Do not read if you are playing Final Fantasy 14: Heavenward or have plans to. I have always liked the character Alphinaud, but I truly do love the changes in him in the expansion so I decided to do a story about that growth. I will be using my own character, Claire Faye, in the story as well, but feel free to think of your own characters. Here is a list of things that will be in this story:

Major Game Spoilers for Final Fantasy 14: Heavenward.

Some Alphinaud/Warrior of Light Shipping

And even a little Haurchefant/Warrior of Light Shipping.

This story is mainly shown from Alphinaud's point of view of the story and there will be some touching moment between him and the Warrior of Light as well as close friendships bordering on romance but let's see where this story goes first. I do not own any copyright, am doing this purely for entertainment…

And if there are any special requests or suggestions that you would like to see happen here, please message me and let me know. Thank you all for taking the time to read this and please let me know what you think.

Prologue: In Grandfather's Wake

It was hard to believe that five years had come and gone…

Five long years since the day that they had said goodbye to their beloved Grandfather on these very same docks. Who would have thought that they would be following in his footsteps one day?

And yet… he couldn't help but think that everything he had been working towards had been leading up to this inevitable moment.

Standing on the deck of a ship was a young Elezen, barely of age, with white hair tied up in the back with a blue knot with the brightest of blue eyes. His twin sister, looking nearly identical to him was standing right next to him, while they both carried with them identical large grimoire hanging at their hips. They stood side-by-side, was watching their home and their father fading away from the quay.

Though they were only sixteen summers old, they were old enough to be considered of age in Sharlayan, and had recently graduated with the highest of honors from the Studium. So though their father did not approve of their plains, he knew that they were old enough to make their own choices. He simply decided to let them do what they felt was right, and did not try to stop them from leaving and heading to a land that they only knew about from books.

His sister was waving sadly at their father; and as he looked over at her, he could tell that she was thinking the same thing that he was. The day that their grandfather left…

He remembered that day as if it happened yesterday… how their grandfather had sat them down and told them that he would soon be leaving to head back to the land of Eoreza to help in the struggle against the Garlean Empire.

Both he and his sister's responses could not have been more different. He knew Grandfather well enough to know that his mind was made up and there was nothing that he could say to change it. So biting back the waves of pain and sorrow that had risen up within him, he could only nod in acceptance. Though he was bursting to start weeping like his sister had done—wanting to just grab hold of their grandfather in a hug and begged him not to leave.

He did not trust himself to speak, for he knew that if he were to try, he would've lost control of himself as well and would've started begging too.

One of Sharlayan's most respected sages, their grandfather Louisoix Leveilleur founded the Circle of Knowing, hoping to intervene in the prophecy of the Seventh Umbral Era outlined in the Divine Chronicles. Though this went against Sharlayan's current policies of non-intervention promoted by the dominant Bibliothec faction, his standing meant their activities in Eorzea largely went unopposed

Alphinaud Leveilleur placed his hand on the Grimoire that he had carried with him everywhere he went for the last five years and thought back to when grandfather had given the two of them before he left. It had been a moon after he had delivered to them the sad news of his upcoming departure and were about to leave the house for the docks. Before they had left however, grandfather had drew the twins aside and handed each of them his final gift…

He could still see it in his mind's eye… an elderly Elezen wearing an acton, armored leggings, and carrying with him a horned staff—the Tupsimati—bearing the mark of Thaliak. He sat on the bed as he drew them both close and handed each of them a heavy Grimoire…

"Even had you not gained admission to the Studium—and made me exceedingly proud in so doing," he had told them both with a kind and loving smile on his face, "These gifts would have been yours regardless. Here—one for each of you. When read together, these two grimoires form a single tome. Provided you support one another's studies, I have no doubt that you will soon come to understand the lessons inscribed therein."

Alphinaud had taken his grimoire with the practiced grace and dignity that he had been working on for that moon, preparing for this moment. Though his heart felt that it was being ripped apart—just crying out for him to think of something to say to keep grandfather from leaving.

Instead, all he could say was, "Thank you, Grandfather."

His sister, however, took her own gift with her eyes never leaving their grandsire's face as she tried, for what felt like the millionth time, to dissuade him from his course.

