His Majesty
Another Lightwarden defeated, another land freed of the Light.
I wonder what it must feel like to the Fae Folk, to finally have night again. And a new king I suppose, whatever that means for beings trapped in the moment as they are. For all we know, they've already forgotten about it.
Well, not all I suppose. Not the Amaro. Not Seto...
...Nevermind. There was more important things to worry about. Like the appearance of a certain Ascian.
A small sigh of relief escaped her as they set foot into the Crystarium, not just because they had returned from their journey, but also because it looked like the city had been spared Eulmore's wrath after they had escaped Il Mheg.
And she wagered after the thrashing they had received at the hands of the Fae Folk, their newest enemies would heed caution before pursuing them again. At least for a little while.
She certainly was glad that they were in the Fae's good graces. Having them for enemies was a terrifying thought. But she supposed having their newest king as her lovely little branch had its perks.
Though she supposed it was not so little branch now, with how much they now towered over her after becoming the new Titania.
Isn't that right, your majesty? She asked inside her mind, receiving an amused giggle in return.
"My, how formal my little sapling has become," came the prompt answer. "Maybe I should have become king much sooner then. Just remember to call upon your beautiful branch whenever you are in need. Now if you'll excuse me, I just spied the most delightful little thing in your world."
S'eni chuckled, drawing a questioning look from Alphinaud, but she just shook her head. Yes, she supposed nothing really changed between her and Feo Ul. Or was that Titania now?
She had to ask them the next time they spoke.
"The City appeareth unchanged from when last I visited," Urianger commented from next to her as they passed the Aetheryte. "There is the selfsame comforting hum of activity in the air."
"A nice change of pace from the Fae I take?"
"Indeed."
Stepping out onto the Exedra, a drop of water landing on her head made her look up at the cloud-covered sky; a mass of solid dark grey, yet still wonderfully beautiful compared to the glaring light from before. That single drop soon turned into a full shower and she closed her eyes to enjoy the feeling of it on her skin while faintly listening to her friends talk with each other.
Then, from one second to the other, her ears perked up at the sound of slow and deliberate steps, walking towards her.
Opening her eyes again, she turned around to see a man walking towards her, dressed in a rich-looking military coat adorned with gold. A white streak went through his otherwise dark brown hair, combed in such a way that made it look like he had decided to have stylish bangs.
And in the center of his forehead, the pearl-like Third Eye of a Garlean.
She frowned.
"You certainly took your time," the man spoke up, earning himself the attention from the others. "I had half resolved to complete the task myself."
"And you are?" Alisaie asked, but it was Urianger that replied.
"If one were to study the annals of Garlean history, one would find yonder visage on many a page. Though by rights its youth should long since have faded."
"Well, well, we have a historian in our midst. That spares me a lengthy explanation." The man let his pale yellow eyes wander over their group before landing on S'eni. "I am Solus zos Galvus, founding father of the Garlean Empire. And, under various guises, the architect of a myriad of imperially inclined nations."
She knew who he was. Gaius had told her about him.
"And since Elidibus is still traipsing around in Zenos' body that can only mean that you're Emet-Selch," she said.
"Another well-informed one! But please, let me introduce myself properly." he raised his hand and lowered it across his face, revealing the red glowing symbol that marked him as an Ascian. He bowed. "Emet-Selch. Ascian."
"A native of the Source..." Alisaie said.
Thancred's hand reached for his Gunblade. "Equal in rank to Lahabrea. And you came all this way just to introduce yourself to us?"
The red mark faded and Emet-Selch turned around with a flourish, reaching his hands up towards the sky.
"Behold the sky, restored to its former glory! Have you ever seen a more affecting spectacle? Oooh, it's truly, deeply…" His arms dropped. "…Infuriating. Do you have any idea how much you delayed the Rejoining?"
He turned around again and S'eni saw the spark of amusement gone as he glared at them.
"Following the Flood, the First had been moving further towards the Light─towards stasis. The end was in sight! Had mankind continued to live in idleness under Vauthry's rule, all the conditions would have been met…" gritting in his teeth, Emet-Selch became visibly angry now and pointed a gloved finger at her. "But you...you had to ruin it all! Thanks to your meddling, Light's supremacy is in doubt, and our painstakingly laid plans are in tatters!"
