Author's Notes: So, yeah. I'm back to fanfiction writing with a new fic and fandom. I got really into the roleplaying community on the Balmung server so this story happened as a result of that. Check out my profile for more info!

Hydaelyn's Wing

Part 1: The Heart of the Empire

Prologue

It had been said that magic originated beneath Silvertear Falls.

Ashelia Riot, Grand Steward of the Riskbreakers, rubbed her temples as she sat at her desk, poring over her company's reports. She knew little of magic – her forte was more in line with axes and similar tools of war. And yet, based on the reports in front of her, a magical crisis faced her company once again.

This time, it seemed to have affected all of Eorzea – with Mor Dhona at the epicenter.

They first noticed it earlier that morning when Velas'to stumbled into the Sandsea, their home and headquarters, screaming in agony and clutching his head. Blaetlona had rushed to his side, a Physick spell on her lips, but instead of healing him her spell had only seemed to hurt him more. And that was only the beginning – Mariuselt, despite being a practitioner of arcanima, proved unable to bring solid form to the aetheric beings he summoned. Resh had her aether leaking out of her wherever she went, and she was currently bedridden along with Velas'to. Issabel and Eleanor both nearly burned the Sandsea to the ground (a particularly impressive feat for the latter, who did not know any fire magic). Granny Moss somehow even managed to conjure a small tree in the dormitories as she looked after the sick… The list went on.

Ashe heard a knock on her door. She ran her hands through her dark pink hair and donned the beret she used for official Riskbreaker business. "Come in," she said, sitting up straight with her head held high. It would not do to appear tired when the Riskbreakers needed her.

Sylvan Rain, her second-in-command, entered the room. At the sight of the blue-haired Roegadyn woman, Ashe let her shoulders fall. "Is everything going well in here?" she asked.

Ashe sighed. "I can't make any sense of this. I sent A'zaela and Zulak into Ul'dah to speak with the thaumaturges, but the only thing they reported over the linkshell was that the city is in a panic, and in much the same condition as we are here. What in the seven hells is going on?"

"Edge, Grey, and I managed to aid the Flames in calming the people of the Goblet, at least for the time being," Sylvan said. At that, Ashe allowed herself to smile. She wished she could just cuddle up with Edge and forget about all of this. "Also, A'zaela and Zulak returned just minutes ago. We're ready for you now."

Ashe nodded and stood. "All right, thanks. I'll be out there in a minute." As Sylvan left, she piled the papers on her desk neatly and looked over the world map beneath them. "We Riskbreakers should be fighting Garleans, not fixing magic crises," she muttered.

Outside of her office, everything was in chaos. It had been a long time since this many Riskbreakers gathered together in one place, so they had pushed all of the bar tables together to accommodate everyone. The Grand Steward's gaze fell over Grey and Jaraku, trading barbs with each other. Gaelle and Marguerite stood in the corner, both looking paler than usual. They, too, were mages, so they must have been feeling the effects of whatever had happened as well. Bear and Sasaxia Saxia sat together in another corner, and seemed more confused than anything else. Blaetlona stood on shaky legs, being supported by Styrmyrgan. Others argued, or expressed confusion and fear.

Through it all, she caught Edge's eye. He gave her an encouraging smile.

She took a deep breath. "Everyone, please sit down," she said, voice firm. Effectively silenced, they all complied, trying to find as much space to sit as they could. Ashe liked how her voice echoed off the Sandsea's stone walls. She sat down right on the edge of the bar. "Let's begin this meeting."

Sylvan, sitting to her right, spoke up first. "A few people couldn't make it. Velas'to and Resh are still bedridden upstairs and some others collapsed. Granny's looking after them."

But who's looking after Granny? she wondered. She's a mage, too, and older than all of us.

"Right, then." Ashe fixed her gaze on Leodaire, and the archer seemed taken aback at being addressed so early in the meeting. "Leo, how is the situation in Mor Dhona?" She had sent him to Revenant's Toll to get a feel for how the realm's adventurers were generally handling this crisis, or perhaps the cause of it. This kind of thing was right up the alley of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn – but with recent events in Ul'dah, they were unable to do anything.

"Worse than here, boss," said Leo. The Hyuran man scratched his chin. "It's definitely centered in Revenant's Toll, as was suspected. Cid Garlond even made a public appearance, mentioned some magic artifact the Garleans salvaged from beneath the ruins of the Agrius."

"The Agrius?" Ashe tapped her fingers against the bar counter. "I thought the Scions chased the salvagers away from there." The Riskbreakers almost did the same before the Scions beat them to it. She tried not to sigh in front of all of them – if the Garleans truly were involved, then this was a Riskbreaker problem after all.

A voice she didn't immediately recognize piped up from the back of the room. "The Warriors of Light did, not the Scions." It was Ahtynwyb, a Roegadyn of the Gullwings. The Gullwings were a company that the Riskbreakers were acquainted with, but they didn't have much in common – they were a treasure hunting group of the realm's historians, and definitely not soldiers.

But if a magic artifact was the cause of all this mess, the Gullwings might know more.

"This is Riskbreaker business, Ahtynwyb. Unless you've decided to take up my offer…"

The knight shook her head. "I'm just here visiting Sylv," she said, giving a smile to the other woman, which Sylvan returned.

