire set up, and Percival stared into the flickering flames. “It’s true it doesn’t seem like we do a lot for the people here. Hells, we’re relying on them half the time to keep us alive with food and shelter. And why was it I could help Hiina, but not those folks? But we have freedoms that they don’t, that even the Garleans won’t take away, not yet – just because we’re insignificant. So we can’t liberate the country single-handed, or else we’ll cease to be insignificant. But we can be sneaky, and give the people hope right under the Garleans’ noses. What do people want more than dignity, and hope for a better tomorrow?”

“The indignities heaped upon them by the Imperials seem to preclude any real chance of either, no matter what we do,” Achiyo said quietly.

“That’s because you’ve grown up knowing what freedom is, adventurer’s freedom,” Percival said. “And you’ve grown up with the pride of a free adventurer, and the pride of your family, and your pride in your self-worth. We’ve had to struggle, sometimes, to get by, but even if sometimes we do things that are hard, and dangerous, and we don’t always have a choice about doing them, we do them with integrity.” He gave her a serious look. “You don’t have to accept what happens here on a daily basis. But you do have to pick your battles. I see your passion for justice, but if you try and stop every injustice you see, the Imperials will kill you faster than you can say ‘boo’.”

She bowed her head. “I understand.”

“They’ve arrested me like three times just for being a suspicious vagrant- okay, the third time I was actually being a pain in the rear, but it was just to help someone they were bullying. And that was a risk.”

“So what can I do?” she asked anxiously, turning pale. “How do I pick my battles?”

“Watch everything – without looking like you’re watching. Have plausible deniability for everything you do. You’ll probably be better at it than me – you’ve got a much more innocent look about you.” He gave her another glance. “Of course, your looks put you in danger in other ways. I keep worrying that we’ll run into some unscrupulous ranked Garlean and he decides he wants to assault you, armour or no armour.”

She sighed. “I cannot get away from that, can I. I had hoped wearing armour…”

“Sorry. The world’s shitty like that. At least if I’m there, my presence can mitigate the milder cases, and I’ll kill anyone who tries to put a hand on you – that you don’t kill first.”

“Won’t that mean we must flee again?” she asked. “With greater urgency, for the Imperials will not let us go for the death of one of their own. Hingashi had no cause to pursue us for murdering drunks. But the Empire…”

“It’s true,” he said. “So they better not touch you. I’m not leaving if we don’t have to. But I’m also not going to sit by and let something like that happen to you. Ever.”

 

Vivienne came out of the Echo and looked around at the present Scions. Yugiri was gone, of course… and so was Achiyo. She cursed under her breath. She had never known the woman to be anything but patient and calm… but there was a first time for everything. What was going through her mind right now? “Did Achiyo follow her?”

“I think so,” Alisaie said, gesturing to the door to the spring. “Perhaps it would be best to let them be for a while, to cool off.”

“No,” Vivienne snapped. “Neither of them are acting rationally right now. They’ve forgotten that we’re a godsdamned team. We have to find them.”

“What did you see?” Lyse asked anxiously. “A clue?”

“Achiyo’s wanted to fight the Imperials for at least a decade,” R’nyath said. “Besides beating up the locals for perceived slights, they beat up her not-dad when he tried to help people. He made himself a target to protect people.”

“So this is personal for her,” Rinala said, gulping. “And he told her not to get involved, back then, to protect her too. She must have just snapped.”

“Are you coming or not?” Vivienne called, heading to the door.

 

Achiyo caught up to Yugiri in a valley not far from the House of the Fierce. She’d had to move fast not to lose sight of the shinobi, because if she did, she’d never find her again. All these mountains and valleys in this part of the country, little ravines and woods – they hid folk from view unless they were rather close by.

Yugiri must have noticed her, but she did not stop until she reached a nondescript farm shed in what seemed the middle of nowhere. Around back were coops, and she opened one and found a hawk. She removed the message from its leg and read it, then looked up at Achiyo. “…Did Gosetsu send you to stop me?”

“No one sent me to do anything,” Achiyo said. “I followed you because you are right, though all the others deny it. They have not lived here. They do not understand.” Gosetsu, perhaps, had a point, that slaying the crown prince would only bring retribution… but the vengeful legions of the Empire would not have Zenos yae Galvus to lead them. They might find it harder than they expected to reconquer Doma without him.