"You have to excuse me if I don't feel particularly bad hearing that," she replied dryly, crossing her arms in front of her chest as she returned his glare. "Actually, I kind of like it. Can you say it again?"
"We should be thanking you, really," Thancred said, letting go of his weapon once more. "For confirming Urianger's theories on the inner workings of the Calamity. Now, I suggest you admit defeat and walk away."
"Happy to let me go, eh?" Emet-Selch scoffed. "Because the murderous glint in your eyes tells me something else."
The Ascian sighed and proceeded to rearrange his coat after his little outburst just now.
"Look, it did cross my mind to simply side with Vauthry and kill you all. But that's no different from what Lahabrea did—"he picked some lint from his sleeve and flicked it away. "—and we know how well that worked out for him, don't we?"
She didn't reply. Taking that as a sign to continue, he took a few steps forward until he stood almost in front of her, forcing her to look up at him.
"And so, while it's liable to be troublesome, I have settled on a different approach, cooperation! I will not raise a hand to hinder your hunt for the Lightwardens. If you desire it, I will even lend you my knowledge and strength."
"Since time immemorial, you and your kind have labored to rejoin the thirteen shards, at the cost of countless lives," Alphinaud said. "Do you expect us to believe that your objective has suddenly changed? "
"No. Our objective is the same as it ever was, though I daresay you don't know our motive. A war waged without knowledge of the enemy is no war, it's nothing more than bloodletting. Just once...might we not try to find common ground?" Emet-Selch did a lazy shrug. "For good or ill, I'm immortal. Should I have the inclination, I can always start over. Scheme and conspire to my heart's content. But this time, I thought that I might instead try to see eye to eye. To understand what drives the hero of the Source. To determine if our goals are truly incompatible. So come. Shed your preconceptions and see beyond the unscrupulous villains you take us for. Who knows? We might find ourselves pleasantly surprised, the proud discoverers of a path of cooperation rather than opposition."
Cooperation? Yeah, right. But before S'eni could give him her rebuttal, a card was flung towards him, causing him to disperse in a dark cloud as it connected.
"Thou hast delivered thy proposal, and we would not dismiss it outright," Urianger said. "If I may offer thee counsel, however: to make thy case via an illusion reflecteth poorly upon thy sincerity."
"Hmm, my apologies," Emet-Selch replied and they all whirled around to see him standing a good distance away. "You will have to forgive me if I was a bit overly cautious in the presence of a famous Ascian-slayer. But your counsel is duly noted. Anyway, I take my leave for now. Rest assured, we shall meet again soon."
Turning around, he gave them all a dismissive wave of his hand before vanishing through a portal of darkness.
"Well, that was different," S'eni said after a long moment of silence.
"So that was an Ascian..." Minfilia breathed out.
"That one of Emet-Selch's standing should willingly reveal himself unto us, and at this of all junctures, is...most interesting." Urianger rubbed his chin.
"Yeah. He must've been watching us for a while," she said. But since when? Her arrival? Or even before that?
"Well, we've certainly been given much to think about, but first things first: we should report to the Exarch," Alisaie said and turned towards her. "In light of recent events, I'd say you earned a rest, S'eni. We can handle this little task ourselves, so go on and get some sleep. We'll see you later."
Eyebrows rising, she looked from Alisaie to the others, who all nodded in agreement.
"Fine." she shrugged. "Guess I've been voted off."
Alisaie chuckled and patted her arm before turning around and making for the tower. S'eni watched her friends for a moment longer, then left in the direction of the Pendants, a sigh passing her lips.
Truth be told she was pretty beat. Gaining access to Lyhe Ghiah had been strenuous already, but then having to battle the previous king of the Fae turned Lightwarden on top of that? It was no wonder that the bit of rest they had gotten on their way back to the Crystarium had done little to quell her fatigue.
Yes, sleeping in an actual bed would do her some good.
When she entered the Pendants, she was greeted by the Manager of Suites, "Ah, we've been expecting you."
She blinked. "You were?"
