Summary: With the threat of the Crystal Tower and the Void laid to rest, Rhea is launched once more into her duties as the Warrior of Light for combating the Primal threat. Run ragged though she was, however, when ill winds blew from her homeland of Ishgard, she could not resist the call to aid them - even if her desires to stay out of Ishgardian affairs remained. Home was, after all, home. Plus, he was there...
The Ascians had revealed themselves once more, yet this time it was not Lahabrea but an Ascian clad in white. He called himself 'Elidibus', the Emissary, and though his words implied a desire to enlighten and encourage cooperation, there was nothing about him that gave Rhea a good feeling. He'd attacked Minfilia, in 'self defense' he called it, and put the Warrior of Light to his tests. His visit, however, had served a vital piece of information to them: Lahabrea still lived.
Since that fateful meeting, his involvement was seen and felt in myriad of ways. It served to convince Rhea that while he might be different from his paragon kin, he was still an Ascian and not an ally.
Yet, while it drove the Scions to begin looking for a way to permanently excise an Ascian from existence, there was much and more else that needed to be focused on. The move to Revenant's Toll had gone smoothly but words of doom and despair still reached their ears. Not only had the Students of Baldesion gone entirely silent, but a surge in primal activity among the Sahagin and the Sylphs was also afoot.
For nearly two weeks, Rhea was run ragged tackling one primal after another. Leviathan, raised by the Sahagin, had brought his own difficulties but also had exposed Ascian involvement in the eikon's priest who'd been artificially granted the Echo by the paragons. Ramuh, by a mercy, was unlike other primals she had faced and was not only open to discourse but also, after a trial, deemed her worthy for his wisdom. He bade her be the Light that cast the shadows from the world and to excise the darkness within men's hearts across the realm.
In truth, as far as eikon's went, Rhea had rather liked Ramuh.
When Rhea wasn't dealing with the primal threats, she was working with Alphinaud to serve as an ally to the Doman refugees who had washed up at the Waking Sands looking for sanctuary from the Garleans. It was through them Eorzea learned the Emperor of Garlemald - Solus yae Galvus - had died and a war of succession had broken out. And even when that was settled, Rhea was helping Alphinaud to recruit and form his Grand Company of Eorzea to serve as a neutral force to aid the realm where the Scions could not.
Complain though she might - only to herself, however - Rhea liked staying busy. Exhausting though it was, lingering around idly never sat well with her. She needed to be busy. She enjoyed the rest where she could but being a help in both large and small ways made her feel a level of satisfaction she could scarce describe.
Though unfortunate, when Revenant's Toll received word that an aid shipment from House Fortemps in Ishgard had been seized by bandits, Rhea was the first to volunteer to investigate it. The adventure of it was appealing, but more so than that was the odd desire she had to return to her homeland. It had been too long since she'd had and even though she doubted she would have the anonymity of last time, being now the famed Warrior of Light as she was, she hoped that being in the provinces and not the city would afford her some freedom of movement. At least the reason for her anonymity - to keep her family safe from the Garleans - was no longer a necessary one.
Plus, there was the bonus of getting to see Lord Haurchefant once more that was certainly on her mind. Thus she set out for Camp Dragonhead, to help the silver-haired Knight investigate the attack on the supplies, a certain white embroidered handkerchief nestled in her pocket.