Author's note: Crossposted in Ao3.
Summary: Jill continued to Northreach in her search for Clive. On the way, she met the people Clive had touched throughout his journey and ended up doing the same as he always did.
What He Carried
Ambrosia never let herself be ridden by anyone but Clive. Jill knew that very well. There was one time in their childhood when Clive tried to convince her otherwise, an offer which she wisely turned down after Ambrosia almost nipped at her shoulder the moment she touched her saddle. She could have reached Northreach faster if she had used a Chocobo, but alas… Ambrosia would only answer to Clive and Clive alone. Jill actually found that to be quite an endearing trait, surprisingly. Even now. Even now when she had to walk through the greeneries, all while bloodflies stung her, bushes slapped her, and the stingers buzzed and tried to attack her. At least she found the lush greeneries to be pleasant, as it was a testament that Valisthea still had it in her to survive.
It was already dark when she finally arrived at Orabelle Downs. Looking down at the vineyards made her realize that only Clive had Quinten's Alliants mark. As she did not have it, she could only wish Quinten remembered her face. Speaking of Alliants, Jill looked down at her belt, to the mark of Phoenix Down. That was the only mark she had now. Jote handed it to her before she departed.
"Lady Warrick."
"Miss Jote."
Jote always kept to herself. It was extremely rare of her to actually call Jill directly. This was perhaps the first time Jote had even addressed her at all. When Jote had anything to say, she always said it straight to Clive or, obviously, Joshua. In the later part of their adventures, Jote was almost completely silent and kept mostly to herself. She often showed concern about Joshua's well being, appropriately, and often confided or asked for Clive's assistance. Other than that, the woman was always a mystery to Jill and probably to the others in the Hideaway as well.
Hearing her name called by her sure was a surprise. The reason, however, was clear as day.
She, too, was at lost and should cope with the unanswered aftermath.
"Before you go, My Ladyship, I want you to have this."
"This is…"
The Phoenix Down seal. Clive took the one Cyril gave him and went to the Origin with it.
"My comrades might be able to help you in your endeavor if you find them. It is without saying that I would ask for you to keep their identity secret, once they revealed themselves to you."
"But…" Jill tried to find a better word than merely asking for confirmation directly. "… I am not a Rosfield."
"You are the closest to the Rosfields now, Lady Warrick." Jote gave a small, gentle smile. It was probably the first time for Jill to see her smiling. Unlike the usual forlorn look or her rather quiet loneliness, Jill thought a smile suited her way better. "Considering your relationship with Lord Marquess and His Grace, I believe we have the same cause. May our combined effort bring us ever closer to the truth… whichever that might be."
Jill knew Jote, too, swallowed down her words of hope before she said her last sentence. They did not want to hope too much but they also wished for their beloved to be safe. To put those hope into words is so daunting and so painful. She ended up taking the Phoenix Down without saying anything else other than goodbye.
Orabelle Down will be the first human settlement she would arrive in after the Origin. She did not think any of the Undying were there, since those who stayed at Orabelle Down were Lostwings survivors. Lostwing, which was built for Quinten's purpose. Either way, she could only wish that Quinten or any of his patrons and bearers, recognize her as the person who came with Clive several times. She would need a place to sleep for the day before departing for Northreach.
Walking among the vineyard in Gaultland Bales, Jill noticed several men standing around the path heading towards Lostwing. Easily spotted with his apron, Quinten was among them. Upon closer inspection, the man was listening to his men as he looked over to the road. The discussion must be quite important, but this would be Jill's only chance to meet Quinten directly.
"Master Quinten."
Since the moment she knew him, despite his support to Clive, Quinten had been anything but friendly. He always looked domineering with certain dark air around him. He seemed to be quite surprised to find her there, but recognition settled in his eyes.
"Lady Warrick."
To be honest, Jill was even quite surprised Quinten remembered her name. She decided to not inquire about that.
"What brought you here? Is it the sky?"
"You may say so."
Due to stolas being unusable, only couriers could deliver messages now. Before her departure, Otto asked her to deliver a missive for Quinten and the Dame. If she would go to Northreach anyway, might as well bring the news along with her. As the talk would be long, they talked in one of the farmsteads over the vineyard's finest wine. The Bearers listened as well, circling the table where Jill and Quinten sat and talked. Quinten kept his hands folded as he listened to Jill. His eyes squinted at several parts but he did not interrupt. When Jill finished her story, the man seemed to ponder.
"That explains why the aetherflood suddenly disappeared from Lostwing," said the man pensively. "As the sky cleared up, so did the aetherflood. I had sent several Bearers to check in case the aetherflood remained, but as far as they managed to go, the aetherflood is gone."
Jill could notice the thrill in his voice. His eyes, usually impenetrable and dark, seemed to glint with something.
"If the aetherflood is truly gone then…"
"We can rebuild Lostwing again!"
A young Bearer beamed, jumping towards Quinten. The other Bearers gave the same reaction, looking at each other hopefully. Quinten's grip on his own arms seemed to strengthen as the idea settled inside him. His eyes when he looked back at Jill brimmed with expectation and to that questioning stare, Jill nodded.
