Disclaimer: You know the drill. I don't own the characters in this story, except very technically Albert. SquareEnix owns the rest. I very blatantly ripped off basically the entire Fandaniel scene, so that isn't mine either.

Emet-Selch, recently returned from the Lifestream and now occupying one of the remaining Solus clones, pressed his fingers together against his lips and stared with furrowed brows at a tower all but foaming with dark energies.

Talk of the Final Days had drawn him back to the living world, and for all he would claim it was against his will, what choice did he have? He was the only unsundered left. Lahabrea was long gone, and so now was Elidibus, Zodiark's heart. What did it mean that the ancient primal he had helped bring into being no longer had His heart?

He didn't care that his twice great grandson Zenos had decimated the Garlean population, for it fueled chaos and the ultimate goal of the Ascians. But discovering this tower and seeing the souls within, twisted and tortured to a point even he found disturbing. It made him think of a festering wound, a sickness. Something he had seen before when the rot had crept upon Amaurot.

But how had this come to pass? Zenos was too much of a beast to think of this even if he knew how, but it was undeniably Garlean. Only an Ascian could have done this, but no self-respecting Ascian would.

Save perhaps one.

I'd told Elidibus he was too unstable, that I should find a different soulshard. Fandaniel had definitely not been the man he was in Amaurot when risen up to his Seat. Still, Emet never would have expected him to go this far.

He could confront him, he knew. He should. But he had come to the worrying conclusion that he had taken too long to rise out of the Lifestream and come back too late. The rot was already festering deep in the soil of the Source and alone Emet couldn't hope to excise it, even if he stopped Fandaniel in his tracks. Could he even do it? Fandaniel was no fool. He must surely have expected retaliation.

There had to be a connection between him and Zenos, and if Fandaniel always hung by Zenos's side and Zenos had proven by the very fact that he was in his own body that he had mastered the Echo as well as any Ascian…

No, this was entirely too complicated for him to handle himself. As much as it concerned him-and it did, greatly-he only had one recourse; joining hands with his enemy in truth. Only by working together was there any hope of stopping this before it got completely out of hand. If indeed there was any hope at all, since what had been done once to halt the star's destruction certainly could not be repeated. To think he had to put so much faith in such pitiful, incomplete souls.

But there was no other choice, and so he vanished to seek out the Warrior of Light.

"Aw hells." Ardbert muttered. No one had thought to update Lyse on Albert's condition, so she still thought he was her friend. It was easy enough to fake that at least, though Ardbert felt a lot more uncomfortable lying to someone's face than he had when responding to letters.

But that wasn't why he was swearing now. A few days earlier there had been some trouble and strange Garlean towers had been popping up, and they had gone to meet with Lyse and the Ala Mhigan Resistance to talk to them about the tower that had appeared on their doorstep, since it surely meant a Garlean retaliation was coming for the recently liberated nation.

They had only just arrived when a dragon had flown overhead accompanied by who was definitely an Ascian, and that was why Ardbert was swearing.

They ran for the palace, joining up with others there to find the dragon and Ascian hovering above the flowers. An Ascian who reacted to seeing 'Albert' with apparent pleasure and hastened to land.

"Well, well, well, to be received by such an illustrious cast!" He exclaimed. "Why, even the hero of the piece is here! I feel quite starstruck!"

Ardbert scowled, wondering why the Ascian was so familiar when Alphanaud broke open the mystery.

"Is that...Asahi?"

Alisaie's lip curled and she jabbed the air in the Ascian's direction. "His body, more like. You don't fool us!"

The Ascian shrugged expressively, swaying back and forth as he spoke and smiling. "You saw straight through it…. Anyone would think you'd dealt with Ascians before!" He became a bit more serious and half bowed. "Permit me to introduce myself." An Ascian sigil appeared over his face, looking to be made of palm leaves and claws or teeth with jagged leaves along the side. "I am Fandaniel, and may I say what a pleasure it is to finally make your acquaintance."

