Chapter 24: Dragonsong
And so they came, at a friend's behest.
Heroes once celebrated as saviors of Eorzea, brought low through treachery,
their names blackened with royal blood...
With memories of the lost and dreams of redemption,
with hope yet in their hearts, they came...
To Ishgard, shining city on the mount, overlooking the dominion of Coerthas...
A great and proud nation devoted to Halone, the Fury, ruled by Thordan VII,
Archbishop of the Ishgardian Orthodox Church...
The last bastion of the Faith, her walls ever bristling with
the sworn swords and spears of her four High Houses...
A land that after a thousand years of war
had forgotten what it was to be at peace.
Through gates long closed the Warrior of Light and her companions passed,
entering at last a city whose history was written in blood.
In the midst of the Dragonsong War they came ─ three weary travelers
whose arrival would set in motion great change...
Though none knew then how great...
— From the memoirs of Count Edmont de Fortemps
"Now, how does that sound for a beginning?" Count Edmont asked him in amusement.
"It sounds so perfect that I can see it all happening in front of my eyes," Alphinaud chuckled, sitting across from him in the library. Claire had been right. Count Edmont had meant it when he claimed to start writing a series of chronicles of all the changes that were coming to Ishgard. That was how the two of them were now sitting across from each other in the library, to make sure the events that happened would never be forgotten. Alphinaud had provided the Count with all the details as he could, and it was during this time that he had learned that it was not only Lord Haurchefant who could be poetic when it came to adventures of friendship and courage.
Along with the reports he had gotten from both Artoirel and Emmanellain, he had also written some introductions for Claire on her first steps into the land of Ishgard.
To the frozen wastes of the western highlands,
once verdant tracts made pallid by the Calamity...
Beyond the towering wall of ice, to lands long forsaken
that the knights of Ishgard strove tirelessly to reclaim...
To the hamlet of Falcon's Nest, once abandoned,
now freed of its pall of snow and ash, she came...
That then led into her part of travelling around the western highlands before he would then move onto to her journey in the Sea of Clouds…
Upon an airship conceived within the fecund mind of Cid Garlond,
renegade prodigy of Garlemald who had come to call Eorzea home...
High into the heavens where isles of earth and stone floated as clouds—
frontier the knights of Ishgard had scarce begun to explore...
To a fledgling outpost within the Sea of Clouds where careworn scouts
ever scanned the skies for winged shadows, she came...
The Count seemed to have grown to like writing about Claire, giving her a glowing praise when he wrote about how she recused his wayward son from the Vanu… as well given simple, yet gallant words on the parts with Haurchefant…
Whenever he wrote his son's name, Alphinaud would see this look in the Count's eyes… one that was always so sad. Everyone had learned to be very careful with what they said about Lord Haurchefant in the following days; not that they pretended he ever existed, but the pain was still fresh in all of their minds and seemed to steal their breath away every time they uttered it.
Still, they did their best to continue on with a smile on their faces, like they knew how he would have wanted it of them. Tataru would spend long hours both at the manor, and at the Forgotten Knight, helping out whenever she could, while keeping an ear out for any news. Y'shtola and Cid, meanwhile, had gone back to the Hinterlands, having been receiving some very strange aetheric changes, some pretty powerful ones as well. None of them wanted to think about it, but they all secretly knew what it could lead to in the near future… a primal.
He let the two of them handle overlooking the area, expecting to be kept up-to-date on anything happening there while he would remain in contact with Urianger at the Waking Sands, and the others at the Rising Stones. There was still no further news on any of the other missing Scions, but Riol had some hopeful leads that he was pursuing. Meanwhile, they told him that they had everything at both headquarters under control and that they should be more focused on what was happening in Ishgard. For the other three city-states had remained in a state of uneasy peace for now, which was a relief on all their parts. No further signs of aggression from either the Garleans or the Beast Tribes, for now, leaving them free to worry about other matters.
Alphinaud continued research on the primals and kept in close contact with Ser Aymeric, Lucia, and Hilda and her group as they strove tirelessly to keep the things in the city calm. There were still attacks from the dragons, but much less than they had been expecting. It seems that Nidhogg has been keeping to his liar since Azys Lla… and another sharp pain went through him whenever he thought about Nidhogg's rebirth. He had been trying to learn more about how it might be possible for a dragon to have taken possession of a mortal in such a way.
The Azure Dragoons gained their strength through the power of Nidhogg's stolen Eye, and thus had a constant connection to the great wyrm. He remembered what Estinien had said when he first met him that day in Camp Dragonhead, on how Nidogg's very spirit had stolen into his blood and could even hear his voice. There was also the fact that Estinien was still a child of Ishgard and thus had some of Ratatoskr's essence inside him, as well as the fact that the moment that his body was claimed by Nidhogg, he was carrying both Eyes and armor that was stained with blood. Putting it all together, perhaps they should have guessed that something like this could possibly happen, no matter how terrible the thought was.
