Epilogue: Revolutions

She would have written more… yet she had just run out of room on the page when she finished these last two entries:

A hush falls over the Rising Stones as you enter, which is soon broken by an overjoyed Tataru. You recount to her all that took place, from your battle at Ala Mhigo, to the mysterious robed figure and his cryptic message. After giving it careful thought, she suspects this person, whomever they may be, is possibly the key to rescuing the others. With renewed resolve, she assures you the Scions who yet remain at the Rising Stones will find the beacon waiting for you at the Crystal Tower.

Tataru never lost hope that you would return. In fact, she fashioned you a new set of garments to celebrate your return. Though it is unclear what you will find at the Crystal Tower, perhaps this garb will be of use on the road ahead.

Claire was sitting at the top of one of the many plateaus that overlooked the Lochs—sitting upon a small mesa with her back against a boulder that gave her a perfect view of the city of Ala Mhigo. Even from this high, however, she could just make out the shouts and laughs from the people who were hard at work at the Saltry—welcoming more and more natives of Ala Mhgio who were making the pilgrimage home. Everything was so calm and peaceful, one would not think that anything was happening at the borders of this land.

It was still a welcomed respite from the endless fighting even though she could feel the tensions in the air which was so thick one could cut it with a knife.

Claire had reached the final page of her journal and sighed as she watched the ink dry before she gazed downwards when she heard the faint rumbling of a carriage and spotted it from here. That must have been Arenvald escorting Fordola to Thanalan.

Arenvald seemed to have taken it upon himself to keep an eye on Fordola. Perhaps it was because the two of them were the same age and came from the same place… yet had come to lead such different lives. As a Scion, he had earned the respect of the Resistance and the Ala Mhigan people, whereas she, as a traitor and a kinslayer, had earned their scorn. There had been much discussion in the days that followed the summoning of Lakshmi during the Summit and Fordola's role in stopping the primal. Not least of all on what to do with Fordola—to keep her imprisoned—or to put an end to her life. In the end, it was Raubahn who had come up with another solution and that gave her a choice. That she and other convicts could serve out their sentence upon the battlefield rather than sitting in a cell for the rest of their days.

Thanks to the Resonant and her skills in battle, she was a prime candidate for this solution. In the end, she had heard that Fordola agreed with nary a complaint. Still, that didn't mean that they could trust her and Claire had heard that until she can prove that they can, she was given a gem-inlaid choker where if she were to try anything that would seem like a betrayal, a Resistance thaumaturge could trigger an enchantment that could burn and choke the life out of her.

On one hand, Claire could understand their reluctance, yet she didn't see the choker as necessary. Fordola had nowhere else to go and the life of battle was all she knew. She wouldn't try to betray anyone. Meanwhile, they had joined forces with the summoner squad in Ul'dah as they worked to ensure that they do all in their power to prevent other primals from being resummoned. Most of the time, they are able to end things before the beast tribes were able to summon their gods—and the one time they failed to do so—the primal Ifrit—had been so weak that they were able to handle it on their own.

Claire watched the carriage as it rumbled across the uneven ground as they continue on the journey seemed to be heading back to Ul'dah at the moment and she watched the carriage until it was long out of sight. With nothing else to distract her, she turned her gaze back to the city that was shining as if it was made of gold from the sun.

It would be dark soon, but she was savoring every moment of peace she was given. Mayhaps it was discovering just how hard she had been pushing herself for the sake of Eorzea, Doma, and so many countless lives, the Alliance was working harder than ever to ensure the safety of their peoples—which is the main reason she suspected that Raubahn came to such a solution when most wouldn't want anything to do with Fordola.

She was grateful of such an answer. For not only did it spare her the pain of having to deal with unnecessary primals, but it had given Fordola a new lease on life. Hopefully, with time, she could find a measure of peace. And she hoped that Arenvald would be there to support her until that time.

And it also gave her the time to enjoy some of the smaller things in life again… such as this warm and comforting sunset as she watched the shadows stretch out in all directions.

She was still struggling to believe everything that she had gone through since she first set foot in Gyr Albania. From what she heard from the Alliance at the borders, they were still at their stalemate, making plans to advance further, but they had to do so carefully least they risk the Empire coming down upon them all again. And speaking of the Alliance, they were overjoyed when they heard of her 'miraculous' recovery and that she had awoken. Indeed, when she paid them a visit to check on the others, the looks of relief in their faces were so great that she was rather taken aback by how worried they all were. In fact, when word that she had returned to check on them, Lyse dragged herself out of her sickbed to march over to inspect her for herself. She limped over from her tent on her own two feet and looked her over from head to toe; as if to make sure that this wasn't a joke. For one moment, Claire thought for sure that Lyse was going to hit her… but instead Lyse fell on top of her in a hug as she broke down in tears and was sobbing so loudly that her wails could be heard around the encampment.

