Chapter 1 – The Threat of Intimacy
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"Ah, how magnificent the power we wield. Roaring flames, piercing ice, and shocking bolts are matched not by fist or sword or spear.
But the burly warrior waxes fearsome with every closing step. Fists shatter bone; blades slide through flesh; spears puncture soft bellies. Know you a threat, and stand you apart from such men."
– Chapter 1: The Threat of Intimacy, Thaumaturgy: The Yawning Abyss
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Incense creates a fog around the room as devotees to Nald'thal kneeled before his towering figure. A sense of stillness hung over the Ossuary. Brixort tugged at his collar. Elezens like himself enjoyed cooler climates in the forests or even tundra. The heat of Ul'dah made his clothes cling to his skin. His pointed ears were burning hot. How anyone lived this way, he had no idea. The day had barely begun, and he already wanted to bathe again.
Brixort sighed as he heard the echo of the swinging door resonate around the quiet interior of the hall. A black shadow, topped with a mage's hat, rushing to meet Brixort and the five brothers who head the Thaumaturge Guild.
"My apologies for being late," Asta adjusted her hat.
The pointed-ear man shook his head at his fellow investigator. "You were almost too late. This heat will be the end of me—I don't understand how you all can wear black in such intolerable conditions."
"It looks intimidating," Asta lifted her robe a little to show the movement of the material. "But we black mages use lighter armor and fabrics."
"But we digress... the service for the missing is over." Brixort straightened up, glancing over at the succession of dwarfish beings in black.
The investigators watched the chanting mages return from the to the catacombs beneath the Ossuary. Asta mouthed along, knowing the words after hearing them for so many years. Brixort waited in silence.
Cocobuki, one of six Thaumaturge Guild Masters, noticed his old student standing alongside an Elezen. He excused himself from the incoming crowds of mourners.
"I am glad to see you, despite the occasion, Asta." Cocobuki nodded towards Brixort. "Investigator."
"Brixort," he replied. "Well met."
"General Raubahn stated there was a problem involving Voidsent?"
Cocobuki crossed his arms. "That is the problem. These creatures appear to be from the Void, but they act unlike anything we've ever known."
Brixort added, "And that is strange, coming from a Black Mage."
Asta noted. "Master Cocobuki, you and your brothers might be the last few who actually know how to use such magic."
"On the contrary, I do not know whether it was my lack of acquaintance with the topic or these creatures' invulnerability, but they do not respond to such magic. Defeat a few, and double return. They are everywhere."
"Hmm...any victims, so far?"
"A Miqo'te girl has yet to be found and presumed dead. We cannot prove if there's connection between the two."
Brixort sighed. "Well...We will find out what we can."
"Yes, thank you Master Cocobuki." Asta gave a low bow to the Lalafell. "We appreciate your time."
Afterward, Brixort encouraged their return to the Hourglass Inn. "I need a bath."
"I wouldn't," Asta insisted. "Because tonight, we're going after the Voidsent that killed that girl."
"Oh? And what is your plan?"
"We need bait."
"There's no pattern to the killings, in any of the city-states," Brixort replied, "How are we to know if they'll come to us?"
Asta corrected him. "Come to me, you mean. I'm a Black Mage. The Voidsent are drawn to that. If that girl was an appetizer, I'm a main course."
"Can you handle being a 'main course', when you don't know the enemy well?"
"Rather me than another civilian."
"I see. Then I should spend the rest of the morning preparing."
"Good idea."
"You can start writing the reports."
Asta moaned, "Please, Brixort, not reports! I hate writing reports!"
"And I despise this heat, and yet, here we are. Besides, you'll need to elaborate on the plan for tonight in the reports—I feel that is best left to you."
That night, Asta and Brixort found a street suitable for her plan. She twirled her staff as she scanned the area, checking for any stray citizens. No one needed to be outside for what was about to come.
Asta uttered a spell. A purple glow expanded into a circle beneath her feet. That circle divided into smaller rings of smaller circles that rotated around her. The ley lines, they were called, would enhance her black magic. She was now a steak on a dinner plate for the Voidsent.
Brixort looked on, blade in hand. He hoped she was right in her thought process. Never had he worked with a partner who offered themselves as bait, except for Asta. She was a tough girl, raised in the spartan Ala Mhigan traditions, yet breaking those tradition by trading a martial discipline for one of magic. Nevertheless, she worked hard to become what she was today—a Black Mage, and an Investigator of the Adventurer's Guild. He had to have faith in his partner.
That faith was hardly tested.
