15 - The Veil
(Fair warning - this one is 'different)'
The palace doors swung shut behind her and she walked forwards towards the one other person in the room, looming atop his throne.
The vast palace room spread out before her; the lack of daylight compensated by the pale glowing lanterns lit along the floor level. She walked steadily forwards, her footsteps loud of the paved floor. Past the proud griffin which stared down at her distastefully and past a dozen other great animal hunter statues, past them all until she stood at the foot of the steps that led up to the throne on which Zenos yae Galvus sat. Towering over them all.
The prince reclined on the throne in his customary armour minus the helmet, the tri-scabbard within easy reach. His expression was neutral, betraying no hint of what the heir to the Empire was thinking. Head resting thoughtfully on one armoured hand, casual and yet like a coiled spring waiting to strike.
She immediately knelt on one knee and looked down at the floor, cursing the shiver that ran through her body as her knee contacted the cold, hard floor. "Fordola rem Lupis, commander of the Crani Lupi, reporting as ordered." At least her voice did not shake and betray her.
There was a silence, she kept her eyes down, aware of the prince's eyes boring down on her, then, "...Why do you tremble so?" The prince's words were flat, but she detected the hint of curiosity, as if he genuinely did not understand why she should tremble in rage, and sorrow at her position and those of her Crani Lupi. Zenos continued, his voice strangely soft, "Could it be that the Empire's Butcher is afraid? That she who walks with death is terrified of her own?"
Fordola felt a surge of shame and her cheeks grew hot. She looked down at her own arm resting on her knee and felt her fist clench as she spoke at the floor slowly, drawing the words out. "I am terrified of dying having achieved naught." She paused, and then continued, calmer, more sure of her words. "Gladly would I give me life to win a great victory on the battlefield, had I but the strength." The champion of Eorzea sprang into her mind, taunting her with the surplus of strength she had in contrast, the comparison Fordola's mind made was unwelcome, unwanted.
"Alas, you do not." The prince's tone was final on this, a hint of disappointment now there. "Indeed you are weak." He drawled the words out, savoured them with some relish.
Fordola remained where she was, kneeling, looking down as the prince continued steadily from his throne. "And born of this weakness is a blind fervor. A raging inferno which threatens to consume not only you, but everyone around you."
"Yes my lord." She whispered; it was true.
She heard the sound of his armour moving, as the prince slowly stood. She kept her eyes facing down. Should she look up to face the blade that would come striking down? Ir should she keep her eyes down, lest fear show in her face and sully her further.
"You were defeated by the Resistance on several occasions. You misjudged the Ananta and spurred them into summoning an eikon. Have you anything to say?" He asked.
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes as she said the words that condemned her. "I do not, my lord. My failures are my own." She thought of her father, Ainsfrid, Hrudolf, Emelin...Mari. "I am prepared to accept your judgement."
She heard the sound of his footsteps draw close, involuntarily she opened her eyes and saw his shadow fall over her as he stood close at hand, then…
"And that is very admirable. However, I've had enough of this dumb show." What? "Give voice to that hunger I see in your eyes, or I will pluck them from your head." A cold armoured glove closed around her chin as the prince reached down and pulled her firmly to look him in his eyes.
She could smell his scent, his eyes stared at her, his expression level, piercing, but again the shadow of something deep within she couldn't place...but she knew he was waiting for something from her…
For a moment they remained in this position, the prince with his hand pulling her face up to meet his eyes, she still knelt on the ground, eyes locked on him. "I...I want…" She searched her mind, what did she want?
Then the Eorzean woman sprung to mind, the snakes, the Ala Mhigans...the ones that had stoned her father to death. Cold fire blossomed in her throat even as the prince's grip tightened. "I want to make them pay!" She shouted suddenly, violently.
The grip on her throat lessened as the words flowed in a spiel of rage. "All of them! Everyone who ever mocked or looked down on me - I want the power to make them pay!"
Something in the eyes of Prince Zenos changed, a hint of a smile blossomed on his thick lips. "...Hm. Very well." He breathed and released his grip, standing back up to tower over her, the white flag of Garlemald atop the throne of Ala Mhigo framing Fordola's view as she looked up at him, a vision of power and rabid hunger.
"Then I shall give you a chance." His smile did not waver. "A chance to transcend your mortal limits. Assuming, that is, you are prepared to wager your life for such power."
"Transcend, my lord…?" She asked, careful to keep the hunger out of her voice. She did not understand what he meant, but… "I came here prepared to die. Tell me what I must do."
The prince's smile widened, and he held up his right hand and Fordola watched as a figure emerged from where he had been hidden behind the throne. Garlean without a doubt, slender and dressed in pure white robes of thick, expensive fabric, black gloves and breeches matching his ensemble. Dark, wire-rimmed glasses sat astride his benign face that looked not much older than Fordola was herself.
"This is Aulus mal Asina." Zenos continued as the man stepped forwards. "He has been updating me on a number of breakthroughs he has recently made at Castrum Abania...he will carry out a procedure to help you transcend your limits. If successful...you will have the strength you desire."
