Draco: After a particularly nasty early-morning encounter with something insectoid and loud and huge, I proceeded to Raid my entire building, stay at a friend's place for a while while the spray settled, and come back. Currently pondering how to get the smell out of a building that has no windows with functioning bug screens, but I honestly felt like Fiore DeRosa; I can't imagine this stuff is good for you, but my is it effective.
Bravely Default and all related properties © Square Enix.
Harena Region: Vampyric Gale
"Sage, what have you been hiding?"
Tiz had arrived at Ancheim in record time - whatever Yulyana had done to him, it had certainly come in handy. The sheer, undiluted heat that the whole desert had struck him with told him the Crystal of Wind was yet to be awakened; if the words of Alternis Dim were to be believed, then the crystals' awakening was something they all wanted to avoid.
The Sage's magic had worn off when he had neared the city, and now he switched to the Performer stone; the white jacket helped to beat back the heat, and the sunglasses would help to mask his face. Keeping his eyes out at all times, he made his way to the inn, with intention to get a room and ask about the vestal of water.
He collided with someone when he stepped inside; and he was halfway through an apology when he realized who it was.
"I'm sor-Agnès!"
The vestal of wind was standing there, in a swordmaster's hakama, looking rather down on herself. Tiz's voice caused her gaze to shoot up as Performer took off his glasses, and a look of combined shock and relief struck Agnès' face. "Tiz," she gasped. "What... where were you?"
"The lake in Yulyana Woods," Tiz explained. "Have you seen Olivia?"
"Olivia?" The mention of the water vestal caught Agnès off-guard. "What are you...?"
Tiz glanced around. "Did you get a room here? We need somewhere to talk."
Agnès led him to the room she had booked. The inn was blazing, as per usual; the second the door was closed, Tiz drew his asterisks and changed back to his Monk garb.
"Were your stones changed, as well?" Agnès asked.
"Most of them," Tiz admitted. "You?"
Agnès swept her own hand down, causing the asterisks to appear before her, and showed them to Tiz - White Mage, Spell Fencer, Summoner, Swordmaster, Spiritmaster. She changed to her White Mage stone, herself; then they each took a seat on one of the beds, facing each other.
"What's the last thing you remember?" Tiz asked.
The vestal's gaze fell. "...Airy," she murmured. "In a cloud of darkness. Saying she was going to slaughter us."
Tiz nodded, deciding it would be best if they didn't go too far into that right now. "When I woke up in Yulyana, I asked the Sage about you. He said he'd talked with Olivia. She's already got vestal garb, she'll be on her way to the Temple of Wind by now."
"Then..." Agnès seemed to be slightly confused. "In this world..."
"Yeah," Tiz admitted. "It looks like Olivia's the one who made it to Caldisla in this world."
Agnès raised her gaze to Tiz. "Did the Sage... did he mention anyone was with her?"
Tiz closed his eyes, loosing a heavy breath. "Yeah," he confirmed. "Til Arrior."
"Til?" Agnès exclaimed. "Your younger brother? Oh, kaze..."
A long quiet, the two of them contemplating what they understood.
"What do we do from here?" Agnès inquired.
"If we just try and tackle Airy, head-on, that can only go wrong," Tiz insisted. "I think... we need to convince Olivia to stop what she's doing. For herself. Otherwise this is all for nothing."
The vestal hummed. "How do you propose we do that, without revealing ourselves?" she asked.
Tiz reached into his pocket, drawing out his item. "With this."
None of their party was a stranger to the mysterious hourglass Tiz carried, or what it did. With not but the desire for it, and the glass on his person, he could bring the entire world to a halt, save himself - but it had its limitations. The sands within seemed to fluctuate, how much it held always changing, and they had yet to figure out exactly what would cause them to appear; Tiz reasoned they decreased when they used the glass, but he couldn't figure out what caused them to increase.
But that was a minor point, at this moment. Right now, it was full of sands, and he knew what he could do with this.
"With that...?" Agnès was confused at Tiz's words. "What do you mean?"
Tiz held the hourglass close to his face. "We need to give her something to think about," he mused. "In a way that Airy doesn't notice us. Something... that she would be willing to set the crystals aside for."
Agnès looked almost offended. "What are you saying?" she demanded. "A vestal will not set her duties aside so easily."
