Dedicated to Monty Oum (1981-2015). In life, his work brought me hours of joy and much inspiration, as it did for countless others. In death, he taught me the importance of finishing what you loved enough to start, because you never know when you won't be able to anymore.
Disclaimer: Of course Final Fantasy XIV, and all its expansions are not my intellectual property. This is fanfiction. The only thing that's actually mine is the text of this story.
Author's Notes for this story, if they apply to the story as a whole and not only to the specific chapter they appear in, can be found on my profile. If multiple reviewers ask the same question, and I think it's sufficiently important and can't be answered within the story itself, I shall answer it in an FAQ for this story there.
First uploaded: 2016/09/03
Edited: 2017/01/01 - Typo corrections and name additions. | 2017/12/07 - Even more typo corrections.
Chapter 1: Welcome to Eorzea!
Dying really sucks.
Not that I remember my death in any great detail. What little I do recall of my last moments as a human girl on Earth, consists of extremely blurred vision, some incoherent shouting, and a whole lot of pain before everything went dark for the final time. It's a little odd, seeing as how I can remember everything from my first life in greater clarity now, than when I was actually on Earth, but I suppose the shock of dying messed with my brain's ability to record memories.
As for how I felt about dying? I wasn't really feeling much of anything at all while dying, really. Shock again, I'd say. Getting hit by a vehicle going fast enough to fling your body across the road would be sufficient cause to go into shock, wouldn't it? Well, it killed me, so I'll say it is.
Much of my emotional reaction to dying came after I woke up again. Some people would like to believe there's an afterlife, although what form the afterlife actually takes, differs with each person's interpretation, of course. If there is indeed an afterlife – and I very much doubt that where I woke up after dying is it – I didn't see it. The transition from my first life to this second one was rude and simple: I died in a lot of pain, and then woke up again in a lot of pain, in a different body, in a completely different world.
So yeah, dying really sucks. I was torn from my safe little slice of Earth, never got the chance to grow old, see Big Bang in concert, or find out how RWBY is supposed to end, and thrown straight into Eorzea, without any warning or even so much as an explanation of how I got here or what I was meant to do. But, that was the beginning of my story here: filled with confusion, terror, and frustration.
Sixth Astral Era - 1572, 3rd Astral Moon, 15th Sun
When I woke, it was to a quiet darkness. For a small mercy, my waking wasn't sudden, and instead I rose slowly into consciousness again. My awareness of my surroundings came first through the sensation of lying on my back in a warm, soft bed, in a cool, quiet room. I kept my eyes shut as I sorted through the haze of sleepy confusion that was clogging up my mind, and tried to recall what I had been doing before ending up here.
I remembered the accident, though the fact that it had killed me didn't sink in until later. The first sign that something was seriously wrong, was when a wave of memories that were most distinctly not mine washed through me, of trekking through the Twelveswood, and to Coerthas, with two Miqo'te that these memories insisted were my parents, but couldn't be-
I stopped myself there, my eyes snapping open. Miqo'te? The Twelveswood? Coerthas? Half of me was panicking at the presence of memories that couldn't have been real, that could only have come from a video game, but felt as real as anything I remembered from my life on Earth, while the other half of me was desperately trying to figure out where I had been taken to, having recalled praying to Menphina's stone with Mama and Papa, and the red moon was falling, cracking open in the sky, and out came...
The second sign that something was seriously wrong was when I had finally grown too agitated to lie still, and I tried to sit up, only to whine weakly as pain like I had never felt before shot through my spine. It seeped into my chest and gut, effectively immobilising me. I instinctively recognised my surroundings as the guest room in Uncle Tango's house, but before I could even wonder who Uncle Tango was and how I knew him, the door opened and in rushed a woman I immediately knew as Aunt Ailala.
And of course, that was the third sign that something was seriously wrong, because Aunt Ailala was, quite clearly, a Lalafell. It was there that I hit my limit; with shock both physical and emotional slamming into my brain, I promptly fainted from the half-sitting position I had managed to push myself into.
Sixth Astral Era - 1572, 3rd Astral Moon, 16th Sun
When I woke again, it was to the same room, though much brighter, and the sight of Aunt Ailala in an armchair next to the bed I laid in, working on some embroidery. It soon became apparent that she'd only been doing it for something to keep her hands busy, for when I stirred, she set it aside and turned to me immediately, her worried frown breaking into a smile of relief.
"Siesta dear, you're finally awake!" she said, leaning towards me eagerly for a frantic once-over. "How are you feeling?"
I could only stare mutely at her, fighting to sort through the muddled mess of questions I had, such as, how the hells do I know you, how are you a Lalafell, and what happened to me? At length, I gave up and let instinct take over, trying to find my voice. Instead, all that emerged from my throat was a rasp, and I realised I was more thirsty than I could ever remember being. Thankfully, she realised this as well, without me having to say anything, and poured me a goblet of water from the pitcher that sat on the bedside table. I accepted the goblet and drank from it lying down, relieved when the motions didn't bring me any more pain. The most I felt was a dull ache in my chest, but I could handle it.
"Aunt Ailala," I said, and immediately part of me was struck by the fact that my voice was different - much higher-pitched, while the only difference the other half of me registered was that I sounded a little raspier than usual, "what happened? Where are Mama and Papa? Is Uncle Tango here too?" Questions that weren't coming from me, but from the half of me that was somehow familiar with all my surroundings and Aunt Ailala herself. I didn't miss the way her face fell as she tried to decide how to answer; clearly, the answers to my questions weren't good ones. After a moment, she pulled herself together and smiled at me again. She was trying to be reassuring, but the strain in her smile had the opposite effect.
"Not now, child, you have been gravely injured, and you must rest and recover your strength for now. All your questions shall be answered in time," she said, and her gaze fell to the bedsheets as she tried to decide what else to tell me. In the end, she merely blinked, looking at me again and saying, "Doubtless you must be hungry - you've been asleep for nigh on a sennight! The soup we've been trickling down your throat is hardly enough for a convalescing patient. I shall have the kitchen prepare something for you."
With that, she slipped off her armchair and hurried to the door, shutting it behind her quietly. In the silence, I rolled over to face the wall and buried my head under the pillow again, wincing at the throb of pain that accompanied the motions. Thankfully, it didn't become anything worse - I noted that someone had bandaged my torso while I was unconscious, presumably to keep me from aggravating my injuries - and I was free to sort out my thoughts in solitude.
