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The first time I saw the hero, I was drawn to him.
Thanks to my sense as a Miqo'te, from afar I scented someone redolent of La Noscean oranges mixed with a light sea breeze. I had just killed a wild boar that attacked me while I was collecting water-blessed minerals. I was filled with bloodlust and irritation when the fragrance wafted over and pacified me, reminding me of my homeland beyond the North Sea. I hid in a tree to get a clear look at the unexpected visitor, realising that he was the adventurer who had recently made the headlines among Eorzea for fighting off the Ultima Weapon. In a good mood, I told him where the wind-touched abrasives were and challenged him to a personal race. Though it seemed insincere of me never to show up, I didn't hesitate to pay him all my compliments as I watched him charge into the enemies so gallantly and valiantly.
I'd always been a sucker for stories of heroes since I was a kid. They were guiding me like stars. Here and now a real hero did appear in front of me, helping with the research on the Crystal Tower. It might have been the wisest decision I've made in my whole life that I came to Eorzea at just the right time.
I am in truth an Alpha, but I didn't have any strength beyond the common despite my red eye, and my pheromone was too faint to be noticed even by myself. It didn't surprise me to be treated like a Beta, nor had I ever met an Omega who struck my fancy. When I saw him, I felt in spite of myself he was exactly who I wished to be, though the smell of orange was a little too rare for an Alpha. It was he, after all.
It wasn't until the night before we left for the World of Darkness, when I couldn't fall asleep and wanted a talk with him, that I by chance saw him in his tent, shivering and shaking on the ground. He tried to reach for a small bag from the shelf but was unable to pick himself up. He finally held both hands tightly over his mouth so that no sounds could be made. The tempting redolence drifted from his neck, wrapping around me like an invisible vine. My head buzzed and a hot wave flowed into my crotch. As tears welled up in his sapphire eyes, he looked at me, asking for help. Trying to refrain from lunging at him like a predator, I lumbered towards the shelf, fetched a small bottle and poured out a pill. I passed it to his lips with water, allured, unable to resist imagining the softness and warmth of his wet tongue, but he insisted on taking it with his own hands. After several swallows, his flush faded, and the redolence dissipated. He thanked me in a somewhat hoarse voice and, noticing my pitched tent, offered to help me for once as an amend. I nodded in a daze. My hero knelt between my legs. His hands with calluses took hold of my hardness and started to fondle it. The shame and pleasure of being touched like that for the first time in my life by a hero I deeply admired made my legs weak and limp. And to top it all, he looked up at me and, realising I'd been staring at him, his upper lip curved a bit up. A flirtatious smile. Overwhelmed in fluster I reached my climax promptly, making his hands and face defiled. I hurriedly apologised, but he chuckled and soothed me back. He wiped off the cum and added, 'Apparently male Miqo'te do have barbs on their things… Amazing.' My face was utterly on fire and I fled instantly without even hearing one more word coming out of his seductive lips.
I would never regret the decision I made after being reminded of everything about the Royal Eye, but it also cost me the opportunity to be with my hero, nor could I ever be able to witness his saga with my own eyes. I rudely forced everyone including him out of the Tower. Maybe I should have explained myself beforehand. Thankfully, they understood me at last. I used to stand in the crowd and watch him enter the Tower for a new mission, but this time I myself became the one being looked at. For once, even I could do something heroic like him. I called his name for the last time. Stay active and alive, my hero, 'cause you know no matter how time passes, I'll always keep my eyes on you. I stared at him, carving his figure onto the softest part of my heart. I knew I would have a sweet dream about him.
He did remember my words, as well as my real name.
He had probably recognised me at his first arrival in front of the Ocular. How I wished I could take off my cowl right away and just easily admit I was G'raha Tia and embrace him and even give a peck on his lips. But I couldn't. I had to conceal the fact, or the efforts by everyone during the last 300 years would have been totally in vain. My hero must never know who I am, otherwise, he cannot be saved. It was already good enough for me that he'd come to me anyway. When I was to slumber, I couldn't even imagine seeing him alive and so reachable ever again in person.
