K: Most embarrassing (I'll defer to proud to last chapter's reply)...hard to say, honestly. The game throws us into all kind of embarassing moments, so the list is pretty long in itself lol.
The Other Side of the Medal
Ever since the ascension of the Empire, the already proud Garleans had been invigorated by a sense of superiority. After all, they had the might of Magitek on their side to beat any 'savage' that might oppose them. Now that their once so mighty Empire is in tatters, they continued to cling to that pride, holding it aloft as they huddled together and listened to the music coming from the radio.
How would these people, who viewed themselves the only just in the world, handle being at the mercy of the justice of those they viewed as but barbarians out to get them?
The crunching of ice pervaded the air as she walked across the snow-covered lake of Cerulea Ingens. Pushing through the endless white carpet was a faint blue glow, a sign of the abundance of Ceruleum beneath the frozen surface. As she cast her gaze out into the distance, her eyes came to rest upon the large platform in the distance, connected to the large pipeline she had passed by earlier.
That must be Juturna Platform G... she thought, with just a tiny bit of awe. She was no stranger to Magitek facilities, fighting against the Empire and being friends with a certain Cid Garlond had given her a lot of knowledge on the subject, but it showed just how wide the gap between them and Garlemald was. The Ceruleum refineries in Thanalan looked almost crude in comparison. It would probably be in the continent's best interest to get it up and running again. That way they might be able to better take care of the survivors.
But right now, she had more immediate things to take care of, and that was to find the tappers that had extracted the Ceruleum from this place.
After she approached the girl, whose name turned out to be Licina, Alphinaud and Alisaie joined them and managed to convince her that they were there to help. As it turned out, the building she had followed her to was a mansion for retired soldiers, now serving as a shelter for her and three other refugees, and the reason why she had been out and about was to look for much-needed supplies, Ceruleum above all. Once the three of them had helped the group as much as they were currently able to, Licina had approached and told her about the tappers that were holed up on the other side of Cerulea Ingens, before asking her to head there and ask them for some of the much-needed fuel.
And while S'eni couldn't help but feel like the girl was hiding something from them, she couldn't very well refuse the request now, could she?
Just dig a little more when you return, she told herself and resumed her march.
Eventually she had managed to reach the other side of the frozen lake and, after looking around the area, found the entrance to the cave where she presumed the tappers had made their camp. It was either that or the two burly Roegadyns standing around outside simply liked the cold. She was putting her money on the former.
"Who goes there!?" one of them demanded when he spotted her. "How did you find us!?"
"I was sent here by the people at Victors' Spoils, but you're not exactly subtle standing out here," she replied.
"What's that supposed to mean!?"
S'eni just shrugged.
"Hmpf! You'd never found us without those purebloods' help. Thought they could come waltzing in here demanding ceruleum with nothing to offer in return. Hah!" he shared a look with his companion and began to step towards her. "Looks like the boot is on the other foot now though. I know your game, sellsword. They think they can send you to 'negotiate' with us, but if they think we'll give in to intimidation, they've got another thing coming for then!"
Oh for the love of... she thought as the burly tapper grabbed his axe and swung it towards her. But she simply raised her hand and grabbed its shaft, holding it firmly in place. Craning her neck, she looked him dead in the eye. "...really not in the mood for this right now."
Somersaulting into the air, she slammed her boot right underneath his chin, sending him flying into the air. He almost seemed to float at the peak of his arc before crashing down into the snow.
"H-Hey what do you think you—" the other one came rushing towards her, but she simply cut him off with a well-placed kick to the shin, then pushed her open palm into his chest. After sliding across the ground, he came to a stop, his hand going to where she struck him.
"Sorry, you two. Now then..." she turned towards the cave but was stopped when she heard Alisaie's voice calling out to her. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw the young woman coming towards her.
"There you are. After you had left, Licinia—what happened here?"
S'eni looked at the two tappers on the ground, groaning and muttering something. "They thought I was a sellsword. So I take it Licinia sent you to help?"
"Yes. A certain someone must've let slip that I have some experience transporting barrels of Ceruleum..."
