Chapter Text
Remember... us. Remember... that we once... lived. Familiar words in my head spoken by a familiar voice. Words to live by.
Tall buildings, beautiful spires against a brilliant sunset. The scent of blooming flowers on the wind.
A tap on my shoulder. A smile. Sparkling, golden eyes. A promise.
A flash of light.
Tall buildings, beautiful spires in a city at the end of its days. Smoke and ash hanging in the air.
A battle looming over my head. Fire, turmoil, screaming. Everything in ruin. No, no, no, no, NO!
I shot up in bed, my breath short and heart pounding. I put a hand to my head, where a sharp pain was nagging me behind the eye. It pulsed and prodded me to leave the warmth of my bed and get a goblet of water.
I slid out from under the covers and did just so. The liquid was cool and slid down my throat easily.
I heaved a sigh as I set the empty cup back onto the table. As if I didn’t already have enough guilt lying on my shoulders, now I was hearing his voice in my head.
But there was something else there, too. Something I couldn’t quite remember- right out of the realm of my consciousness, as if I could just reach my hand out and touch-
The linkpearl in my ear sounded and I frowned.
Great, another job for the Warrior of Light.
Tataru’s sweet voice filtered in when I lifted my hand to activate it. I couldn’t be mad at her. A faerie had been sent from the First to once again request my presence.
“Alright,” I said. “I’ll be on the way shortly.”
Once I was clad in my usual armor, daggers dangling from my hips, I made for the aetheryte at Mor Dhona, where Tataru was, already waiting with the chocobo that was kept stabled for me outside the Rising Stones.
With a few words of good will from her and a small pack of supplies, I headed towards Silvertear- to the portal and made my way through to the shard, letting the trained bird head back to the bar itself.
The blue, sparkling walls of the Crystal Tower’s Ocular appeared around me as I stepped through, but a flash of light and a sudden ache in my head radiated through my whole body, bringing me to a knee.
The bone knocked against the stone, but I didn’t feel it as my vision blurred and static filled my ears. I saw the Crystal Exarch’s sandaled feet in front of me, surely asking if I was alright.
Hear, feel, th-
I felt it- the Mother’s voice in my head once again, entreating me to do her bidding. But there was something else. Some kind of interference. The headache started to dissipate, but I was no longer in the tower.
I stood, a comforting darkness enveloping me.
A feeling I’d not felt before washed over me. I gasped as a stream of aether wrapped around me, as if it knew me, as if I was a beacon and it a ship trying to find its way through tempestuous waters. As if my body was, somehow, a place to call home.
It laced itself through my fingers, wound itself about my legs, gently blew strands of my hair.
It felt...
A brilliant white light floating along the flow caught my eye. I watched as it made its journey through the particles of aether surrounding me. I lifted my hand as it came around, bringing it’s warmth close to my face.
Hero…
My eyes widened and I took a step back in surprise. What-
That little word pierced my heart as if it were a metal blade. My chest ached with a feeling I didn’t understand. I opened my mouth to shout his name. It was on the tip of my tongue, but I couldn’t quite seem to say-
My head pulsed again. My hands gripped the sides of my head, the pain almost unbearable, and the orb of light forgotten instantaneously.
In another flash of light, I was on the floor of the Ocular. G’raha Tia was leaning over me, one hand on his staff for support.
“Are you alright?” he asked when he saw that I’d opened my eyes. His voice was muffled, my mind still clearing. I sat up and he moved away a few fulms to give me some space.
“F-fine,” I stuttered, blinking a few times to clear the blur. “I believe.”
“Good,” he said, pushing himself to his feet, then extending his hand to me. “Ryne is waiting for you.”
He helped me up and together, we made our way towards the Dossal Gate, and onwards to the aetheryte to meet my young companion, the stream of aether still on my mind- along with that voice...the voice I recognized but couldn’t quite place.