A/N: As of editing this, I have removed the prologue from this story, as it really only served as a primer for the uninformed for the setting of ShadowBringers.
Disclaimer: I do not own or claim to own Final Fantasy/Final Fantasy 14 or any other relevant intellectual properties
FURTHER DISCLAIMER: Portions of this chapter are directly copied from a scene from FFXIV, but slightly altered to suit an alternate narrative
Minerva pushed past the ornate wooden doors leading to her private chambers in the Pendants. Outside, people stood out in the open, gawking ever upward to the night sky for the first time in their entire lives. The joy and fascination were infectious, and Minerva found herself feeling genuine, honest hope for the first time in a long time. Slowly, she approached the doors to the balcony and gently eased them open. She stepped out and lightly rested her elbows on the railing, quietly admiring the night sky alongside the Crystarium's populace.
We really made a difference to these people, she thought to herself. I can do this, I can really help these people.
Minerva slowly dropped her gaze and her face softened with a slight smile. Rarely was she afforded a moment of reprieve like this. Not like in Gyr Abania or Coerthas, when rest was in short supply and stolen between dire emergencies. When real sleep was reserved for the dead and the dying. This felt like the months after Ultima before the Warrior of Light was tossed around from hand to hand halting the next crisis. Before the mantle became her way of life when she was just an equal of the Scions. At least, that's what she hoped she would be at the time, an equal. But is it really so different now? After all, now she was the Warrior of Light and the Warrior of Darkness! She traded one hero status in her home for another in this reflection. Minerva's expression tightened back and her brow furrowed, then a thought stuck with her and the frustration was molded into sadness.
Warrior of Darkness... She remembered those faces, those phantoms that haunted her dreams. The Warriors of Darkness. How could she forget? Yet, they hadn't crossed her mind until now, not consciously. After all, this was their home, wasn't it? The First, the world they ultimately doomed while trying to save it. It was so unfair, such a cruel twist of fate bestowed upon their good intentions. And then, when everything came to a boiling point and conflict broke out between the Warriors of Darkness and the Scions, her heartstrings were teased but ultimately denied happiness.
A familiar feeling slithered its way into Minerva's heart, a dangerous feeling, one she was very careful to keep tucked away deep inside. She caught a sharp breath and shook her head from side to side, clenching her eyes shut and gently giving her cheeks a quick smack-smack with her open palms.
Now is not the time for sadness! Now is a time for celebration and relaxation! Minerva gave her cheeks a stern tug with her forefingers and thumbs, the playful gesture easing her down from her anxiety. She gave the night sky one last yearnful glance, a tiny smile played on her lips, and walked back into her room. In that moment she decided a nice, hot, quiet bath would do wonders for her mind.
As she drew the bath and let the faucets run, Minerva peeled her dirty, sweaty gear from her body down to her smallclothes and began looking herself over in the large vanity mirror. Her arms, waist, and thighs were riddled with large discolored bruises, rivaling the navy blue sheen of her scaled body. Being the Warrior of Light did come with its perks, no matter how much of a headache playing nice and doing others' dirty work was. The amount of punishment Minerva could receive was unthinkable to other mortals. Reaching a tentative hand to a particularly nasty blackened patch of skin on her ribs, she immediately winced and recoiled. She had definitely broken at least a couple in the fight with the Lightwarden.
Her mind drifted back to the fight momentarily, and how she blasted a hole through the oppressive cloak of light pervading the realm. Her work wasn't over yet. There was still so much to do before the threat of Sin-Eaters could ever be no more than an afterthought to the people of Norvrandt. The people here needed her help. Minerva caught herself spacing out and she just stared at her reflection, into her grey eyes. She just stood there for a moment, taking herself in, this woman who so many relied on for salvation. How did people see her?
She played with the thought for a moment and decided in confidence that she probably comes off as intimidating for all the wrong reasons. She'd seen it before plenty of times. This petite, pale Auri girl with stark white rings around her pupils and an ever-so-gentle demeanor introduces herself as the godsdamned Warrior of Light and you're just supposed to take that lying down? More often than not, men would balk at her in disbelief. Until, that is, she offers to shake their hand with the strongest grip this side of the Golden Saucer while maintaining the same air of innocence. Men are intimidated by strong women, but they are terrified of confident women.
Minerva huffed a small laugh and turned to layout some ointments and bandages for after she bathed. She'd spent enough time in contemplation for the large tub to nearly overflow.
She passed an hour there soaking in the pleasant warmth, trying to enjoy the momentary peace for as long as she could. After she finished up and drained the water, Minerva set to the task of applying the ointment to the most tender areas of her body and tieing off a large bandage around the bottom of her ribcage. The sooner she could get to bed, the better. Every passing minute she became more and more aware of how much she needed this rest. After slipping into some nightclothes, she extinguished all of the lights but left the balcony doors open.
It didn't take long for the Warrior of Light to succumb to fatigue and drift off into a deep sleep. Tomorrow was another day, and she would have to again walk the path of Hero.
Minfilia...
