To answer the question of my guest reviewer: she uses the superior Emperor's New Fists for the majority of the story.
Social Call
It was some time after the battle at Carteneau that found S'eni standing at the shores of Lake Silvertear. In the distance, Midgardsomr's serpentine body was wrapped around the remains of the Agrius, standing vigil upon the area even in his death-like slumber. For a moment, she wondered how long it would be until he awoke once again. According to G'raha he was still sound asleep even in the far future from which he had traversed back.
Shifting her eyes away from the ancient wyrm, she looked back towards the kneeling Y'shtola, her hand held out as she took a closer look at the aetheric currents. A look of deep thought was on her face, mirrored by the one Urianger wore opposite of S'eni. Another couple of minutes passed until Y'shtola lowered her hand with a sigh.
"Just as I thought...this current is the same as the others," she said and rose to her feet.
"Same as in Thanalan," Thancred's voice called out, and the three of them turned around to see him and G'raha walking over. "Wherever we survey, it shows a change in the aetherical currents."
"And the strength of each current has diminished dramatically as well," G'raha added. "Safe to say, it can be ruled out that this is a natural occurrence."
A heavy silence draped itself around them, only to be disturbed by the sound of the Bonanza landing nearby, and they were soon joined by the twins and Estinien.
"Ah, thou hast returned. What tidings bringest thou from Dravania?" Urianger asked.
Alphinaud nodded and began to explain, "We took a number of readings, and noticed that the closer we were to the tower, the lower the aetheric density became. In short..."
"The towers are absorbing the land's aether!" Alisaie finished. "Which explains how they could carry out the summonings."
S'eni frowned. If this went on unchecked...
"We should return to the Rising Stones and have Tataru relay what we've discovered to our allies," Thancred suggested. They all nodded in agreement and began to head back. But S'eni had barely stepped forth when a voice made her stop in her tracks.
A woman's voice.
"Hear me...Hear me..."
Turning around, she saw a tall figure standing up ahead, draped in bright light that obscured her features save for her long hair. Who—!?
"Darkness comes...and with it...the end..." she said. "The fate...of the star...is in your hands..."
S'eni's lips parted, but before she could say anything, the woman vanished, leaving her to stare at the spot she had just stood seconds ago.
"Everything alright?" a soft voice asked.
With a little jump, S'eni returned to the here and now. Two pairs of blue eyes were looking at her, one filled with visible concern while the other held confusion instead. "Huh?"
"I asked if everything was alright?" Ryne asked, placing the cup of tea she was holding on the table. "You were staring into space."
"I—" she blinked once, twice, then ran a hand over her face. "Yeah, just thinking is all."
If anything, that seemed to make the girl grow more concerned. "Are you sure?"
"Really now, Ryne," Gaia chimed in, raising her cup to her lips. "If she says she's fine then there's no reason not to believe her."
A little chuckle escaped S'eni. "I'm afraid I can't truly agree with that. Ryne knows me a little too well. But really, I'm alright. Things have been a little...hectic."
Aside from the obvious Marid in the room that was the Telophoroi and their plans, there had also been the liberations of Werlyt and Bozja that had needed seeing to. She was glad for it in a way, as it gave her something to focus on while Krile arranged everything in Sharlayan, but she would be lying if she claimed the entire thing hadn't been taxing. By the time she had returned, it must have been obvious enough for Thancred to approach her with a rather thinly veiled excuse to get away from things for a few days by asking her to check in on Ryne for him.
The others, of course, were in absolute favor of it. Now here she was, sitting in the Crystarium and having tea with the two young ladies. Reaching for her cup, she took a sip before reaching out to take one of the coffee biscuits from the plate in the center of their table.
"Anyway," she said after taking a bite out of it, enjoying the rich blend of chocolate and coffee. "How have things been here?"
"Relatively calm," Ryne replied. "The Sin Eaters are only far and few now and with the Empty on its way to recovery we have actually been blessed with quite an amount of free time."
"By which she means she now has all the time in the world to be a bloody busybody and go around helping everyone," Gaia commented, drawing out another chuckle from S'eni.