Ardbert glared. "What do you want?"

Fandaniel shook his head, the sigil vanishing. "My, straight to business, is it? Suit yourself…" He swept an arm outward. "It is my intention to recreate the Final Days, to which end I have distributed a collection of rather ingenious devices-or 'towers'-which will, in time, give rise to the grandest of spectacles!"

Alphinaud looked disgusted and mildly sick. "The Final Days…? But it was the Ascians who labored to prevent them!"

Fandaniel broadly gestured at him, smiling as if pleased that the 'audience' was participating in his performance. "You're quite right! Though I expect no less from one responsible for eliminating my unsundered colleagues." He paced away as he continued to ramble, and Ardbert began to debate if he could rush the bastard and cut him in half before the dragon got a bite in. Though where Ascians were concerned, cutting one down simply wasn't good enough-they'd just go find a new body.

He tuned back into Fandaniel's ranting in time to hear him express his desire to lay waste to the Source, scorching it so no life remained, not even a fleck of dust.

"What? Why would you want such a thing?" Alisaie asked, incredulous.

Fandaniel's expression twisted with hate and he jabbed his finger at Alisaie. "Because I want wretched creatures who ask such meaningless questions to die!" He began pointing at random people. "You! And you! And you! I want you all to die!" He threw his arms up. "And I want to die too! Oh yes, I want to die and take everyone with me in a paroxysm of pain and suffering!"

And I thought Emet-Selch was prone to theatrics… This Fandaniel was clearly insane, but that just made Ardbert more wary. Even if it wasn't an act, insane didn't mean foolish or stupid.

Fandaniel calmed down again. "I'm different, you see. From the ancients who clung to dear life. And from you. So don't bother trying to reason with me. You will find I have no reason. Or creed. Or any such tripe. I just want to destroy the world. But please do resist with all your might. It will add to my enjoyment."

Ardbert found his fists clenching tightly, rage bubbling up inside of him. Albert's memories told him what Emet-Selch had shown them of Amarot's Final Days and how horrible it had been. He didn't know how the towers that summoned primals would bring it about again, but he knew he definitely didn't want to give Fandaniel a chance to succeed. Without white auracite though, there was nothing they could do.

"Now then, ladies and gentlemen! Keep your eyes peeled, for the curtains have risen on the spectacle to end all spectacles!" Fandaniel gestured broadly. "We, the Telophoroi, shall be your performers, and this very star our stage!"

Ardbert had just begun to wonder if Fandaniel was ever going to stop talking when he vanished into a void portal. Everyone rushed forward at once, Ardbert among them, which set off the dragon-the primal. Provoking it to breathe down violet fire onto everyone and sending them flying backward with the force of the blast.

Ardbert struggled to get back to his feet and saw Fandaniel coming toward him out of the fire.

He stopped far out of reach and smiled. "Ah, but I nearly forgot! I have a message for you. Ahem! My esteemed patron, Lord Zenos, eagerly awaits you at the heart of the chaos. While I wish only to destroy the world, he exists solely to relieve a certain….transcendent moment with you, and it is for that reason he would reduce all to ash."

Oh great, one crazy is working for the other one….

"Pray see to it his dreams do not go unfulfilled. For should you disappoint him… My trusty companion here-whom I have dubbed 'Lunar Bahamut'-will burn your cities and everyone in them." He then turned and walked away, vanishing into a void portal. Lunar Bahamut turned and flew away.

"...Damnit!" Ardbert pushed himself to his feet and glared after the dragon before he turned to help the nearest person to him and get them out of the flames, though it seemed they didn't burn as hot as they looked.

He didn't notice the shoebill that had been watching from the palace above take wing and fly off.

Having returned to the Rising Stones, Alphinaud was filling in Y'shtola, Krile and Tataru, who had been absent in Ala Mhigo, as to what had transpired.