“I am glad you do,” Yugiri said. “My plan is not as fanciful as they would have you believe.” She lifted the message sheet. “I received the crown prince’s itinerary from one of our spies in the castle. ‘Twould seem that Zenos has no desire to remain in Doma any longer than necessary. He wishes to inspect the Moon Gates this very eve. His impatience is to our advantage. He arrived without warning and gave Yotsuyu no time to prepare. The whole castle is in a state of upheaval. To avoid any delay, he has declined a full escort, and will be travelling with no more than a handful of soldiers. The kami could not have blessed us with more auspicious circumstances. I will kill him, Achiyo-dono. I will.”

The time of reckoning was at hand, wasn’t it? As she had reminded the others, Achiyo had been training for this for months. She did not want to die. Even after all her work, she did not know if it would be enough. Yet… Yugiri was right. There would be no better chance than this. And while any of the Warriors of Light would fight if asked, they should not be asked. This was not a primal. No one should have to be asked to fight Zenos. Yugiri had pledged, for the land she loved that was not even hers, and Achiyo felt likewise.

There had been another thought gradually growing in the back of her mind – that if she did not fight him, someday Aymeric might have to, if the Alliance continued to meet the Empire in pitched warfare. And that thought terrified her beyond belief. Aymeric’s chances were perhaps no worse than hers, for he was very skilled and very stubborn, but the thought of him losing – that precious, brave, compassionate life snuffed out, the light gone from his eyes, and his body crashing to the ground, 250 ponzes of useless dead weight, mere soulless meat and armour – she imagined it far too vividly and she would do anything to prevent it.

She looked up to face Yugiri head on. “Not alone.”

Yugiri’s brow furrowed, taking it for chiding. “I know the odds. I know what he is capable of, and that in an open confrontation, I will likely die. But if I do not – if I succeed, then countless lives will be saved. Doma, Ala Mhigo – everything will change! One life for that world is a price I would pay a thousand times over! …What? What is it? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“You misunderstand me,” Achiyo said firmly. She reached up to touch her breastplate, underneath which Aymeric’s ring hung on a silk cord. She loved him, she loved all her friends and her adopted family, and she knew she risked never returning to them, yet- this was something she must do. If Yugiri was correct, if they managed to do this, he would understand, even if her story ended here. Back where she started her career as a swordswoman… “I will fight at your side. For I love Doma too.”

Yugiri bowed fervently to her. “Thank you. Thank you. I… I cannot well express what this means to me. We have much to discuss, but we can do so on the way. Yuzuka Manor is some distance from here. We must hurry!”

 

Night was in its fullest reach as Yugiri and Achiyo stood on the rooftop, watching the road from the docks. Achiyo was not well-pleased to be on the rooftop, though she had been on rooftops before, but never with such a need to get to the ground quickly and safely as now. She wished Yugiri had left her below and simply signalled her when it was time to move.

Beside her, the shinobi was as a statue. Achiyo knew how to remain still and silent and conserve her energy, but Yugiri was far more skilled in this simple thing. She hardly seemed to breathe. The light of the slowly waning moon glimmered off her black hair and the scales of her tail.

She said two words. “He comes.” And vanished.

Achiyo ducked back into the window they had climbed out of to get on the roof. Yugiri might use ninja techniques to make her way silent and swift to the ground, but Achiyo could not. She raced through the abandoned building, down stairs and through doorways, until she stood in the courtyard. At the gate, she got right down onto her belly to keep her profile low, and put her head out for a careful look.

Zenos towered head and shoulders above everyone else in his party – eight or ten soldiers… and Yotsuyu, all dark blots against the night-shrouded land. The Roegadyn who seemed to follow Yotsuyu everywhere was not in evidence. They were coming at a steady march, forcing her to mince along in her geta to keep up. Why they had dragged her along, Achiyo did not know nor care. If the woman was collateral damage along with everyone else, so much the better for Doma, from what she had seen.

A dark shape – a soldier – at the back of the formation suddenly crumpled. His companion paused and looked to see what the sound of his death was… and followed him to the ground. Achiyo only saw a blur in the darkness before Zenos whirled, drawing one of his katana, and slashed, perfectly parrying Yugiri’s strike and sending her flying backwards to skid to a landing on the road. Achiyo jumped up, drawing her sword and shield, and stepped out to flank the group.