But Lyse didn't care as she tried to shout and scold her for making them all worry. It was hard to tell what she said through her sobs, but she got the important words made out through her cries: She was terrified she lost her sister all over again and didn't know what to do.

It was true that she continued to hold the place for the 'temporary' leader of the Scions for the time being… but thanks to Tataru and the others, her duties had been spread out and distributed among them all. More than anything, however, she was touched by how concerned for her health and well-being were when they saw her again.

She had run herself ragged to try and keep up. But in that instant, they were able to see just how heavy a burden she had been struggling to carry all on her own. The only person she had ever allowed to see past this stoic mask she worked so hard to put up was Alphinaud… but they had seen through the cracks in the walls that she put up around herself.

And… they were there for her. Right when she needed it the most, they showed how much they cared and gave her supported. Not because she was their Warrior of Light… but because… of her? That meant more to her than she could say.

As for Tataru, she seemed to have now made it her personal mission to ensure that Claire was well taken care of. She made Clare swear that she would visit the Rising Stones more often, and she was to come well rested and have had a full meal beforehand. If she did not live up to Tataru's expectations, Claire was all but forced to stay the night and have dinner with them before she had their secretary's blessing to continue on her adventures.

"No!" Tataru snapped at her the last time she visited the Rising Stones and she saw the dark circles under her eyes. "I don't care if you say you're feeling better! You aren't leaving here until I know you've gotten a full night's sleep! And I'm not talking about you working until you collapse! I mean a full healthy night of sleep after a meal of some of F'lhaminn cooking! Do you hear me?!"

It was very difficult to say no to her. And so Claire often found herself allowing Tataru to treat her as if she were some patient in a medical ward.

"Listen, I know how you are, and I know you want to get going on this next adventure, but until we find that beacon, there's nothing more we can do!" Tataru scolded her. "We still don't know who this robed guy is or if we can even trust him! You've got to be ready for anything and that means you need to be taken care of! Now stop resisting and eat your supper!"

Claire chuckled at the memories as she tasted some of the bread that Tataru packed for her when she was finally allowed to leave.

Tataru was a true diamond. She didn't know how they got so lucky to have her with them. She was reminded of that every time she gazed into a mirror to see her new travelling clothes.

But that aside, she had been giving herself a lot of time to really think about what she should be doing next. In all honesty, she was having a hard time trying to find anything to keep her busy at this point. The others weren't able to locate the 'beacon' just yet, nor did she receive any desperate pleas from the Alliance to rejoin the fight. Omega had long since been dealt with, she had helped as much as she could with the beast tribes, her adventures with the players on board the Prima Vista had reached a good conclusion, helped the Four Lords in dealing with Koryu, as well as closed a chapter upon the expedition to Eureka…

At this point, all she could do was continue to improve her weapons and armor as she prepared for whatever adventure that was waiting for her next.

That was when she came to a thought of a pilgrimage of sorts… she would retrace her steps from the moment that she arrived in Eorzea and wander the land. It had been so long now since those good days when she first came to Eorzea and she was fresh off the boat for the first time. It felt so long ago now that when she thought of the naïve girl she had been before to who she was now… she almost didn't recognize herself.

She decided to start over from the moment she got off that boat and travel the land one last time while she continued to train for whatever battles that were waiting for her. Perhaps she would rediscover something about herself, or perhaps not… either way, she felt that this was a journey she needed to take before she began another journey to the First Shard.

She would start as soon as the sun next risen and a part of her was actually looking forward to it. She gazed out over the dry and cracked land of Ala Mhigo, running her hand across her harp that lay in her lap as she began to sing softly to herself… a song that she once promised to share with Alisaie when she finished it:

Sing a song of dawn

Dawn, the day reborn

Breathe deep of the dawn before the storm

This hearth, this home

Wrested forth from tired fingers

Bathed in blood and sealed in stone

Souls scarred, twelvefold

Beckoned by the bells of vengeance, spirits bold

A lover lost, a family torn

A solemn pyre, raised to rouse the slumb'ring heavens

Fire in your eyes and fire in your hearts,

Steeled as you sound the horns of war

Yet know the cost, for who shall mourn

When light is quenched

That another might burn brighter

Let not the rays of justice blind

E'er trust in grace and she shall guide

It was normally at that moment that she would stop, for she could never find the feelings or words that felt right to complete the song. But now she paused for just a moment as the rest of the words to the song came to her, as if magically, as the images of the past few moons played themselves in her mind.