He turned to the Aulus, the other man watching Fordola with unbridled eagerness "Can you begin at once with your facilities here in the city?" The prince asked.
"Yes my lord." Aulus nodded, his voice smooth and honeyed, like butter. "I have every faith we will be successful this time."
"Very well." Zenos turned and looked down at Fordola, still kneeling. "Rise Butcher, go with Lord Aulus, I will visit you later...if you are successful."
She rose, in a daze. Feeling blood flow through her limbs again. She did not trust herself to say anything, her head was buzzing. Aulus had turned, and was walking back towards a small door, hidden in the shadows along the wall behind the throne.
Lord Zenos gestured one last time and she strode forwards, dazed as Aulus opened the door to steps which descended into flickering shadows. He motioned for her to lead and she strode through, without hesitation.
"This Lord Aulus is of particular interest to us." Alphinaud leaned forwards, a fire in the youths eyes. "Although he was slain in the taking of Ala Mhigo, his twisted research into the soul, aether and the Garlean genome may continue. Did he talk much of our friend, the Warrior of Light?"
He indicated the Warrior, Sara, who still sat quietly off to one side and Fordola resisted looking, continuing to face forwards. "Aye, he mentioned her in passing."
"The experiments ran by this so-called scientist left hundreds of innocents maimed or dead." Lyse slapped the table, her eyes flaring. "We found the bodies in Castrum Abania, those that survived had been…turned into mindless monsters, you allowed this man to experiment on you?"
"Gladly I did." Fordola nodded, ignoring the intake of breath from behind her in the galleries. "I did not know this Aulus mal Asina, all I knew was that Zenos was giving me a chance to attain power at the risk of my own life. Considering I had walked in expecting death, I was going to take any opportunity to prove my use to him at that time."
"Do you regret the choice you made?" Admiral Merlwyb asked, she looked curious and Fordola hesitated.
Flicker, a coiling sea serpent screamed defiance as a thunderous wave rolled towards the ship.
Fordola winced, and leaned heavily on the dias as she swayed for a moment. She thought her Echo seemed to have calmed, the visions no longer as insistent as they had been at the start of the day, mayhaps she was wrong. She pulled herself straight and looked the admiral in the eye.
"I was already a monster by that point, I did what I did willingly." Fordola kept her head high.
Again the murmur from the crowd behind. Merlwyb leaned back, an appraising look (surely not a glimmer of respect) on her face as Alphinaud gestured for Fordola to continue.
"Tell us of your conversations with him." He asked. "Leave nothing out, spare no detail."
The steps went down and down, deep into the rock beneath the palace of Ala Mhigo.
Several times the steps ended on a small corridor that often had a few other doors leading off on either side. She would wait until Lord Aulus had glided down the steps to join her and he would indicate the proper direction to take. More stairs heading always down, the corridors grew colder and darker until finally, they reached their destination.
It was a cavernous room cut into the rock of a similar width to the palace room, with tall, roughly carved columns on either side. The ceiling was shrouded in darkness far above with candles on plinths provided some meagre, flickering light. Fordola's gaze was drawn towards the back of the chamber, where an eerie blue and red glow could be seen atop and around a massive, shadowy apparatus many fulms high. There was a low, humming noise of Garlean machinery coming from all around.
"Welcome to my humble research facility." Aulus mal Asina's smooth voice echoed in the vast chamber as he walked past her, turning to smile proudly. He noticed Fordola looking around and gestured widely with his arms, smiling broadly. "Not quite as grand as my facilities back in the capital, but thankfully Lord Zenos has seen fit to grace me with his patronage and support."
Fordola was unsure what to make of that, she was a woman of battle, sun and sand – not Garlean machina. Had this huge chamber always been here, under the palace? "What work…is it you do here exactly, my lord?" She asked hesitantly, squinting again at the shadowy apparatus at the far end of the room.
"Why, we seek to unlock the very secrets of life!" Aulus made a grand gesture, excited to have a person to explain his secretive work to. "To overcome our boundaries, to unshackle our limitations, to transcend our very beings!"
"And…this is what you are going to do with me?" She asked again, hesitant. The fiery rage she had felt in the palace above had cooled as she walked. She still burned with desire, but it was tempered with caution around a man she did not know, and a promised procedure she did not understand.
"Come and sit." Aulus gestured to a simple table around which several chairs were drawn against the wall. "I will prepare you something to drink."
Fordola moved, feeling a shiver run through her spine. This chamber was cooler than it had any right to be – was there some sort of Garlean artificial cooling installed in this room? She sat down, and waited, shivering, as Aulus busied himself at a far table. He appeared to be…mixing something?
A few moments later he drew close holding a notepad and smiling benignly, proffering a cup of steaming, dark grey liquid. She involuntarily sniffed it and nearly gagged at the stench, Lord Aulus's smile growing wider as his eyes blinked innocently. "First, you must drink this, it is part of the procedure which I will then explain to you."
She took the cup slowly…one last chance to back out. She looked at the liquid and again the thought of the enemy champion, her matchless strength, flashed through her brain and she gritted her teeth - before downing the thick liquid in one gulp.