But now that they had a good idea to how it happened, they had no way to undue it. How to reverse it while leaving their friend alive… if there was still a way to do so. He sighed grimly as he would then rub his tired eyes, trying to think.
He wasn't the only one who was feeling worn-out either. He could see it in Ser Aymeric, struggling to maintain law and order in the city. Like they had feared, there were plenty of people who were not at all happy about the revelations that they discovered. Especially those in the church, who had long since believed in the teachings, and were now forced to accept that what they taught was wrong. Members of the church, or even just students, were being harassed and treated especially badly by those in the Brume, believing that they had known the truth all this time and kept it hidden from the public on purpose. Which was false of course, with only the archbishop and the Heavens Ward the only ones truly aware of the truth—as far as they all knew. But with years of neglect and suffering in the cold, they would start to lash out at anyone.
With promise of change, Hilda was able to convince her people to help keep things calm, and thus put an end to most of the violence that was starting to boil over. Because of this, Ser Aymeric had appointed her and many of her fellows as guards of the city, helping to keep peace… but just barely. One cannot help but wonder how long this will last.
As for Claire, naturally, he hadn't heard from her since the day she left the manor. He wasn't worried though, knowing better than anyone that she can take care of herself, and was doing her part to help others and keeping her own ears open for news. But this particular day was a surprise, for he did end up seeing her when he decided to make the trip to Haurchefant's memorial. He had been inside the manor, pouring over books and theories until his head hurt and he was starting to see double. He felt that some fresh air would do him some good, and he thought that he could let Haurchefant know more of how things were going while he was there.
So he excused himself to the Count before he left the manor, heading to where he could see that reconstruction was going well. He would smile despite his tiredness as he continued through the city and across the Highlands, giving him plenty of time to relax his mind and enjoy the quiet for a change. But as he was approaching the site where the memorial stood, he heard something…
Something on the wind… a song…?
He stopped for a moment as he stood there listening.
Children of the land do you hear
Echoes of truths that once rang clear
Two souls intertwined
One true love they did find
Bringing land and heavens near
He froze, listening to the sad voice before he began to walk again, wanting to find out who would be out there and why they were singing. It all made sense when he spotted the familiar stone in the distance, and now that he knew where the sound was coming from, he felt that he should have been able to guess it from the start.
But flames that burn full bright, soon fell dark
Memories dimmed by shadowed hearts
In the waxing gloom did wane the lover's moon
Watching as their worlds drift apart
Alphinaud approached the place where Haurchefant's memorial was now forever guarding over Ishgard when he saw her there. Claire had a harp in her hands and it was she who was singing that sad, but beautiful song. The reason that he did not recognize at once was because this may be the first time he ever heard her sing, and thus, was taken aback by it. He did not interrupt her as he listened to her words, telling the truth of the Dragonsong War and the pain of lost and misery.
One soul's cry
A passion dwelling within
Sacrifice, a final plea to her kin
Yet this bond of hope, by treachery was broke
Scattering her words to the wind
Swelling over long,
Seas of blood, are a song
And death an afterthought
To those who fight for naught
A throne, lying empty
A reign, incomplete
Alone, for eternity
A pain, without cease
Children of the land, answer this
Why must you turn to empty bliss
Tell me why break trust, why turn the past to dust
Seeking solace in the abyss
Tell me why create, a circle none can break
Why must you let go, the life you were bestowed
This I fear I'll never know
Never know
She played for just a moment longer before her voice faded away and she lowered the harp until the air was quiet once again. When he felt that it was safe enough, he slowly approached, and she turned her head, having heard his footsteps through the crunching snow.
"You just missed Lord Francel," she informed him softly as he looked to the fresh flowers that had been set there. "He comes here often…"
Alphinaud nodded, his heart aching for he knew that he and Haurchefant had been friends ever since they were young. A smile twitched at the edge of his mouth as he remembered when Haurchefant told him how he saved Francel from those bandits.
He looked to Claire and he confessed, "That was a beautiful song."
"Oh, you were listening?" she blushed, though she probably already knew that he had to have heard. "I think that the words just… came to me."
"No, I… I think that it summed everything up well," he told her, a blush also coming to his cheeks as he looked at her. It was the brightest day, with the sun shining, just like the last time that they were here together.
"Claire?" he asked suddenly. "Want to… want to take a walk with me real quick?"
"Oh, sure," she said in mild surprise, but she smiled as the two of them turned and began to walk down the path. They strolled across the snow together, enjoying the sun as they watched a pair of hawks' fly overhead. The whole time he pretended to enjoy the walk, though he did enjoy spending this time with her, he was still worried about how he could relieve some of the anxiety that was twisting inside him.