The first question that came to mind was: Where in the seven hells am I? That had already been answered; I was in one of Uncle Tango's guest rooms. More specifically, the one I always stayed in whenever my parents and I came to visit him. Unfortunately, the answer only brought with it more questions: Uncle Tango is a Lalafell, he lives in Ul'dah, this is Ul'dah, Ul'dah is in Thanalan, and Thanalan is in Eorzea, what- how? I shut down that train of thought before I could begin panicking again. I was in an unfamiliar situation, in an unfamiliar place, with memories and instincts that weren't my own but somehow didn't feel foreign in my mind at all. Freaking out wasn't going to do me any good.
So I was somehow in Ul'dah. What had I been doing before I came to be here? Two sets of memories again came to answer that question: one of being hit by a vehicle I couldn't remember, while crossing the road, and subsequently being flung into the air, before impacting against something else that had caused me a lot of pain. The other memory was equally disturbing: of praying for salvation in front of a rock, into which was carved a mark that I knew as Menphina's symbol, watching the red moon cracking open, and something hitting the land. The ground had shaken - Gods, we felt it all the way from Coerthas! - and the last impression I got from my memory was of something slamming into my head with enough force to knock me out, and a cry from a voice that I knew as Mama's.
I curled up into a ball at that. I had just witnessed the beginning of the Calamity, the beginning of the Seventh Umbral Era in Eorzea, in the flesh, and somehow lived through it. I had also just been in a road accident that may or may not have killed me. The thought that all this was merely a weird dying dream crossed my mind, but I dismissed it. Everything felt too real, for one, and I'd never experienced a lucid dream that I could remember - and if I'd had lucid dreams before, I would've probably remembered them. My dreams had never felt this clear, in any case, and there was the presence of these memories, of an entire life I had never lived, as clear and vivid as my own memories of my life on Earth.
It was then that I asked myself the obvious question: Who am I? The answers came simultaneously: I was Alexandria Fei, a human girl of twenty, and at the same time, I was Siesta Fiesta, a Keeper of the Moon Miqo'te girl approaching her fourteenth summer. I paused at that. Siesta Fiesta? Really? Who on Earth names their child something like that... but then again, this isn't Earth, is it? The stark reminder that this wasn't Earth, that I wasn't in Kansas anymore, so to speak, should've shaken me more than it did, but this was all familiar to Siesta, who had obviously been born and raised in Eorzea. And at that moment, Siesta was far more concerned about what had happened to her parents in the wake of the Calamity.
That was easy to answer, based on what I had seen. I couldn't remember anything after being knocked out, but I had been unconscious for a sennight according to what Aunt Ailala had said, they were nowhere in sight, and she had refused to answer my questions. The only thing that would've kept Mama and Papa from being here at my side was if they were injured... or dead. The grief and panic that welled up in me at that conclusion was surprising. These people were at once both mere strangers, and everything in the world to me. What's gonna happen to me now? What do I do?
Thankfully, my train of thought was interrupted by the door opening again, and I straightened out from under the pillow, rolling over onto my back again, to see Aunt Ailala. I was reminded of my injuries when the various aches that I had ignored flared up, making my breath hitch. She frowned at my wince as she approached the bed again.
"The servants will come by with a tray soon. Truly, how are you feeling, Siesta? We only managed to get a physician to examine you once, while you were unconscious. You must tell me if you do not feel fully healed," she said, seating herself again. I breathed in deep to steady myself, and slowly sat up, feeling much weaker than usual. But, I supposed, that was normal for someone who'd been in a coma, recovering from injuries that I could only guess at the scale of. I needed answers, and fast.
"I... my chest hurts, and my back. My ribs too. Aunt Ailala, please, tell me, what's happened? Where are Mama and Papa?" I said, fixing her with my best pleading gaze. She stared back at me, her expression conflicted, before she finally sighed in capitulation.
"What is the last thing you recall?" she asked, and now I could see just how much worry and exhaustion she had been hiding. There was just the slightest slump to her shoulders, her head was bowed, and she looked years older than usual. It was a stark contrast to the dignified, refined woman I had always known her as.
It was my turn to frown as I dug deeper into the unfamiliar memories, struggling to recall anything I had missed earlier. "Mama, Papa, and I... we were in Coerthas, praying to Menphina's stone. And... and I saw Dalamud cracking open, and there was something that made the ground shake. But then something knocked me out. I don't remember anything after that," I said. In truth, I was merely waiting for her to confirm my conclusions; I hoped she wouldn't lie to me.
Aunt Ailala nodded sadly, closing her eyes. I idly noted that they were bright blue, and had dark shadows under them, though they weren't as apparent on a Lalafell's face as they would've been on someone of another race. "You witnessed the Calamity, Siesta. We yet know little of what happened at the Carteneau Flats, but 'tis clear that Eorzea has been changed forever," she said, sighing again. "You and your parents were wounded in Coerthas, but you most of all, it seems. Your parents... they gave their lives to heal you and bring you to Ul'dah. I am sorry, but they have passed on to Thal's realm now."
Hearing it from her just made everything even more horribly real, and the pain that shot through me then had nothing to do with my injuries. I squeezed my eyes shut, and clenched my hands in my lap, trying to fight back the tears. I felt her lean forward and place her hands over my fists, patting them in a show of comfort I didn't remember ever receiving from her before.
"Worry not, Siesta. Tango and I owe your mother his life, everything we have gained in the past twenty years, and everything we shall gain for the rest of his life. You shall be well-cared for, with us, as long as you live," she said, and that was a better comfort than anything else she could have said. It was a guarantee that I wasn't completely alone in the world now, at least. I took another deep breath, this one shaky, before I nodded and lifted my eyes to meet hers, blinking back my tears.
"Where are their bodies? I would... I'd like to see them, please. If only one last time," I said, and managed to keep my voice from quavering, although it was subdued. Aunt Ailala's gaze fell from my face again.
"They have been prepared for the funeral rites. 'Twas your mother who managed to teleport you and herself to our doorstep, while also bearing your father's body. She told me of what transpired in Coerthas, and her final wish was to be cremated with her husband, and the ashes scattered to the winds, that they might watch over you wherever you go, child," she said, and attempted another comforting smile for me. "Your mother's last words were to you, Siesta. That she would love you and be with you, always."
I nodded again, and decided I needed some time alone to process everything that had happened. "Um," I said, then realised I needed to use the toilet, "I'd like to go use the privy, please." I paused at the choice of words that had most decidedly come from Siesta.