Y'shtola tapped her cheek thoughtfully. "No sooner do we overcome one problem than another appears. It would seem tenuously predictable but for the endless variety of our foes. This Fandaniel sounds even more unhinged than his patron."

"Unhinged perhaps, but no fool." Alphinaud replied. "For all his pantomime theatrics, he gave away little of his plot. We know only that he intends to recreate the Final Days, and that the towers will somehow facilitate this."

"Pardon me, but I may be able to shed a small bit of light on this issue."

Heads turned, and Ardbert pulled his axe off his back as they all came to regard Emet-Selch as a void portal closed behind him.

Emet raised a hand toward Ardbert ."Steady on, hero. I'm not here to fight."

"He-I killed you!" Ardbert snarled.

"Oh yes, that he did." Emet agreed. "Elidibus too, I would guess." He spread his hands. "But let's put that aside for the moment. As I said, I'm not here to fight."

"How are you not dead?!" Ardbert insisted.

Emet sighed heavily and let his arms drop. "Because Lord Zodiark saw fit to put me back together again, though arduous the task no doubt was for Him. Now if I may finish?"

"Let him speak." Y'shtola said, though she was decidedly unhappy about it.

"Thank you. Now as I was saying; I may be able to shed a small bit of light on the full nature of those towers." Emet lifted a hand to create an illusion of one to sit above his palm. "Bluntly put, they suck in the aether around them to fuel what is going on inside. What precisely is going on inside I can only speculate, other than the souls trapped within are twisted to a point that sickens even myself. They are not meant to survive the process, only fuel the creation of primals. But I believe you knew about that part."

"We did." Alphinaud agreed. "But you have yet to explain how it will bring about the Final Days."

"Well I haven't puzzled it all out quite yet, but it's certainly building to something." Emet closed his fist, dispelling the illusion. "I propose a truce. Moreso, an alliance. I don't want this ending any more than you do, and I would much rather work with you than have to watch my back against your tattered hero and whatever Fandaniel has planned."

"He thinks you're gone." Ardbert replaced the axe on his back. "But if you think I'll trust you, you'll have to think again."

"Oh yes yes, I'm sure it's very hard for you." Emet said dryly. "But this isn't like it was on the First, and what's wrong with your soul is not my or any Lightwarden's doing."

Ardbert's eyes widened slightly and he put a hand to his chest. "...You can see that?"

"Of course I can. Do you think I plucked her" He pointed at Y'shtola. "back out of the Lifestream by chance? Or do you not have your shard's memories?"

Ardbert frowned at him. "...What are you talking about?"

"Boy. I've just explained I can see souls. Don't you think I can tell?"

Ardbert glanced around at the others, but when they all seemed content to keep the silence he looked back at Emet, scowling. "...Well if you can see all that, then why's this happening to me...him? Us."

Emet shrugged expressively. "Not a clue, but I know that damage isn't my doing and Lightwardens don't tatter souls, they stagnate them. Now then," He tilted his head slightly. "about that alliance?"

"We'll have to consider it." Y'shtola said. "While we can't argue your stance on the Final Days, not all are present to weigh in on the subject and you've already proven your willingness to turn on us as soon as you deem us no longer of use."

Emet chuckled softly and put hand to chest, bowing slightly. "If I promised to leave peacefully once our alliance was through, would that satisfy you?"

"Hardly." Ardbert said. "Even if you kept your word-which I doubt-we couldn't just let you walk away. You'll just go back to trying to destroy the shards, like you did to the First!"

"Rejoin, not destroy." Emet corrected. "But perhaps in the course of our alliance another way could be found." He shrugged. "I'm not above trying other methods. But yes yes, deliberate with your other allies, just don't take too long. If there is even the slimmest hope of stopping this, we must act soon." His mouth twisted into a snarl. "If Fandaniel succeeds, there will be no salvation." He vanished into the void on those words.

Ardbert turned back to the others, gesturing back to where Emet had just been. "We're not trusting him, are we?!"