“Ambush!” screamed the Garlean squad leader, drawing his gunblade and pointing to give his orders.

“Shinobi!?” exclaimed Yotsuyu. “And me without my brute.”

The soldiers closed in protectively around Zenos and Yotsuyu, but he stepped away from them, closing in slowly on Yugiri where she crouched, ready to spring again. “How weak you are. Is this the sum of your hate?”

“This is only the beginning,” Yugiri murmured, and let out a war cry. “For Lord Kaien! For Doma!” Yet she did not attack. She was waiting for Achiyo, who was still too far behind.

She closed the distance, and the Garlean captain turned at the sound of her running footsteps too late before dying on her blade.

Zenos looked over his shoulder at her, then spoke in a bored tone to Yotsuyu. “Mayhap I shall test this new blade of yours. Let us hope it is to my liking, lest your misfortunes compound.” Yotsuyu looked like she was going to be ill. Zenos paused, considering his katana, and the two women who confronted him, and beckoned to Achiyo. “Then again, I am loath to expend such effort on the unworthy. Come – earn the honour.”

Achiyo charged in silence, her pulse thundering through her body. His games were meaningless to her. She had other things to focus on.

Yugiri was not silent. “Zenos yae Galvus! You will die by my hand!”

Zenos waved his remaining soldiers forward to block her, and turned to Achiyo, parrying her first attack effortlessly. “First you must kill my men. You can do that, can you not?”

For a moment, Achiyo considered switching with Yugiri. She could definitely take on multiple Imperial soldiers at once, and she was not sure that a shinobi could. Then she took Zenos’s blade on her shield, wincing at the shriek of metal on metal, and changed her mind. Yugiri was nimble and small, a difficult target in the dark, but she could not stand up to a blow like that.

“What are you doing, you fools?” Yotsuyu screeched. “There are only two of them!”

Fighting Zenos was no less terrifying than it had been before, despite all her preparation. There was no margin for error against his weight and reach. He moved slowly, deliberately, and then would attack blindingly fast, his long legs covering the distances between them effortlessly. When she moved back to put distance between them, to regroup between attacks, he too would back off, pacing slowly towards her, watching her with unsettling intent. 

Rhalgr’s Reach had been illuminated by the fires of destruction. Now there was only the white moon, and clouds occasionally scuddering over it. She was at a disadvantage, she was suddenly realizing – her silver armour fairly glowed in the moonlight, showing her moves clearly, whereas his dark, bulky, obscuring plating and trappings made him harder to read. All that was clear of him was the white mask. Ah, she was not cut out to be an assassin.

He lifted his sword and it glowed with red light, then stabbed it into the ground, sending out a shockwave of scarlet lightning that erupted from the ground. Achiyo skipped away just in time; she had seen him do that before.

Zenos huffed. “Hm. How much longer must you make me wait?”

Wait for what? Did he want her to draw blood? Gladly… if she could only find a weakness in his defence. She must be faster, strike harder. Once Yugiri was free to help her, she would tip the balance. She had improved, she could feel it. But she could not see if it would be enough on its own.

She took a breath. The others were counting on her. The Scions, Doma, Eorzea… Aymeric. Then she moved.

Her sword flickered and danced in the moonlight; Zenos’s katana blurred in response. High, low, forcing him to react to her from as many angles as she could reach, coming tantalizingly close to striking him before being denied. She pressed into his space, for though he had the advantage of reach, once she came within his space she was actually safer than without. She had not forgotten what the Resistance veteran had said… but Zenos was no longer advancing on her. He held his ground… took a step back.

There was almost a smile in his voice. “Very well. I suppose you have earned this.”

“This is not a game, you twisted, arrogant bastard!” Yugiri cried, breaking past the remaining soldiers. One at a time she had cut them down to half their number. “This day you die!”

Zenos swatted Achiyo back, taking another half-step back to see both Yugiri and her at the same time. “Let us see…”

“Leave this to me!” Yugiri called to Achiyo, gathering herself. Aether burned bright around her, in the form of a hundred shimmering blades, and suddenly they all stabbed forward to impale Zenos before melting into aether again.