"Well, then it's a good thing she has you to keep her grounded." She grinned and turned her head to watch a group of people passing by.
As it turned out, she had come just in time for the festival Ryne had spoken of the last time she had seen her. It had apparently been postponed due to some logistical problems, but was now all the grander for it, drawing in people from the furthest reaches of Norvrandt. Perking her ears, she let herself listen to the distant music for a moment, before returning her attention to the girls.
After finishing the generous can of tea they had ordered, the three of them rose to their feet and began to leave in the direction of the Exedra, though not before S'eni swiped the last of the coffee biscuits off the plate.
"What?" she asked at the looks she received. "I get more than enough exercise to sin a little."
To make a point, she pulled up the white Ala Mhigan shirt she wore to reveal her stomach, giving it a little slap for emphasis. "See? Not a single onze that doesn't belong there."
Gaia just shook her head with a shrug while Ryne released a giggle as S'eni began to nibble on the tasty treat. She really had to try making a batch of them back home.
Arriving at the Exedra, she let herself take it all in. The first time she had stepped into the Crystarium, it had been lively to be sure, but never in the way she was seeing now. The once largely empty plaza was now packed with people that even dwarfed the sizable crowd that had gathered here after they had returned from the Tempest. Stands filled with delicacies and games, excited chatter and song pervading the air, just being here filled her with an excitement that washed away the stress of the past few days.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she exhaled again, a wide smile began to form on her face and she turned towards the girls. "So, what should we do first?" she asked.
Ryne, clearly a little lost at the question, rested her cheek on her knuckles with a long hum. She glanced over at Gaia once or twice, but only received a look that said 'this was your idea' in return. "Why, uh, don't we just look around for a bit to see what catches our eye?"
S'eni nodded. "Spontaneous. I like it."
They wandered around for a few minutes, passing stands with delicious-looking snacks that would have probably prompted her to dig right in if she didn't already have one just now. A cheer then made her ears perk up and she looked around until her eyes fell upon a beautiful Vii, performing a very graceful dance for the gathered crowd in front of her. Though dressed in red silk that showed off her body, it was the very sharp-looking chakrams in her hands that garnered most of the attention as she expertly whirled them around with every motion. Occasionally, they would come dangerously close to her tanned skin, yet always missed it by just a hair's breadth, but it was enough to make gasps and claps of excitement go through the crowd that lasted until the end of the performance.
Joining in on the applause, they tossed a few Gil into the ornate box standing not far away from the Vii, then continued on their way. Their next stop was a rickety-looking pole with a bell on top of it and a small lever reminiscent of a seesaw at the bottom. To S'eni, it looked like a much simpler version of the Crystal Tower Striker from the Gold Saucer. The Mystel standing in front of it gave them a smile.
"Would one of you ladies like to give it a try?" he asked. "If you manage to hit the bell you can have a pick of one of our prizes."
After saying that, he motioned towards the nearby table filled with all sorts of items, ranging from simple to surprisingly elaborate pieces.
"Hmm. What do we need to do?" Ryne asked.
"It's a strength test. You hit the lever with a hammer," S'eni explained.
The Mystel's face brightened even more. "Ah, someone who knows her games."
"We have something like this where I'm from too." She shrugged.
"I'll give it a try," Gaia said suddenly and stepped forth to pay the man. But instead of taking the offered hammer, she held out her hand to summon forth her own instead and walked over to the game. Raising her hammer above her head, she brought it down on the lever with a mighty swing, and S'eni watched as the weight shot up the pole and slammed into the bell like it was nothing.
The Mystel stood there for a brief moment, a dumbfounded expression on his face, but his cheer swiftly returned, albeit perhaps a little strained. "A-And we have a winner!" he announced.
Not really paying much attention to him, Gaia de-summoned her hammer and walked over to the prize table. Her gaze moved across it until landing on something that seemed to have caught her fancy. With a smile, she reached out and picked up a pair of hairclips adorned with feathers. Not exactly something she would have pecked her for.
And apparently, Gaia thought so as well, as she turned towards Ryne and held them out towards her.
"For me?" Ryne asked in surprise.
