Rekindled Flames
When I saw the people of Namai, I was reminded of my own home. Too afraid to fight and clinging dearly to what little they had left. But Yugiri didn't want to accept defeat just yet.
It was then, that a group of Garlean soldiers came to the village to take conscripts for their planned retaliation of the Confederacy's assistance they had given us earlier.
Yugiri and S'eni pursued and freed them. A single act of kindness that was met with anger, confusion, and shame.
But it would not be for nothing, as it was this one act that set sparks inside the hearts of the people of Doma that would see their young king return and set his people finally free...
Lighting cracked across the sky, followed by the deafening clap of thunder that echoed far and wide. Rain cascaded down upon them, as if even the heavens themselves had taken notice of this raging battle and wished to set the stage.
The sharp whistle of a blade passed by S'eni as she dodged a series of swipes aimed at her, before whirling into the air and slamming her heel into the side of the ornamented helmet of her opponent. A faint "Hmpf" echoed from within the grim metal visage as an armored hand grabbed her leg and flung her away.
Twisting mid-air, she landed on her feet and slid backwards on the soaked soil before jumping back towards Zenos with a force that would have put Estinien to shame. She brought her hands together, letting her aether flow through her arms and into her palms.
As she was about to collide with him, she pushed her hands out in a beam of bright blue aether. His blade glowed an ominous red as it arced upwards to block her attack. Sparks of color flickered like glowing rain in the storm, merging into a flash of white that dimmed the lightning as it violently exploded outward, sending S'eni flying through the air.
A cry of pain escaped her as she crashed into the small, rocky knoll behind her before tumbling down into the muddy ground. She managed to push herself upward with shaky hands, blinking her eyes a few times to clear her blurring vision and found Zenos towering not far from her like nothing had happened.
"Aah, now I remember you," he said, pointing his sword at her while taking a few steps. "The champion of the savages. Well, no matter..."
He raised his sword, the aura around its blade intensifying once more like burning bright flames, and S'eni could only stare at it as he readied for the killing blow.
Then, all of a sudden, a piece of one of the ornamental horns decorating his helmet broke off and fell onto the ground in front of his feet.
"Hm?" Zenos lowered his weapon once more and reached out to remove his helmet. His cold eyes looked at it in fascination for a moment before coming to rest on her. The corners of his lips curled up into something resembling a smile. "Oh... how right I was to spare you."
He carelessly dropped his helmet to the ground and bridged the remaining distance until he stood directly before her and his gaze came to rest upon hers.
"Listen, hero. Endure. Survive. Live," he said, his usually bored voice taking on a hint of...excitement. "For the time between seconds. For the sole pleasure left to me in this empty world—live!"
She glared up at him in defiance even as her vision began to grow blurry once more. Her lips parted, ready to tell him where he could stick his pleasure, when a small hand placed itself on her shoulder—
"Are you alright?"
—and pulled her back to reality.
"Are you alright?"
S'eni blinked rapidly, looking around in momentary confusion as her mind returned to the here and now, the vision of the old and abandoned manor giving way to the simple houses of Namai.
Her eyes landed on the hand on her shoulder then shifted towards the familiar face of its owner.
Azami.
Exhaling deeply, she nodded slowly. "Yeah."
"Are you sure?"
S'eni couldn't help but smile at that and reached out to place a hand on the girl's head.
"I am," she replied and gently stroked her hair. "Thanks to the bravery of your brother and the others."
She cast her gaze across the village square where the people of Namai were busily walking around and talking with members of the Liberation Front that had gathered here. Her eyes landed on Yugiri, talking with a young maiden, a fresh bandage on her left arm from where she had been wounded by Zenos.
The villagers had come in just the nick of time, distracting the imperials long enough for Alisaie and Gosetsu to get them out of there.
They knew the danger yet they still had come to repay them, and in turn the fire had returned to their eyes.
You were right to believe in them.