Soft is the breeze that can set a petal free

And yet 'tis the storm that doth see the petal soar

High o'er the trees in the throes of Liberty

'Til unstirring skies consign her to memory

One kingdom's fall is another kingdom's freedom

One sovereign's war is another sovereign's peace

One mother's pride is another mother's sorrow

Their tears both soak the land that they love

Two lives, two swords

Given in to shadowed whispers, wicked words

Pray tell me true, doth louder toll

A rival's cry, or the oaths that spur her onward

Your time is come, a choice bestown

Tonight, for unsung sins atone

This night, you need not walk alone...

She lowered her harp as she opened her eyes, still gazing out over city that seemed to be glowing like dying embers in a fire from the setting sun's crimson rays. Without another sound, she laid down her harp and gazed back to her journal where the ink had long since dried as she came to a decision.

With a deep breath, she closed the book, running her hand over the faded and battered cover, knowing that this chapter of her journey was finally over. She couldn't help but find herself smiling sadly at her many entries… slowly realizing that the further she got in her adventures, the more desolate her own words sounded.

"Stormblood," she whispered to herself. That would be the name of the latest series of adventures she had in their fight for liberation. She then turned her gaze to the other two books that were sticking out of her bag next to her. After she added the third book to the pile, she leaned her back against the warm stone and enjoyed the slight lick of wind that tickled her newly cut hair.

That was when she reached into her pocket and pulled out Haurchefant's letter so she could read it through once more before smiling a little wider. She couldn't believe it… she still couldn't believe that she had almost lost herself until reading his words once again.

She then looked into her journals once more, knowing that in each of them she had something special tucked into the pages. In the first one, that recorded her story the moment she got off that boat in Limsa that day, and she pulled out the old airship pass that was given to her when she was made the emissary and was first allowed to travel to the rest of Eorzea. It was now nothing more than a bleached piece of paper, but she could remember how excited she had been that day when she had been allowed to venture out and explore the other city states.

In the next one which told of her journey across Ishgard and the north, from the pages she pulled out the document that marked her as a member of House Fortemps. She couldn't believe she was thinking it—but she realized just how much she missed the northern lands as was quite looking forward to paying them a visit during her pilgrimage.

And now, she turned back to the third journal and she pulled out the drawing that Alphinaud had made of Gosetsu and Yugiri when they first arrived in Kugane and she smiled even wider as she thought of everything that happened in the city after that. She could also feel tears burning in her eyes as she remembered what Tataru had told her the other day what they found in Alphinaud's possession after he was brought back to the Rising Stones. After she had reassured the Alliance members that she was alive and well, she returned to the Rising Stones to check on the other Scions, wondering if they showed any signs of improvement.

Unsurprisingly, the others were still locked in slumber, leaving her to wonder just why that would be. Why was she the only one who was able to awaken? She was the last of the Scions who could hear that robed man's voice to black out… and yet she awoke after mere hours? Why was that? Why not draw her soul out like the others were? Why was it so important that her own soul be allowed to return to her body and seek out this beacon?

The only conclusion she could come to was that whoever was causing this… they wanted her in the flesh. They needed her awake and in her physical body… no other reason.

She frowned at the reminder and bitter feelings were rising within her quickly. She rubbed her eyes though, trying to remind herself of the fact that brought tears to her eyes when Tataru told her. She had searched through some of Alphinaud's things after he had been brought back to the Rising Stones—thinking that he would undoubtedly be taking down notes in the small notebook he always carried with him. He did leave detailed notes for them—nothing that they didn't already know—but it was what Tataru found in the book that she had to show her.

Inside the first page of the notebook was a drawing that Alphinaud had made of her own face. So that whenever one opened that book, the first thing they saw was her portrait. Claire could do to not to cry… for she recognized it at once as the same picture that he had drawn of her when they first left Doma behind them and were returning to Eorzea.

When Tataru showed her, she could not help but smile warmly as she said, "It seems that you remained his favorite muse."

Claire could not hide the rather sad chuckle that broke free.

"You jerk," she whispered, feeling the tears burning her eyes as she rubbed at them. "Doing something like that and then leaving?"