She gagged but thankfully did not throw the liquid back up as it coiled down through her throat. Lord Aulus tutted in satisfaction and moved to sit on the chair next to her, leaning forward conspiratorially as with his right hand he produced a small machina device a little larger than his hand. "Hold out your right arm." He instructed.
She did so and he pressed the cold device to her hand and ran it up her bare arm to her shoulder, pulled it away and looked at the device thoughtfully. "Hmm, 4.2…interesting." He scribbled on the notepad and looked back at Fordola who was massaging her throat as the liquid still felt like it was slithering down.
"4.2?" She repeated, as the scientist continued to scribble notes, having tucked the device back in a large chest pocket. "Is that…good?"
"It is to be expected for a native of this land" Aulus did not look up from his writings. "Were you to do a reading on me, you would find a score of 0.3, a very standard mark for a pureblood of Garlemald."
"And that mark is…?" She tried and Aulus looked up at her, smile still there, eyes bright with excitement.
"Tis a crude way to measure a person's connection to aether, the very quintessence of spirit that allows a person to wield magicks, sense life, project one's spirit and a multitude of other factors." Aulus returned to his paperwork, scribing even as he talked rapidly at Fordola. "We Garleans lack the hereditary traits required for the reliable manipulation of aether, therefore we score below a 1, shall we say. A non-Garlean will see a mark between 1 – 10, with a higher number indicating a greater affinity for magicks and the arcane arts."'
He finished his scribing (the writing not the slightest bit legible to Fordola) and looked up at her, raising an eyebrow. "Those that use magicks and practice the arcane arts will steadily improve their aetheric connection, think of it like exercising a muscle, except in this case, the muscle is somewhere within a person's neocortex." He tapped his head and Fordola felt her stomach twinge suddenly, ignoring it. "Everyone has some level of aetheric connection, even Garleans are not immune from this. It's that voice whispering in your ear which direction to take, it guides the hand that reads a palms future, a sixth sense that warns you when danger is near, and thousands of other, tiny small things that make up a person's sense of self, of being."
"So…how are you going to help me…transcend my limits?" She asked, curious but not really following the scientist's passion.
"My lifework is to modify and enhance subjects to boost their aetheric connection." Aulus now gestured to the wider chamber. "You remember the scion prisoner you took? The lalafell?" She nodded and he beamed widely. "Such a marvellous subject that one. She scored a mark of 56.3, one of the highest I've seen, instrumental in some recent breakthroughs with subject XXIV being my finest yet!"
"And, how will increasing my aetheric connection help me?" She asked, feeling slightly uneasy at the man's rambling, she had forgotten the cold. "Do you propose to mould me into some sort of black mage?"
"Oh, good heavens no." Aulus chucked at that. "With the research on the Scion, we can not only increase your aetheric connection – but also grant you a power unlike any others – the Eorzean's sometimes refer to this as the Echo. Your enemy, the champion of the savages, called the Warrior of Light, has this ability naturally (or supernaturally, I don't really know) and uses it to great effect. Ah…what I would give to have her as my precious test subject."
"The Warrior of Light…" Fordola murmured to herself, as Aulus made an extravagant clapping noise and Fordola noticed several white-clothed attendants suddenly appear from behind her, she had not noticed them approaching.
"Prepare the apparatus." Aulus spoke to one of the attendants as they approached. "Subject XXV, 4.6, let's try aligning to worldline 0.456903α again and…cycle 13 times, add the infused Aulus-Aquila particles to the array."
The men retreated as Fordola struck the table with one hand. "What can you tell me about the Eorzean woman, this Warrior of Light!? I must defeat her for Lord Zenos…and myself."
Aulus looked smug suddenly, and sat back down, crossing his legs and relaxing casually. "She…is the culmination of what I hope to achieve with my work. A high aetheric alignment that allows her to master and wield every magick known to current masters. Why, witnesses have seen her weave garments and weapons out of the thin air itself, once a tall lance, then suddenly a staff of high magicks, but it is her Echo that gives her the true power."
"The Echo?" Fordola repeated, feeling her stomach twinge a second time, more painfully.
"We can only speculate as to what it is exactly." Aulus waggled his finger at her. "It appears to give her a certain level of clairvoyance, she can see where attacks will land, sense an enemy's strength, resist a primal's influence and even, if some witnesses are believed, see into a person's past."
Fordola took this all in, crossing her arms thoughtfully, also trying to hide the cramp that seemed to be spreading through her body.
"The Warrior of Light is a puzzle, an enigma." Aulus continued, looking past Fordola's shoulder now. "Did she have this Echo naturally? Or was it granted to her by some, unknown supernatural entity, a primal itself? A god? Who can say…but I digress." At that, Aulus clapped his hands together and focussed on Fordola again. "Enough time should have passed for the serum to work its way through your body. I will need you to change into something less restrictive and more conductive. We have prepared garments for you behind that curtain." He pointed to a corner of the room, where a barber's curtain partitioned off a small corner of the chamber. "Please dress and then make your way to down to the end of the chamber, follow the blue light – I will be waiting for you there and tell you the rest."