Aunt Ailala drew back and chuckled softly, her smile becoming a little more genuine. "Of course, of course! You would certainly need it after a sennight abed. For a mercy, the plumbing still works, though it's been damaged. So much of Ul'dah has been brought to ruin, and the casualty reports mount ever higher by the day, to say nothing of the scant news we hear from other regions," she said, and her smile faded. "Do you require any aid? The servants ought to be here soon enough." I shook my head; the last thing I needed was for anyone to follow me.
"No, I think I can manage, thank you." So saying, I swept the bedsheets aside, and swung my legs over the edge of the bed. The movements took more effort out of me than I'd anticipated, and I slowed in getting to my feet. It was clear my muscles had begun to atrophy even though it'd only been a week, but I managed to stand on my own after a bit, with Aunt Ailala watching me concernedly. The rush of blood to my limbs brought about an unexpected dizzy fit, and I grabbed the back of her armchair to steady myself.
"Siesta-"
"I'm all right, just dizzy," I said, trying to smile reassuringly at her. She nodded slowly in reply, and turned to the door as it opened again, to admit a Hyuran maidservant bearing a tray of food. The mere sight made my stomach growl, and the maid brightened upon seeing us.
"Begging your pardons for the delay, milady, but the food's here now. Miss Siesta, it's certainly good to see you up and about, but you're lookin' a bit peaky there. Can't say that I blame you, though, what with everythin' that's happened now," she said, moving to set the tray on the bedside table. It was laden with a bowl of some kind of meat stew, along with a loaf of bread and a mug of milk. Somehow, I'd been unaware of my hunger until then, but the need for the privy was rather more pressing.
"Excellent, thank you, Mina. Please assist Siesta to the bathroom," Aunt Ailala said, and despite my attempts to protest, Mina was quick to grab my hand and pull my arm over her shoulders. Carefully, she guided me to the door and into a hallway as familiar to me as the guest room. The walk to the bathroom was hardly far, at least, and she helped me into the privy - next door to the bathroom itself - before shutting the door behind her.
"Would you like a bath, Miss Siesta?" Mina called through the door, and I was struck by the sheer absurdity of indulging in a bath when the Calamity had just taken place a few days ago. My incredulity was quickly superseded by the realisation that I had been bedridden for a week, and needed a bath badly.
"Yes, thank you, though only after my meal, please," I said, turning to examine the room.
"Certainly, milady. I'll go run the bath now; please call me if you require further aid," she said, but I barely heard her, too busy taking in my surroundings. They were nothing new to Siesta, of course; she'd stayed in this mansion - and it was a mansion, from the memories that came to mind of it - and used this privy countless times before. But it was completely new to me, and I was pleasantly surprised to find it almost indistinguishable from any modern, 21st-century bathroom on Earth. The lamp on the wall was lit with oil, rather than electricity, but other than that, the privy, sink, and toiletries were everything I was used to. When I noticed the mirror above the sink, though, all thoughts of relieving myself momentarily fled my mind.
Might as well get it over with. I exhaled slowly, then stepped in front of the mirror to look at myself.
Jet black hair fell in soft waves to brush the tops of my shoulders, and wide eyes of the same shade stared back at me, set in a face with a complexion as pale as milk or cream. Pale as a moogle's fur, Papa had once said to me. I'd inherited his hair and eye colour, but I could recall a few occasions when he'd mentioned how I'd inherited Mama's complexion, facial features, and build. A beauty mark, entirely my own, sat on the top of my left cheekbone, to the side and just below my eye, and a small nose and mouth, with naturally red lips, completed the set. Under better circumstances, the face I saw in the mirror could easily have been called pretty. Now, however, I merely looked gaunt, ill, tired, and hollow-eyed.
What caught my attention most of all, however, were the two large cat ears, covered in fur as dark as my hair, sitting on top of my head. I really shouldn't have been as surprised as I was; both of Siesta's parents were Miqo'te and I'd already identified myself as a Miqo'te. But it wasn't until I'd seen myself in the mirror and beheld this face that was simultaneously so alien and completely natural to me, that it began to sink in. I turned to look behind myself. A tail sprouted from the end of my spine, covered in the same black fur as my ears, and peeked out from the end of the knee-length cotton shift I was wearing; it hadn't been made to accommodate a tail. I tried to wriggle it, and it moved. It looked to be a little longer than my forearm.
I turned back to the mirror, closing my eyes and pushing down the hysteria that was threatening me again. I was somehow a Miqo'te, in Ul'dah, fresh out of the Calamity, and none of this made any godsdamned sense. Even my vocabulary was subtly changing, and I tightly gripped the edge of the marble counter that the sink was set in, trying to ground myself.
The need for the toilet made itself known again, and I let it distract me. Thankfully, there was toilet paper, though it came in large sheets as opposed to a roll, and after completing my necessities, I made my way to the bathroom for Mina's help in getting back to the guest room. And as I sat down to the first solid meal my body had consumed in over a week, the only things keeping me calm were Aunt Ailala's reassuring presence and her promise that I wasn't alone in this strange new realm that I now found myself in.
Sixth Astral Era - 1572, 3rd Astral Moon, 18th Sun
On the third day - or sun, as some people called it in Eorzea - after I woke up, Uncle Tango came to visit me, and I got my first look at him in the flesh. He hurried into the guest room, where I was taking a late lunch alone at the table. I was still too weak to move around the mansion proper, but I had the strength to sit up for proper meals and slowly walk myself to the bathroom, even if the movement still hurt. The physician that had been called in to examine me after my bath, on the day of my awakening, had declared me to be recovering well, to Aunt Ailala's visible relief. Not being completely helpless was a small comfort; I had never been truly bedridden before, in either of my lives, and I suspected that being confined to the bed, without even being able to look out the window, would have driven me mad, at least from boredom.
As for Uncle Tango, I rose to greet him as he came in, or tried to, before another flare of protest from my ribs forced me to stop prematurely. According to Aunt Ailala's accounts of what Mama had told her, as well as the physician's own examinations, I'd suffered a concussion, a skull fracture, spinal injuries, broken ribs and a cracked sternum, as well as internal bleeding and minor wounds to my limbs. All wounds sustained from being trapped in the rapid landscape shifts that had overtaken Coerthas in the Calamity. In short, it was a miracle I was alive, and I'd only been saved through Papa's sacrifice, using his own soul's aether to fuel Mama's healing. And even then, healing me had left Mama nothing for her own injuries, which were what had ultimately killed her after teleporting us all to the aetheryte shard in Uncle Tango's front garden. Though I was certain that teleporting through an aetheryte network that had been destabilised by the Calamity had helped none.