"Must you leave, Grandfather?" she begged, "Is there naught I can say to make you stay?"

"Please, my dear. We have spoken about this," he told her kindly.

Yes, they had been. He had long since lost count of how many times that they had gone over this. Grandfather was planning on leaving Sharlayan so that he may return to Eoreza. His purpose, he had patiently explained again and again, was to aid the distant realm in forestalling the ruinous arrival of the Seventh Umbral Era.

Alphinaud knew that he and his sister had been born in that distant land as well, however he could not remember it for they had bene less than a summer old when they had been forced to flee. From what he had learned, when the steel-clad wolves of the Garlean Empire descended upon Ala Mhigo, it had been his father and his fellows in the Forum who had made a valiant attempt to broker a peace. Needless to say, it had failed in the end and so their people felt that they had no other choice but to abandon their home—the city of Sharlayan—the renowned center of learning in Eoreza—and leave the realm completely.

It had taken five years of elaborate planning and painstaking preparation, but eventually, the entire population had been moved to the northern archipelago of their homeland and their old home was left behind empty in one night.

Yet as small family left the house and were making their way down to the ship that would take grandfather away from them, their father tried—once again—to reason with him from doing so. Yet, as his sister's objections were simply for abiding love of Louisoix and the thought of his absence was too terrible for her to find the words, Alphinaud believed that it seemed to be more a political matter that father tried to stop this. As a highly influential member of the Forum, he was one of many responsible for shaping their policy and upholding their beliefs. As with many of his colleagues, they were opposed to military intervention, and believed that their duty would be to chronicle the world, instead of interfering with events that no longer concerned them.

"War is the favored resort of the uncivilized and the ignorant, Father," he had said over his daughter's pleas. "The wise abjure it. As Sharlayans, it is our task to observe—to chart the course of history, not to change it. Civilization shall not be advanced through petty conflict, but by the passing of recorded knowledge from generation to generation."

"My mind will not be changed, Fourchenault," Louisoix responded wearily, this conversation ending the exact same way that all the others had—even word for word. Like a play that they had been rehearsing and repeated until it felt like the words had lost their meaning. Though Alphinaud did not bring it up, he knew that his Grandfather secretly ostracized the Forum and their ways of choosing to leave the troubles of others to their own devices.

"To ignore the plight of those one might conceivably save is not wisdom—it is indolence," he said firmly. "And such a passive stance will not, I fear, take us far upon the path to progress. That you would spare these younglings the horrors of war is a decision with which I am in full agreement. Thus do I refrain from exhorting you, or any other, to return to Eorzea at my side. We must all protect that which we hold most dear in the manner of our own choosing."

His sister let out another cry of sadness, having pleaded that if Grandfather could not be stopped from leaving, then she would go with him. Alphinaud would have volunteered to go with them on the spot, yet their father had put his foot down and forbade them from doing such a thing. When they looked to Grandfather for support, he merely shook his head and told them both that this was a trip that he had to take alone. That even if they were of age, he did not feel right about leading them into such a dangerous journey.

Nothing could persuade Grandfather from his course and the twins could only watch as their beloved Louisoix Leveilleur step onto the ship, the sails catching a sharp wind and carried him away from them.

The twins merely stood there with their father as they watched Grandfather's form disappear across the sea and over the horizon.

"And then he was gone," he whispered as he gazed long and hard into the distance, though the ship was no longer visible to their young eyes. His sister didn't say a word, merely glancing at him with tear-filled eyes, both of them hugging their hefty grimoires tightly to their chests as if their lives depended on it.

That day had been one of the most painful things that he had ever seen… but even that was nothing compared to what would follow.

Both he and his sister were only children, barely of eleven summers at this point, still possessed exceptional intelligence. In fact, they were so advanced in their studies that they were allowed to join the scholars of the Studium just a few moons prior to Grandfather's departure. From that moment on, they would spend bells pouring over the two volumes that he had given them, never having seen such curious crafted grimoires before in their lives. For they were crafted in such a way that the contents of one could not be deciphered without the other.