Fordola grasped all the misgivings in her head, picked them up and put them to one side mentally as she stood, wincing with the movement, before padding over to the curtain. Grasping the flimsy material, she pulled it aside and stepped in, closing the curtain behind her.
On a small table were some black undergarments. She picked up the scant, rubbery material and mentally shrugged. She carefully unbuckled her gunblade and lent it against the wall before peeling off her leather jerkin, boots and smallclothes, tossing them aside.
Now, fully naked she stretched for a moment, noticing moisture fog in the air as she breathed out heavily. Strange, the cold sensation seemed to have reduced to nothing, likewise the cramp in her stomach seemed to be receding.
She slowly put on the clothes left for her, a process that did not take long. The bottoms were a small pair of black shorts that hugged her body very tightly, the top half of the material hardly preserved her modesty, numerous black straps held it together on her shoulders and across her back. Leaving most of her chest, arms and legs completely bare. If Ainsfrid had thought her ball dress revealing, he would have boggled to see her now.
She was too proud to be prudish, and she put on the simple sandals left for her, grasped the gunblade in her free arm, and drew back the curtain.
Seeing nobody waiting for her, she began padding down the dark chamber. The structure at the end starting to come into view, the hum now somewhat louder.
The giant apparatus was akin to a large table on three massive, iron legs with wide steps leading up to the top where a large machina 'device' of some sort was suspended by an arm connected to the side of the 'table'.
Running around the 'legs' of this apparatus, were numerous…well they looked like Hyur sized metal coffins. They were also stacked vertically around the apparatus, light strips pulsing red, small window slits at the top of each chamber.
She reached the base of the stairs and peered into the nearest red light. Through the slit she let out a low gasp; within it the captive lalafell Scion, Krile, could be seen. Eyes closed as if in a deep slumber…or dead.
Clearing her head and remembering that this was a sworn enemy of her lord, she made her way up the iron stairs to the top of the apparatus. Aulus waited there, behind him, at the centre of the table was a huge iron operating table. Along the far side of the raised dais, were numerous consoles replete with glowing lights and buttons by which stood three other expectant attendants.
"Ah excellent, excellent." Aulus gestured to the operating table. "Remove your sandals and lie down. I will walk you through the process."
She made her way forwards, pleased the scientist had kept not let his eyes stray in this revealing getup. She reluctantly rested the gunblade against the central table before pulling herself up and onto the table before lying down, ignoring the rough discomfort. Aulus meanwhile, was gesturing at the other attendants who were fiddling with complicated dials and buttons on various consoles.
A few moments passed as the low humming subtly changed in pitch. His motions finished, his men at work, Aulus moved closer, gazing down to Fordola like a benevolent father.
"What now?" She rasped at him, her throat feeling dry and unresponsive.
"We will do two things." Aulus raised a finger. "First, we will run powerful currents through the table into your neocortex, while releasing an abundance of aether from other 'guests' in this room. I regret to say the pain will be quite significant and I must ask that you remain lying down, an element of the paralysing potion you consumed will help there. Breaking the connection with the table will result in permanent brain damage, and most likely death."'
Fordola clenched her fists, mentally preparing herself. "And, this will grant me tremendous aetheric power?"
"Precisely." Aulus nodded, raising a second finger. "However, that in itself would just make you 'hypercharged' and achieve little besides robbing you on your free will. What we will also do, is imbue you with the Echo. This will help you control the aether abundance, give you free will and grant you the ability to see enemy attacks before they happen, gaze into the heart and memories of your prisoners, and many more things we can only speculate at!" He was getting excited now.
"Is more pain involved?" She asked, the words hardly coming out now her throat felt so tight.
"Of a sorts." Aulus beamed proudly. "Providing you do not move during the first stage; you will ultimately lose consciousness. We would render you unconscious beforehand, but this has proved to have most...unfortunate side effects. Now...how best to explain the process of imbuing you with the Echo...hmmm." He pursed his lips for a moment, as in the background the hum grew greater, as if a great energy source was being charged somewhere.
"Let's see…" Aulus then snapped a finger and looked back down at her. "Ah yes. Sharlayan scholars have theories that there are a multitude of realities, endless in nature where everything that ever has happened, or will happen, overlaps. Somewhere there could be a reality where our positions are reversed, for example. I could be on this operating table and you, well, a person like you is explaining this same process. All these realities ripple over each other, ever so slightly out of alignment, like individual drops of water, my theory…" He coughed loudly at that and bent in closer, conspiratorially to Fordola's cheek. "Is that this echo, allows one to catch glimpse of other, closely aligned realities, visions of the past, warnings of the future, maybe even, different versions of oneself!"
He bent up again and looked over to the other men who had finished whatever preparations had been made. He gave a nod and Fordola turned her neck a little to see buttons being pressed and the huge machina that had been standing parallel to this upraised area, began to bend in closer, leaning over. It was a mass of wires, blinking lights, nozzles and at the heart of it all, a bright, blinking blue light larger than her face. It came closer and closer to her head until it filled her vision.
