WARNING: The following has spoilers until patch 5.3 of FFXIV. Read at your own risk, if you've not gotten to that point!
The wings of Lyhe Ghiah shine brightly in the dark of night; a young Xeala's indigo scales and black armor plating reflecting their luminous brilliance. Her face is pensive: Lips pursed and brows lightly furrowed as she stares up at the night sky. The 21-year-old doesn't forget things easily, but the star's sparkling debut in Novrandt almost three months ago is getting harder and harder to remember.
The beast behind her snorts, suddenly indignant towards the lack of attention it was receiving and butts its bare head against the Warrior's back. He is enveloped in a familiar shadow, covered in black scales not entirely unlike her own. The eyes were a bright amber yellow, though you wouldn't know it when he was fully tacked in all of its armored regalia. The blue plates of metal covered a majority of its face, after all, and only left room for his glowing horns and wings to peek through the armaments.
"What is it, Selch?" The Xeala's voice is distant as she runs a gauntleted hand across the gwiber's scales, both their gazes fixated on the sky. 'Selch' proceeds to lay down, enjoying the affectionate pets that Yuki was giving him. She follows suit not long after with an amused chuckle, plopping her back onto the ground with a hefty sigh.
Her shield may dig into her back, but she doesn't seem to notice or care that it is. The bags heavily lying under her eyes are telling enough: She's exhausted. None could blame her, not when the First seemed determined to break the woman at every turn. So many wounds, too many lost. The ache never seemed to fade away before another death just riled it up again.
But, she nonetheless pushed on... for those she could yet save.
A smile fell onto her face, sad but peaceful, as she fell into a dream-filled slumber.
"Oh, do not look at me so. A smile better suits a hero..."
Ishgard has been her home since she stepped foot in it, the cold temperatures and snow and hauntingly familiar architecture almost welcoming her from a long, forgotten journey.
Of course, it would have been nowhere near as enjoyable if not for the Fortemps and their comforting presence. While she'd never taken to the company of the Fortemps sons, she remembered the nights where Count Edmont would have to pry her away from a book or when she and Haurchefant practiced her swordsmanship with fun-filled fervor.
Estinien's grumpy nature and Ayemeric's charm also stuck to her mind like glue. She'd endlessly tease the former about his soft-spot for the latter, much to the Azure Dragoon's chagrin. They were the siblings she'd never had, and she was grateful for it. Ysale was no different, even if she pushed herself to the very edge of immoral action in pursuit of peace.
"A knight lives to serve. To protect. To sacrifice. There is no greater calling..."
If only he knew she'd taken that to heart.
"Now, let us see how good a student I truly was..."
She'd never been one for politics. As shy as she is, she'd fold in front of even the thought of verbal altercation. As a matter of fact, she almost spontaneously combusted when she first met Papalymo due to his snarky entrance and penchant for scolding his fellows.
So when Yuki heard Hydealyn's song echo out from the rift, the primal's birth ushering in another catastrophe, she'd steeled her heart and readied herself for a 1-on-1 battle. Never in her wildest dreams did she imagine that'd she'd be thrown onto an airship and held back by the Levilluer twins as the Lalafellin black mage gave his life to temporarily seal the beast away. She'd only been able to grasp at straw while the white light of Louisoix's spell blinded all who dare to look back at the mage.
"My heart...beating out of time... So clear, so vivid, so real... So real. Farewell, my first friend. My enemy."
Never had she wanted to slit a man's throat more than in that moment yet felt such a sorrowful empathy for the deranged prince of Garlemald. This was the man she'd blamed for Papalymo's demise, who'd dragged her through hell for his amusement. She'd grabbed the sword's grip, the rope biting into the flesh of her palms, as she stared at the man who'd killed thousands, if not millions...
Their eyes met in the queen's garden... her teeth digging into her lip as she desperately forced her tears to stay put. She's never understood it, not even to this day. She'd never understood why she felt horrified when the man slit his own throat, spilling his lifeblood on the flowers at his feet.