"Can't hurt to have a little help," she said and nodded towards the cave. "Shall we?"
Alisaie nodded. "After you."
They stepped into the den and, no sooner after doing so, were approached by a Hrothgar with a dagger in his hand. "Who are you!?" he demanded. "What happened to the guards!?"
"Calm down," S'eni said and pointed over her shoulder. "They're fine, just knocked some sense into them after they tried to attack me. As for who we are: we're the Ilsabard contingent, Eorzean, and Far Eastern volunteers that have come here to save the people of Garlemald."
The man considered both of them for a moment, then pushed his dagger back into its sheath. "Eorzeans and rebels wanting to help Garleans? That doesn't make a lick of godsdamned sense," he said and clicked his tongue. "In any case, the name's Jareck. I'm the one in charge here."
"Let me guess, none of you are Garlean? Brought here from other lands?" Alisaie asked as she cast her gaze around the cave, where the other tappers seemed to be minding their own business, sparing them only a few curious glances now that they knew they weren't in danger.
"Yes. Gyr Abania, Yanxia, Bozja, Dalmasca, you name them. Some were dragged here against their will, some were fed lies about a better life at the glorious imperial capital, and all were put to work extracting Ceruleum. We were given the esteemed title of 'aan'—" the Hrothgar snorted. "Which means we're at the very bottom of the ladder. But the old hierarchy means very little in the new Garlemald. Cerulea Ingens was about the only thing that escaped unscathed and it still sustains us even if our 'employers' are out of the picture."
"Yes, we heard you were experts in drawing Ceruleum from the lake," the Elezen said. "How does that work anyway? With it being frozen and all."
"Hah, wouldn't you like to know? I'm afraid that's a trade secret." Jareck winked. "Not that Ceruleum is used for much these days. We take enough to power our heaters and keep the surplus for later. But that only keeps the cold at bay and does very little for our hunger unless we can trade it for food. Speaking of which, perhaps that contingent of yours would be interested. We've got a barrelful of Ceruleum that we can trade for any rations you might be willing to part with."
S'eni and Alisaie looked at each other. That would certainly help with the heating of Camp Broken Glass. But that would be something Lucia had to decide. "We will relay your offer to our commander," the young woman said. "But if I may ask, why are you still here if you're free to go?"
"Yeah, wouldn't it be better to just leave?" S'eni added.
"Where would we go?" he asked with a shrug. "Even if we returned to our homelands, there's nothing for us, thanks to the Empire. And the knowledge and skills we acquired working here would be next to useless outside of Garlemald. So we're staying for the time being. As long as there's use for Ceruleum, we'll manage to get by. Even if the Garlemald we knew is gone for good."
"Gone for good..." Alisaie turned her gaze towards the ground.
S'eni watched the young woman with a frown forming on her features. Yes, no matter what they would do for the people, the Empire was finished. Its capital, once mighty and proud, had been turned into nothing but ruins, while its legions were scattered and barely holding on in the provinces. But there would be another time and place for this subject. Right now there was something else that they needed to be doing.
"Jareck, we've been sent here by Licinia from Victors' Spoils to ask you for some Ceruleum," she explained and she saw his expression change at the name. "I know there's a lot of bad blood between your people and the purebloods, but they are freezing. We don't need much, just enough so that they can regain their strength and we can take them to our camp."
"Hmm...to turn to their enemy for help...they must be more desperate than I thought," he said. "Then again, Licinia's got her little sister to think about..."
Snapping out of her thoughts at his words, Alisaie looked at the Hrothgar in surprise. "A sister? But we only saw her and three men."
"It could be she died from whatever was ailing her. If she needed treatment, I'd doubt there'd be any way to get it around here. I may have refused her at first, thinking she'd come back with something to trade—" he waved one of his workers over. "—but I can spare them a bottle's worth. Consider it a reward for introducing me to the rest of your contingent. Be sure to send them our way, you hear?"
"Thank you," S'eni said after receiving the Ceruleum. "I promise to talk with our commander as soon as we get back."