It was impossible. There was no way in all of creation did she go unnoticed. No way that she eluded a year of search for her. And yet, Urianger called to her. He beseeched Hydaelyn to grant those gathered in the void between worlds an audience with Her chosen. Her Minfilia. Minerva's Minfilia. Her gaze tore from the Warriors of Darkness and affixed on the pleading Elezen, confusion, sorrow, and desperation in her eyes.
"No.. No no no," she murmured, "It can't be." Then a voice proclaimed from on high, and something dead in Minerva's heart crawled out of hiding.
"Your cries go not unhead... nor your sacrifices unnoticed," the voice spoke.
Minerva tensed and urgency had taken hold of her body. She frantically searched the vast emptiness for the source of the voice, looking finally upward. A blinding light descended from on high and the voice continued to speak, though all too familiar, it was also different and laced with the voice of another. She was too entranced, to stricken by memories of the past that she no longer heard the voices speaking around her. As the light descended to the level of the ten gathered souls, it flared even brighter an a figure emerged.
"It is you," Minerva whispered. Her jaw hung slightly agape and already tears began brimming in her eyes at the sight of the luminescent figure before her. Minfilia smiled and turned to speak to the Warriors of Darkness opposite her. All the while Minerva still could not grasp the reality before her: her beloved was in front of her, an emissary possessing the power and the voice of the Great Mother. Her hands and legs began to quiver as a storm of emotion washed over her mind. What happened? Where had she gone? Why was she here? The young Au ra began to lose composure as tempers flared and the hyur brandished his ax and charged Minfilia. Minerva weakly raised a hand but before anything made contact, Minfilia raised a hand and willed the heavy blade to halt its motion.
Minfilia calmed the man and continued speaking but Minerva was deaf to them. This couldn't be real, this wasn't real. She turned to face the Scions and gave a warm smile.
"Thank you Urianger, for bringing everyone here. It fills my heart with joy to look upon the faces of my friends once more," Minfilia spoke.
"In taking you unto Her bosom, I knew Hydaelyn had bequeathed to you a sliver of Her grace, granting you strength long sought," Urianger replied. "And in treating with the Ascians, I learned of a star like unto our own - a doomed world of fallen heroes, in whom I glimpsed ourselves. The First. Full long did I search for a means to save this world, concluding at the last that the answer lay in the power of blessed crystals. And thus did I labor to set Light against Dark.
"Yet I knew from the beginning that this salvation would not come without sacrifice, for the instrument of the First's deliverance would of necessity be required to journey thither... there to remain, mayhap forever," Urianger finished.
Alphinaud interjected. "You orchestrated all of this not to save her, but to send her away?!"
Urianger's gaze hardened. "One life for one world. Such was the bargain, and you the coin, though it were not mine to spend," Urianger concluded with a grim expression as he regarded Minfilia.
Minerva stared at Urianger, tears still streaming down her paling cheeks. A mix of sorrow, anger, and regret contorted her expression.
"- If this be the price I must pay, I pay it gladly," Minfilia finished, though Minerva was too distracted to hear the beginning of her statement.
Thancred was solemn before speaking. "...You would go alone then?."
"My dearest Thancred... You who have ever watched over me... I am truly grateful for all you have done on my behalf, as would my father be. Your kindness, your compassion, your love... These are your gifts to me, and our gifts to them, forming a bond which transcends time and space."
Thancred clenched his fist, but his expression lightened. "Sometimes I forget you are not the child I once knew. Make me proud."
Minerva warily approached Minfilia, her hands slowly outstretching to grasp her lover's. Minfilia's warm expression never faltered, even as Minerva was overcome with emotion.
"My dear, sweet Minerva," Minfilia whispered.
"I've missed you so much," Minerva sobbed. The composed mask of the Warrior of Light had long been shattered, leaving just a lonely woman who had grieved for a year at what she thought long lost. Heavy tears began to streak her flushed cheeks as she wept.
Minerva's eyes snapped open and a jolt of adrenaline spiked her veins. She bolted up and frantically scrambled to free her limbs from the damp sheets. From head to toe, she was coated in sweat and panic threated to gnaw at the edges of her mind. Eyes darting from wall to wall to doors then windows, she scanned for anything out of place but found nothing. Pulling her knees into her chest, she sat in the center of the bed and quietly rocked slowly from side to side, a few small tears tugging at the corners of her eyes.
It was only a dream, just a dream. She repeated that to herself for several minutes, a mantra to ward off despair from inching any further into her mind. A few hiccups escaped her chest, and the tears came harder now.
"I miss you so much..."
A/N: Hello all, and welcome to the beginning of my tale.
It's been quite a while since I've penned anything on this website, but this concept struck me so profoundly that I couldn't help but return to my old stomping grounds.
I'm not sure how long this will be, but at this moment I have most of this journey already planned from beginning to end, so I hope to keep updates at least on a week-by-week schedule.
I should also take a moment to clarify that this fic will closely follow the canon story of ShB with a few key differences, but will begin to sharply divert after the conclusion of The Qitana Ravel. Both because I haven't actually finished ShB myself, and I feel it an excellent point for an alternative outcome.
With that being said, I hope you enjoy our journey through the First
See you on the other side~