She was drawn out of her thoughts by the sound of steps hastily approaching and she turned her head to see Alphinaud and Lyse as they came running. Removing her hand from Azami's head, she gave the girl a smile.
"Excuse me for a moment," S'eni said and rose to her feet to meet the two part way.
"S'eni!" Alphinaud released a sigh of relief. "Thank the Twelve. When I heard of your plan to assassinate Zenos, I feared we would need to get ourselves a new primal slayer."
Her eyebrows rose at his words and a little smirk formed on her lips. "And here I thought you'd miss my company. Oh, how little did I know."
"Wha—Of course we would have missed—I was just—"
"Relax. I was just joking." S'eni chuckled, then grew serious. "I know it was dumb and beyond reckless, but there was something I wanted to pay him back for."
"I understand what you mean. Losing against him at Rhalgr's Reach couldn't have been easy, but that's all the more reason we need to be careful. What would our friends back home say if something happened to you?"
She was pretty sure that if Y'shtola found out she got seriously injured trying to avenge her, she wouldn't let her hear the end of it. And if she died...well, she wouldn't put it past her lover to find a way to bring her back just long enough to give her an earful too.
"Don't worry. It won't happen again," S'eni promised. "And thank you. Alisaie told me it was you who took control of the situation."
"I'm sorry we couldn't be there," Lyse then chimed in. "Alisaie made me swear to stay behind. Probably thought I'd hurl myself at Zenos as soon as I'd lay eyes on him."
"And would I have been wrong?" the young woman in question asked as she approached them, Yugiri and Gosetsu following behind. Lyse just looked at her in silence. "...What?"
The Pugilist then turned her head to share a look with S'eni and shrugged.
"Anyway, now that we're all here, maybe it's a good time to discuss where we go from here," Alisaie said, earning herself a round of nods.
As they discussed their next course of action, it became quickly apparent that they needed to find Lord Hien. Since the Empire's forces had been largely withdrawn over the last year, as Alphinaud stated eagerly, Lord Hien's assistance in rousing the people of Doma would be essential.
So their new plans were all too clear. Yugiri, Gosetsu, Lyse, and S'eni would head onto the Azim Steppe to find the rightful king of Doma, while Alisaie and Alphinaud would remain behind to bolster and train the troops for the coming battle.
"Normally I would suggest heading out at once but given the battle earlier and that we will have to cross many malms to the Azim Steppe, we should all get some rest and leave early tomorrow," Yugiri suggested.
"You mean you and S'eni should rest," Alisaie replied, eyebrows raising as she crossed her arms.
The Au Ra reached out towards the bandage on her arm and nodded. "...Yes."
"Then I suggest we should return to the House of the Fierce," Alphinaud said.
They were about to depart when S'eni felt someone taking hold of her hand. Turning around, she saw that it was Azami.
"If you're tired you can stay with my brother and me!" the girl said.
"Shouldn't you be asking him for permission first?"
"I'm sure he won't mind."
"Hmm..." S'eni looked over to the rest of her friends in hopes of a little help, but only found varying degrees of amusement reflected on their faces.
"Well, I suppose it couldn't hurt to have someone stay here in case the Garleans get any funny ideas," Alisaie said, the corners of her lips rising ever so slightly. Alphinaud simply nodded in agreement.
Shaking her head with a smile, she turned back towards Azami and leaned down a little bit to be more on eye level with her.
"Alright, lead the way then."
The girl beamed and tugged on her hand. S'eni looked over to her friends and gave them a wave of her hand before following along as she was guided past Namai's silo up the pathway leading towards one of the terrace fields. Taking a set of wooden stairs, they soon stood in front of a humble home that still loomed spacious enough to house a family.
And now only Isse and Azami inhabited it...
"This is it," Azami said as they stepped through the door.
The insides consisted of a single, large room. There wasn't much furniture, a desk and a few chairs, a cabinet and a hearth. In the back of the room, there was a raised area where S'eni spotted a few beds, separated from the rest via a room divider.