"This reminds me a little of when we crossed the Western Highlands," Claire said suddenly, walking a few steps ahead of him and turning her head to look back at him. "Remember?"
"Ah… yes, I do," he said with a little laugh. "Thinking back, I realize just how naïve I must have seemed to you. I remember… when I went charging into the mill only to freeze up when I saw those bears… and how I couldn't even start a fire."
She laughed with him. "You really weren't bad, and you stayed with it till the end. You should be proud."
"I am," he confessed, and he started to confess to her just how hard it was for him to light the fire that night… how he was amazed that Estinien didn't lose his patience and hit him or something for taking so long. She started to laugh with him and he felt lighter with each second.
But when they stopped by a pile of boulders and sat down to rest for a moment, he felt that awkwardness return when she told him that she would be leaving again. He understood, she was an adventurer after all, and there were no shortage of people out there for her to help. His mind was still plagued with troubling thoughts as they weighed heavily upon his heart. He needed to talk to someone, yet he knew not how to do so. He wished that he had Lord Haurchefant's attitude about all this—able to open up to just about anyone.
"Claire…" he finally said without looking at her.
"Hmm?" she asked and he could feel her eyes on him as he kept his eyes focused in front of him at sparkling snow.
"You know… you know when you are at work on a very complicated calculation and how you spend so much time going over every part of it… and just when you reach the end and you think that you have the right answer you feel that you should go over it once more just to make sure…?" he asked rather quickly.
He knew that he wasn't making much sense in this matter, but he was trying his best to explain it, and could not think of a better way to go about it.
"And a part of you is scared that if you do go over it and you realize that you made a mistake somewhere and then ruined everything?" he went on.
"I'm… I'm not sure," she said softly. "But I have been in plenty of situations where I am afraid of failure. Is that what you're trying to say?"
He turned back to look at her, about to tell her that it was nothing, but when he saw her face he felt his breath catch in his throat as she continued to look at him with that unreadable expression.
"Oh boy…" he said, shaking his head.
"Just say it simply," she suggested. "Don't try to use so many words. That might make it easier."
"Is that what works for you?" he asked without thinking and she chuckled.
"I guess it's because I don't talk much anyway that it works for me," she suggested. "Though I find myself talking much more often when you're around."
He felt his face burning worse than ever… this was not helping.
"It's just that…" he began slowly, "Was there nothing that we could have done to save them?"
He did not look at her, but he knew that she was looking at him with sadness in her eyes. "Haurchefant, Ysayle… Estinien… I've looked over everything I could find on the effects of dragon's blood have on man. Yet what you said, Estinien did not become a dragon by will. But…?"
He looked up at her as he asked, "But Nidhogg was dead! How could something dead take over the mind of the living?" he asked.
Claire did not answer for a moment as she thought it over.
"I think…" she said softly, "Some trace of his spirit remained as long as his eyes did."
She reached up to her chest, right above her heart and added, "I know that Midgardsormr wonders just what his child's endless quest for vengeance has turned him into."
Alphinaud sighed grimly as he rested his arms on his knees as he looked to the ground.
"I just don't know if it's at all possible to save Estinien," he confessed. "Wasn't his body destroyed in the process? Is he even still alive?"
"I think…" Claire whispered, "Some part of him may be trapped inside Nidhogg… yet…"
She trailed off and he sighed, knowing that she didn't have any more answers than he did. He clenched his hands tightly together as he said, "I want to save him. Estinien deserves a chance for some peace after all that he has done, all that he went through. If there is a way, I hope to find it. yet, I'm also afraid that if we wait too long, then it may be too late."
He hesitated for a moment before he sighed.
"I also worry about you all the time," he told her. "I can't help it, especially after seeing how far that you're willing to push yourself."
He looked at her and saw just how red she had gotten and he looked at his feet.
"I just want you to know that I do care and if you ever, ever need any help… or anything at all… then I want you to know that… I'm here," he told her. He was finding it easier to keep looking down at his feet.
"You're… you're my best friend," he said finally and he gulped hard. "And I really care about what happens to you."
It was the best that he could do right now. He was about to get up and leave when he suddenly felt her hand on the side of his face, gently turning his head to look at her where he could see the warmth in her eyes.
"And you are mine," she said and she pulled him into a tight hug. He could breathe in her scent that reminded him of flowers springtime and he breathed in deeply as he hugged her back tightly. He was scared of the future. There was no point in trying to hide it. He was afraid of how far they would have to go and just what may happen. Just how many more were they going to lose? Just what else would they have to sacrifice in the name of peace? Yet… as he leaned into that warm embrace, that not even the cold of the snow around them could freeze, he felt safe and protected.
He sighed, screwing up his face as he buried his face into her shoulder, just wanting to savor this moment of safety for a little longer.