"Very much so. You will find refreshments laid out in your quarters. We hope they are to your liking."
"I see. Thank you."
Almost as soon as she stepped through the doors of her room, S'eni found said refreshment on the table in the form of a can of tea and a basket full of sandwiches that looked absolutely delicious. She took the can and filled herself a cup, inhaling the slightly spicy scent before taking a hearty sip from it and letting out an appreciative sigh.
Her eyes fell on the handwritten missive lying next to the tablet.
I hope the last few days haven't been overly taxing. Please take your rest and recover.
- Crystal Exarch.
"From the Exarch, is it?" Ardbert suddenly appeared next to her. "With that mirror of his, he can watch your every move, you know. He'll probably think you're talking to yourself."
"Well, in case he asks, I'll just say it's my one and only stress relief," she replied lightly and took another sip.
"Heh." he chuckled. "He's keeping you well-fed at least, and judging by his people's faith in him, he seems to be a decent sort. But so much about him remains shrouded in mystery. Like what was he doing back in my day? There was no such person when I was around. I know little more than you do of this city's history and the Exarch's past."
"Yeah, I know what you mean." The Crystal Exarch was very good at deflecting questions of personal nature, and the Echo vision of Y'shtola from a couple of days ago just reinforced that aura of secrecy surrounding him.
"Not that it matters. It's Emet-Selch we should be concerned about," Ardbert said, crossing his arms and frowning in thought. "When our world was about to be consumed by Light, the Ascian in white appeared before us. He said that the only way for us to live on was to bring about the Rejoining. We were so desperate that we heeded words without question, not realizing that the Flood was of the Ascians' own making. They can't be trusted. None of them. But he's right, one shouldn't fight blindly. It's what we did and it-"
He stopped suddenly when she held out a sandwich towards him. His eyes wandered from the food towards her face. "Want one too?" she asked, a playful smile forming on her lips as she bit into the one in her other hand.
"Oh ha ha," was his dry reply. "But I get you, it's not exactly the most appetizing of topics. Hm, that reminds me of that one time my friends and I were forced to collect ingredients for some godsforsaken feast. If it sounds ridiculous, it's because it was."
S'eni's eyes widened slightly at his words. "Huh, that sounds like something I had to do once too."
"What? You too?" he let out a laugh. "Parallel worlds, eh? So what sorts of things did you have to fetch."
"Well, there was the Goblin cheese for which I had to slay a dragon…" She began to tell him about the trials and tribulations of gathering these ingredients, which soon evolved into many other different misadventures that she had been involved in. He listened attentively, nodding and sometimes commenting or asking something. After a while though, there was something that she wanted to know.
"Tell me about Seto," S'eni said, taking another sandwich and biting into it.
"What is there to say, really…He's done some growing. When we were travelling together, he was nowhere near as big. And he couldn't speak obviously." Ardbert's lips curled into a fond smile and he looked out into the distance. "I had no idea how much that medallion meant to him…"
From the way the Amaro had spoken of him, it was evident just how much Ardbert meant to him. If only he knew that the words he told her had also reached his former owner.
"What about you?" he looked at her then. "You must have a friend like him too. A Chocobo perhaps?"
Now it was her turn to smile fondly and she nodded. "Yeah. His name's Zack."
"What's he like?"
"Friendliest Chocobo you'll ever find. Though he still packs a mean kick," S'eni said. "And I suppose he's a bit of a glutton at times."
After having heard Seto's words, she found herself wondering what Zack must be thinking about her. Would he also remember her fondly? Was he missing her?
Though she supposed not a lot of time must have passed for him on the Source. Still, part of her wished he could be here with her, but another part was glad that he didn't have to see this broken world. Guess I just have to make it up to him with some extra fresh greens when I'm back.
They continued to talk a little bit more about their respective partners in crime before Ardbert took his leave once again to let her get some sleep.
And as S'eni laid down on her bed, she couldn't help but think back to something else Seto had said to her.
What did he mean about her soul being reminiscent of Ardbert's?
Entering everyone's favorite Ascian. In the next chapter, our heroes will finally set foot into the Rak'tika Greatwoods!