Y'shtola sighed softly. "We may well have to." She murmured. "He has knowledge we yet lack, and while we do run the risk of betrayal and-as you pointed out-him returning to his objective to rejoin the shards at the cost of countless lives, for the moment he may prove to be a valuable ally."

G'raha, who had been standing very still while Emet was present, pulled his tail around to start smoothing down the fur. "...Maybe he can help Ardbert and Albert rejoin properly, since he can-"

"No!" Ardbert snapped. "Hells no! He tried to kill Albert, remember? I sure remember. Even if he could help, there's no way I could trust him to do it!"

G'raha smiled faintly. "He tortured me, so I understand...but we can at least agree on the one point; he wants to avert the Final Days as fervently as we do. To that end, we may work together. Dealing with him afterward we will have time to figure out."

"He was only defeated last time because Albert had an abundance of Light to throw at him, and it didn't even keep him dead!" Ardbert grit his teeth. "You only defeated Elidibus by…." He trailed off and put a hand to his head, grimacing.

"Ardbert?" Y'shtola took a step toward him in concern.

"I….it's just trying to remember that hurts…." Ardbert said, slowly lowering his hand again. "The Crystal Tower. You used it to trap him."

G'raha nodded slowly, ears twitching. "I can't do that twice. I don't have the same connection to the Tower as I did when I was the Exarch." He sighed softly and looked at his right hand. "Though if rejoining to the Tower proved the only way to stop Emet-Selch, it would be a price I'd be willing to pay."

"Let's not worry about drastic solutions just yet." Alisaie said. "Besides, we may have another one at our disposal first." She smiled nastily. "We have the secret of untempering."

"Brilliant!" Alphinaud exclaimed. "If we could untemper Emet-Selch, then he wouldn't be bound to Zodiark's will any longer and we wouldn't have to worry about him wanting to rejoin the shards."

"The problem would be supplying the amount of aether to untemper one as ancient and no doubt steeped in Zodiark's influence as Emet-Selch is." Y'shtola said. "If we tried to supply the needed aether ourselves, we would doubtless be drained dry before the process was complete."

"Hm.." Krile looked thoughtful. "Well, since I was going to petition the Sharlayan Forum for aid concerning the Final Days, I can look into possible massive aether sources while I'm there."

Ardbert sighed heavily and rubbed his face. "Wouldn't we need to restrain him somehow? There's no way he would just agree to let us."

"One problem at a time." Y'shtola stated. "First we fill in Thancred and Urianger, then we worry about whether we even accept his proposal, though I know we likely should….with certain caveats. Figuring out how-or even if-we untemper him is much further down the list of priorities."

Ardbert nodded, looking unhappy, though he knew no one was really happy about this idea.

"Hells no." Thancred said, arms crossed. "He doesn't want the Final Days to happen, and he'd doubtless sacrifice us to prevent it!"

The others looked at one another uneasily and nods slowly went around, since that did seem like a likely possibility.

"However, Emet-Selch did seem to treasure honesty above falsehood." Urianger stated. "If we could arrange an agreement worded in such a way as to ensure our own safety in this alliance-"

"He'd find a loophole anyway." Ardbert interrupted. "Elidibus was really good with words too, good enough to trick even the smartest of my friends and Emet-Selch is even better at it." He made a disgusted face. "We can't outsmart a Paragon."

"That's a very pessimistic view, though I understand why you'd think so." Y'shtola said. "Nonetheless, you may be right…so why not go to the source—or rather, the First?" She smiled faintly at Ardbert's blank expression. "Amaurot's illusion in the Tempest."

"What good would that do?" Ardbert asked. "Everything Emet-Selch created would cater just to what he wanted us to know."

"Yes and no. In the act of creation, he may well have shown his hand more than he realized." Y'shtola stated. "Such as that simulacrum Albert met that seemed to have its own awareness?"

