"Hmm, this must be it..." Paris muttered to herself as she took another step upwards on the ladder beneath her and reached for an object which sat upon one of the many bookshelves that towered above her quarters. carefully stepping back down, she placed it on her desk and rubbed her hand along it's surface, leaving a visible trail as it swept the dust away before her attention suddenly shifted as an expected guest knocked on her door.
"Come in." She offered as she clapped the dust off her hands. The door quickly burst open as a short, young Miqo'te woman entered with a dazzling pose before closing it behind her and proceeding forward towards the desk.
"I'm here just as you summoned, my dark peer." Jessika announced. As she neared it, a small glowing blue creature ran up and nuzzled its head against her leg for a moment, taking the girl by surprise before it quickly leaped up onto the desk by its master who was now seated.
"Don't mind him, he gets excited whenever I have guests here, he's perfectly harmless outside of battle. Please, have a seat." Paris said, waiting for the girl to sit across from her before continuing.
"I wanted to know more about this power you claim to have. You said you harness something called Red Magic?" She asked.
"Exactly, it is with this special power that I will be able to smite all purity in this world!" The Miqo'te replied enthusiastically.
"I see... And how did you come to harness such a power?" Paris inquired.
"It's all inscribed upon this demon tome I found in a ruined village." She answered as she pulled out a dirty old book.
"This looks more like a diary than a tome, may I have a look?" Paris asked as she held out a hand.
"No mere mortal can decipher the inner workings of it's text, only a a powerful lord of darkness such as myself can merely open it without decaying at first glanse." Jessika explained.
"That may be so but it won't stop me from trying. I'll tell you what, if you let me borrow that book I'll give you access to any of my tomes on thaumaturgy and black magics that I have shelved here." Paris offered.
"It seems we have struck a deal, may our very souls be bound by this contract." Jessika replied as she handed over the diary. Paris sat it down on the desk in front of her and carefully flipped open the aged cover which on the back of it labeled two names. The first was a crossed out name that was hard to make out at first but eventually read as M'Reith Tia. The name underneath it however had slight similarities, spelling out Reith Mercer. Paris tapped her lip curiously as she held her chin in one hand and carefully flipped through the decaying pages with the other. However before she could begin her inspection another knock interrupted her as a small Au Ra woman soon entered the room.
"I apologise for the interruption Mrs. Nassau but our leader is in need of Ms. Thorn." Rose announced.
"I understand. Thank you for seeing me, Jessika. If you wish to peruse my library feel free to visit again." Paris smiled as she dismissed them both. Rose led the Miqo'te along towards one of the briefing rooms where several other members were seated along with their leader.
"Excellent, now that everyone is present let's begin." Gaius began. "Juria it seems as though the mission you joined Anna in yesterday was not a success. I had Moglet investigate the area for us this morning and traces of corrupt aetherical activity still remain in the vicinity of the ruins. Therefore we will need to conduct another investigation to determine its source and halt it permanently. To that end, Robyn and N'athys, as well as Rose herself will be accompanying you as they seem fitting for this task. I will also ask of you, Ms. Thorn to accompany them as your first task with us as well." Gaius explained.
"Of course, lands of death and darkness are where I thrive!" She cackled.
"Perfect. Take this time to rest and prepare yourselves, you are to set out by dusk fall." He dismissed as everyone agreed and began their own preparations. The moon was already high in the sky, illuminating the grassy fields through the gaps between the leaves of the forest that surrounded the group as they trekked onward.
"So why do you think Gaius said we were suited for this job? I mean I can understand Rose being here but why not choose Paris or someone to go instead of us?" Robyn wondered out loud.
"I'm not entirely sure, but given our route I believe I'm starting to get a faint idea..." N'athys frowned slightly as he rubbed his chin. As they drew closer to their destination they could see a sudden change in atmosphere. The air felt stagnant, the trees and plants seemed dried up and wilted and it felt as though an eerie presence was constantly gazing upon them.
