Summary: Emperor Xande falls to the Warrior of Light but a much greater threat arises. As Rhea rests at Saint Coinach's Find, she recalls the previous few days in tackling the threat.
Outfitted with the same handpicked team as she had cleared the Labyrinth of the Ancients with, the Warrior of Light succeeded in clearing out the Syrcus Tower and defeating not only the archmagus Amon but the great and mighty Emperor Xande as well. It should have been done there, marking an age of putting the Tower back to rest and locking it away from the world.
It should have been done, but it was far from over.
Soon after the Emperor had been defeated and the members of NOAH came to the throne room - joined by Unei, Doga and Nero, a portal to the void opened up and from it spoke a being called the Cloud of Darkness. The Emperor had formed a Covenant with the Cloud to allow the Void entry into their realm in exchange for power. Not even Unei and Doga with their royal blood could sever it. At least now Rhea had an answer to what the Dalamud was helping siphon energy from the sun to the Tower for.
Unei and Doga tried to severe the Covenant and failed and in doing so the Cloud of Darkness was able to reach through the portal and kidnap them both into her realm. Nero, driven by his own selfish motivations, tried to rescue them but got swept up in the pull as well and taken to the Void.
As Rhea rested at Saint Coinach's Find, she thought back to the trip she took into the Void to save them all. The tattoos on her arms, originally a deep purple shade, still itched from their application. As soon as she'd learned she'd be going into the Void, Rhea had reached out to all the scholars she knew who specialized in knowledge of that place while NOAH worked to find a way to amplify the Tower and utilize it to open the portal once more.
The markings were supposed to halt aether drain, more than anything, but they also served to, hopefully, keep out any void corruption. As she sat there recovering from what felt like days of nonstop activity, she felt fine - aside from the exhaustion, that is. She'd felt some aetheric drain while she'd been in the Void but she suspected the tattoos worked as they were meant to. She'd never thought herself someone to ink her skin, and surely her mother would screech at the 'unseemly marring of such pristine flesh', but Rhea rather liked them.
Rhea looked at the markings, since bleached white like the tips of her hair by the extreme reaction to the Void. She smirked. Besides, she thought, it's not as if I am like to marry for the good of my House, being who I am. Or return to run my House with my brother, for that matter. It's good Philippe always took to that more than I. He will be good for them, she thought with a smile, and I, mercifully, don't have to worry about the fanciful lords and their aversions to her now-new 'unseemly marring of such pristine flesh' either, anymore.
Her thoughts flicked once more to the Void, and how Unei and Doga shared their blood with G'raha after Rhea had defeated and weakened the Cloud. How they remained behind to sever the Covenant once and for all while G'raha, Nero and herself escaped.
Turning her head, she looked up at the now-sealed Crystal Tower. Was G'raha well? Was he asleep now? She'd liked him and his enthusiasm, his passion for adventure and the unknown. She had hoped to get to know him better but alas, now infused with the royal blood fully as he was, he was the only one who could control and seal the tower.
He'd made the choice to stay. To put the Tower to sleep once more and seal it away until such a time the world had advanced enough technologically that they could unseal it and be judged on if they were worthy for the secrets of the Tower.
Rest well, G'raha Tia. Rest well, my friend.