"Hythlodaeus." Ardbert said, and furrowed his brow. "But even he was just a creation of Emet-Selch, and...while he was nice and helpful, even he didn't know if he acted of his own free will or not."

"Mayhaps that couldth still be a weakness to exploit." Urianger said thoughtfully. "If this Amaurotian, however false his self-awareness, truly doth have a connection yet to Emet-Selch, then mayhaps he could be used as a….sprigot from which to draw knowledge. I shalt needth time to think on this."

"We cannot afford that much time." Alphinaud pointed out. "Emet-Selch will want our answer sooner rather than later."

Ardbert pulled out Azem's crystal and stepped forward, holding it out to Urianger. "Maybe this will help? Albert got it from Hythlodaeus, and he said Emet-Selch had made it for the lost fourteenth Convocation member. So maybe it has a connection to him too?"

Urianger took it with a sense of reverence and slowly nodded. "This mayth well accomplish our means." He agreed. "I will set to work immediately."

"But what should we tell Emet-Selch if he shows up before you're done?" Alphinaud asked.

Urianger looked at him, then around at the other Scions. "Whilst I agree with Thancred's assessment of Emet-Selch's character, as he hath himself stated he doth not see us as living beings, it is also a truth that time is of the essence. Therefore, if he should appear before we are prepared, I feel it would behoove us to accept his offer and guard ourselves until we haveth the means to stymie him in some manner."

To this they could but agree, as allying themselves with Emet would also allow them to keep slightly better track of him than if they left him alone, and departed the Solar to leave Urianger to work.

Emet-Selch did not appear again that day, and by evening Urianger called a jumpy Ardbert back to return the crystal.

"I hath done what I can." He said. "Tis my fervent hope that the spell Mistress Krile and I devised wilt perform the task set to it and using the simulacrum, through it plumb Emet-Selch's memories and intentions directly."

Ardbert nodded, putting the crystal away. "Great. Uh...I have no idea what I should ask, though."

"I believe discovering Emet-Selch's plans for us and how best we may avert our own potential demise at his hands wouldth be a good start. Ah, and mayhaps a large source of aether upon the Source."

"Right...I'll get going then."

"Swift and safe travels to thee, Ardbert. Mayth thy meet with success."

"Yeah. I hope so too." He turned to go, but then paused and looked back. "Oh...how do I use it?"

"To gain the answers thou seeketh, concentrate thy will upon it and ask." Urianger replied.

Ardbert nodded. "Okay, right. Got it. I think." He grimaced as he turned back to the doors to leave.

Ardbert looked around as he walked illusionary Amaurot's streets and thought of the last time he'd been there, dogging Albert's heels. He had thought the place unnerving and vaguely intimidating, maybe because of the size or possibly the knowledge that Emet-Selch had so much power that making an entire city and ghosts to populate it was as nothing to him. Nothing he'd seen of the man since then, either directly or through Albert's memories, gave him any reason to question his initial impression that Emet-Selch was truly terrifying.

He wished he knew where to find Hythlodaeus, for as much detail as Emet had given the city, he hadn't tried quite as hard with the people, and other than some being smaller than others, they all looked identical. It wasn't until he wandered into a park that he finally found who he was looking for.

"Ah, it's you again!" Came the cheerful chiming. "What brings you here yet a third time?" Hythlodaeus peered down at him, then tilted his head and put hand to chin. "Oh dear, that doesn't look good."

"...Let me guess; my soul?"

He nodded. "If I were to wager a guess, I would say someone with the ability to alter memories made a mistake."

Just like that Ardbert nearly forgot why he was there. Emet-Selch had claimed he had no idea what had happened to him, but Hythlodaeus somehow did? So either Emet was lying-which wasn't all that surprising-or Hythlodaeus somehow had unique knowledge his own recreator didn't have.

Damn him, but he wanted answers.

"...What do you mean?"

"Just as I said. Everyone had their particular talents, and even something like that had uses." Hythlodaeus said, shrugging slightly. "Does 'Mitron' ring a bell, perchance? Or...maybe it wouldn't, if he had made you forget."