It felt a little cluttered, but very homely.
They walked over to the table and sat down and S'eni couldn't help but chuckle as Azami shifted around in her chair, clearly wanting to ask something. So she made the first step instead.
"Yes?" She tilted her head a little.
"Could...could you perhaps tell me a little about where you're from?" the girls asked. "You didn't get to when we visited Mother and Father, but I'd still like to know."
"I'd love to," S'eni replied with a smile. "Now where to begin...well, I'd say it's 'different' but I think that goes without saying. The place where my friends and I come from is called Eorzea on the continent of Aldenard far, far in the west. But unlike Doma we're not a kingdom but various city-states."
She proceeded to tell her about the various members of the city-states, watching in amusement as Azami's eyes widened with every city and the stories she told about them.
"So they're just like these Confederacy people I heard some of the villagers talk about?" the girl asked after she had just told her about Limsa Lominsa.
"Yeah. Though they're only after Garlean ships these days. And then there's Ala Mhigo. Just like Doma, it's been under Garlean occupation for a long time," S'eni told her. "And just like here, we're trying to liberate it."
"Is that why you're here?"
"Partly. And because we want to help our Doman friends." She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. "And I promise we won't leave before you guys can live in peace again. Now, how about I tell you about Revenant's Toll? It's where a lot of Domans are living right now."
Azami's eyes positively lighted up at that.
It was when she told a rather cautious tale about Rowena, that the door opened and Isse walked in. The room grew quiet as S'eni and he stared at one another. A moment passed, then the young man turned towards his sister.
"Azami, have you offered our guest something to eat yet?" he asked.
"Oh no!" Azami's hands shot up to her mouth and she all but jumped out of her chair. "I'll make something!"
As the girl ran towards the hearth, Isse sat down at the table, looking at her for another moment before breathing out a sigh.
"I'm sorry. For what I've said to you."
S'eni shook her head. "It's alright. I understand where you were coming from. I think I would have done the same if I were in your shoes."
"Still...if not for you and the Shinobi, I would have simply accepted our lives as it were, living day in and out in fear for what might happen to Azami or myself," he said. "I can't say a part of me isn't still afraid, but I've made up my mind. So thank you...for not giving up on us."
Following his words, Isse bowed his head as deeply as the table allowed. She reached across the table and patted his shoulder, making him look up.
"Then let's start over," she said with a smile. "My name's S'eni. Nice to meet you, Isse."
Rising once more, he slowly mirrored her expression. "Nice to meet you too, and welcome to our home."
"So where was I..." S'eni said as she turned towards Azami, who was starting a fire inside the hearth. "Oh yeah! So Rowena said..."
While the food was being prepared, she shared a few more adventures she had in Eorzea, like her seemingly fated encounters with the Manderville family. Soon enough though, they were sitting together and eating a simple, yet filling stir fry of rice and a few other ingredients they could afford to use.
After they were finished, and she was telling them another story, a chiming sound rang through the room.
"What's that?!" Azami asked, startled by the sudden sound.
It was coming from S'eni's pocket.
"Ah, sorry, I kind of forgot I had this with me," S'eni said and reached inside, pulling out a small, ornamented pearl. She had taken it out when Yugiri and her had gone to try and kill Zenos. "It's a communication device."
Did one of the others want to ask her something?
"I should probably take this. Might be important. While I'm at it, I think I'll take a little stroll too," she told the siblings and rose to her feet, sending Azami a playful wink. "We girls need to pay attention to our weight when we get a certain age."
Once outside, S'eni put the linkpearl into her ear and began to follow the path up to the paddies, pressing a finger against the small device when she was well out of earshot.
"Yes?" She frowned when the first thing she heard was something akin to a rush of wind, and she wondered if perhaps it had been damaged in the struggle earlier, until a voice, faint but distinct and growing stronger, rose above the noise.
"Eni." Her heart skipped a beat, followed by a warm rush that took her breath away, stopping her in her tracks.