Edge waved his hand, leaning back in his seat. "Warriors of Light, Scions, what's the difference?" There was no difference, as far as Ashe was concerned. The Warriors of Light worked closely together with the Scions, the grand companies, and no one else. Based on their accomplishments, Ashe would have loved to have even one of them in the Riskbreakers.

"There's an enormous difference, my friend!" Jaraku the bard stood up on the table, gaudy clothes on full display and harp in hand. Honestly, Ashe was surprised it took him this long to say something. "But our poor magical friends are sick, and getting worse by the minute – this isn't the time to argue semantics! So I say, quite soundly, that somebody sends a poor sap to the Scions and …"

"Jaraku, sit down," Ashe commanded.

A'zaela looked over Zulak in worry, who grit his teeth in pain. "What would the Garleans want with a magic artifact beneath Silvertear, anyway?" she asked.

"Not the Garleans. The Ascians." All heads turned to the front door, spotting an Elezen woman leaning heavily on a gnarled bone staff in the entryway. Her legs shook as she struggled to support herself, wearing little but a torn black cloak and a skirt that was so dirty, faded, and torn that Ashe couldn't tell what the original color was. The woman pulled back her hood, allowing bright red hair to cascade down her shoulders.

"Azionne!" Blaetlona exclaimed. Her pain forgotten, she rushed to the other woman's side to help her friend.

Ashe's eyes widened in surprise. Azionne Melisandre never looked so different. The woman was always immaculately clean, holding herself with the utmost poise and grace, and she always seemed dangerous even in a formal gown as red as her hair. Now, she seemed almost animalistic, leading Ashe to wonder what the black mage had been up to in the weeks she had been gone from the Sandsea.

"The Ascians?" Ashe asked. She tried not to show her surprise, or even concern. Azionne would not have cared for that, especially in front of all the Riskbreakers. But if the Ascians were involved in all of this, that didn't bode well at all. If she knew little about magic, she knew even less about the dark mages.

"It has long been known they've been working in tandem with the Garleans," said Sylvan, nodding.

"Well, welcome back," Ashe said, offering a smile. "Please, tell us everything you know."

Azionne leaned her staff against the wall and crossed her arms. "Only the artifact's name, and that the Ascians were involved. It is called Lunatic Pandora."

A few people spoke in low murmurs to each other, but no one seemed to recognize the term. Ahtynwyb spoke up again, apparently oblivious to the atmosphere. "Hi, Azi! It's good to see you!"

Ashe looked at her, incredulous. What was with Roegadyn women who seemed to be on such friendly terms with the black mage?

"Ahtyn," Azionne replied, giving her a surprisingly soft smile.

"But, uh…" Ahtynwyb folded her arms, thinking for a moment. "I can ask the Gullwings what they'd know."

"I was thinking I could pay them a visit," said Ashe, nodding to her. "After this meeting I'll try, but who knows how they're dealing with all this?"

Issabel rubbed at her temples and grit her teeth. "Azionne, it's good to see you and all, but… Is there anything we can do about this gods damned aether pain?"

"I do not know," Azionne replied. Even she swayed on her feet. "It's particularly inconvenient to me as well, I assure you. And it's why I've returned in the first place."

"I could try teaching everyone meditation techniques, maybe?" Edge suggested. "I'm no mage, but it does help with my chakras, and they're kind of related."

"For once, I agree with the oaf," said Azionne.

Ashe ignored her comment, thankful for even a temporary solution they could grasp for. "Good idea. Everyone who isn't a mage, try to find out anything you can about this Lunatic Pandora, or keep the Goblet from descending into total chaos." She looked around at them all as they nodded. "Now, are there any other realm-threatening crises I should know about before I visit the Gullwings?"

Inga Redfist slammed her hand down on the table, alarming more than a few people. "Word came in from the Resistance. Seems there're two new legati in town. Thought ya should know."

Ashe nearly groaned in exasperation. Just what she needed. "And you heard of this from your companions?" Ashe preferred not to deal with the Ala Mhigan Resistance movement at all – their methods weren't the same as the Riskbreakers', and from what little she knew of them, she didn't like the way they did things. Nonetheless, Inga was a former Resistance member who chose to join them instead, but only recently. Ashe supposed it wouldn't be bad to have at least a few Resistance contacts.

Inga nodded. "Worse, yet. Those black hooded mages have been seen with 'em."

Azionne stepped forward, eyes narrowed. "The Ascians are not known to make common appearances. Are you certain you've heard correctly?"

"Are you doubting me? Wanna fight?"

Azionne sneered at the Highlander. There was the woman Ashe knew. "Not particularly."

"Enough," said Ashe, before Inga could say something else. "Sylvan, keep an eye on things here. Edge, come with me. I'm off to the Lavender Beds in Gridania."

Leo raised his hand. "Er, sorry boss. Because of all this, the aetheryte crystals aren't working correctly."

By Rhalgr, can't anything be convenient today? "Very well." She turned to the Riskbreakers' resident chocobo handler. "Lanette, fetch me Rosencrantz, if you would."

The only thing she needed next was another Calamity.

Author's Note: Yeahh, that's a lot of names. Every single character mentioned here with the exception of Azionne, Edge, Styrmyrgan, and Granny belong to other people. I wanted to give my friends some screen time, but in a little bit it'll just be focusing on the main characters, so don't worry if it's hard to keep track of all of them.

Any feedback would be appreciated!