After saying goodbye, the two of them left the den. Once outside, Alisaie turned to look at her, face marred by a deep frown. "I can't for the life of me think why she would hide her sister from us. But I suppose those questions will have to wait until later. Let's hurry back!"
But when they arrived back at Victors' Spoils, all that awaited them was...
"Quiet...it's much too quiet..." Alisaie said and looked over to the bower where the fire they had made was still burning. "I would've thought Alphinaud would still be treating them by the fire...but they're nowhere to be seen..."
"Let's have a look around."
"You're right. I'll look inside the house, you search the outside. If they've gone somewhere they can't be far."
Giving her friend a nod, S'eni began looking around, starting near the fire. No signs of a quick escape, but there were a few tracks in the snow leading away from it and towards the back of the building. Following it, her ears soon picked up the sound of a gasp and she began to hurry in the direction it was coming from. As she rounded the corner, she found Alphinaud leaning against the wall, clutching his side with a pained expression on his face. On the ground next to him were the three men they had helped earlier, two of them unconscious while the third, the sickliest looking one, was on his knees.
"Alphinaud!" she called out while rushing over to him. "What happened!?"
"They asked me...asked me to help carry supplies...but when I followed them back here...they attacked me," he managed to reply, gritting his teeth when the hand over his wound began to glow, shortly followed by a sigh as his magic did its work. "Caught me off guard... Forced me...to defend myself. I fear they fared worse than me..."
"You can't fool us. We know...we know what you're about!" the refugee shouted. "You're nothing more than vultures, waiting for us to show weakness before you swoop in! And once we let you in, you'll put us in chains and steal our lands!"
"You're wrong..."Alphinaud shook his head. "That's not what any of us want."
"Save the arguments for later, we've got bigger problems!" Alisaie called as she came running over. "I found empty medicine bottles and a bed that was still warm. It's true, Licinia was hiding her sick sister inside the house. But there's no sign of them now!"
She turned towards the man. "Where are they? Where did they go!?"
"Away from you and the rest of you savages! And if you think I'll tell you, you're a fool. I'll never give up my people!"
"We're trying to help them, you idiot! Her sister is ill, the empty bottles prove it. So either the medicine ran out, or she put it in her pockets to make it easier to carry..." Alisaie's eyes widened when realization struck. "...or to avoid the sound of clinking glass. There are beasts everywhere! How could you let them go!?"
"To protect them from you! You invade our homeland...taint it with the same sorcery used to slay our countrymen... A Garlean should sooner die than suffer the insult!" he spat back. "Better for them to flee...to keep their purity—"
From one moment to the next, S'eni had bridged the gap between the man and herself, grabbing him by the collar and pulling him roughly off the ground. "You godsdamned idiot!" she shouted, the sparks of anger inside of her bursting into flames. "The only thing you did was send them to their deaths!"
"Better to die free than live in servitude and shame! The girls—" whatever else he wanted to say was cut off by a loud crack, as her fist connected with his face and sent him sprawling to the ground, the white of the snow turning crimson as blood gushed from his nose.
"Let's go," she told the twins, sparing not even a single glance to the man. "We've got to find them before it's too late."
"Go on without me, you two," Alphinaud said. "I need to take care of my own injuries first...and theirs."
"Alright, be careful..." Alisaie nodded.
They hurried away from the mansion as fast as their feet could carry them, following the only way in and out of the property. Mercifully, it only took a few seconds to find two sets of fresh footprints that led them back to the frozen lake. But that was also where the trail ended.
"Perhaps they've chosen this route to not leave any more footprints. I can't think of any other reason." The young woman looked out into the distance. "Let's split up. Cover more ground."
"Hm. I'll look in the east then," S'eni said and rushed off. Casting her gaze across the icy surface while running, she tried to find just the smallest hint of the two girls. But all she found was an almost endless white.
...
...
...until it was broken by the one color she didn't wish to see. A deep crimson that stained the snow up ahead. Running over, she came to a stop and knelt down on the ground to get a better look.
A curse escaped her when she saw that it was fresh. And with the amount there was, one or both of them had been severely wounded. Looking around wildly, S'eni spotted a trail of blood that led southeastward and jumped back to her feet to follow it.