He guessed that there was some hidden reason that Grandfather had given them such gifts, though it was very difficult since there was a rift now between him and his sister. For furious with him for his mute acceptance of their grandsire's decision, a crack had appeared between the two of them. He knew that she was angry with him for just standing there and said nothing even as the man that they had admired and loved the most in their young lives left them.

But what could he say? What could he have possibly have said or done to stop him? Though he would not admit it, his sister had said everything that he had wanted to say to him. Besides, even if they had been allowed to go with him, he doubted that there would be many who would be willing to listen to a young child.

And so they devoted themselves to learning all that they could so that they would one day be able to follow after him and help their grandfather in his work. But that dream was shattered one night. Moons after Grandfather had taken a ship and left them behind, they had been keeping up with his work even from afar with the help of a man by the name of Urianger, who was working alongside their Grandfather.

They had learned that Eorzea's leaders had established a network of guilds for the greater good of the realm. The members of these guilds were to devote themselves to no single material or martial craft, but endeavor to embrace all, that they might better serve the realm's immediate need. They would be called, simply, "adventurers." And according to Urianger, Grandfather thought very highly of these men and women who were fighting for the good of the realm.

But what drew their attention the most was the fact that the beast tribes of Eorzea had somehow regained the ability to summon their long-dormant gods—the primals. And it was this threat that Grandfather was working the most to trying to find a solution. For it was his belief that if the primals were suffered to remain, they would seek out and devour the realm's crystals, draining the planet of its very lifeblood, and condemning Her children to a fate worse than death.

He would never forget reading about that and feeling cold at the thought. Why would they summon such beings to the world if it came with such a heavy cost? Why would they be dooming, not just their enemies, but themselves as well to such a fate?

"Grandfather will find a way," his sister would say firmly. "He always does in the end. You'll see… he'll save Eoreza. I know he will."

He believed that as well, and he nodded to her—though he also knew that it was going to be far from easy. In fact, it may take a long time… so long that it may be years before they would see Grandfather again.

Things seemed to grow worse when they learned of Gaius van Baelsar, the 'Black Wolf' as well as architect of the fall of Ala Mhigo, was joined then by Nael van Darnus, their legions combining to form a force the like of which Eorzea had never seen. To ready themselves for the coming conflict, the city-states of Limsa Liminsa, Gridania, and Ul'dah reinstated the Grand Companies—organization with executive power to call upon the sum of the commonwealths' military and economic might.

However, VIIth Legion Legatus Nael van Darnus had come with a very different solution to deal with the primal threat. Simply put… to annihilate all of Eoreza…

Meteor—a project to use ancient arcane magicks combined with the lost technologies of the Allagan Empire to bring the red moon, Dalamud, from the heavens. For it turned out that the moon wasn't truly a moon at all. Rather some kind of machine that ancient Allag had launched into orbit several thousand years ago.

He never did forget how shocked the other scholars were when they learned that and he remembered how they scrambled around to write this down and take notes. He didn't care though… all he and his sister cared about was if their Grandsire would be alright.

They had learned that a Garlean defector by the name of Cid Garlond was a master engineer, and he was helping to work alongside them to put a stop to this threat. They had learned that a transmitter deep inside an Garlean outpost in the heart of Eorzea was the key to this plan, for it was this transmitter that was calling down Dalamud.

Since not a single one of the Grand Companies could hope to stand against this threat alone, they had joined forces underneath the banner of the Eorzean Alliance. United, the city-states moved against the Garleans, using a small band of adventurers to infiltrate the stronghold and thus destroying the transmitter.

His sister cheered at that, thinking that it was over, at least until the end of the letter dashed those hopes by informing them that the White Raven escaped before they could subdue him. Even worse, he had a back-up plan by activating a second signal from beneath the land of Coerthas. And this one was so powerful that it fractured the very land and caused vast boulders to hurl into the air where they hung there suspended.

"Can that truly happen?" he could not help but ask in astonishment.

"There are several reported floating islands in Eorzea, though most of them are in the northern lands," he remembered one of his professor's saying when they had informed them of what was currently happening. As they continued to come up with theories, the twins just continued to look at each other with worry both still in their faces.