"I believe so. Is there anything else other than the aetherflood that stopped you from inspecting further?"
"It's just the Akashic," Quinten sighed. "The aetherflood might be gone, but those who had turned remained. I do not quite understand why that happens, but that is beside the point. My army has been annihilated by the Black Shields. What remains with me now are the people before you here—weakened Bearers and women and children. We have no power to fight against them for now."
Quinten threw a meaningful stare at Jill. A silent negotiation.
Jill could not suppress a knowing smile on her lips when she replied, "Then you need help."
"One which, I hope, you would provide."
"Of course."
She could send several Cursebreakers from the Hideaway to help clean up Lostwing from the Akashics. But of course, she could not go back to the Hideaway, not now when she also had a pressing matter even deeper into Sanbreque territory.
"If you have a scout to deliver my letter to Otto, I believe he can provide you several Cursebreakers to help. I would be more than glad to do it myself, but as you may have guessed, I also have lost Shiva's power. I am afraid I would be no more than a regular sword and no longer a Dominant. I also need time to… get used to the lack of aether."
The words hurt her more than she thought it would. If only she still had Shiva, she would have just accepted the request by saying she'd just eliminate all Akashic herself. Alas, she could not. Not now. Not without magick.
Along the way to Orabelle Downs, she fought several times against the monsters in the Greatwood. It was only thanks to Torgal's cooperation she could get out of the woods with merely several Worgen scratches and some itches from bloodflies. She needed to modify her way of fighting, getting rid of clumsy moments where she tried to conjure something by habit.
That said, she would need to finish with Lostwing before she could go to Northreach. Those same Akashics were also between her and Northreach after all.
"The Cursebreakers might need an entire day to arrive, but I can help clear a pathtomorrow if you would be so kind as to provide me a place to rest for tonight?"
"A very favorable offer, Lady Warrick. I believe we have reached an agreement."
Talking like this with Quinten made something inside Jill stirred with yearning. She could not help but see an image of Clive sitting beside her, doing all the talking in his own way. He had always been doing this very same thing throughout the years of their struggle. He'd go somewhere, found people in need of help, took detours to help them. He would do all he could in the limited time he had for everyone around her. Despite the irresistible urge to press on and to get to Northreach as fast as she could, Jill somehow knew deep down in her heart Clive probably would want her to help his allies the way he did when he was around.
"However, I think you could leave the cleaning up to the Cursebreakers."
Quinten suddenly broke her several seconds of thoughts.
He gave a thin smile, which… was probably the most warmth he could express to her.
"Finding Cid takes priority, especially in this time of change. My Lostwing won't go anywhere and the Akashic can be dealt with in time. I can't afford to have you stuck here longer than you need to, lest anything befall Cid. Though I'd be delighted if you can thin the Akashics as you go to Northreach tomorrow."
Before Jill could say anything, Quinten continued.
"Business will get better the faster this mess is dealt with. For that, we all should play our parts. Yours, I believe, is to find him."
The man pushed something over the table toward Jill.
The Hanged Man seal.
He gave a thin smile.
"This may not be worth much for now. But I believe this can help you as you pass Lostwing with Cid once you have found him."
All these times, Jill had seen people putting faith and trust in Clive. She, too, was among those who rest her faith upon him. At times she wondered if it was too much for him, if it would break him eventually. But he did not break. He instead grew stronger. Such was Clive's strength.
When Jill pulled the seal closer to her side, she knew that right now those same people put their trust in her. She also knew that it was not just Clive's strength.
It was human being's greatest strength.
Bright blue remnants disappeared into the air the moment her sword slashed through an Akashic Black Knight. Sneaking was not among her forte yet even then she managed to circle around Lostwing mostly only dealing with the stragglers at the edges of the small city. It appears Akashic, despite being very powerful, was not so bright after all. With Barnabas and Ultima gone, the Akashic's movement turned a lot more disorganized. While not noticing any target, they moved like mindless mannequins, just circling around the same place idly. She killed the ones on her path, so the road from Orabelle Downs to the heart of Lostwing was now free of the monsters. Only the ones in the city centers were left. It would be easy for the Cursebreakers to deal with them later.
It did not take long for her to get past the Old Road into Claireview.
She departed in early morning and now the midnoon sun shone brightly overhead. When Origin was up in the sky, pockets of aetherflood littered the grassland in various places. Now without the Arche and the aether blocking the sunlight, the grassland appeared almost sparkly under the sunlight. Even the usually dangerous looking Aevis actually looked gleeful in the distance. Jill had no inclination to watch it closer though.
Quite some distance away, Jill could see several Imperial army knights walking the path towards her. They must be the Imperial's patrol. During aetherflood, Sanbreque ceased regular patrols due to the aetherflood dangers and let their army stay protecting cities from Akashic instead. In times of the Arche, sending small bands of scouts and patrols equals sending men to their deaths. For some time, commerce completely ceased because travel turned extremely dangerous. Only very few people continued to traverse the roads, and those who dared usually had Bearer mercenary with them to deal with the Akashic and the aetherflood—which meant a LOT of money. It hurts the smaller businesses and overall hurt the economy. With so many losses and death, it would need time for commerce to flourish again. Only two days had passed since aether disappeared. The common folk would need to deal with the shock of being unable to use magic at all and other things before things got normal again.