Time had left more traces on him since we last met, and I knew he had done a lot of things. I've collected a whole pile of story books and hymns about his legends in the Umbilicus. Over the years when I prepared for his arrival, I spent my leisure time mostly with those books atop the watchtower next to the rookery, just as I did when I was a kid. My lifespan had been combined with the Tower; therefore time had become the least of my concerns. He was my last mission — to save him and the world that he cherishes — for which I was willing to sacrifice everything, including my life.
Speaking of dedicating one's life — related to some small changes I found about Hero's body — among the histories of Dragonsong, I read a memoir by a servant at the Fortemp's, classified as wild history but still treasured by me. It recorded the friendship and… love, that spanned life and death between Warrior of Light and an Elezen. I confess it made me long jealous seeing that four-letter word. The saintly Paladin, Haurchefant Greystone, who by most accounts provided shelter for Hero when he was in despair, stood as his supportive companion and died protecting him in the Vault, was implied in this memoir to have a more intimate relationship with him, perhaps even eternally bonded. This might explain why Hero's pheromone was no longer pure as I had memorised but mixed with some taste of cedar and snow.
I couldn't help but think of the late Paladin as a rival, even though I respected him. And rather coincidentally, we had somehow done the same thing for our hero. Had I not slumbered in the Crystal Tower, I would have heard about the riots in Ul'dah soon afterwards and, being my style, I might have taken him back to Sharlayan before the Elezen could reach him. Perhaps hiding my hero inside the Tower would also sound like a good idea.
But I'm not the same person as I was. Now I don't crave to seize or possess that Light alone. I just want to be the mirror that can make him shine even brighter. I will help him reflect in the right direction and escape the never-ending darkness of the Eighth Umbral Calamity.
Thanks to my arrival in the First a hundred years earlier than expected, I had plenty of time to make the Crystarium comfortable enough for Hero to live in. The entire city would be his base in this world. I reserved a spacious and secluded room in the Pendants for him, which I cleaned by myself every day — a habit I'd somehow maintained for years. After my hero had moved in, I couldn't resist climbing onto his bed as he set out on missions, greedily inhaling his scent from the bedding and sometimes inadvertently rubbing off several red hairs, which I would each time clean up to make sure he could never be aware of my visit.
I also couldn't help using the mirror in the Ocular to observe my hero's whereabouts, ambiguous to say whether I was peeping with impure thoughts or just watching over him against any potential danger. There had been times when I'd been so preoccupied that I was almost startled by Lyna's knocking. By good luck, she's always been in manners and my peeking had never been perceived. In fact, there was another unspoken reason — I was curious as to how the hero would go through his heat after his partner had gone. After all, everything I'd learnt and seen told me that a marked Omega has fewer, shorter but severer heats with only the mate being the most effective treatment. Albeit unsure, I still asked for some medicine from the Crystalline Mean to keep in his room and took some with me, just in case. I also had to admit that not long after entering the Tower, I did have a few erotic dreams, in which I bonded with my Hero and became a nunh… Nevertheless, when part of myself transformed into crystal, I felt as free of desire as a true 'sage'. Perhaps even my heart was crystalised, but I still held him tenderly and carefully in the deepest corner.
It didn't take long for my worry to turn into reality when Hero returned from Il Mheg with the Scions.
I was to pay a visit and ask if the sandwiches I'd prepared were to his taste that evening. Yet in the corridor, I smelt my long-beloved scent of La Noscean oranges. I rushed into his room, only to be overwhelmed by the sweet pheromone, suffocated and dizzy as if I had been immersed in a pool of honey. I cast a spell to seal up the room so that no more dangerously enticing aroma would leak out and turned back to face the hero on the bed. Scantily clad, not even aware of my presence and unconsciously biting his wrist, which was already bleeding. I tugged his arm to stop him. His unfocused eyes wandered onto me for a second before he suddenly struggled violently, uttering muffled growls like 'go away' and 'don't touch me', wringing my heart. Had he been badly treated in the absence of his Alpha…? It was my fault for insufficient preparation, failing to prevent his suffering.
I kept him from hitting me with barely enough force. I wouldn't have made it so easily. Deaf to his name, he just stared blankly at me in fear, as though he would fight wildly backwards whenever anyone approached him. But I wouldn't let him hurt himself either.