Gaia nodded. "I think they'll suit you. The ribbon is nice and all but it's starting to become a bit one-note."
After saying that, she proceeded to put them into the other girl's hair. A little chuckle made its way past S'eni's lips at the hearty pink that was suddenly spreading across Ryne's cheeks at her friend's close contact, persisting until Gaia stepped back again. The latter looked at her a moment longer before nodding. "Looks good, don't you agree, S'eni?"
"Hm. Absolutely adorable," she replied, grinning when the blush returned full force.
"O-Oh, hey. W-What's this?" Without even waiting on them, Ryne all but ran past them. Gaia raised a brow in silent question to which she just shook her head, then made to follow the girl. They found her not long after, standing in front of another stand, talking with the Hume lady behind the counter while holding a ball. The stacked cans behind the woman made it rather clear what type of game this was.
"Just knock the cans over to win a prize?" she heard Ryne ask as they approached.
"That's right. Get 'em all and you'll have your pick from our special selection," the woman replied.
"Hah, a classic," S'eni said and pulled out a few Gil that she placed on the counter. "I'll give it a whirl."
After being handed three balls, she took one and threw it up and down a few times to get a feel for it. Stitched leather, no hidden weights. Good. She then scanned the pyramid of cans in front of her, sizing it up like she would an enemy on the battlefield before raising her hand and tossing the ball.
It hit them smack dab in the middle, causing the stack to collapse on itself in a loud clatter as each can fell to the ground. The Hume whistled. "Not bad. You got a strong throwing arm," she commented.
"Diligent training." S'eni winked and did a little flex. Turning her attention over to the prizes, she looked them over for a minute. The corners of her lips curled upward. "I'll take that one."
"Sure thing," the woman said and she was handed a plush doll that bore quite a striking similarity to a certain miniature Great Serpent of Ronka in all its wobbly greatness. Why, if not for the fluffy coating and obvious button eyes, she would half expect it to wiggle about the place. Yes, this would make for a nice souvenir.
A clattering sound made her look over to where Ryne stood, eyebrows drawn in concentration as she stared at the now half-collapsed can pyramid. Shifting the second ball from her left into her right hand, she threw it but missed by a small margin, leaving her with only one more shot. The girl closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and extending her arm backwards, keeping it there for a few seconds.
Eyes snapping open, she tossed her last remaining ball. It shot through the air and collided with the rest of the cans, sending them hurtling to the ground. And not long after, Ryne found herself to be the proud owner of a Porxie doll.
"Look Gaia!" the girl said, holding up her prize snout first. "Don't you think it will make a cute addition to our room?"
Oh? S'eni's eyebrows rose at those words and she walked over to join them. "'Our' room?"
Ryne nodded with an affirmative hum. "After Gaia decided that she would rather look to the future than to the past, I offered her to move into my room here at the Crystarium instead of getting her own."
"And it's already cramped enough without you cluttering it up with all sorts of things," Gaia complained, taking the Porxie and tilting her head. After having given it enough of a closer inspection, she handed it back to Ryne with an exhale through her nose. "If this continues we might as well just buy a house."
"That's a great idea!" the other girl beamed. "Were you thinking about here in Lakeland or rather somewhere else?"
"What!? No! I wasn't—ugh, you're impossible!" Gaia said and sauntered off. Unlike in the past though, where Ryne would have remained rooted to the spot, wondering why she had made her so upset, she was now hot on Gaia's heels, clutching the little Porxie to her chest with a happy smile. S'eni just giggled and followed after them.
Once Gaia had cooled off again, the three of them spent some more time amidst the festival, playing a few more games or just chatting with a few familiar faces, before taking a little break to sit down with some tasty ice cream. She watched in silent amusement as the two girls shared a bowl, utterly oblivious to the way they looked as Ryne guided the spoon towards Gaia's lips. Well if nothing else, Thancred would be delighted to hear that they were doing alright indeed.
A thought then came to her and she felt her expression turn into a frown. Looking down to her own bowl of creamy, sweet goodness, she poked around with her spoon before scooping some of it up and absentmindedly putting it into her mouth. She barely noticed the fruity flavour.
A house, huh...?