"This feeling is almost exhausting." N'athys said, exhaling deeply for a moment as he tried to adjust to the sudden change.
"The village should be just up ahead, we have to keep strong." Juria said. After about ten more minutes of venturing forth, the party finally found itself at the outskirts of the ruined village.
"It's just as I thought..." N'athys muttered.
"What is it?" Robyn asked confused.
"It's our home." He replied.
"No way... I guess that does explain why Gaius thought we should go. I guess we better start searching around..." She said as the group began to make their way towards the centre of the village and rummage through the remains.
"What's this?" Juria asked out to the group as she looked upon a small shack made out of wood and hay next to an open field of decayed crops. Unlike everything else in the village this structure seemed to be somewhat stable.
"Oh, that is where I used to live before venturing off after hearing of Robyn. It's strange, I didn't notice anything off in the ruins the whole time I was living here so this corruption must be a recent occurrence." N'athys pondered. Rose wandered off a little before coming to a sudden halt at an old well, her eyes widened. "This... This is..." She muttered in disbelief as she ran her hand along the stonework. There were small markings etched into it as if a child had tried to scratch their drawings onto it.
"What's the matter Rose?" Juria asked as the group caught up to her.
"This is... That means..." She muttered before turning to the group and towards Robyn and N'athys with tears welling up in her eyes. "I'm sorry..." She let out as the tears gave way and began to run down her face.
"What do you mean, what's the matter?" Robyn asked softly as she went to comfort her, but before she had a chance a sharp sudden sound and burst of light from behind interrupted them. A large rift had opened up from the ground behind them, the ground beginning to shake as something erupted from the terrible darkness. Large limbs began clawing their way out onto the earth as a large bulbous, tentacled monstrosity pulled itself free and lifted itself up onto the surface.
"Finally!" it bellowed. "For over ten Summers have I awaited this day! It hath been a grueling wait but finally by thy efforts am I free to walk this plain, thou hath done well in summoning me." The creature let out in a disgusting guttural tone as the rift behind the creature collapsed.
"What are you talking about demon, I didn't summon you! get back and wait for me to call you this instant!" Jessika yelled as she stepped forward.
"Insolent whelp!" It roared as it lashed one of it's tentacle limbs along towards her, crashing into the Miqo'te's side and sending her rolling along the ground unconscious.
"No, you! Hah, such a fragile host thou hast found to conceal thyself. But no longer is that necessary. Come, join me once more!" The voidsent shouted triumphantly as it pointed towards Rose. At that moment a sharp pain stirred within her. Falling to her knees the Au Ra began to cry out in pain, her voice beginning to distort. Everyone turned to her in panic but were weary to approach her.
"N-NO!" She roared as she struggled to stand to her feet again. "I won't... Let it t-take over... Again...!" She yelled, her voice still distorted from the presence inside her. Rose looked up and glared at the voidsent in front of her, the iris of right eye glowing a sickly hue of red and purple. Channeling aether through her staff she let out a large burst of fire towards the towering creature, it's tentacles writhing as it let out a painful roar. Almost instantly Rose was flooded with a sense of relief as the straining feeling inside of her began to quell. When the smoke from the explosion settled the creature was nowhere to be seen.
"Did.. did you defeat it?" Juria asked.
"I think so... I feel like I'm better now so that may indicate that the enemy was destroyed." Rose replied.
"What about Jessika?" N'athys asked in worry as he turned back.
"She took a rough hit but she should be fine once she wakes up." Robyn said as she approached them with the girl in her arms. She set her down, carefully leaning her against the well as they took a moment to gather their thoughts and reflect on what just happened.
"What was that just now? You seemed to have an odd connection to that voidsent, not to mention you were acting rather strange just before it was released here. What is it you were trying to apologize for?" N'athys asked. Rose looked to the ground sadly, trying to find her words and muster up the courage to speak her heart before Juria's gasp drew her attention.
"Mothe-I mean A-aunty Jacqueline?!" Juria started as an incorporeal form appeared before her and began slowly stepping forward.