"Siesta," Uncle Tango said, striding up to me and pulling me gently back into my seat, "do not strain yourself. 'Tis truly well that you are awake, but you are still recovering from your wounds!" He moved to climb up into the other chair at the table, and fell silent to look closer at me.
"Uncle Tango," I said in greeting, and settled for a nod. Once again, I found myself wondering at the absurdity of such a name, but "Tango Jango" was a far more plausible and normal name for a Plainsfolk Lalafell than "Siesta Fiesta" was for a Keeper of the Moon Miqo'te. Then again, I faintly recalled a conversation Siesta had once had with Mama, in which it had been explained that Uncle Tango had named her at birth, and that he and Aunt Ailala were Siesta's - or my - godparents. While I had always known him as "Uncle Tango", a kind-hearted, middle-aged Lalafell that was nonetheless still in the prime of his life, and who had always welcomed Mama, Papa, and me into his home with his family, I had also often heard of the man sitting before me, described as "the wealthiest man in Ul'dah" in passing. It certainly explained the luxuries and care I had been afforded in his home, even right now, just after the Calamity.
What confused me, and even had me slightly on guard, however, was the memory of a lesson I'd had with Papa, in which he'd taught me about the political structures of the various city-states. Uncle Tango sat on the Syndicate of Ul'dah, as the chairman of the Gold Sands bank, and as Sultana Nanamo Ul Namo's only political supporter, other than the Flame General Raubahn Aldynn. And that made absolutely no sense, because in Final Fantasy XIV as I'd played it back on Earth, Tango Jango had most decidedly not been a character anywhere in the game. He hadn't even been mentioned, nor had Ailala Aila - or their sons, whom I suddenly recalled with surprise. How could I have forgotten the men who were my brothers in all but blood? Bango Zango and Cila Zila. I frowned inwardly. Cila hadn't been in the game either, as far as I knew, but Bango Zango had been present as the vice-chairman of the Brugaire Consortium in Limsa Lominsa. Nothing had ever been said about him being related to a member of the Syndicate.
Nonetheless, as Siesta knew it, the last change in Syndicate membership had been in 1570 of the Sixth Astral Era, when Raubahn had famously earned his Syndicate seat, from the bloodsands of the Coliseum, and Uncle Tango had sat on the Syndicate since before the sultana had assumed the throne. Apart from him and Raubahn - the Royalists who supported the sultana - the members of the Syndicate consisted of the Monetarists, who cared only for maintaining their own wealth and position in Ul'dah's status quo: Chairman Lolorito Nanarito of the East Aldenard Trading Company, Prince Teledji Adeledji of the Mirage Trust, Prioress Dewlala Dewla of the Milvaneth Sacrarium, and Chief Foreman Fyrgeiss Loetkilbsyn of the Amajina & Sons Mineral Concern. It seemed that Uncle Tango had taken Godbert Manderville's place on the Syndicate, which had originally been Director Eolande Quiveron's seat... or perhaps it would be the other way around. Had Godbert made enough of his fortune to sit on the Syndicate yet? I couldn't recall any mention being made of the Manderville Gold Saucer being built, in Siesta's memories. It was likely that the resort hadn't been built yet, that it would only come about in the years following the Calamity.
In any case, the part of me that had lived in and known Eorzea as reality all her life, reminded me again that this was no longer a video game, no longer mere pixels on a screen. I couldn't possibly expect everything to be exactly the same as I had known it in the game, because details here weren't going to be decided neatly by a team of writers. Besides, playing as the Warrior of Light - even multiple times - didn't mean I knew everything about Eorzea, or had even explored all of it. I dismissed my thoughts for now and returned my attention to Uncle Tango, who appeared to have completed his examination and was now simply gazing at me, his expression full of sorrow.
Seeing his sheer grief for his lost friends, so openly expressed, only brought back my own for everything I had lost, all the feelings I had been trying to suppress in order to maintain some semblance of control over myself. I took a mouthful of apple juice, swallowed past the lump in my throat, and broke the silence. "It's good to see you, Uncle. How have you been?"
He jerked out of his staring at that, then laughed bitterly. "That you should be inquiring after me, child. I am not the one who has been bedridden and unconscious for a sennight," he said, and then he visibly steeled himself. "I must apologise; we did not expect you to recover so soon, given your injuries, and so I gave the order for your parents' bodies to be cremated, two suns before you awoke. Had we waited just a while longer, you would have been able to pay your final respects."
I shook my head, saying, "You did what you thought was best, Uncle Tango. Your concerns stretch far beyond one wounded girl and her parents. As you can see, I am recovering quite well, thank you." I didn't want to linger too long on the subject of my parents. That way lay madness and despair.
He nodded slowly, taking in my folded hands on the tabletop. "You need not thank me for aught, Siesta. As Ailala has doubtless told you, you are welcome in our home for as long as you live. I swore to myself, one score and five summers ago, that I would repay your mother the kindness she showed me in saving my life, and I will gladly care for you as my own," he said, and just like with Aunt Ailala, the simple guarantee from him greatly reassured me. "Even if your mother had not asked, I would have done it. Your parents were not mere business partners to me; I counted them among my oldest and dearest friends."
I shut my eyes at how easily he'd slipped into the past tense when talking about Mama and Papa. I was still processing my new status as an orphan; her parents had been the two pillars of Siesta's entire life. They hadn't simply raised her, they'd taught her everything she knew about the world and how to survive in it. Her entire education, from reading and writing, to fighting and crafting, had come from their lessons.
"But still, Siesta, I must ask... do you wish to live here in my household?" he said, and I blinked at him in surprise. Where else would I go? My lips parted to ask, but he elaborated before I could, "Your mother spoke to me a few times, of her family. If you desire to return to the Black Shroud, to be raised by your people, I could locate them for you."
I frowned, looking down at my hands as I recalled what I could, of any other family I had. Nothing substantial came to mind; Siesta's life, up until the Calamity, had largely consisted of travelling around with her parents, never staying in one place too long. Neither Mama nor Papa had ever explicitly told me anything about their extended family, except perhaps for a few passing mentions. And I certainly had no ties to the Twelveswood, not even sentimental ones, though I merely called it that because it was what Mama had always called it.