Urianger made sure to send them regular reports on their Grandfather and everything else that was happening to Studium, wanting what was happening to be written down for future generations. He had written to them that there was still hope in the form of the Adventurers who were fighting alongside them. In one last effort to put a stop to this plan, the Alliance selected a small party of these Adventurers, and bid them to rid Cid Garlond's airship, the Enterprise, to the floating islands of Rivenroad and to do whatever it took to slay the White Raven.

He could not believe that these people were resting the hopes of their nations on just this small group of people. What were they to do if they should fail? And given how strong Nael had become, that seemed likely…

But to his and everyone else in the Studium's astonishment, these chosen few succeeded in slaying the White Raven and destroyed the transmitter.

Yet the celebration had been short-lived, for even with Nael van Darnus's death, it did not prevent Dalamud from continuing to fall. That was when they had heard the grimmest news yet… impact was imminent and the Seventh Umbral Era would soon begin.

He remembered praying, just begging the Twelve to do something to save Grandfather. He did not think of the people of Eoreza, only for his beloved Grandsire, and hoping against hope that he would leave and return home to where they were. His sister felt the same way, and wasn't shy about voicing her opinions… at least until Urianger had informed them that Grandfather had one last plan to try and save Eoreza. A summoning by invoking the power of the Twelve to spare Eoreza's demise. Though he admitted that it would surely have grave consequences for the planet, there was no other choice if they wished to save countless lives.

They had soon learned that while they prepared for the summoning, the VIIth Legion had gathered in central Eorzea, on the Cartenau Plains, where Dalamud was predicted to fall. They had been ordered to defend that area with their lives, and to do whatever it took to stop the Alliance from completing the Summoning.

"But why?!" his sister demanded. "Don't they know that they'll die too?! Why protect that place if death is all that awaits them?!"

"I doubt that their masters would've told them what will happen to them otherwise," he offered and she fumed at the idea. That night, the two of them had joined with their professors and fellow students in the Studium's observatory. They were all gathered around the giant telescope, each of them taking turns to gaze at what was happening from afar, awaiting the fate of Dalamud and Eorzea both.

When it had been his sister's turn, though she kept knocking everyone else out of the way so that she could check every few minutes, she pressed her face so hard into the telescope's eyepiece that it dug into her check.

That was when she let out a shocked gasp and cried out, "Dalamud has shattered!"

"Shattered!?" he shouted out, "What… before it struck the ground!?" he gasped.

"How is that possible!?" one of their professors cried out as the whole room was filled with excited murmurs and hastily formed theories.

"He's done it! Grandfather has saved Eorzea!" his sister cried out as she turned to look at him, her eyes glisten with unshed tears of joy and relief. She was grinning madly at the thought that it was all over, and didn't even care when he shouldered her aside so that he could look as well. The view provided by the device's array of magnifying lenses was distorted and indistinct, but the fate of the satellite was unmistakable—he could see its crimson-fringed silhouette breaking apart in the skies over Carteneau. Though the air was thick with billowing clouds of smoke and ash, he was forced to agree with that assessment—Dalamud was no more.

And yet…

Something was not right.

He continued to stare at the scene that was happening countless malms away, and he watched as the red moon's bloody glow had been replaced by an equally unsettling incandescent rain, as if the heavens themselves were weeping tears of light. Something was terribly… terribly wrong…

Yet it wasn't until agonizing weeks later, just waiting for news from their Grandfather or even from Urianger on news of what happened. But when they finally did receive news, they wished that they hadn't.

The Archon had written a long letter about what had happened that horrific day. How the people of Eorzea could only watch in horror as vast fragments of the falling satellite peeled away and rained down on the land, wreaking untold devastation. At Cartenau, both sides fought with a frenzy unmatched, neither giving the other any ground. Adventurers plied their blades till their lungs burned, changed spells till they grew hoarse... They fought without regard for their own lives, thinking only to save those of others.

But it was all for naught. Overhead, the moon's skin of stone and steel disintegrated to reveal an elder primal, free of his ancient prison. A great roar announced the completion of Dalamud's metamorphosis. Bahamut…

The news that Dalamud had actually been an ancient prison for primal shocked them to the core, and even more so when they learned that Grandfather had stood against this gigantic beast on those fields when he invoked the power of the Twelve.