Eyes growing wide, S'eni's lips parted to form her lover's name. "Shtola..."
A wave of relief washed over her, causing her knees to grow a little weak and making her lean against the rocky hillside.
She was awake.
"Thank the Twelve," she said. "How are you? Is everything alright?"
"I'm...well." A cough followed. "As well as I can be I suppose."
Her voice was a little raspy and she could hear the hint of frustration even over the background noise the distance caused.
"How long have you been awake?"
"A week. I wanted to contact you as soon as I heard you had left for Doma, but I was strictly told to rest." Another cough, then a "thank you" followed by the sound of her drinking. "Krile actually took away my linkpearl to make sure I didn't get any funny ideas until she was sure I had gotten enough."
"Is she with you right now?"
"Yes, and positively glaring at me too." S'eni could practically hear the smile forming on her lover's lips. "She also told me that she knows, but refused to elaborate. Care to explain?"
Her ears pulled back a little and an embarrassed smile formed on her lips.
"She kind of walked in on me kissing you while you were still unconscious," she said, scratching the markings on her left cheek with a finger.
"...romantic." was Y'shtola's dry reply.
"Sorry..."
"It's quite alright," the other Miqo'te assured her. "Krile promised not to tell anyone until we are good and ready."
S'eni could faintly hear something being said in the background. "What was that?"
"Something I deign not to reply to." After a pause that could only have been an intense glare sent towards a certain Lalafel, Y'shtola sighed. "And how are things on your end? I was told leaving for Doma was your idea."
Now it was her turn to sigh. "Could be better."
S'eni then told her about everything that happened since they arrived, including their failed attempt at taking Zenos' life. And as predicted, Y'shtola's response came rather swiftly.
"That was beyond reckless."
"I know..."
The other Miqo'te huffed. "Well nothing for it now, I suppose. But it's little wonder he could break through my spell if even you couldn't defeat him."
"Yeah, it's unbelievable how powerful he is," S'eni said as she reached the paddies, casting her gaze across the field of growing rice.
"You said he told you to fight and survive. Do you have any idea why?"
"I think he wants me to grow stronger so we can have a real battle." she scoffed. "Guess he took a liking to me. Don't know if that's good or bad."
"Hard to say. He seems to be a rather unpredictable man," Y'shtola said.
"Mhm. How are things over in Eorzea?"
"Well, considering I'm all tied up in bed, my knowledge isn't the most accurate, but I have heard the Resistance is slowly rebuilding itself with the help of the Alliance. It helps that so far, the Garleans seem not inclined to retake Baelsar's Wall, which seems to make much more sense now I suppose."
"That's good," S'eni said and lied down on the grass, staring up at the sky above, the first stars beginning to glimmer in the distance as the sun slowly set. "Gods, you don't know how good it feels to hear your voice."
Warmth entered Y'shtola's voice. "I feel the same."
A smile formed on her lips and they both went quiet for a moment, taking solace in the fact that they both were alright, even if they were quite literally continents apart.
The comfortable silence was broken by faint words being spoken on the other end.
"I'm sorry, but I have to go. Krile said I need more rest and I'm for once inclined to agree," her lover said and S'eni could hear a note of fatigue entering it.
"Alright. I should get some rest as well. We'll leave bright and early in the morning," she replied and began to rise once again.
"Very well, have a good night then...and Eni?"
"Yeah?"
"Please be careful."
"Don't worry, I will," S'eni replied, her voice turning into a breathy whisper that told the other woman just how serious she was this time. "Promise."
After saying a final goodbye, she removed her finger from the linkpearl, ending the call. The smile on her face grew and she began to make her way back.
Tomorrow would be a busy day.
Ha, I bet you thought just because Y'shtola got the Tifa treatment from Zenos that she wouldn't show up. But as it turns out, linkshells have insane range, but interference can become a problem from a certain point onward. So...here we are.
Also that Zenos battle sure was some kinda bullshit, wasn't it?
Have a nice weekend!