"I think... I can't remember if Mama and Papa ever said anything about our relatives. I don't know any of those people, so yes, I would like to live with you, Uncle Tango," I said. It was the most reasonable conclusion, at any rate, even if for purely material reasons. Uncle Tango was obviously wealthy, almost beyond measure, and had already shown that I was welcome here for as long as I needed or wanted it. What could unknown relatives, whom my parents had never even bothered to introduce me to or tell me about, have to offer me?
In turn, he relaxed, giving me an encouraging smile and a nod. "Thank you, Siesta. 'Tis a relief to know that you willingly allow me to care for you. I know I can never be a replacement for your parents, and I shall not attempt to be," he said, and then he stood, approaching me again to place something on the table in front of me. "This is the last thing your mother left to you. Your parents were cremated in the equipment they were wearing, though the rest of their accessories and weapons that they were carrying have been stored away. I shall have them brought to you anon."
I stared at the bracelet he'd placed on the table. Crafted from silver, it was a delicate chain of woven links and gemstones and certainly didn't look like anything to be worn into battle. Siesta knew far better, however, and I picked it up to wrap around my wrist. It fit perfectly, as I knew it would; that was only one of its many magical properties.
"Thank you, Uncle Tango," I said quietly, looking at him again.
He huffed, waving off my gratitude. "I only pass to you what is rightfully yours, child. Apart from that, your mother's last wish was for her and your father's ashes to be scattered across the land. When you are recovered again, we shall travel to see that done, time and circumstances permitting," he said, pausing with a sigh. "Would that I could have done more for your parents... but in the wake of General Raubahn's departure with the Alliance forces, for the Carteneau Flats, Her Grace sought my counsel ever more desperately. I accompanied her in her prayers during the Calamity, and so I was not present to witness your mother's final moments. I can only offer my sincerest apologies, Siesta, and pray for their forgiveness."
Regret was written in every line of his face and every word of his speech, but I couldn't summon any words of comfort for him. I doubted that he either needed reassurances or sought them from me, though, so I merely bit my lip and nodded again at him wordlessly, before remembering to ask, "Uncle, what... what's happened to Bango and Cila? I haven't seen them since I woke up..."
I hadn't thought it possible for him to look even worse than he already did, but at the mention of his sons, his eyes grew even more pinched and he pressed his lips together briefly, before finding the strength to say, "Cila is alive and well, Siesta, thank the Twelve. He is merely occupied with overseeing our relief efforts here in Ul'dah, and sends you his regards. As for Bango... he was in Limsa Lominsa, the last I heard of his whereabouts before the Calamity. We have heard naught of him since."
Once again, I was surprised by the grief and anxiety his words triggered within me, and I choked on air. Was it not enough that my parents were gone? We shared another silent look of mutual understanding, before he nodded at me; there was nothing he could say to try and comfort me that would not feel empty, and I would not impose on his grief. With another few words of farewell and an order to rest well and recover, he left, to attend to the countless other matters he no doubt had on his plate. Trying not to think about Bango's possible fate, I turned back to examine the bracelet on my wrist.
This innocuous-looking accessory was anything but. Siesta had seen Mama wearing it for as long as she could remember, and more importantly, had been taught how to use it, in the event that Mama or Papa hadn't been available to. Attune your aether to the stones, much as you would attune yourself to an aetheryte, she had been told, and it was easy enough to use. A simple mental inquiry, and an entire inventory list would appear in the user's mind, to be perused at will. Drawing out an item in the list was as easy as focusing on it and focusing on the place it would appear, and storing an item was equally simple. You had to be wearing it physically, of course, but otherwise, it was a ridiculously convenient way of storing and carrying items that were otherwise too bulky or heavy to carry around easily. Mama and Papa had stored practically their entire lives in this bracelet, everything they had accumulated from their years of adventuring.
Unfortunately for me, none of this explained exactly how it worked. How in the seven hells did a bracelet serve as a storage unit? What exactly were its limits? How could it even communicate directly with the user's mind? It didn't seem sentient, more like a simple device that could be operated by the user's will, like any machine, except that the method of interacting with it involved telepathy, rather than physical manipulation. All I knew about it otherwise was that a Sharlayan had given it to Mama, years before Siesta had been born.
I sighed out loud. Those questions wouldn't be answered anytime soon, unless I was willing to try and track down a Sharlayan whose identity I didn't even remotely know, and who was most likely already long-dead. I had bigger problems to think about, and finished the rest of my meal, which had grown cold, but hardly unpalatable. Ringing the bell for a servant to come and clear away the dishes, I settled myself on the couch next to the window and fireplace, with my half-finished embroidery. Aunt Ailala had brought me some books as well, but I didn't feel calm enough at the moment to even begin attempting to read.
Once again, my mind returned to the topic of Siesta and myself. I hadn't had too much time to think about it, but the more I did, the only conclusion I could reach was that I had died on Earth. The accident could very easily have killed me... or at least sent me into a coma. And this could all be a mere dream. I shook myself free of that thought. This couldn't be a dream; I had never been conscious enough in a dream to question the reality of my surroundings. Every time I did question it now, the answer came back to me, clear and immediate: This is real, this is happening. Every last one of my senses was working perfectly to take in my surroundings, and nothing seemed even remotely dream-like.
Of course, that didn't discount the possibility of this being a very elaborate prank, which was even more ridiculous than the dream theory. Even ignoring the fact that there was absolutely no logical explanation I could think of for playing such an expensive joke on a severely injured girl, my very body had been changed. My new ears and tail weren't just there for show; I could feel sensations through them, and even move them of my own accord.
I set my embroidery aside and leant forward, burying my face in my hands, while being careful not to aggravate my injuries. The only reason why I was even entertaining these silly theories was that the most "plausible" theory still sounded bloody insane. Somehow, when I'd either died - or fallen into a coma - back on Earth, my very consciousness, memories and personality, had been ripped out of my body, sent to an alternate dimension - or wherever the hells Hydaelyn was - and fused in some way with another girl's soul, to occupy her body. It all sounded like the plot of a terrible fanfiction. The most terrifying part was that whoever or whatever had done this, had joined us together so well that it felt completely natural to just accept this dual identity. Siesta didn't feel like a separate consciousness in my mind; she was me. Her past, her instincts and knowledge, as well as her relationships with the people around her, were all part of me now.
My mind had always been my last refuge, the only place where I had true privacy. Finding out that it could be so easily hijacked scared the shite out of me, and not knowing who or what had done this was a thousand times more terrifying. Although, when I thought about it, narrowing down the list of entities that had the power to forcibly fuse two souls together, in this world, wouldn't be a very complicated task.