'If it could help you feel better…' I took a bandage from the bedside, gently blindfolded him and tied a small bowknot. He gradually stopped struggling but still trembled and moaned uncontrollably. I held him up in my arms, dropping small kisses on his eyes over the gauze, bringing the prepared suppressant to his mouth and coaxing him to take it.
He parted his lips to have the pill in his mouth while licking my fingertips with his nimble hot soft tongue like toying with a lollipop. He made sticky, lustful sounds intentionally in his breath as if he was sucking my shaft instead.
A thrill down my spine, my head about to explode, and my arousal sore from the pressure of the boxers — a long-overdue boner. I tried my best to calm down so that I wouldn't impulsively push him down and fuck him into a mess, but I knew my restraint could maintain no longer.
He smiled innocently at me when he realised my erection against his waist and rolled over to cup my chin, which I stiffly accepted as a somewhat clumsy kiss. He nibbled my lower lip and murmured, 'why… what are you waiting for… Haurchefant?…' The name finally pulled my trigger; I bit back hard on his lips and pinned him roughly onto the mattress. Hearing him grunt in pain stirred a guilty but burning intoxication in me. My uncrystallised left hand reached between his thighs and with no effort found the Omega's particular honeypot hidden beneath his member. The hole, which was only accessible during the heat, was already dripping wet, opening and closing invitingly. He whined in pleasure as I dug my fingers in, the inner wall sucking me in tight as if not allowing me to leave. My whole body was screaming with blood, yet I still did a reliable job of dilating.
There're barbs on Miqo'te's tounges and penises; one biological theory is that they're used to scrape out others' sperm in order to assure the bloodlines. Scraping out… I quickly shoved away the sinful thought that arose in my head. The barbs would have been hardly bearable if not for Miqo'te Omegas or female Betas of other races.
I applied some ointment as lotion, trying not to hurt him as I forced in. I planted soft kisses along his chest, lingering over his scars. The ones that had turned to be faint, the ones that had left blemishes, and the new ones that scabbed over in Il Mheg: all of them are Hero's medals. He wrapped his arms around my back, scratching when it hurt. But most of my body had crystalised and I couldn't feel the pain he caused me, or could he leave any mark on me… I smiled bitterly inside. It was probably hard and cold how he felt me in his arms.
His body perceptibly adapted for me and began to meet my pace. He tilted his head, displaying the beautiful line of his neck, a sign of submissiveness and consent. Like any other Alpha, I was also seduced to trace down the fascinating redolence to the source and bared my fangs to take a bite — of course, nothing happened to him. His pheromone was still covered by a light but firm scent of cedar from the snowy land. Hero would never be my Omega; neither could I force him to bond with me by unethically impregnating him. I sobered up and gave up knotting. Not until this moment had I realised my cowl was already shaken off. Fortunately, my hero was still blindfolded and didn't have the strength to touch my fluffy ears.
I barely pulled myself out just before the spurt. I licked up his juice, all kinds of his smell my favourite. Finally, I dosed my sleeping hero and tidied up the room to make sure no more tantalising pheromones leaked out before I left.
The next day Hero came to the Ocular alone and thanked me rather sincerely, yet with a slight blush on his cheeks. Seeing me surprised, he explained that a guy called Fray would be temporarily 'watching' his body while his mind wandered off, who also told him afterwards that the Crystal Exarch had helped him. Thank goodness Mr Fray didn't know me in the Source, nor did he blab my red hair or Miqo'te ears. I proposed with little expectation that I might be able to help him undergo his heat in future, as it was safer here inside the Tower than anywhere else. No sooner had I said it than I wanted to eat my words: he had so many fellows that it would never be my turn to volunteer. The hero, however, agreed almost readily, thanking me again earnestly, and told me he used to count on two best friends of his late partner, who were still in the Source, one in command on the battle in Ghimlyt, and the other being missing again after rescuing him from that infamous Zenos. Thus I might literally be his most reasonable choice. Oh... certainly, with pleasure, I smiled. I'll live up to your trust, my Light, please take here and me as your safest harbour in the First.
From then on, I tracked the days on the calendar, and when my hero was going into heat, I would finish my work in advance and tell Lyna to prevent any disturbance to my private talk with Warrior of Darkness. How strange it was that each time he visited me in the Ocular, I, the Alpha side, couldn't hold back my joy like a concubine being visited by her lord. I would serve him ardently with my tongue and phallus which we Miqo'te are so proud of. He was rarely conscious during heat, but I knew Fray would be watching me, so I never made any extra move that might leave clues about my identity.