"After the pain, you will slip into unconsciousness." Aulus was continuing. "From our recent success with test subject XXIV, we have an understanding of what comes next. We will use a burst of energy to extract your very soul and cycle you through these other realities, twelve times. Think of it like weaving a knot back and forth, should we be successful, you will gain a sort of clairvoyance, access to other realities and powers."
He leaned in again, but Fordola could hardly make him out with the massive blue machina filling her vision. "We will start you out on worldline 0.456903α, we have no idea if this reality is anything like our own, but the last test subject survived this cycle compared to others, which must be a good thing. Now, you must not lose yourself in this reality, keep your mind in the present – try to think on things which ground you in this worldline. The first will be hardest, but the machine will read your thoughts and impulses and future cycles should be closer to this reality. Do you understand? I have seen too many experiments wasted on the first cycle; realities so incomprehensible that it overwhelms our understanding of reality."
"I... really don't think I get it." She managed to force the words out, her body was hardly moving at all now.
"Well, this is all just my theories." Aulus chuckled standing up again, she could hardly make out his shape now, somewhere the droning hum was reaching new heights. "It may all be nonsense, but the power you can attain is real...now, let us begin."
The hum reached a piercing intensity and Fordola felt her skin prickle to gooseflesh and a moment later pain, terrible pain lanced through her entire body.
She had never felt anything like it, it was indescribable, all-encompassing, needling pain in every facet of her body. She could not scream out for her jaw was locked, if she could have moved, she probably would have curled into a ball, but her body was unresponsive and she remained lying flat. She could not even shut her eyes, her vision was only that of the piercing blue light that became every part of her being.
How long this ordeal lasted, she could not tell. It felt as if her brain was being split apart, no, it felt like her limbs were being ripped apart on every level, no, it was a thousand needles digging into every facet of her body, in, out, in, out, in, out. Pulling apart her very being.
She endured for what felt like hours of this, the blue light, the ringing hum, the pain, the terrible pain was all she knew. Was it hours, was in minutes? She didn't know, there was no time, there was only the light, the noise, the pain.
Suddenly, the humming noise changed in pitch again, going higher and higher. What little remained of her sense of self through the pain saw an arc of electricity somewhere behind the blue light, there was another...and then blinding oblivion.
Flicker
0.456903α
There was no pain (there was only pain).
There was no noise (the hum was everywhere).
There was only a white (blue) light , a haze, were they clouds (fog?) drifting around her.
She was standing in place and looked down - she was dressed in her customary leather gear, the gear she had spent most of her adult life in. Her Ala Mhigan curved blade rested in its scabbard at her side, a reassuring weight and sight.
She looked up and around. She appeared to be on some sort of black, artificial surface that stretched out before her, with a slash of white running down the middle between her feet. She could hardly see anything, the white fog (clouds?) obscuring anything more than a few arms length away from her.
'Hello?' she spoke aloud, testing the sound of her own voice. The words sounded distant, distorted and wavy. The mist churned around her and then rolled back, slowly away from her. Despite this, the blue (white) haze darkened slightly.
Great buildings of metal and glass appeared on both sides, towering over her to the pale sky. They were like nothing she had ever seen before, as tall as the tallest spire of Ala Mhigo. She also noticed strange red lights now glowing along the strip before her, blinking steadily at her. An eerie hum (silence) compounded her discomfort.
She took a step forwards, and another, off the strange white line down the middle of the black surface, towards one of the great metal buildings that reared up to the sky.
Another step, one more, again.
Along the building's base was a line of strange glass windows which offered no reflections and to one side was an entrance that led into the building. She tried to look in, but it appeared to be shrouded in darkness.
Curious she turned back the way she had come, and saw the fog had followed her. The buildings on the other side, the white line in the center of the road was gone, she could only see a few paces back the way she had come. Only the red blinking lights remained, pulsing through the white mists.
She turned away from this uneasy sight and slowly walked through the open doorway, into the base of the monstrous tower.
It was dark, but she could see columns of iron reaching up to the ceiling above on all sides. There was a dim whitish light glowing from somewhere that filled the building. She couldn't think why it had seemed so dark from outside. Over the strange silence (hum) a dripping noise, a splash of something could be heard. It was the first distinctive noise she could recall and seemed to be coming from further within...
She moved forwards, half of free will, half because she felt compelled to move forwards, past the numerous iron columns, deeper into the building. A quick glance behind her showed that the entrance door had now vanished in the mists that stalked after her.
Drip, drip, drip…
It was getting louder, she had an overwhelming premonition that it was the dripping of blood.
She rounded a column and saw a shadowy shape in the distance, slumped on the floor.
She moved closer, carefully pulling forth her blade from its scabbard, forcing her sense of self into the weapon. She was Fordola rem Lupis! Leader of the Crani Lupi! She was not afraid of strange visions or nightmares. Or whatever this was...
The shape was closer...a figure, a woman (a phantom?) with long, dark red hair, face down on the floor. Crimson blood was smeared all around her, a macabre scene of murder. Something in Fordola made her inch a bit closer to the body, curious. Something compelled her to touch one splayed leg with the flat of her blade, was this person truly dead?