"You... Child... Monster... You did this to me..." She hissed as she approached her.
"W-what do you mean? What did I do?!" Juria let out in panic as the others yelled out to her and ran forward. Juria took no notice to them however, her attention was fixated on the ghost of her adoptive mother in front of her.
"You cursed me you wretch! I died because of you, it's all your fault. You should have never been born!" Jacquelain began to get more aggravated as the horns on her head began to slowly melt as she continued towards Juria. Robyn was about to rush towards her before a familiar voice stopped her in her tracks, drawing her towards it.
"You failed us!" the figure of a Miqo'te woman screeched.
"We sent you to get help but instead you left us to die." A male Miqo'te's spirit joined.
"Mum? Dad? But I tried!" Robyn let out.
"Yet you failed, and now we're all dead." The man muttered in disappointment.
"You're no better, coward!" Another image of a male Miqo'te yelled at N'athys. "You just hid away in the cellar as the rest of the village died trying to protect each other, you may as well have been the one to kill us yourself!" He yelled.
"I..." N'athys paused in fear and regret before a loud scream rang through the air.
"No, stay back!" Rose yelled as a large group of spirits began to circle here all yelling and screaming at her threateningly.
"You killed us!"
"You destroyed everything!"
"How could you do this to us? We were your family, your neighbors, your friends!"
"You should be the one dead instead of us!"
"You deserve to die!"
The screams and shouts began to grow louder, only overtaken by the sound of hysterical, rumbling laughter as the large voidsent phased back into sight near where it once stood.
"Fools. Mine own power may not have been been potent enough to influence the spirit I summoned last time, but now thou shalt bathe in the loathesome fury of thy restless souls of the past!" It announced with sadistic pleasure.
"Everyone, snap out of it!" A voice shouted from behind as Paris rushed in to confront the beast.
"An unvited guest? Very well then. If thy wish is to join these mortals in neverending torment then I shall be happy to oblige." He cackled for a moment before pausing and grumbling in frustration. "What is the meaning of this. Does thou not having lingering regrets in the afterlife?" It questioned.
"Sorry to disappoint you but all my loved ones are alive and well." Paris replied.
"This cannot be... I sense a stirring soul yet it does not respond, what is the meaning of this?!" It shouted. Taking advantage of this moment of confusion, Paris drew a rapier and crystal medium, combining the two into the shape of a staff and began channeling magic. After a moment of concentration she released it causing a pillar if white magic to erupt upon the voidsent, it roared in agony as the ghastly figures suddenly vanished and the others came to their senses.
"Wow, nifty." Paris commented as she inspected her weapon.
"Enough, I will crush you all myself!" The voidsent roared as it lashed a tentacle out towards Paris. Reacting quickly she leaped back, avoiding most of the attack but managed to get struck by the end of the tentacle, causing her and some of her magical equipment to be knocked onto the ground. Rushing forward, Robyn drew her firearm and aimed at the creature who reacted swiftly. A spell struck Robyn who's movements quickly became stiff and slow as if her entire body was moving at half the speed. The voidsent began to levitate above the ground and before she could slowly finish pulling the trigger it quickly dodged away from where the bullet was aimed. Rose began channeling a spell but immediately felt a force blocking her connection to the aether she was trying to control as the monster gazed upon her.
"N'athys!" Juria yelled.
"Right!" he replied as they each took aim at the creature hastily and fired their arrows towards its head. Suddenly Rose vanished and reappeared hovering in front of the voidsent as the arrows struck straight into her chest. She wheezed as blood splattered from her mouth and began falling to the ground.
"ROSE!" Paris screamed as she drew her weapon once more and began casting at the enemy who quickly noticed her. Suddenly a blinding light filled her vision as a ticking sound began ringing in her ears, slow at first but getting progressively faster and faster until the sound along with the blinding light came to a sudden stop. Regaining her senses, Paris looked around for the and noticed everyone was back to where they had originally been standing before the fight began, including Paris who stood where she cast her holy spell.