Our sexual relationship lasted until Hero's departure for Eulmore. According to my plan, I was to take all the light from him and plunge into the Rift after he had confronted the last Lightwarden hiding in Kholusia. His body was already a little worn out, which made me worry a lot, but I needed him persevere anyway until he absorbed the last of them. Hearing that Hero and his fellows had reopened the Ladder abandoned for nearly a century with the help of Eulmore citizens in pursuit of Vauthry, I knew this would be my last journey with my Warrior of Light.
I left the management of Crystarium to Lyna, trying to make light of it as much as possible without sounding like a testament, and then headed off to Kholusia alone with a tiny teleportor connected to the Tower's energy centre.
With the roar of the Ladder, the ground got farther and farther away, and the sight became wider and wider. It was a view I'd never seen on a chocobo, an amaro or an airship. Had I some more time, it would have been nice to build a similar elevator outside the Tower. After join Hero at the top of the cliff, we discussed the way to Mt. Gulg. Seeing those Scions, who had travelled all over Norvrandt as companions of Hero, using their contacts and skills to support Master Chai's plan, reminded me of the Namazu, the moogles, the Ixal, the dragons and the sky pirates who had ever been associated with the hero coming all along to assist during the Eighth Umbral Calamity. It was THEM who made me believe, this world, these two worlds, are not doomed. There always were, are, and will be a group of people who are striving for a common future.
The short but exciting trip with my hero to Tomra in search of the earthseed was one of the most enjoyable adventures I'd had in my past three hundred years. It was almost as if we two were truly fighting side by side, if not with our unarmed friend. The way my hero fought made me obsessed, and my infatuation was even spotted by the small dwarf, who complimented us knowingly on what a good pair we'd made, almost having me misread my spells…… Nonetheless, I was still slightly unwell after being away from the Tower for too long. My hero had also been concerned about me on top of the Ladder. But in order that he wouldn't worry, after getting the earthseed, I suggested he take the dwarf back to the village while I carry the ore to Master Chai. Not wanting to incommode others, I wandered around to have some fresh air.
I thought of many things but each ended up with HIM in my mind. Our first encounter, our adventure in the Crystal Tower, his gaze on me while the gate shut…… and the scenes in books when he confronted Nidhogg with spear tightly held in his hand, when he fought against hundreds and won the champion at the Naadam, when he charged at the head into Doma Castle, when he defeated Shinryu above the Royal Menagerie…… He even took Alexander and OMG during his adventures, which two were afterwards developed to cross time and space together with the Crystal Tower! Thanks to unnamed wandering minstrels who wrote countless songs of his legends in place of me, his tales had been sung from generation to generation. When the great Talos was built and he executed the last Lightwarden, his journey in the First would come to the end. This new incredible story of Hero might never be known to the descendants in the Source without the Calamity, but I believe the ones in those vanished two hundred years, who had given their all to save Warrior of Light, will hear it. They will hear it.
Unwilling though, I still fell asleep at last. In the darkness I heard someone calling me. I knew it was him. I sobered up once I unconsciously let out some words I'd never say as Crystal Exarch but as G'raha Tia, noticing he'd been staring at me for a while. He must have sensed something, but said nothing and sat down beside me after telling me about the progress. It was the first time I had plucked up courage to ask Hero about his future plans. After all, centuries ago I hadn't expected the separation to come so suddenly, and now, if I didn't ask, I would never ever have the chance again. I supposed that whatever his plans were, his future would certainly be bright. So don't worry, my Light, the Eighth Umbral Calamity won't come twice and everything you cherish will never leave you, I promise you. But out of expectation he asked me back about what I actually wanted to do when it was all over. What I want to do…… I want…… to take off my cowl and talk to him without any disguise after saving him. I want to hear his adventures personally and tell him my own story. I also want to compose the most splendid and impressive epics for him…… I wish I could ride along with him above the eternal wind across the seven seas, and in the end carve my name on his tombstone…… I wish I could be (had been) present in your future (past). I almost poured out my real thoughts. Luckily my hero was naive enough for me that he still regarded "the person" I'd mentioned many times with no suspicion.