"My lady, it is dangerous to traverse this road alone." Just as she thought, the knights expressed concern the moment they noticed her and they went close. "The aetherflood might have disappeared but there are still Akashic. Where might you be heading?"
Simply saying she was a mercenary looking for business and finding the sky cleared up might mean business already answered much of the Imperial knight's question. They also kindly told her that they cleaned up the road towards Northreach as they patrol. Jill noticed that the soldiers also looked a lot chirpier and brighter as if a lot of weight had been lifted off their shoulders. The past few moons with constant thralls and revenant attacks on Northreach coupled with Akashic must have taken a toll on their mentality as well. Simply having the sun shining back on them already made people happier.
The sun almost set when Jill reached Northreach, just as usual. The city looked stunning under the light of the sunset, always. More noises, more excited cheers, and more thrilled voices could be heard all over the market outside of Northreach. She could tell how people were eager to try to see for themselves what had happened to the world after the sky return.
"Lady Jill!"
Philippe the knight, who surprisingly was back in his knight uniform, called out to her when he noticed her walking towards the gate. He seemed to be in the middle of giving instructions but went to her anyway.
"Sir Philippe, it is nice to see you well."
"As do I, Your Ladyship. Are you here to see Isabelle?"
"That's part of the plan, indeed. Is she available?"
"I am sure she would always be available for you and your cause, Your Ladyship. Especially with the sky returning again."
Philippe looked around to see if there were more guards, then looked at Jill again.
"I will explain at the Veil."
"Of course. Let me escort you, My Lady."
The Dame exuded the same mysterious aura as always. In the past, Jill first noticed the Dame's sensual appearance, her charm, and her aura in how she carried herself. Now after watching Clive from the side, she saw wisdom, empathy, and kindness in her. Like so many of the other Alliants, she too had had her fair share of past and she did all she could to repay the kindness. Although the Dame now still exuded the same mysterious aura as she always did, her eyes seemed to ponder when Jill reached the part where she realized aether was gone.
"Aether disappearing will mean a huge shift in the society. It will mean Bearers will cease to be one."
Neither of them knew what that meant. It could mean anything.
"I am worried about their safety," The Dame said eventually. "I will do all I can with the Bearers within Northreach, but there is only so much that I can do. We might need to move the Bearers to safety, either the Hideaway or elsewhere safe. I will also keep you informed if the legislation on Bearers would change. I fear what the politicians might do to it during this time of change. With His Radiance's whereabouts unknown and aether disappearing, it is hard to imagine what those in power might do."
"Due to the aetherflood, the village of Moore had been housing nothing but Akashic," said Philippe. "I believe if we could clean up the Akashic from the village, most of the houses would still be in a decent state. It might be a bit too close to Oriflamme for comfort, however."
"Then Lostwing might also be a good choice. I trust the Cursebreakers would have been cleaning the Akashic there as we speak and Master Quinten would soon rebuild it again. I am sure the Cursebreakers would also be more than willing to help clean up Moore after they are done with Lostwing. I can sign a letter for you to direct them to Moore if that would help."
"I thank you for the swift assistance, Lady Jill." The Dame gave a gentle smile at Jill. "I would love to say my gratitude to him directly as well. I trust that you'll depart immediately tomorrow morning?"
"Yes."
"I see."
The Dame pressed a seal on Jill's hand. She gave a smile.
"I hope this would help you as you look for him. It would at least make it easier for you to loosen tongues around Northreach and protect you from prying eyes from some of the men. But I hope you don't mind being associated with me?"
"Lady Isabelle, it would instead be an honor."
As a woman, the implication of being associated with the Veil would have a different implication, Jill knew. That did not matter, she had seen what the Dame had done and the respect she earned from the people around her. The Dame's deeds sure had gone way beyond mere pleasure house owner. Despite others who might see her as nothing more than that, Jill would be more than willing to tell people how much of a wonderful woman she was if there were any who spoke ill of her.
The Dame's eyes softened at Jill's reply. She held out her hands and took Jill's into hers. Something in her movement delivered sympathy and empathy. The Dame was probably someone who knew more than others about the pain of losing a lover and the fear of its possibility. Jill found solace in her gentleness, as well as strength.
"Good luck, My Lady. May the world save him, just as he had saved the world."
To Be Continued
Author's note: I enjoy thinking of what might change in the state of the world after the ending, that is why I made the fic. Also, Jill might have been quite aggressive when the Dame flirted with Clive, but I am sure she had so much respect for the lady when it comes to everything else. We all know anyway who the Dame has her heart for. I wanted to write more about the Dame feeling that same fear of having a lover dying, but I don't think it's the right place to just write about explicitly... and not knowing how to do it, I leave the fic as it is. Yes, I am just a bad author.