The head turned 90 degrees to look at her, white vacant eyes in a pale, dead face. 'Go back.' The lips did not move, the voice was neither female nor male, but a discordance that caused Fordola to drop her sword to the ground and clutch her ears even as the words continued. 'Go back, go back, GO BACK!' The last words were almost intelligible, a crackle of static and gibberish.
She stumbled away from the body, ignoring her sword, backing away and fell through the mists that had followed was suddenly enveloped within its faint blue light and could hardly see her hand in front of her.
The noise stopped, her sense of self drifted, she slumped - a part of her knew that should her soul drift - it would drift forever on the currents of time, lost forever.
She tried to focus, what drove her, what kept her.
Was it acceptance? Respect? Love? Power?
She tried to think, feeling the threads unravelling, she tried to picture something that tied her to home...Ala Mhigo? It inspired apathy. The Crani Lupi? It inspired regret. The Warrior of Light?
Her face appeared before her, the vision sneered at her, and Fordola felt a surge of raw anger, it flowed through her like a hot liquid, from her stomach all the way up to her head and it
Flicker
3.152947α
Fordola was sitting in a moving caravan, trundling along a forest path between pale clouds through which trees could just about be glimpsed on either side, a familiar scent (Chocobos?) was in the air.
'Oy!' A man's voice turned her head, a figure was leaning towards her. A man dressed in yellow with a dark skin, and twinkling eyes. 'You were moanin' in your sleep an' sweatin' buckets besides.'
She reached for her sword, but it was no longer there. She looked around, the caravan was otherwise empty except for her and this figure (driver?) who cocked his head in surprise and then there was wrenching CRACK and the figure
Flicker
3.152839α
She was still in the same moving caravan, but there were two white haired twins sitting across from her now, dozing, eyes closed.
'As for your good self, judgin' by your unusual garments.' It was the same yellow dressed man leaning forwards, speaking as if nothing had happened. 'I'd say you were one of them new adventurers. AM i WARm?" The words seemed to rip and tear, the sex of the voice juddering in Fordola's ears, she involuntarily grabbed her ears as the man's face seemed to melt and the sleeping twins opened socketless eyes to reveal a
Flicker
3.162325γ
Same moving caravan, the dozing twins with white hair still slumbered across from her. The caravan driver still sat to her right, gazing forwards, out into the mists from which the trees could just about be seen. But there was a different presence next to her.
Fordola turned left slowly, knowing what she would see.
A woman sat there, short red hair, plain Gridanian garb, her eyes were bright blue and she wore no weapon and seemed to not notice Fordola.
'You…' Fordola gasped, looking on his enemy who was gazing at the dozing figures sitting opposite her.
'...A skirmish has broken out up ahead with the Ixal!' A distant voice was shouting urgently, further ahead, a male voice. 'For your own safety, you must remain here until-'
There was a sound, a rustling of distant dead leaves floating on the windless air. Next to Fordola the Eorzean hero looked around, concern creasing her perfect face. The white haired twins remained sleeping.
'Bloody hells!' The male voice again, the voice sounding panicky, 'We shall hold them here! Try to break clear!'
The sound of rustling increased, and then suddenly a black flecked arrow came out of the fog to strike the caravan and stick in the wood. Fordola leapt to her feet as the caravan rocked forwards, the twins continued to doze opposite her and suddenly more arrows were flying at them from the treeline.
Fordola watched them thud into the caravan as the driver lashed the chocobos at the front to speed. Suddenly an arrow flecked past her left...and buried deep into the hero's throat.
She didn't make a sound, a slight gurgle maybe, as pure crimson lifeblood flowing out as Fordola felt revulsion (not satisfaction?) as more arrows struck the caravan and one of the twins opposite and then all hells
Flicker
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Again, the same hazy mist (no, it was cloud) surrounded her.
She was on a battlement of some sort, below a sea of miasma roiled and boiled. Somewhere she could hear a sonorous man's voice talking…
'And tear down the very pillars of our society - our history, our values - everything we have built over a thousand years?' There was the sound of an exacerbated, deep sigh, 'A fool to the last.'
Fordola scanned around herself, searching for the voice. There! Through a break in the fog she could see a white robed man looking away from herself, gazing into the fogs…
Then she could hear footsteps running, a blue haired, armoured Elzeen crashed into view, at his side ran the Warrior of Light, a broadsword at her side, red hair flowing behind her, a vision of power. Both charging at the white robed man who had been talking.
Suddenly there was a blinding flash of light, a beam of pure energy flicked out at the Warrior from above, 'Look out!' shouted the Elzeen, pulling a shield and charging for the energy beam.
He was a fraction too slow.
The beam of light ripped into the Warriors abdomen and bathed her in an ethereal light. Fordola watched, as the Warrior fell slowly to the ground, the mists swallowing up the other figures and rolling towards Fordola as a tidal wave of
Flicker
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Fordola hardly had time to take in the view this time, above golden, rolling light (corruption) filled the sky.