But that still left the question of why this had happened. Why had I and Siesta been chosen for this, assuming that it had happened through the intentions of some sentient being? Were there any other people out there who had undergone something similar? Somehow, I doubted it; Siesta had never heard of anyone or anything being conjoined like this, in her life, and neither had I. And how had we even been fused? I was no scientist or philosopher, and certainly Siesta wasn't either, but the very existence of Eorzea, of Hydaelyn, as well as the very fact that our souls had been combined, called into question all the passing beliefs I had previously held about the universe. I hadn't even fully believed in the concept of souls, back on Earth, and if Hydaelyn, which I had previously known only as a completely fictional, fantasy world, had truly existed this whole time, what other worlds - or universes - existed? Was my Earth also a fictional, fantasy world that only existed in a story, in a third dimension?
My increasingly moot train of thought was interrupted by Mina entering the room. She smiled cheerfully at me, as she had every time we had seen each other over the past three days. I wasn't sure what I had done to elicit such affectionate expressions from her, but I did my best to return them, as a matter of courtesy. Before the Calamity, Siesta had only known her as a face among Uncle Tango's army of servants, and certainly not by name.
"All right there, Miss Siesta? How's the food?" she asked, stacking up the dishes. In addition to the apple juice, my lunch had consisted of a wonderful flaky antelope pie, and beef and mushroom stew. Two different kinds of meat, in dishes that had obviously been prepared by a master culinarian. That Uncle Tango could afford this much, mere days after an apocalypse had taken place, spoke volumes about his wealth.
"Delicious, as always. Thank you, Mina," I said, and she laughed lightly.
"It's not me you have to thank for the food, milady. Ol' Silver will be glad to hear how you enjoy your meals. He's been worried about you, like most of the household, really," she said. I blinked at her in surprise.
"I... Well, thank you; I appreciate your concern, but why?" I asked. I didn't know any of the household personally; Aunt Ailala's personal retainer, Ticoco Tico, who had minded me in my early childhood, was the only servant I could claim to have a bit of history with. Siesta hadn't been the most social of children; her nomadic lifestyle hadn't lent itself well to forming lasting relationships, and so she had never felt any particular need for socialising with Uncle Tango's servants.
In response to my question, Mina shrugged. "In memory of your parents, really. Mistress Kadhuce and Master Mhira'a always did right by us. Many of us owe Lord Tango our loyalty, if not our lives, and he, Lady Ailala, and Master Cila are worried sick about you, so what concerns them, concerns us. They've been out of their minds wonderin' what's happened to Master Bango too. The quicker you recover, the sooner they have one less thing to worry about," she said, then smiled at me again, although this time it was tinged with sympathy. "Besides, I know what it's like to lose family."
I cast my gaze down. As touching as their regards were, it was slightly galling to have it stem from respect for my parents and godparents, and pity for my circumstances. But still, I was lucky to have people who cared about me, whatever their reasons were. If I wanted people to care about me for me, I'd have to actively cultivate relationships, then. I would have time to do that, if I was going to be living permanently in this household. "Thank you," I said quietly, for lack of anything better to say.
"Well, milady, it's nice to see that your parents taught you some manners. If I may be frank, I can't say I ever thought much of you before this. You never did speak much with any of us," she said. I looked up at her again, pressing my lips together. It was rather mortifying, and even a little sad, but Siesta had never actually thought of Uncle Tango's servants as actual people, so easily had they blended into the background before.
Still, she'd been only a child; she still was, in many aspects. I couldn't afford to behave childishly now, though, not in this alien land, where I had no one to truly protect me. I had established that much; this was neither the time nor the place to start babbling nonsense about soul fusion, and the people around me probably wouldn't be able to help me, anyway. For now, I would simply have to blend in, to survive, until I figured out what I could or would do next. Being thrown into the body of a native, with an already-established past and relationships, was useful for one thing, at least.
"I know," I said simply, returning my attention to Mina. Casting about for a change of topic, I realised I hadn't heard much - or anything, really - about the outside world yet. "Has there been any news about... anything in particular?" I asked. Mina paused in consideration, staring at the ceiling in thought.
"The casualty reports climb higher and higher with each new day, but I suppose you'd know that already," she said, now turning to face me and folding her arms across her chest, "and the Grand Companies've been attemptin' to trade relief supplies, but the aetheryte network's been damaged somehow, which means they can't send out supplies as fast as anyone would like. There were some awful riots in the city itself, just after the Calamity, but the sultana herself came out and quelled the rioters! Even so, Ul'dah's been brought low... the Milvaneth Sacrarium barely stands on its own as it is now. We can only thank the Twelve that these residential districts were spared from most of the destruction."
I frowned, gazing at the carpet again. Apart from the bit about the residential districts, everything Mina had told me about, I'd already heard of, from Final Fantasy XIV itself. Not for the first time, I wondered how the game back on Earth was connected to the real Hydaelyn. "Is there anything else, from outside of Thanalan, perhaps?" I asked.
She shook her head. "I'm afraid there's nothing much, milady. The Calamity's thrown Eorzea into utter chaos, and it seems the usual roads have all been blocked off, so news from the other city-states is difficult to come by, you see. People are still wonderin' what happened at the Carteneau Flats, too. The remnants of the Alliance forces have been marching steadily into Ul'dah all week, and so the alchemists at Frondale's Phrontistery have been hard-pressed to treat all the wounded, soldiers and civilians alike," she said, shuddering slightly. "Lord Tango and Master Cila have sent out half the household staff, along with supplies, to aid in the relief efforts. I was out running supplies for the whole of last week... the state of the city's truly a horrible sight to behold."
I could have imagined the sights she had described, but I didn't want to. I was also fairly certain I would see them for myself at some point, anyway. In any case, it was clear I would have to wait a while more to truly learn anything about Eorzea at large. As I straightened my back to nod at Mina and dismiss her, another twinge of pain reminded me, yet again, of the injuries I was still recovering from. Much as I wanted and needed all my answers immediately, I would have time to consider how to go about finding them.
Once Mina had left, taking the dishes with her, I returned to my rumination. The mention of the Carteneau Flats and the Alliance army reminded me of the Warriors of Light, although Siesta had never known them by that title. She had never met any of them, only heard of the primal-slayers in passing. It seemed that Mama and Papa had chosen to keep themselves and me out of the affairs leading up to the Calamity, except for their final trip to Coerthas. The last act of two wayward children of Menphina, who had finally decided to offer their first act of obeisance to her, in Eorzea's darkest hour. I scoffed bitterly. That their first and only involvement in this war, of praying for salvation from their goddess, had resulted in their deaths... it was a cruelly ironic judgement.