Zenos stood there, seemingly unharmed, and sighed. “So empty…” Aether swirled around him, crimson as the falling leaves, and Achiyo reflexively cast a defensive spell on herself. “All right.” He flexed with a giant swell of aether, and again the earth split with scarlet lightning. Yugiri, Achiyo, and the remaining soldiers were thrown back, rolling across the ground. Three of the soldiers lay still. The fourth groaned, stunned, and slowly crawled away with a broken leg.

Achiyo gasped for breath, pushing herself back to her feet. Her helmet was gone and she had no time to look for it. Her shield was still in her hand, at least, and her sword was not far. That blast had torn through her defences like they weren’t there.

Zenos walked slowly towards her. “Well done, beast. You have earned the right to look upon the Ame-no-Habakiri.” He sheathed his katana… and drew another. This one had a darker aetherial glow to it. “Let us put you to the proof.”

Achiyo caught the barest warning from the Echo and jumped to one side just as deadly streaks of red-black aetherial light lanced out from Zenos’s blade. They impacted on the building walls, the cliff faces beside the road, sending up clouds of dust and leaving behind deep-gouged scars. The ground was ripped up in their wake, and the grass that had been there a moment ago turned black. She felt her sweat turn cold on her skin.

“What… what is this…?” Yotsuyu breathed from her vantage point on the sidelines. Even she was alarmed, perhaps, by what she had apparently facilitated. “Kami forfend…”

Yugiri had not been struck directly, but she had been hit by flying debris, knocking her down again. “No! I must fight on. I can still fight, I can still… still…” She collapsed woozily and lay still.

There was no time to see to Yugiri, but at least there were no hostiles left to harm her – besides Yotsuyu, but she seemed far more interested in making sure she was safely away from Zenos’s new toy.

Achiyo’s heart pounded in her chest. Fighting against the other blade had been bad enough. This was going to kill her, Echo or no. 

“Run, beast, run!” Zenos urged her hungrily, bearing down on her as she backed away, trying to master her fear. Oh, how she wanted to run – to grab Yugiri and retreat, back to her friends, to the dubious safety of the cave…

No. She could not let everyone down like that. Even if this entire endeavour had been a mistake, she must see it through. And in the humiliation of impending defeat, her pride had been stung – was she truly nothing more than a minor inconvenience to Zenos, who slaughtered all before him? Was she like all the rest of his opponents, a fearful child in the art of war? After all she had struggled and fought and suffered? She gripped her sword and charged.

 “Give me something to remember!” he gloated, pushing her back. He was no longer holding back or testing her. There was no room for counterattack. Again those blasts stabbed out across the field, and again she eluded it by a hair’s breadth. “Don’t stop now!”

“Why are you encouraging me?” she demanded finally, breaking her silence in her anger and confusion. Even those few words were almost too much for her concentration – she had to stop giving ground, she tried to plant her feet and lean back into him, but he had the momentum now. She gritted her teeth and strained, then gave way suddenly, dodging, trying to throw off his rhythm. No matter what she did, he seemed to anticipate her, following her through every step and blow. She did not want her desperation to bleed into her actions, for that meant death, but she did not think she could help it, either. No matter how fast she was, he was faster. No matter how strong she was, he was stronger. She was losing her precious self-control, overwhelmed.

She had tried so hard, and once again been found wanting. And she had compounded it by coming alone with Yugiri, without even the hope of eventual back-up as at Rhalgr’s Reach.

“You’re better than most, I’ll grant you that,” he said. “But not good enough. This ends now.” He lifted his blade and cast that ground-shaking spell once more. Too close to get away in time, she was flung through the air like a doll, slamming hard into the wall of the manor. She felt her right arm snap at the elbow.

She moaned in pain as she lay on the ground, struggling to push herself up with her left arm. Both sword and shield were gone now. She was finished.

“Ahhh… I remember you,” he said conversationally as he slowly walked closer, deliberate and inexorable. “Ala Mhigo. The champion of the savages.”

An unbidden memory came into her head: Urianger, reciting strange poetry upon their parting in Limsa Lominsa: “Look ye where the sun doth rise, see crimson embers, dark’ning skies… Look ye where the sun doth fall, see azure lost amidst the squall.” Had that been a prediction of her death? Was that too self-centred to wonder?

Dawn was creeping over the land, grey and misty, but the swelling light did nothing for her hope. Zenos stood over her, lifting the katana one-handed, black-crimson light playing along its red blade, about to sweep it down and end her life… and he would end it, no matter how she tried to dodge or deflect. So she knelt, chest heaving for air, staring defiantly at him while clutching her arm.