Within minutes, black ant-like monsters skittered across the ground. Only their glowing eyes gave away their location in the dark. Asta used her staff to shoot flames at her targets. The second the flames touched the monsters, they melted away. But they were soon replaced by others.
Brixort sliced through the monsters as quickly as they spawned, sending waves of them to their deaths.
Then, there was stillness again.
He huffed and puffed, drenched in sweat. Asta exerted little physical force, but tons of aetherial force. She reached for a bottle of ether in one of her robe pockets.
"Your plan worked." Brixort said between pants to Asta, resting his sword on his shoulder.
"Looks like it." Asta said after finishing her ether. "Problem solved. We can go home now. Wait—"
The ground she stood on turned a darker, deeper shade of jet that was impossible to replicate. It forced Asta out of her ley lines, forced her to Brixort's side. The shadow grew until it stood as tall as the buildings surrounding them, with wriggling tendrils for hair and a heart-shaped cavity centered on its muscular, black body. The near size of this Heartless made Asta lose her footing.
"What is that thing?" Asta stammered out.
"Doesn't matter," Brixort replied. "We must rid the world of it."
Once more, Brixort commanded the attention of the large Voidsent while Asta resumed spell-casting from a distance. She then scrambled away from this freak as she summoned enough aether for a bonfire. When she felt herself drained, she switched to rejuvenating ice magic, and alternated as needed.
Exhaustion started to take hold in Brixort. His shoulders slumped, his arms numb from swinging. He could barely keep a breath in him, but still he tried to carry on. He sliced at the monster, then dodged and sliced some more. The more tired he got, the harder it was to anticipate the monster's moves. Brixort let his sword scrape the ground as he took a second to recompose himself.
Big mistake.
The next ball of fire that hit the monster's skin made it jerk around towards Asta. Brixort heard her curse before the monster snatched her right from under her mage's hat. Her staff cried for its master as it clattered to the ground.
It held her up to the level of its eyes. She was powerless to do anything.
"Brixort! Do something!" The monster's grip on her tightened, eliciting a cry of pain.
Hearing his partner, Brixort grabbed his sword and made for the monster's arm. He slashed at it multiple times, hoping to sever it, but the arm recovered before the slice was fully realized.
He cursed under his breath.
The monster raised its arm above its head, and they both knew what was coming next.
"Brixort!" Came the shrill cry as Asta tried to wriggle upside down out of the monster's hand. Even if she landed in its tendrils, it would be a happier fate.
He could not look away as the fist imprisoning Asta swung towards the ground.
She closed her eyes and waited for cobblestone.
Instead of the fist landing headfirst, it landed on its side, releasing Asta and sending her tumbling across the street. Asta rubbed her head, looking to Brixort in confusion. His face mirrored hers.
The monster shrieked over its lost appendage, clutching at the place it used to be. Within seconds, the monster fell to its knees and arched its spine. It faded back into a puddle of darkness.
It was then that the Investigators saw two newcomers, one with silver hair and tan skin. The other seemed to be Lalafell in strange get up-surprisingly more common than one would think. Brixort and Asta shared a look of confusion as one of the newcomer turned and came to Asta's aid.
He helped her up, though she tried to help herself more, and inched away from him in the process. Despite the added space, though, his presence still made him feel close.
Asta panted, sweat dripping down her face. Her legs trembled under the weight of her body, yet she refused to buckle in front of this adventurer.
She insisted, "I had everything under control."
"I'm sure you did," The adventurer replied, offering her a glass bottle, a potion.
At first, she considered refusing the potion, but her body cried for her to seize it. Asta complied with the demands of her body, else risking a delay in aetherial recovery. "Thanks."
"Identify yourselves, adventurers." Brixort sheathed his sword and uncorked a potion of his own.
"I'm Mickey," the Lalafell answered. "And this here's Riku."
Asta lifted her chin in Mickey's direction. "Interesting glamour, by the way. You really look like a giant mouse."
"Oh! Uh...yeah," Mickey laughed.
Asta lost her hat during the battle, but now it sat again on her head, concealing most of her face. Just how she liked it.
Because for some reason, she had felt doubly uncomfortable without it. The full moon above did much to illuminate the city of Ul'dah. This Riku boy, though, his eyes seemed to glow in the dark. And every time his eye locked onto her, she felt naked. It made her stomach shift in a way she had never known before. Having her hat and the tall collar of her robes helped conceal these weaknesses. It helped conceal her, strengthen her.
Brixort eyed their weapons. Each of their swords was shaped like a key, something never seen before. It appeared they had experience with these creatures, the way they cut them down with ease. "Have you come across these creatures before?"
Riku said, "They're called Heartless. They're from-"
"The Void, we know." Asta interrupted.