Come on, come on, come on! She practically prayed inside her mind, hoping against hope that she would still be making it in time. But the longer the trail grew, the fainter that hope became until, like the flame of a candle, it was snuffed out by the sight of two bodies on the ground, one of them unmistakably Licinia. Nononono!
With a final burst of speed, she ran over to them, dropping down to her knees and sliding the last few steps. Immediately, she reached out her hand to check for a pulse...and found none. She checked the girl lying next to her, with the same results.
Their bodies were already cold.
Wordlessly, she pulled her hand back and looked them over. Their dresses were torn in a few spots but the flow of blood seemed to have long since stopped. And from the way they were positioned, hands still faintly clutching one another's, they must have simply lied down here and waited for the end to come.
"Gods..." she breathed out and covered her face with a hand. A sudden crackling made her ears perk up and she turned her head to see the radio the refugees had shown her earlier lying not far from the girls. After a few seconds, music began to play from it. The very same song from earlier.
Home Beyond the Horizon. An ode to those people that had gone to reconquer the land that had once been taken from them so long ago; to serve as a reminder that better times would surely await them. Now, no one remained to listen...
"S'eni!" Alisaie's voice cut through the music and S'eni looked away from the radio to see the twins running up to them. "There was a blood trail...the girls...they were attacked!"
They stopped in their tracks when she shook her head. Alisaie's eyes widened in realization.
"Oh no..." the young woman said and slammed her eyes shut. "Why did they...why?"
"They were more afraid of us than the beast..." Alphinaud said. "It's...all my fault. I..."
Rising to her feet, S'eni walked over to him and put a hand on his back. "Don't blame yourself," she told him and looked back towards the sisters. "Come, let's take them away from here."
"How many innocents will we have to bury before this is all over?" Alisaie asked.
"I...I don't know..." her brother replied. "But we cannot just leave them out here."
Alisaie gritted her teeth and dropped her gaze to the ground, but nodded. Without another word, S'eni walked over to Licinia and gently pried her hand from her sister's, before gently picking her up and carrying her away. I'm sorry...
The burial had been a solemn affair, none of them uttering so much as a word the entire time. After they were done, they gathered a few stones that they placed on top of them in lieu of proper gravestones and began to offer each sister a silent prayer. A few more minutes passed before Alphinaud lowered his hand with a sigh and turned towards S'eni.
"I heard of this device," he said and nodded towards the radio they had taken with them. "Supposedly, Emperor Varis' voice can be heard talking from it..."
"Yes, one of them—" she gave a quick glance over to the mansion, where Alphinaud had placed the men after healing and putting a sleep enchantment on them. "—said that he believes Varis speaks to them to give them hope for his triumphant return."
"That is impossible of course, but still...it was important enough for Licinia to take it with her while they ran." He looked back towards the graves. "I shall borrow it for a time, if you allow it," he said then, with a much more solemn tone, add, "I will never forget the fear in your eyes when we met. But no matter what you might believe, we are here to help. To bring a little warmth into this cold world. I hope you will come to understand that..."
"...There must've been something we could have done," Alisaie finally spoke up. "...Should we have never come here? Would they still be alive if we hadn't?"
"Alisaie..." S'eni frowned.
"We have already done enough harm here. Let's return to camp before we do any more," said Alphinaud as he picked up the radio. "We should send someone to take care of the men in the house. Someone that isn't us. All we can do for now is make our report to Lucia...and do everything in our power to prevent further tragedy. So let's not linger here. Come..."
With a silent nod, Alisaie began to follow her brother. S'eni remained where she was a little longer, taking another moment to look at the graves. They had come here with the mission to help these people, something that each and everyone one of them believed to be good and just. But justice was a medal with two sides on it—
Closing her eyes, she offered these two lost souls one final prayer, before turning around to join her friends.
—and today they had seen the other side...
Well, no trip to Garlemald without this quest, I suppose. I could tell from the very beginning that the Garlemald arc wouldn't be all sunshine and roses, and there was nothing more driving that home than the refugees of Victors' Spoils.