"There was that time in Eisenberg," Tiz reminded.
"I... that was..." Agnès' gaze fell. "There were lives on the line at that point," she insisted. "If you intend to put your own brother at bladepoint-"
"No," Tiz interrupted. "Girtablulu, don't even go there." He shook his head. "My point is... You were the only vestal alive, at that point. Airy even said, if you die, the crystals stay dark. You came to help me and Egil anyways. You decided the crystals came second to your friends. I don't want to have anybody at any risk... but Olivia needs to turn away from the job herself."
Agnès nodded. "Alright. Did you have something in mind?"
+x+x+x+
The next day, the two of them were waiting outside the Temple of Wind, the rocky outcrops surrounding the temple providing the cover they needed The crystal had yet to be awakened, which told them that Olivia and Til had something to do in Ancheim; Agnès had changed to her Spiritmaster garb, and Tiz was back to using the Vampire asterisk.
"You're going to get her attention... with wind?" Agnès asked, once Tiz had laid out his plan.
"The air in here is always so still before the crystal is awakened," he explained. "It'll stand out."
Soon enough, they saw the ones they were waiting for. It seems they had been picking up asterisks, as well; were it not for the blue hair on her face, anyone could have mistaken Olivia in White Mage robes for Agnès; the young boy at her side was in Monk garb not unlike Tiz's own.
"That is Til?" Agnès asked quietly.
Tiz nodded grimly.
"I can see how Egil would remind you of him."
Once they were inside, Tiz moved, keeping as silent as he could. He heard voices as he stepped inside and took cover behind the rubble of an archway; Til and Olivia were speaking to someone who must have been one of the temple acolytes. A moment's discussion, then Til took off further into the temple - probably to open the pathway inside.
Olivia and the acolyte continued to speak, but with their attention closed on each other, Tiz could act unnoticed. In his hand was the Blood Blade they had found in Castle Frostcoffin, back in the first world; he quickly made his way to the alcove, just to the left of the entrance. Carefully, he turned his back to Olivia; then he held his weapon to the side, and raised his empty hand before him. White Magic danced, silently, on his palm, and a light gust of Aero formed in the air between him and the vestal of water.
A sudden movement as the gale faded, and he knew Olivia had noticed him when he heard her curse.
"Oh, mizu."
Tiz turned to glance at her over his shoulder; he dared not make his face plainly visible, for fear the vestal would see the resemblance between him and his brother - the shepherds had once described Til as 'Tiz, a few years behind' - and as such he could only see her slightly.
"You are a vestal of the crystals?"
He had her attention, now, by signifying that he knew her status from the way she acted. "Um... yes...?"
The vampire turned forward, thinking of how best to phrase this; then he turned back.
"Tell me. Would you defy the crystals, if it meant protecting your friends?"
There was a brief moment of quiet, on Olivia's part, before she spoke again. "Of those I have the privilege of calling friends, one is capable of protecting himself. And all others lay dead."
"No one can defend themselves from everything."
There was a light hum from Olivia, as she realized his words had merit. "There is truth to that," she admitted. "However, were I made to choose between doing my duty and coming to his aid... I am certain he would insist upon my duty."
Tiz's gaze fell, though he did not bow his head to show for it, as he recognized that that would doubtless be Til's action.
"Regardless of the cost to himself."
"And you would heed his insistence?"
For he had refused to do so, and the memory of his failed attempt still haunted him when his thoughts grew dark.
"Yes."
Tiz turned away, closing his eyes. "Then you have my sympathies."
There was a grating sound that he recognized as the passage opening, and as Olivia turned away he held his hand out to the side.
Bravely Second...
A sound resonated in his ears, like a bell's ringing without a bell to sound it; when he opened his eyes, the world had gone still, everything blinding shades of white and grey. Without sparing a glance at the vestal and the aide he reckoned was coming through, he left the temple as fast as his legs would carry him; once he was out of sight, he snapped his fingers, and the world returned to normal.
He had clearly been in Agnès' view when he had released the pause; as he approached the hidden wind vestal, she told him, "I will never be used to the way you simply appear when that wears off."
Tiz scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Sorry about that," he admitted.
"Did you...?" Agnès didn't finish.