She took a shuddering breath before stuffing the journals into her bag and getting back up. She walked to the edge of the plateau and gazed out at the lands and to the sun that was almost completely gone as night came rolling in.

In her hands was the new journal that Alisaie had given to her for Starlight, now completely empty and ready to be filled with new adventures and answers that could one day let her look back on with fond memories.

She then tucked two extra pieces of paper within the pages… the first was the carefully folded letter from Lord Hauchefant's letter—a constant reminder of her greatest supporter—and the 'photo' that Noctis had given to her before he left. She gazed at the picture, unable to stop the smile, before tucking it safely inside as well. Perhaps as a reminder that even when you're in a new place and everything is looking hopeless, try to look on the bright side.

She wondered if she would be able to fish in the First Shard?

Either way, she had taken her 'dream journal' as she had been calling it and decided to convert it into a sketchbook. While she wasn't a very good artist yet, and since she didn't have one of those camera things, she wanted to start drawing some of the places she had visited… just to look back on some of the beautiful places with better memories than the sadder ones.

Finally, she finished her preparations by pulling out a pair of ribbons she bought at the market earlier. Ribbons identical to the ones that the twins usually had to tie back their long hair. She sighed as she pulled out her grimoire and tied the blue ribbon to it… as well as tying the red one around the hilt of her rapier…

Where they would serve as reminders of the promises she had made to so many others.

We live for those that they hold dear in their hearts and so long as they had that, she could believe that she could find the answers she so desperately sought… one day. Even if fighting was all she knew how to do anymore… even if she still continued to look back and wonder if the paths she had taken were the right ones or not, she decided that if this was to be her fate, she would embrace them without a second thought. The Ascians have had their way for long enough, and she was going to live the way she wanted, not what they did.

While she didn't know what their goals and intentions truly were… while she did not know the cause for Hydaelyn to be split into fourteen different worlds so long ago… or even just what her purpose was in this situation… there was one thing that she did know for sure.

"And what would that be…?" she could imagine Fray's voice asking her in the back of her mind.

"I decide my own path from this moment on," she promised herself, her head turned towards the northeast to where the borders of the Empire were waiting. A border that she would one day cross that border to bring an end to this war as well.

She wasn't sure how she when she would arrive there, or if she would even be alive long enough to see that point; but she was prepared to walk it. Even if she will always have her doubts, she needed to find her own answers and greet her friends when they do finally awaken. Until then, she would keep moving forward as best as she could and judge for herself when she reached the end.

Her thumb trailed over the ribbons and she smiled sadly, wondering how long it would be before she would be able to return her heart to where it belongs.

"Until then, I hope that you are all dreaming peacefully," she whispered as the last few rays of sun disappeared and left her in the dark. But even then, she could still see the sky and the twinkling lights of distant stars shining above her head.

Night may have fallen, but even then, there were still sprinkles of light there to keep her company… reminding her that she wasn't as alone as she may feel at that moment. Without another thought, she turned on her heel and walked with her back to Ala Mhigo and towards the darkest part of the night…

…after having found her resolve once again.

To Be Continued…?

(Wow, what a long road to get this far, but it was worth it. I have to say that I'm really proud of the FF14 stories that I've done and I like to think that I'm getting better with every chapter that I put out. Now, I know a few of you have been asking me if I will continue the story all the way up throughout Shadowbringers, and my answer to you is the same as it was before Stormblood came out. I don't know yet.

Because Shadowbringers isn't out yet and I don't know what kind of story that it's going to be I can't promise you anything. The ending for Stormblood… was disappointing in my eyes. I was expecting something a little more special. Or at least exciting? Then again, it would be hard to top ARR ending, wouldn't it? Either way, while I am disappointed, I am going to stick around until Shadowbringers and see what I think of it then. I will be playing the game when it's out and when it's done I will be putting up another Author's Note letting you know what I thought of the game and if there will be at least one more sequel to this story. If I do choose to do it, there will be two Author Notes after this chapter… the first one letting you all know if I have another story in mind and the second will be letting you know when the story itself is up. If I chose not to, then there will only be one Author's Note after this letting you know. Please keep a lookout and let me know your opinions if I should or shouldn't do it.

And to be honest, I don't think that people seem to have enjoyed this story as much as Eyes Ever Heavensward, so I was disappointed in the lack of reviews. But what do you guys think? Should I consider writing a story for 5.0? And if so, from who's point of view? Should it just be one person or do you think that it should be from multiple points? Let me know what you all think, I honestly love getting reviews and people telling me their opinions.

Again, thank you all for your support.)