Plink. Something fell from his helmet – one of the horns had broken off suddenly. Had she nicked it during their struggle? Had she actually touched him somewhere that was not blade to blade?

Zenos slowly sheathed his sword, staring at the fallen piece of metal, and reached up to take off his helmet, revealing an unexpectedly young and handsome face to go with that long smooth strawberry-blond hair – though his eyes were flat and cold. He flipped the helmet around, inspecting the damage. And for some reason, his eyes lit up. “Oh… how right I was to spare your life.” 

A dangerous smile blossomed on his face, and he tossed the helm aside carelessly, reaching out to her earnestly. “Hear me, hero. Endure. Survive. Live. For the rush of blood, for the time between the seconds – live. For the sole pleasure left to me in this empty, ephemeral world – live!”

The raw passion in his plea was was too much to endure in this moment and she simply stared at him blankly. She didn’t understand.

There was a hoarse scream, and Yugiri stabbed at him again – and Zenos knocked her down to the ground again. “You are not worthy.” As Yugiri lay groaning, Zenos stalked towards her, lifting his sword again.

Get up! rang in Achiyo’s inner ear. She could not tell if it were Percival’s voice in a memory, or her own, but she obeyed. Dragged her shattered, aching body lanced with pain to her feet and moved as fast as she could to throw herself in front of Yugiri. If he wanted her to stay alive, he wouldn’t kill her. Though in her current state, it probably would not be difficult to get past her.

He stared at her, head slowly tilting to one side with an intrigued smile. But he lifted his katana-

An arrow lodged in the ground by his foot. They both looked up, through the light morning mist, to see a small army of villagers with Isse clutching a bow at their head. Isse bared his teeth and growled. “Get away from them, you Imperial dog!”

Yugiri lifted her head, blood running down her face. “No, don’t… you must… you must flee!”

“We’re not going anywhere!” Isse yelled back. “Do you hear me? We’re not running away! What you’re doing is stupid and reckless and I never wanted any part of it, but here we are!” He gritted his teeth for a moment. “I’ve spent my whole life hating myself – for every time they made me beg, for every time I held my tongue to protect the people I love. And then you came along and reminded me of the things I never said and never did, and it was even worse! I would have given anything to forget, to walk away, but I knew that I’d never be able to live with the guilt. So we came – all of us! For you, for ourselves – for Doma!”

Achiyo stared at him with her mouth open. The passion, the pride, the defiance shining in his eyes – he had transformed utterly from the man they had met only a few weeks ago. From the man they had seen only the day before.

Zenos did not deign to turn fully, even at this passionate diatribe. “Death is death, regardless of the reason. Yet you seem determined to die, intruding upon this sacred ground, turning weapons you can scarcely wield upon me. Your lives will not even begin to redress the balance.” He started forward towards the villagers.

“How wrong you are!” came a strong, confident call from the hillside, and there was Alisaie, casting healing on Achiyo and Yugiri, Rinala and Aentfryn with her as Eos fluttered forward fearlessly. And there, charging ahead of the villagers, there was Vivienne, and Chuchupa, and Gosetsu, and the rest… their friends had come too. Their weapons were drawn, but Alisaie and Rinala threw down something small that exploded into smoke, immediately covering the entire area with a thick fog. The light of dawn made it nearly impenetrable to the eye.

“Go, now! Gosetsu – see to Yugiri!” Alisaie cried.

“Aye!” Gosetsu replied, and Achiyo heard him approaching, him and Tam, from the footsteps. Fear rose in her heart – Zenos would surely not be confounded by mere smoke, would he?

Yotsuyu coughed violently. “I can’t see a damn thing… Someone stop them!” Who she might be talking to, Achiyo had no idea – Zenos had killed most of his surviving soldiers. But in the smoke and mist, she caught a glimpse of blond hair… turning away. Walking away. Yotsuyu’s voice drifted after, quavering in confusion. “My lord!?”

Achiyo fell to her knees in relief. Why he was leaving, she did not know. But she would not protest. Gosetsu and Tam loomed up before them. Gosetsu knelt beside Yugiri, lifting her gently in his arms. Tam scooped Achiyo up, less gently but with a strange smirk.

“I got all their gear!” R’nyath’s voice called. “We can get out of here!”

 

57: Endless Sky