"No, she wasn't to be dissuade," he admitted. "And after the way she put that... I didn't have the heart to try another approach."
Agnès lowered her gaze. "On the bright side," she pointed out, "I can't say it'll be good for Ancheim to go without its wind. Whatever it is Airy is trying to do, only awakening the Earth Crystal really failed to benefit the world in some way."
Tiz leaned his head back. "Well, now what?" he mused. "We know how this goes; Alternis trashes the Eschalot's skystone, and they head to Florem through Miasma Woods. We've only got one more shot at this."
"And... I fear that won't be enough," Agnès admitted.
That grim thought settled over the two of them.
+x+x+x+
"Not exactly blue, blue skies and the rolling sea..."
It was a short while past midnight as Ringabel, in his Arcanist garb, flew the Dark Knight over the Harena region. The ship was nearly unnoticeable against the dark skies; so long as he didn't fly the ship fast enough for it to roar, only the sharpest of eyes would even know he was there.
There was a glow coming from the Temple of Wind; it could easily be dismissed as nothing during the day, but it was quite noticeable in the darkness of night. Being very careful - he wasn't sure that he had ever done this before - he set the aerial brakes once the ship was low enough to the ground, dropped the anchor, opened the bay doors, and threw out a rope ladder that he assumed was meant for emergency purposes.
It hung close enough to the sand that he was not worried about being able to climb back up afterward; once he was certain he hadn't forgotten anything, he made his way down and started into the Temple of Wind.
He was confronted at the door by a pair of swords, crossed before him.
Not expecting the temple to be inhabited by anything other than monsters, Ringabel had his Poison Rod in hand, and the sudden action did not encourage him to be rid of it - but upon seeing the people holding those swords, a heavy sigh passed through his lips. "You're here."
Tiz was standing to one side, in Vampire garb, with Blood Blade in hand; and Agnès stood on his other side, in Swordmaster garb, with Masamune katana. Upon seeing the silver-haired face beneath the Arcanist cap, both of them drew their blades back slightly - though not completely.
"I suppose that's to be expected," he mused. "After what happened in the Holy Pillar, we can't exactly chalk it up to coincidence at this point."
Again were the blades pulled back, just slightly.
Ringabel reached into his belt pouch, drawing out the two copies of D's Journal. "Will these change your mind?"
Now the swords were stowed away, leaving Ringabel to pocket his journals again. "Given the glow from outside, I take it the Crystal of Wind is awakened?"
"Something like that," Tiz admitted.
"Alright." The airship pilot started past them, going further into the temple.
Agnès moved in front of him. "Hold on," she prompted. "What are you doing?"
"I need to see the crystal," Ringabel insisted.
Tiz was confused. "See the crystal?" he mused. "Ringabel, we've all seen the rite eight times. I don't think-"
"It... it's not the rite," he protested. "It's... I..." His gaze fell. "I woke up on Alternis Dim's airship... and... part of my memory came back."
That caught both of the others off-guard. "Your memory?"
Ringabel nodded. "Yes," he mused. "It was only a tiny fragment, hardly even a coherent thought, but... given what we've seen, I think it was significant enough."
He drew out his own copy of D's Journal, which he had bookmarked with a small scrap of paper torn from the bottom of the first page, and pulled it open.
"It was this."
Tiz accepted the journal, Agnès coming to his side as he looked over it - the number 6, surrounded by stains. "You remembered what this is?" he asked, raising his gaze to Ringabel.
"Turn to the next page," he prompted.
Agnès reached forward, pulling it over to the next page, and a shocked gasp tore through her lips.
He had detailed his second version of the image, adding slight patterns along the edges of the arc it was surrounded by - now it was clear that the 6 was surrounded by a fairy's wing. "This... is this...?" She raised her gaze to Ringabel.
"I think I know what it means," Ringabel admitted, "but... I need to see the crystal, first."
Tiz exchanged a worried look with Agnès; then the two of them followed Ringabel through the passage that led to the altar.
+x+x+x+
The deck of Grandship.
"No... No...!"
The vestal, and Norende's survivor, collapsed.
"I told you... this would...!"
And the templar's daughter... dead, in his arms.
Draco: I'm certain a few of you figured a few of these elements by the end of Chapter 48, but I had to provide them regardless.