"Rose, you're alright!" Juria said shocked.
"Yes thankfully, but what happened?"
"We'll ponder that later, watch out!" N'athys yelled as he leaped towards Rose, sending them both to the ground as as a large tentacle swung by their heads, barely missing them as they fell. Paris took a step back to prepare a spell but was interrupted as her foot clashed with an unknown object. Looking down she noticed that the objects she had dropped earlier still lied on the floor including her summoning tome.
"Hmm? If they're still on the ground then that means... That if time was somehow reversed it only applied to us. In that case if this voidsent can manipulate time..." She thought to herself as she slowly knelt down to the book in an attempt to avoid the monster's notice. Reeling an arrow back on her bow, juria took time to aim at the creatures head while it recovered from it's swing at the pair before firing at her target. Turning it's gaze once more it cast a spell that completely stopped the arrow in mid air, as well Juria who was stuck unable to move any part of her body.
Quickly countering, N'athys grabbed an arrow from his quiver but before he could load it he felt a sense of weakness. He looked down at his hands to notice the skin begin to dry up and wrinkle, his body began to grow thin and fragile and his hair started to grey before he was forced onto his knees, too weak to do anything else.
The voidsent began to break out in disgusting laughter at the helpless group before it was knocked back by a powerful kick from behind as Robyn snuck up on him. Roaring in retaliation, it cast a spell and soon small comets began raining from the sky towards Robyn who began dashing around to try and avoid their impact.
While the monster was distracted Rose channeled her aether, charging a ball of lightning and shooting it towards the enemy. But before it could strike it a familiar white light surrounded their view and after a moment they found that time had reset again. Once her vision returned, Paris looked back behind her to notice her tome still lying open on the ground.
"It's as I thought then. Now, the only way to stop the reversals is to destroy it in one attack before it gets the chance to rewind." She thought to herself.
"I tire of this pointless squabble. Prepare thyselves for oblivion!" The voidsent roared. Immediately, N'athys felt his body become light and his feet slip away from under him as he began to rise into the air, flaying about in panic. Soon after his feet felt a strange tingling sensation and he realized a rift had formed above his which was slowly pulling him in.
"N'athys!" Juria cried out in worry as she ran over and grabbed his hands, only to find herself being slowly pulled up along with him.
"No, let go! You'll only be taken along with me!" He shouted.
"Yes, watch helplessly as thy companions slowly meet their own demise before thou meets their own." The monster cackled. Paris went to grab her weapon and was prepared to attack before something caught her attention in the corner of her eye. Soon after the creature's maniacal laughter turned into a painful screech as a powerful flare of black magic blasted the creature from behind as Jessika stood once more with rapier and medium in hand.
Taking this distraction as her cue, Paris quickly dashed down towards her book, grabbing the quill and swiping it across the page, drawing the final line in her summoning inscription before slamming her palm down onto the illuminated page. The voidsent looked up at the sky behind them as the clouds began to darken and churn. A loud roar rang through the area as a large winged figure came spiraling down from within towards the enemy. A brilliant arcanima form of Bahamut gave a menacing roar to the voidsent before a powerful beam of light shot down upon it repeatedly as it screeched and writhed in agony. As the devastating energy faded the creature swayed around before collapsing on the ground with a tremor and erupting into a puff of dark aether as its life came to an end. Paris clasped her tome shut and with that the towering dreadwyrm took off and disappeared into the night sky.
N'athys who was collapsed on the ground face first gave a sigh of relief before rolling over and sitting up, quickly inspecting his legs.
"I'm glad that's over." He remarked.
"Thankfully Ms. Thorn awoke when she did. That was some powerful black magic you managed to muster." Rose commented.
"That demon should have known better than to strike at it's dark lord, all my underlings should know their place." Jessika replied.
"It's a good thing Paris came when she did. Why did you come here, anyway?" Robyn asked.