The front lines dissolved as allegiances were forgotten and both friend and foe fled as one. Enraged after aeons of duress, Bahamut vented his fiery wrath upon Eorzea. The manifestation of the prayers of a countless souls beseeching the Twelve for one thing. Salvation. And for a moment it seed that the gods would answer. A prison of pure light formed around the raging primal, and began to bleed the aether from his being…

No one was sure how it had happened, or what he had done, but he had succeed in the end. When the sky had cleared, all that anyone knew was that the abomination was gone and Eorzea had been saved. When the siblings reached the conclusion of Urianger's staggering account, however, the pale flame of hope which both had been nursing was finally extinguished.

Even after five years, he could remember those words so clearly…

On the broken fields of Carteneau, did my dearest mentor—thy beloved grandsire—become as light and embark upon his final journey.

It was as if the entire world shattered and broke apart around him. He lowered his head and fought to scream out in rage and grief at the news that he would never see his dear Grandfather again. His sister, however, couldn't care less who heard her as she broke down completely, wailing out and shouting out to Grandfather to the heavens, as if she hoped that this was all just a bad dream.

But though Eoreza had been spared a fate worse than death, the land had been reduced to near destruction. What they called the Calamity, the survivors focused on trying to rebuild their lives, as the fabled Adventurers had been taken from them on the plains of Carteneau. From what was said, no one could remember…

The people claimed that they held no memory of them… while they remembered what they had done for them and how they had given their lives for the good of the realm, they could no longer remember their faces or their names. The story was always the same… these people were standing amidst a bright light… and it was because of this that they were given the name, 'The Warriors of Light'.

But he could remember his Grandfather… he could remember him all too clearly. And it was here that both he and his sister vowed to do whatever it took to ensure that such a great sacrifice was not in vain.

And so they worked harder than ever in their studies, both of them preparing themselves for a journey that they too will one day take. It had taken them five years and they learned everything that their teachers had to offer them in the Studium, graduating when they were only sixteen. Now of age, they proclaimed that they would follow in their Grandfather's wake, and continue on his legacy for him.

Their father, Fourchenault, was not the least bit happy with them and he tried his best to try and stop them; yet like with Grandfather, his words did not sway them in the slightest.

Yet ore than anything, they yearned to find out the fate of their Grandfather.

What exactly was the catalyst which triggered the end of the Sixth Astral Era? Was it the beast tribes gaining the ability to summon primals? Was it Nael van Darnus and his execution of the Meteor project? Or was the end begot of several factors? None of the theories that they had heard seemed to give them the closure that they both craved… and so, they decided that it was their time to go.

And it was then that Alphinaud and Alisaie Leveilleur left their home and everything that they had known behind, ready to put what they know and belief in to the test and mayhaps discover the truth to what happened to their Grandfather that night.

"And now it is our turn," murmured Alphinaud, thinking back to the day of their grandsire's departure.

"We follow in Grandfather's wake," replied Alisaie, her head bowed. Looking over at her, Alphinaud was struck by how widely their convictions differed. As they gripped the rail, however, identical grimoires now hanging from their belts, it was truly like looking in a mirror… in more ways than one.

"This will be far from an easy path that we will take," he stated as he watched the land disappear behind them. "But one that we must take."

"You do not need to tell me that, brother," she responded firmly, and he knew that she hated it when he tried to think of her. She hated being made to look weak even when nothing was said. "I am well aware of this fact. If I was afraid of a hard journey then I would not have bothered to come, would I?"

"I never said otherwise, dear sister," he responded calmly. "I am merely suggesting that we rest now while we can. Who knows what will be awaiting us at the end of this voyage?"

Little did they know that this voyage would be but the first step of a long and difficult journey. Nor did they know that when they went below deck to await arrival, that there was already a new Adventurer sitting there… one whom would shape the future for not just Eoreza… but the world forever.

But the twins barely paid their surroundings any attention as they found seats and leaned back, resting comfortably as they awaited arrival to their destination. Not noticing how the Adventurer directly across from them was moaning slightly in her sleep.