The Warrior of Light stood before her, surrounded by strange, glowing white demons on four legs that flicked left and right as the Warrior slowly turned, a tall lance of glistening obsidian warding off the creatures.
Fordola noticed with a start that she could see a dark haze surrounding the Warrior, a darkness that swished around her. Energy? Aether? A soul?
As the Warrior turned slowly, her vision passed over Fordola and she paused, her brow creased and she blinked, staring forwards. Her lips moved hesitantly, 'Fordola?'
Around her, the creatures suddenly leapt, teeth bared for the Warriors throat as she reached out a hand towards Fordola's spectral (solid?) self, and just before the jaws closed around the Warriors throat her lips moved to shout
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The same golden light filled the sky, Fordola was standing beside the Warrior of Light, and she realised suddenly that her hand was grasped in the other's soft, warm hand. They were looking off a sheer cliff, only the fog lay before them.
Fordola immediately pulled her hand away from the other woman's hand and stumbled back a few steps, hand fumbling at her belt for a sword that wasn't there.
The Warrior of Light turned, her face lit by the golden clouds above, framed by the white miasma behind her. Her brow creased with concern and she stepped forwards, a gunblade of some strange type rested at side. 'Fordola, we've come so far together, tell me what's wrong?' Her voice was warm, full of concern and Fordola shook her head in confusion.
There was something so inviting about hearing warmth and emotion in this strange reality, her rage felt dull and dormant deep within her. "Get away!" She half shouted, raising a hand to push back the Warrior, but the other woman caught it easily, holding it in a strong grip and leaning forwards.
Fordola felt a wave of nausea seize her as the other woman's face came closer and closer, worry dancing on her eyes. "Fordola, what's gotten into you, have you forgotten why we are HeRE?'
Her voice wavered into discordance and Fordola was paralized in the moment as the other woman lent in, her lips brushed Fordola's who fought powerlessly in the embrace.
So soft, something thudded in her heart.
'Go bAcK' a voice whispered in her ear and Fordola broke the moment, pushed back, away from the startled face of the Warrior and she was falling over the cliff age, falling, falling and
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'Fordola, Fordola!' The shout echoed through her head which throbbed like a drum.
She was standing in some sort of...banquet hall? A gilded table piled with wine and foods, guests milled around it. She couldn't see the banquet hall walls, the fog closed around her, it didn't want her - she did not belong here.
'Fordola, I need your head in the game!' The deep male voice again, she recognised it and turned to see...Raubahn Aldynn, the general, her judge, staring intently into her face.
'Raubahn?' She cocked her head in surprise, standing still. He was...younger, and she noticed, had both hands unlike the Raubahn from Ala Mhigo that had one stump of an arm, cut off in some previous battle.
'Who else?' The man snorted, his eyes were intense. 'Fordola, if they try to take me captive, you'll lead the Brass Blades understood!?'
'I…' She didn't have a chance to finish that sentence, a deep male voice drew Raubahn's attention and she turned…
'This man stands accused of poisoning Her Royal Majesty Nanamo Ul Namo.' It was a tall, proud man dressed in military blue and flanked by others of a similar bearing, he was standing over someone… 'And as suspected accessories to the crime, all members of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn will be detained for questioning!'
It...it was the Warrior of Light, chained and hobbled on the floor...she recognised the face as if through a clouded mirror, but the face was masculine, and she thought she could make out a pair of Miqo'te ears beneath a tatty archers hat...it was the same person, just...different.
'This is madness!' a nearby woman shouted and then suddenly there was shouting, cursing and the whole
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The banquet hall 'shifted', almost all the people remained unchanged but the Warrior of Light was now a tiny Lalafell, dressed in the silver armour of a Paladin.
'Hold your tongue, witch! I'll not be ensorcelled!' A female Lalafell was pointing angrily at a tall, slender woman with her arms spread wide. 'I know all about the dark gift that you and your disciples wield! Oh yes...I've observed how you worked upon the minds of the Alliance leaders, bending them to your will!'
'Fordola!" Raubahn whispered in her ear. 'I'm going to get the Queen, you need to look after our friends, they're too important to the world to be lost to this madness.'
She remained mute on the spot as the Warrior of Light on the ground turned and looked directly at her, his eyes wide and imploring before the words came
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The scene 'shifted', everything moved so fast Fordola felt a surge of motion sickness, the grey mists had rolled closer towards her.
Raubahn was standing over the body of the Lalafell who had been talking, both blades in each hand. The Warrior of Light, a tall female Elzeen, was still chained on the ground next to her guards.
'YOU!' Raubahn bellowed, turning to point somewhere beyond the mists. 'You're next, you scheming bastard!'
Roaring he leapt at a shadow in the distance, disappearing into the fog. There was a thunderclap and his body was thrown back and Fordola stared as Raubahn's dismembered head rolled slowly back towards her across the banquet hall's floor.
The tall, blue dressed man of before emerged out of the haze, a broadsword grasped in his hand. He pointed it directly at Fordola menacingly 'Do you care to follow your captain, Wolf?'