"...I don't think I know that name…." Ardbert said slowly, though something about it nagged at him. "Who was he?"

"The Chastiser, a seat on the Convocation of Fourteen." Hythlodaeus readily answered.

Ardbert pursed his lips and wanted to ask more, but he knew he didn't have time to waste. He was there to get answers for the Scions, not dawdle in socializing.

He pulled Azem's crystal out, holding it tightly, and concentrated on exerting his will upon it. "I need to know what Emet-Selch plans for us, for the Scions."

Hythlodaeus tilted his head, and twitched before he gave a startled laugh and waggled a finger at him. "Oh that's naughty." He said. "That's very naughty."

Ardbert squeezed the crystal and tried a different question. "Where's a large source of aether on the Source?"

"...Amaurot, but as here, it sits beneath the sea." Hythlodaeus's voice was stilted now, and Ardbert felt a stab of guilt. In spite of him being nothing but a creation of a memory, Ardbert liked him and didn't like having to 'hurt' him.

"Does he plan to kill us?"

Hythlodaeus twitched, head canting to the side, and it felt almost as if he was fighting the connection to his recreator. "...He's not ruling it out."

"What can we do to prevent that? How do we kill him so he'll stay dead?"

Hythlodaeus made a choking sound. "To k-kill Emet-Selch, you...you..." He shuddered violently, then gave a discordant cry and shattered apart.

At first Ardbert thought he'd pushed the simulacrum too hard, but then he saw Emet-Selch standing beyond where Hythlodaeus had been, Ascian sigil blazing over his face.

"How dare you?!" He snarled, and bore down on Ardbert with murderous intent, the illusion of Amaurot warping around him in response to his rage.

Ardbert backpedaled until he tripped over something and fell backward, rolling awkwardly and coming back up to pull his axe off his back, knowing he was staring at his final death and determined to at least go down fighting.

Sorry, Albert...

Emet didn't so much as raise a hand as he advanced on Ardbert, but suddenly his axe was burning hot and he was forced to drop it. Emet then slashed his arm out, and Ardbert found himself flung sideways into a tree. He cried out in pain as his shoulder was dislocated and he fell to one knee, clutching his arm with the other hand and grimacing.

Emet stopped near him, the sigil practically aflame as he motioned and Azem's crystal floated up for him to snatch out of the air.

"To be able to infiltrate my mind I could almost respect." He growled. "But to use this to do it. How do you even have this?!"

If Ardbert could think clearly, he might have felt a sense of surprised satisfaction to have confirmation that Hythlodaeus had been acting of his own volition when he'd given Albert that crystal, but all he felt was pain and a sense of loss.

"F-Found it…" He gritted.

Emet stared at him, and the sigil finally faded away. "He found it." He deadpanned. "Him of all people….but of course he would."

Why had Ardbert thought he would stand a chance when even Albert had needed help from warriors from beyond the rift to help him take Emet down? Because all the Ascians he had personally fought had been sundered souls? He wondered how much toying with him Emet was going to do before he finally killed him.

"To think," Emet said, seeming perfectly calm now except for the almost reddish hue glowing in his eyes and the fact that Amaurot was still warping and twisting around him. "I came to you all to offer an alliance, and this is how my gesture is repaid. You have quite the audacity, I'll grant you that. Now why don't you name the ally who cast this spell upon the crystal so I may thank them properly?"

Ardbert just glared at him.

"Really." Emet gave an insulted sniff and turned to pace away, gesturing broadly. "'How do we kill him so he'll stay dead'? That's always what it is with you heroes, isn't it? No attempt to talk anything out, just 'kill the problem'. How very...predictable."

Ardbert slowly stood while Emet's back was turned and braced himself before slamming his shoulder into the tree to put it back into place, staggering when he briefly blacked out from the resulting burst of agony. If Emet knew he'd asked that, then he would also know they were looking for a large source of aether. He only hoped that he wouldn't guess why, that he would leave the others alone.