Siesta still didn't want to believe that her parents were truly gone. Part of me saw it as a tragic accident, but certainly not one that would affect me in any meaningful way. The thirteen-year-old girl in me wanted only to wail, sob, and beg an uncaring deity for her parents to come back, for Mama to pull her into her lap and stroke her hair, wipe away her tears, and assure her that everything was simply a horrible nightmare that would be banished with the clarity of the waking world, for Papa to stride into the room, smile at her and take her out hunting or training like he did every day, and praise her as his "little prodigy", his "finest student", and at the end of the day, his "wonderful girl". I wasn't ready to deal with all that raw grief, not just yet. Forcing it down to focus on what I needed to do from here wasn't the best solution, but it would have to do for now.
I turned my thoughts away from my parents in this world, and grabbed at the previous topic that had led to them: the Warriors of Light... for lack of a better term. Siesta couldn't remember their names, not that I expected to. No one, not even the people closest to those adventurers, could remember what they looked like or what their names were, after the Calamity, though it probably wouldn't be widely realised among the people of Eorzea until much later. I could be grateful that Siesta wasn't a Warrior of Light, at least, or perhaps the Warrior of Light. A preteen girl had no business fighting primals, beastmen, Nael van Darnus, or the Garleans at the Carteneau Flats, of course, and there was no way she had the Echo-
Let us show these mortals the true power of the Echo... The power to break down the barriers of existence!
I am become you...
... And we are become one.
I jerked upright, staring at the door in horror, as the conclusion that I should have arrived at earlier, finally dawned on me: Siesta had the Echo. Why hadn't I seen it before? How could I have forgotten the sight of two Ascians fusing into one being, even if I had only seen it through a computer screen? But those questions weren't the most important ones now that I recognised the effects of the Echo. Briefly, I wondered if I had it too, even as a soul that didn't necessarily originate from Hydaelyn - but I shook myself. What mattered most of all was that Siesta clearly had the Echo, and that, at least, was the most likely explanation for how our souls had been fused together. As for why, I would have to ask whoever or whatever had done it, since it clearly hadn't been done with either Siesta's or my knowledge and cooperation.
I ground my teeth in frustration. If only I know more about it! The Echo hadn't been a very clearly-defined power in Final Fantasy XIV, back on Earth, and here in Eorzea, it was even less-understood. Knowing that the Echo was involved solved one mystery, but made clearing up the other all the more complicated. The list of possible suspects responsible for my current state could be narrowed down to a few beings: Hydaelyn and Zodiark, the two entities capable of granting the Echo to mortals, or perhaps one of the latter's servants; the Ascians.
If it was Zodiark or the Ascians who had done this, I was most likely screwed; I couldn't very well just walk up to one of them and demand an explanation. Still, what possible reason or plan would Zodiark have in doing something like this with Siesta, a child of Hydaelyn? Why would He even bother with Hydaelyn's children, when He had His own servants? As for the Ascians, I somehow doubted they would have the power to pull a soul from another universe on their own, without the blessing of their god. Of course, it was possible that Hydaelyn and Earth existed in the same universe, only as different planets very far apart, but I seriously doubted that. For one thing, Earth didn't have deities that could be granted sentience and corporeal form simply through providing a power source and intense prayer on the part of their worshippers. In any case, if this was the work of Zodiark or His like, getting answers out of them would be impossible right now.
So that left the best-case scenario: that Hydaelyn had done this. She'd bestowed the Echo upon Siesta, somehow pulled me from another universe, and fused our souls together to occupy Siesta's body. If I wanted to know Her reasons for doing so, I would have to ask Her myself. I huffed at that; it would be easier said than done. Siesta obviously knew nothing about directly communing with a goddess, so all I had to go on were my memories of various characters in Final Fantasy XIV, Minfilia chief among them, speaking to Hydaelyn.
And this is what I have been reduced to, now, I grumbled to myself. Trapped in another universe, which three days ago I believed to be entirely fictional, in an alien body, forced to rely on second-hand knowledge from a video game to attempt to communicate with a goddess, who I'm not even sure exists. On Earth, where the existence of deities couldn't be proven conclusively, I'd led as secular a life as it was possible to live, never giving much regard to religious discussions. When did everything become so ridiculous? The irony of a fictional goddess being my only hope now, struck me dumb with its comedic absurdity.
Still, if this is my only option... I rubbed at my forehead, sighing in resignation. It couldn't hurt to attempt communication, at least. From what I could recall of Minfilia speaking with Hydaelyn in Final Fantasy XIV, reaching out to Her was as simple as directing speech or thought at Her. The possibility that it would require some sort of aetherial attunement occurred to me, and I paused, trying to figure out what to try to attune to.
I am Hydaelyn. All made one. Right, Hydaelyn was the embodiment of the world, or at least, that was how I interpreted that line from the game, so what constituted "All"? All living beings? The land itself? It seemed as good as any a place to start, and Mama had trained Siesta in conjury, which she was remarkably skilled at.
Conjury is the art of drawing from the land's endless bounty of aether to fuel your magicks, Mama had said, and you, my daughter, have a gift for it unlike any other I have seen in my life. I could see her face, glowing with pride as she taught Siesta how to tap into nature's reserves and harness them for spells. Concentrate, and grasp the aether, both your own and that of the land. Your body is as the conduit which draws in nature's forces, and your will shapes it into the magicks we magi wield. Outside the Twelveswood, the voice and will of the elementals may be weaker, but the land is no less alive for it. So long as you walk this realm, wherever you may be, you can draw from its aether for your use.
I straightened up again carefully, taking deep breaths, closing my eyes, and concentrated on clearing my mind, extending my other senses to take in my surroundings, just as Mama and Papa had taught Siesta to do, while hunting all over Eorzea. My aches and pains faded away as I calmed my thoughts and focused on the aether, both within me and without. It was much easier than I'd honestly expected it to be, but of course, Siesta was well-practiced at meditation, even if she was only thirteen.