She fumbled at her belt, but her sword still wasn't here and the man was approaching her, raising his sword high and the Warrior of Light on the ground was screaming something at her, 'Go BACK!' and Fordola tried to move but her limbs were slow and the blade came crashing down towards
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She stood in the throne room of Ala Mhigo, this much was obvious even in her dazed state.
Lord Zenos stood before her, sword out, a look of deep disappointment on his face.
The Warrior of Light lay crumpled at his feet, beaten and laid low.
'I had such high expectations of you...' He said to the fallen champion, slowly raising his sword. 'When I have killed you - I will slay your friends, hunt down your allies, and destroy the Eorzean alliance with my bare hands.'
He held the blade up and smiled at Fordola. 'You did well Butcher, I am proud of you, together we will break the siege and you will rule as Viceroy of Ala Mhigo.'
The blade came sweeping down, unstoppable and
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She stood in the throne room of Ala Mhigo, this much was obvious, even in her dazed state.
Lord Zenos stood before her, sword out, a look of deep disappointment on his face.
The Warrior of Light stood at his side facing Fordola, a twinned blade to Lord Zenos bared, her face a vision of beauty and power.
'I had such high expectations of you…' He said to Fordola, slowly raising his sword at her. 'When I have killed you - I will slay your friends, hunt down your allies, and destroy your Eorzean alliance with my bare hands.'
Fordola stumbled back and realised she stood next to Raubahn, the red woman Lyse and other people she did not recognise, all watching, weapons at the ready, facing Zenos and the Warrior of Light. The Warrior grinned, leaning closer to Zenos, her face a picture of ecstasy and whispered something into the Prince's ear. Whatever it was, it caused Lord Zenos to grin in mirth, as the Warrior's face moved down, her tongue flicking out and licking along Zenos' raised blade edge before straightening, addressing Fordola and her flickering companies, the Warriors voice cruel and harsh. 'Go BACK!' and Fordola felt a piercing siren call of
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A dark flickering room, around which figures were standing.
'Specula Imperatoris is doomed.' Hrudolf was speaking rapidly to Ainsfrid, the two men clustered around a dimly lit table. Neither seemed to notice Fordola standing beside them, in a tiny room around a table on which lay some sort of map. 'Emelin is trying to hold the stairs but the Eorzeans have control of the walls and inner barracks, the last of the Crani Lupi have fallen back to this tower.'
A crash of thunder was heard nearby and the room shook, cracks of misty white light seeped through the walls coming closer.
'Damn it!' Ainsfrid struck the table firmly and Fordola noticed the blood that was soaking through his armour in places. She tried to move, but found herself rooted to the spot. 'If only Fordola was here, she would know what to do…'
'I know…' Hrudolf said, sadness obvious in her voice. 'Ainsfrid...we must...surrender to the Eorzean forces.'
Ainsfrid looked up sharply at that, but Hrudolf remained motionless, meeting the other man's eyes fearlessly. 'We must surrender.' Hrudolf repeated.
'Fordola would roll in her grave if she heard that.' Ainsfrid muttered, his voice low. 'You heard her, redeem us, was what she said.'
'And she told me to keep you safe.' Hrudolf said firmly. 'She's gone now, killed by the Imperial prince she followed. Let our men live, they have bled enough for the cause, let me give the word.'
'Aye…' Ainsfrid said reluctantly. 'Aye, raise the white flag, let us be free of our damnable curse.' He ripped the yellow bandana of the Crani Lupi from his shoulders and threw it over his back and Fordola watched as the clouds swallowed her two captains up, before crashing down on her, swallowing her mind, body and soul.
Flicker,
Flicker, flicker, flicker
Flicker, flicker, flicker, flicker, flicker, flicker, flicker, flicker
"So you don't remember much of what happened until you regained consciousness?" The seedseer was asking, lips drawn tight.
"No…" Fordola shook her head, trying to remember the events. "I lay down on the table and Aulus brought a large device close to my face. It...it shone some sort of blue light on me and there was terrible pain, and then...blackness." She let her eyes travel around the table so the judges could see the truth on her face. "I think I dreamt...I don't really remember. Flashes of other realities, other possibilities...but I don't remember, mayhaps that was for the best."
She looked at Sara, the Warrior of Light last and blinked suddenly.
A single tear was rolling down the Warriors cheek as she stared into Fordola's eye and Fordola wandered if she had seen anything through her true gifted Echo.
Flicker, their lips pressed together alongside a pure white cliff overlooking endless fields of green. Far in the distance a city of gaudy spires, domes and towers filled the horizon next to a dark grey sea.
(This was absolutely the easiest chapter to write.
I had been slowing down a bit on writing, not that many views, comments and so forth (which is fair, should never assume you deserve these!) - but I had been looking forward to writing this chapter (and the next few), not being 'too' restrained by cannon.
The fun thing about writing fanfiction - is sometimes just having fun and cutting loose, break things, I certainly felt that in writing this one.
Something different anyway, yes that was a reference to the anime - no I've only watched the first 6 episodes, yes I should go back and watch it.
Stay safe, hope you found it interesting.)