I snuck up behind the Scions all the way to Vauthry, watching out of the hall like a tiger patiently waiting for its prey. When Hero had absorbed the last radiance of the light, the sky darkened and he, too, began to collapse.
I resisted the urge to rush up to him, to embrace him, to comfort him and to take all the light out of him, deliberately but awkwardly disguising myself as a villain and telling a lie that I could almost hardly act out on my own even I'd practised for thousands of times. Urianger fulfilled his promise and stopped the others from approaching me. He is a man just like me who knows how to make the smallest sacrifice for the greatest happiness. I really appreciated his understanding.
As light weighed more and more on me, I could hear my soul shattering inside against my crystalised shield. It turned out that Hero had suffered so much all these days…… but besides the physical torment, his gaze in surprise at me and his hand reaching out to me hurt me more. "Your tale will continue," I struggled on a smile, as my cowl was blown backwards by a gust of light, and he called out my name at once. I was finally able to face him with my true self, but it was also time for me to leave. Thank you, and farewell, my friend—my inspiration—my Hero. However, just as I made the final transmission of the light, I was struck from behind.
What a musket made in Garlemald!—I was in so much pain that I directly fell onto the ground and lost my consciousness, unable to make any sound.
I woke up to a sight more horrific than the Seventh Hell. Were it the Final Days…… the earth cracking, the sky burning, stars pouring down while unimaginable beasts hovering all around, limbs and torsos and howls from unknown sources…… My body hurt, but I was still alive. It sounded like someone were fighting above, which must have been Hero and his fellows. They seemd to have killed a vicious deamon. But then Emet-Selch appeared and it simply became a one-sided crush.
I had to go up there. I grabbed a stone and climbed upwards, which immediately turned into debris of an Ishgardian roof tile, and the corpse next to me suddenly moved and grew the face of Biggs Ⅲ. I turned away and continued to ascend. A hand from nowhere took hold of my ankle and she said, "Help me," in a Gridanian accent. I broke away from her and stepped over another half corpse in Immortal Flames uniform, standing onto a broken pillar with Gyr Abanian griffin emblem. My arm got cut by a samurai blade stuck in a crevice, then I passed by a broken Maelstrom flag. It was too far…… I could barely hold on any longer, but soon I heard the hero say in a strange but familiar tone, "This world will not end. And my adventure, as well as our future, will go on." Ah, he IS my Thaliak, my Azeyma, who once more gave me the strength to take another step.
I climbed over the bodies of all those who died in the Eighth Umbral Calamity. I must go up.
"How can you stand against me by yourself?!" Emet-Selch saddened his voice, staring at the Warrior who stood alone in the vanishing glare.
"No, we stand together!" I must have looked like a mess at the moment, but I gritted my teeth and hissed out the cruelest words I'd ever said in my life, "I could not well leave matters half-finished."
With my last ounce of strength, I cast the summoning spell,
"Let expanse contract, eon become instant! Warriors from afar, heroes beyond the rift, heed my call and reclaim our future!—"
The sun rises up from the depths of the sea. It must have been just as warm in ancient times as it is now in Amaurot.
That time has passed after all, and we humans, even as ephemeral lives, are creating our own new history.
Dwelling on the past can only stop us from moving forward, and our hero, both Warrior of Light and Darkness, will certainly lead us into the future.
A bit awkwardly I showed up at last, too embarrassed to meet his eyes when my wish to see him in truthfulness was finally fulfilled.
I faltered my apologies, ready for a once-in-a-century lecture by my respected warrior. But he only smiled and said, "'Tis good to see you awake, G'raha Tia", as if I was still the same naughty wild young Miqo'te, having been just waken up from a sweet nice dream in the Crystal Tower.
For reasons of the time paradox, I cannot return to the Source with Hero yet. I was supposed to have fallen apart in the Rift, but now I am safe and sound in the Ocular. I have to find a way to help the Scions (perhaps including myself, as my wish) back. My hero has also been visiting me from time to time these days and, to my gladness in some way, he has occasionally become willing to make out with me when he's not in heat.
In any case, I am and will always be his safest harbour, at least in the First.
"The opportunistic Exarch didn't make off and lived a happy life with his hero in the new world" is to be the true end of my own story to tell, isn't it?