Now that I was truly concentrating, instead of letting my thoughts and anxieties run amok as they mostly had over the past three days, I realised I could feel the aether within me. To a native of Eorzea, born and bred in a land brimming with aether, their own life-force was as familiar and ordinary a part of their body as their hands or feet, but to me, who had never experienced anything like it on Earth, it was an utterly foreign sensation. Looking at my aether felt like looking at something with my peripheral vision, only I couldn't look directly at it no matter how hard I tried, because that would've been like trying to turn yourself inside-out to look at your own internal organs. The best words I could find to describe it were as a gentle stream flowing through me, ebbing and flowing with every breath I took, every movement I made, except the stream wasn't made of liquid or even air. In any case, now I knew it was there, and what to look for to access it again. From Siesta's memories of her past meditations, my aether was currently much weaker than it normally was, which I attributed to my injuries, as well as a possible side-effect of our fusion.
It would serve my current purpose, though, and I turned to seek out the land's aether. It was drastically different from the feeling of my own aether; much more turbulent, and also much more widespread. If my aether was a flowing stream, the land's aether was a raging ocean stirred up by a storm, almost infinite in its depths. What was surprising was the fact that it was simultaneously much more turbulent and yet weaker than what Siesta remembered it to be: a calm, placid lake, hinting at the vast reserves beneath the surface. This was yet another reminder of the Calamity's effects on Eorzea; beyond the widespread physical destruction easily visible to the naked eye, the Lifestream, the great underground aetherial river that flowed through the land itself, had been struck and torn wide open, exposed to the surface. It churned around and around, and in time I knew it would manifest itself in the form of massive crystals across the land, if it hadn't done so already.
And attuning myself to the land's aether would involve something similar to plugging myself directly into this chaotic mess. The aether of all living beings was connected to the land at all times; we came from the land and we would return to it when we died. But this connection was, most of the time, muted, dimmed, and largely closed off. Attuning to it basically consisted of opening the gates on this connection and letting it flood your very being. Siesta had done it before, of course, but back then she had been her own person, not a possibly unstable and fragmented being formed of two souls, and she hadn't been connecting to this turbulent sea that now thrashed about in the background, out of sight and almost out of mind.
My physical hands shook as I hesitated. I had one end of my aether firmly within my mental grip, and on the other side, in an equally firm grip, was a link to the land's aether. All I would have to do was join the two ends together... but what effect would it have on me? If the land's aether was corrupted, would that corruption affect me if I attuned myself to it? It didn't feel corrupted or truly damaged, from what I could tell, but I was hardly an expert in aetheric theory. Siesta had assisted Mama in a few purifications of corrupted aether in the past, wherever it had been found in their travels, but she had never before tried to attune herself to it.
I don't know. The long and short of it was, I didn't know what would happen to me, and there was only one way to find out. It was my best lead to Hydaelyn and finding the potential answers She held for me. It was a risk I was just going to have to take. I inhaled deeply again, and gently touched the two ends together in my mind.
Immediately, I fought back a surge of nausea as a rush of restless energy flowed through me, leaving me shaken in its wake. My ears were suddenly filled with a multitude of quiet, wordless wails and moans, and with a jolt, I realised it was the voices of the elementals resounding throughout the land. The Calamity had left them weakened and wounded, and now they lacked the strength to do anything but cry in pain. My attunement had allowed me to hear them, and I thanked my stars I hadn't ended up in the Twelveswood, where they would doubtless be infinitely louder. Here in Ul'dah, in the middle of Thanalan, their influence was weaker, and their voices much diminished.
All right, deep breaths, I reminded myself. I could get through this, I had to get through this. Gradually, I fought through the crowd of voices, isolating each one and tuning it out in turn. I didn't know how long it took me, how long I sat there, but thankfully no one came in to interrupt me. The task wasn't particularly draining or complicated - Siesta had had to sort through the voices of the elementals to find a particular one, in the past, as well - but it did require my complete mental focus.
At first, the elementals' voices seemed infinite in number, but the longer I worked, the faster I found I could identify an elemental's wails and methodically shut it out. Finally, I cut off my connection to the last few, the strongest elementals who had retained the most of their power after the Calamity, and quiet reigned again in my mind, save for the roaring maelstrom that was the Lifestream. Pushing away the creeping doubt that Hydaelyn even existed or could hear me, which had begun to seep into me as I'd worked, I gathered my will again, and sent - or shouted, really - my pleas into the chaos.
"Hydaelyn? I am..." I paused, wondering how to identify myself, "... the soul now known as Siesta Fiesta. And formerly, I knew myself as Alexandria Fei, not of this world, not of Your children. If You can hear me... I need Your answers!"
I fell silent, and waited. My even, measured breaths and pounding pulse were the only sounds that rang in my ears, a ticking clock for the minutes as they passed. I strained my senses, trying to catch a glimpse or whisper of anything that could've been construed as a reply, but none seemed to reach me. My hope began to trickle from me slowly, until...
"Beloved daughter... All shall be answered in time. My strength is waned... allow me rest..."
I had to stretch myself to the very limit to catch those words, and even then, I almost gave up in trying to decipher them, so weak was Her voice. It made sense that the Calamity had weakened Hydaelyn, but to this extent? Final Fantasy XIV had given me the impression that She had been stronger in its wake... although that had been five years after the Calamity, so perhaps She had recovered somewhat in the intervening time. At any rate, I had managed to confirm several things: that Hydaelyn, and by extension Zodiark and the Ascians, existed, that She knew of my situation and was possibly even responsible for it, that Siesta - that I - had the Echo now... and that none of this was a dream. I lost my grasp on the connection as my realisation shook me to my core. This is not a nightmare, or a dream. This is reality.
Now, She was asking me to wait for Her answers, to wait until She had recovered Her strength. I curled up on the couch as I processed the implications. Hydaelyn hadn't given a definite answer as to how long this wait would last, but from my knowledge of the game, She would most likely be indisposed until five years' time... when the Warrior of Light arrived once again in Eorzea. Panic began to well up in me again, and I fought it down. I'm not the Warrior of Light, I can't be. I'm just a normal girl with the Echo. There were others with the Echo, other Eorzeans, and there's no guarantee the Warrior of Light even exists, or that my knowledge is even accurate. I am not the Warrior of Light! I'm not meant to fight primals or Ascians or the Warriors of Darkness. I'm not, I'm not!
And as I stayed on the couch, desperately repeating my reassurances and denials to myself, I could only hope that there would be a sign, an event, a messenger, something or anything, to banish my doubts and prove my conclusions wrong, in the future to come.
Thank you for reading this far. If you enjoyed it, I do not request that you review, merely that you tell someone else about this story and how you enjoyed it.