"While you did interfere in our investigation," Brixort continued, "we do appreciate your assistance and will not report it to the Adventurer's Guild. But it is probably for the best that you two retire for the night."
The investigators turned to leave, until Riku asked, "Before you go—do you know someone by the name of Aqua?"
Brixort and Asta exchanged looks. "No, we don't. Sorry."
"We'll just keep searching," Mickey told Riku before departing.
Asta looked over her shoulder where the Heartless had once stood. She narrowed her eyes. "Something seems...off with those two."
"I agree, but what I'm not sure. For one, the lack of armor. Glamor is common enough, but the paladins I know are proud to display their armor. Perhaps we could keep any eye on them while they're here."
The next day, Asta returned to the Ossuary for research on the Heartless. She checked for any mentions in books on Voidsent, but found nothing. She never recalled even learning about such creatures. Why were they here now? What were they after?
Cocobuki's approach pulled her from her thoughts.
"How did you fare?"
"The one we faced was large, Master," Asta replied, closing the book before reshelving it. "And I almost died were it not for a pair of adventurers. How are the Ala Mhigans faring? It looks like nothing has changed, but I'm hoping for good news."
"Tensions are rising, Asta," Cocobuki replied. "More and more arrive from Ala Mhigo daily. With no end to the Garlean invasion in sight, it looks like the problem will only get worse."
"What does the Syndicate propose?"
"No one knows. Doubtless they truly care about anything beyond Ul'dah if it does not increase profits."
"Well, I have an appointment with the Sultana and General Raubahn in a day or two. Perhaps I can...do or say anything that will help. Raubahn cannot turn his back on his own people, and neither can I."
Asta sighed.
"In any case, I must return to the Quicksand. Brixort is forcing me to do the paperwork this time."
As Asta descended the stairs outside the Ossuary, she caught a black blur out the corner of her eye.
Down another alley, a hooded black figure walked into a black void.
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Early the next morning, Brixort invited himself into her room. He wrinkled his nose—of course she left clothes and armor strewn about. Her mage's hat oversaw the chaos from atop a tall armoire while her robes hung over the back of a chair in the corner. Only the bed remained tidy, though with books stacked next to it. It was a classic sign of Asta's investigation-induced insomnia.
She sat cross-legged on her bed in an oversized tunic, her kneecaps sticking out from underneath the fabric. Her long hair was tangled instead of braided. There were dark circles under her eyes.
Brixort flipped through the pages of the report. His brows knitted as they always do while he scanned the pages for accuracy and insight. "Well done, Asta."
"I knew you'd like it."
"Yes," he said with a nod. "This is good investigatory work. It's about time you showed your dedication to the role."
"I'm always dedicated to the role," Asta said with a sniff. "I just express it differently."
"That you do. Well, I must be off to Gridania to deliver this. They, too, are having unusual Voidsent activity; they want me to identify if they are Heartless. Please send our armor to the mender. I shall return as soon as I can. And please, stay out of trouble."
"No promises."
Asta saw Brixort off before making her way to one of the city's gates. She tilted her head in acknowledgement while passing one of the guards. The act earned a mirrored response despite the lack of recognition.
Beyond the gates lied dirt and sand. Her boots sunk into the latter, each step full of regret for not switching to sandals. Asta scanned the huddles of refugee camps and found starved, angry faces staring back at her.
Part of the anger was due to their traditions-shaving eyebrows and filing teeth were common sights in her childhood. But the other part was the willingness of Ul'dah to leave them without food, without work as sellswords or smiths. A clan known for their height and musculature, they slouched to dull the pain of empty bellies and no longer held the strength to persevere.
Part of her wanted to feed them or give them money, but that would only solve today's problems. It could not solve tomorrow's.
A refugee spit at the ground when she made her way back towards Ul'dah. Another cursed her.
Before Asta could respond, she felt another presence.
Skittering through the camps, their presence frightened the people and sent them retreating into their makeshift homes.
Some appeared overhead, like little red fairies. A circle of light radiated around them before they started their onslaught.
While armor-less, she would not let her people fall to the Heartless. She pulled her staff from its holster and called for ley lines to increase her magic output. From there, she started casting as quickly as the words would fall out of her mouth.
These were easier to handle than the giant Heartless from the night before, but Asta found herself struggling to keep up with so many enemies. Sure, some spells were meant for individual enemies and others for groups, but she still felt fatigued. Her arms and legs felt heavy.
From underneath a blanket peeked a child and his mother. Their gaunt faces were now pale as they watched the battle taking place.
"They're counting on me right now…" Asta mumbled to herself as she continued casting.