"After I asked Gaius about your task I later followed to inspect one of the ruined houses, specifically your childhood home." She explained.
"What? Why mine?" Robyn looked confused.
"Was your birth father's name Reith by any chance? Paris asked.
"Yeah, how did you know?" Robyn replied, seemingly more confused than before. Paris retrieved her belongings from the ground and handed over an old journal.
"This was your fathers. Jessika found it among these ruins some time ago, presumably along with his weapon. It mostly details his training in red magic but also has passages about your mother and when you were born when they were still in Gyr Abania, it should be returned to it's rightful owner." Paris explained as she handed the book to her. The Miqo'te's eyes began to water with a smile creeping along her face as she flicked through the pages.
"Thanks Paris but you should hold onto it for now, it'd be more useful to you anyway. Just take good care of it, okay?" She asked.
"I will, thanked you." Paris answered with a smile.
"And Jessika?" Robyn continued. "Just don't make my father's work look bad with that weapon of his, got it?"
"You under-estimate my powers mortal, I will far surpass any one of you." She replied.
"It feels as though the corruption in the area has properly cleared up this time, does that mean we succeeded?" Juria asked.
"It would appear so. But one thing still bothers me, what was it that got you so worked up before, Rose?" N'athys asked. There was a long pause as Rose looked away from the group then eventually looked back at them with sadness.
"It... Was my fault our village was destroyed... I'm so sorry." She sobbed.
"Our village? and what do you mean your fault? A voidsent was what destroyed it so it couldn't have been." Robyn asked confused.
"My name, my birth name was Altis, I used to live here in this village with the two of you." Rose replied.
"Altis... That was the timid child who often got picked on. But wait, Altis was a boy? Not only that but a Hyur. I know remember hearing of an Au Ra family in our village at one point but definitely none that i remember." N'athys said as he tried to understand the situation.
"Well Rose was originally a Hyuran boy. It's a long story we can explain later, but I trust she's telling the truth. Still, I don't get how this is your fault." Robyn said.
"Some time before the village was destroyed I was attacked by a voidsent in the surrounding forests. Nobody including myself could tell but when it attacked me it took possession of me and lied dormant inside me, the shock caused me to succumb to a coma for several weeks. Excluding my blinded eye, I was fine for a while after I woke up. That is until the voidsent inside of me took control and caused me to destroy everything around me. It's because of that, because of me that we lost everything. Even now I keep that entity at bay inside myself, making sure never to let something like that happen again until I can find some way to get rid of it. I know my words won't bring our loved ones back. And... I know I shouldn't be forgiven for what i did... But I am so sorry for everything..." Rose explained as she burst out into tears.
There was a brief moment of silence before Robyn approached the woman and pet her back softly.
"It's okay, after all the voidsent is what did this, not you. You were just held hostage by it, if anything you're just as much of a victim as us." Robyn reassured her.
"She's right, you can't keep blaming yourself for something that was out of your control. Neither of us blame you for what happened here." N'athys added.
"This means so much to me. Thank you all, really." Rose sobbed as she looked up and tried to smile through the tears.
"Now we should be heading back, by how high the moon has risen I'd say it's past midnight already." N'athys said as the others nodded. As they headed back, Jessika moved to Paris' side.
"You have a weapon just like mine, does that mean you're a Red Mage too and were keeping it from me that whole time?" She asked.
"No actually this used to belong to my father. He wasn't trained with weapons and I had never seen him use it so I had no idea what he would have kept it for until you arrived. I'm guessing he heard tale of Red Mages and their arms somewhere along the line but never managed to learn how to harness their magic." Paris explained.
"Considering how elegent and expensive that weapon is I'm not surprised it was his." Robyn looked at it in awe.
"Speaking of your father... Well... How come you didn't see his ghost when the voidsent summoned them here?" Juria asked.
"Hmm... Either his spirit had no regrets or left over business shackling him to this plain, or he just isn't dead." Paris shrugged as they continued their journey home.