His axe was too far away, but he still had Albert's other job crystals. Maybe the crystals themselves would help him? Oh, but what was the point? Emet-Selch had already proven that he was outmatched.

Could he sneak away while Emet was monologuing? Highly unlikely. He was still deep within Amaurot and it was currently warping in a very nauseating way. Not to mention Emet could probably track him down easily.

He eyed Emet and reached for the nearest Aetheryte. If he could teleport away…

His grasp on the Aetheryte slipped away. The aether itself was warping due to Emet's temper. He was trapped.

Emet's shoulders slumped with a heavy sigh and he raised a hand to snap his fingers. Amaurot solidified again, though it didn't seem to give off quite as much light as before.

He turned back to look at Ardbert, sizing him up. Likely considering a slow and painful way to kill him.

Ardbert thought it might be a good idea to distract him before he got any ideas, but definitely knew he didn't have time to come up with anything clever. He'd generally been the 'act first and think later' type regardless.

"Hythlodaeus gave Albert the crystal." He said, and what did it matter that he was giving that away when the simulacrum was gone anyway? "It saved his life against Elidibus." He grimaced, as that memory strayed perilously close to where the memories began to fray. "It...belonged to Azem. Your friend, right?"

Emet huffed a soft laugh and tilted his head slightly. "Yes." He said, after a few moments of consideration. "Azem was my friend. One of my closest, in spite of our estrangement." He began to walk closer. "But if you think that fact will save you now, you are sorely mistaken."

It was all Ardbert could do just to hold his ground. "If you kill me, the Scions definitely won't work with you."

Emet flicked a hand. "A minor inconvenience."

Hells, this wasn't going well. Ardbert grit his teeth, fists clenching.

"You think your pain is the only pain that matters!" He blurted. "That only you're allowed to have feelings! You think our lives don't matter because we're not what we used to be! Well Albert sympathized with you, Emet-Selch!" He took a deep breath, and made an effort to relax his hands. "He sympathized with you. If he was in your position he knew he'd probably do the same thing to get back the people he loves." He shook his head. "I get it too. Elidibus told us if we did what he told us that the Flood wouldn't just be halted, but reversed. That the lives lost could be restored." He paused, and looked back at Emet. "Maybe Zodiark's telling you the same lie he told us."

Ardbert had figured that saying his piece wouldn't change anything, but he hadn't expected Emet to draw in his breath sharply and halt mid-step. For a moment, a mere breath of time, he seemed shocked and maybe even a little lost before the moment passed and his expression smoothed over.

"Oh yes. That is a very Azem argument." He said. "But alas, you're as wrong as they were. I was one of the ones who helped to summon Zodiark, after all. I know what he can and cannot do."

Don't know why I thought he might listen when he's tempered to Zodiark. While Ardbert didn't have any real personal experience with tempered other than provoking them into summoning their primals and then slaughtering them, Albert's memories were clear enough on the topic. Tempered couldn't be reasoned with.

Emet-Selch raised his hand. "A good try, but ultimately a waste of breath. Speaking of which, you might want to hold yours." He chuckled. "Not that it will do you much good." He snapped his fingers.

Ardbert turned his head at the sound of a distant roar and saw water rushing in. It seemed Emet had popped Bismark's Breath and the barrier that had kept Amaurot dry and was letting the ocean in.

"Oh hells..."

"Goodbye, hero. I'd say it was a pleasure, but that would be a lie." Emet vanished into a void portal just as Ardbert swung back around to face him.

"Son of a bitch!" Ardbert surged forward, grabbing his axe along the way and putting it on his back as he sprinted for the nearest building, hoping that the illusions were solid enough to withstand the incoming water. Maybe he could delay long enough to grab an Aetheryte.

He was just reaching for the doors when the water slammed into him and the world went black.