Tears met them a few moments later.
Ever since she'd turned 19, she'd known one thing to be true: Ascians were a blight upon this star. She'd fought them time and time again, the villains never revealing their intentions and instead focusing on wiping her from the face of the Source. She could fight them, but never alone.
Fate is a fickle mistress, playing cruel tricks as she pleases: Thancred collapsed, then Urianger and Y'shtola, then Alphinaud, and lastly Alisae. Their bodies barely held on to life as their souls were ripped away, transported to the First. Eventually, she followed them, all summoned by the mysterious 'Crystal Exarch.' The eighth umbral calamity was unfolding, the light of the First threatening to tear the world asunder. To no one's surprise, an Ascian was behind the plot.
The man was named Emet-Selch, who carried the souls of his fallen fellows on his shoulders. Who's nihilism brought the world to kneel, yet he held a cautious hope within him. A man grasping what he knows and is heartbroken to see those he sees, the sundered parts of Amoroutian souls, suffer in the new world order. Something about him made her think differently, that perhaps they are not bad people per-say, but good people doing bad things. A painfully human notion, the desperation to see your loved ones again.
But in the end, as the light-aspected aether tore her soul to shreds and slowly succumbing to the banal instincts of a Light Warden. She grabbed onto the last strands of sanity she had left in a desperate attempt to stave off the inevitable.
Her light began to wane, and a voice called out from the dark in response.
Ardbert, the man she'd traded blows with at the meager age of 20, offered his soul to her so that she may win the day. So that the world he loved so dearly would be safe, and she'd effectively killed him by accepting. Light clashed against shadow as two warriors of light battled the ascian, the light winning out in the end.
"Remember... Remember us. Remember that we once lived."
The man faded with a smile, even as the Paladin crashed against him in tears, desperately muttering apologies and giving him a tight hug. It'd not been much, but she nodded at his plea.
But, of course, there was one more man to cut down. Elidibus, the emissary, almost torn limb from limb by the Warrior of Darkness as he possessed Ardbert's body and used him as a tool for his deceit. He forced her to fight and kill everyone she'd ever cared for in the false city of Amarout, all to prove that she was a beast who did nothing but go on a wanton warpath, that she was a murderer. He descended into madness, his memories warping into something like a paint-muddled canvas. He took to the Crystal Tower's throne room and challenged the xaela to a fight for the fate of the First.
A battle betwixt the Warriors of Light and Darkness, the former placing himself and his fellows on the Seat of Sacrifice as they hopelessly battled against the woman, her heart throbbing painfully as the last of the unsundered was absorbed into the tower itself.
"The rains have ceased and we have been graced with another beautiful day. But you are not here to see it."
In my 4 years as the Warrior of Light and Darkness both, I never thought that I would wish for the men I'd been fighting against to find peace in their next lives.
Even if they did make my life hell for a time.
"If you had the strength to take another step... could you do it?"
The sun's rays grace the King's land as the Warrior blinks her eyes open sleepily, Selch's snort waking her from sleep. The blue sky is awash with puffy white clouds, the temperature comfortably cool.
"It is time to get up, little sapling!"
Feo-Ul's voice calls, a mischievous chuckle ushering the pixie's exit as they poof out of sight. The auri chuckles to herself, standing up and soaking in the warmth of the sun. "What do you say, Selch? It's just about time to get the others home." The gwiber simply chuffs, flapping his massive wings in agreement. For one of Emet's creations, it's undoubtedly cute.
"Of course I could, Ardbert. What kind of question is that?"
The gwiber takes off, leaving Ill Mheg behind the pair as they make ready to enter Lakeland. A determined smile slides itself onto the AuRa's face as her eyes land on the Crystarium.
She may not know what the future holds, but
For those she has lost, for those she can yet save,
And for those she has sworn to remember.
She will press on.