The Heartless shaped like ants would escape her magic by sinking into the ground and repositioning themselves elsewhere. They coordinated an attack by all rising from the ground at once and dogpiling onto her.
With the wave of her hand, Asta summoned a temporary shell made of her own energy. It deflected any incoming Heartless, but at a cost. Naturally, Asta would reach into her belt for an ether, but she had forgotten to replenish before leaving the city.
She little energy left.
Asta fell to her knees, her head hanging low.
"Get up and fight!" One refugee called out.
Another yelled, "Yeah! Born from blood! Born from blood!"
That was the Ala Mhigan motto. Before their fall to the Garlean invaders, it was a seat of military might. Her people were asking her to stand until the end. If only Asta could actually stand.
But she did not need to stand to cast. And despite having little left for a spell, there was a powerful spell that took as little or as much as given, for the price of needing an ether or sacrificing health to return mana.
"Flare!"
An orb of burning flames descended upon the Heartless before her. In hues ranging from purple to orange, they shredded the Heartless into a million pieces, until nothing was left.
To the cheers of refugees, Asta rolled onto the ground face-up. She closed her eyes and steadied her breathing. Her internal aether, her mana, sent fizzles coursing through her body and ending in her fingertips and toes. She felt nausea coming on, and needed to mentally balance herself before limping back unceremoniously into Ul'dah.
"Hey, are you okay?" A familiar shrill voice asked. Mickey.
The kid hiding with his mother answered, "She got rid of the bad guys!"
"I'm...fine…" Asta groaned. "I need to lie down...for a moment..."
"I'm glad you're okay! If we got here sooner, we could've helped!"
The kid returned with his mother, who elevated Asta's head on her knees. She offered her some juice, which Asta tried to wave away, but the mother insisted.
"You have little to give. I promise I will get what I need when I return to Ul'dah. Please."
"I am still a mother. We take care of our own, even if the circumstances aren't to our liking," the mother responded, shoving the container of juice into her hand.
La Noscean orange juice fell sweetly down her throat as she acquiesced in the mother's order. Some dribbled onto her chin, which she swiped away with her hand.
"You," the mother looked up at Riku, who had been a silent onlooker the whole time. "Be a gentleman and take her back into the city. Get her the help she requires-"
"I'm fine," Asta insisted, rolling onto her stomach, and pushing herself to her knees. "I just need a little break…"
The mother glared at her once more, which in Ala Mhigan translated to, 'If you don't follow my instructions, so help me Rhalgr, I will beat you senseless.'
Asta sighed. "Fine."
Riku pulled Asta up and placed her arm on his shoulders. His other hand hesitated on where to sit, not really wanting to hold a stranger's waist. His grip fell on her belt instead, allowing him to help her without directly touching her.
"Sorry," Asta mumbled to Riku. "I know we've just met and all. Once we are out of her line of sight, you won't have to escort me anymore."
"If that's what you want…"
Riku let go of Asta once they were near the gate. The nearby guard glanced at Asta, after noticing her dig into her bag.
"This is for you," Asta told the guard. "And this for the Ala Mhigans over there. When you're finished with your post, please see to it they have their juice replaced. I will return to ensure that it is done, so don't get any ideas."
"Uh, yes ma'am."
"As for you…" Asta turned to Riku, eying him.
He was barely taller than her, and the clothing he wore were ill-matched for a paladin. And yet, the way he stood channeled a confidence that ignored the need for proper gear. Just who was he?
"Riku," Asta asked slowly. "Where are you from? Why are you here?"
"We told you yesterday."
"Not where you were from" Asta replied.
"I'm from...far away."
She frowned. "Hm. What a straightforward answer."
"You don't believe me?"
"If I believed the first thing out of anyone's mouth, I would have lost my job as an investigator by now."
"Fair enough. But I am from far away."
"Whatever you say. Well, I must be going...there's a bed with my name on it."
Riku did not press her for more information. He seemed more interested in returning to his own tasks, something Asta appreciated for the time being. It gave her time to think how she could pull Riku into an interrogation about the true reason he was here. There was no way he was simply looking for someone while being fully capable of destroying the Heartless. Here she was, a Black Mage, and yet she struggled to fend off the smallest of Heartless.
Perhaps the Lalafell in the strange glamour would be easier to crack? She needed to separate the two, get the Lalafell alone and see what she could get out of him, Asta thought as she downed two ethers and swaddled herself in blankets. The books that tumbled off the bed would be ignored until she woke up.
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Author's Note: I bundled the old and first two chapters together to make it longer, and also added some edits. Enjoy!