Chapter 16: The Light of Truth
Alphinaud didn't know where he was or how he got there.
His head was pounding so badly that he couldn't string more than a few thoughts together—only being able to remember that he had been someplace very cold and was in a lot of pain…? How he got into and out of that situation was a mystery to him. Thankfully, his exhausted mind was slowly registering that he was now only sore and very warm. He tried to move but his entire body did feel like a massive bruise and there was some kind of weight laying on top of him. Eventually, he was able to come around to opening his eyes and his vision slowly cleared so that he could get a look at what looked like a worn ceiling over his head.
He blinked, slowly turning his head to gaze about him, trying to recognize where he was though he couldn't recall ever having been here before. He was in a rather sorry-looking room with worn walls and a chill in the air while the scent of the salt in the air suggested that he was near the sea… that was all that he could come up with. He was lying in bed with several thick, woolen blankets covering him and what appeared to be several fire crystals tucked under the covers with him. He was so very warm and comfortable that he didn't want to move and wished to drift back off to sleep… but the foreign room was enough to keep his eyes opened and he stared around, wanting to figure out where this place was. An inn room, perhaps? That's what it reminded him of, though it looked like it had seen better days.
His curiosity growing with every second, he finally found the energy to push himself up into a sitting position, rubbing his arms that were exposed to the chilly air. His body was having a hard time trying to cooperate with his wishes though for even with this minimal effort he saw some spots covering his vision and felt dizzy like he had just got off a moving ship.
Where was he? Why was his brain so fogged over? As he rubbed his tired eyes he heard a voice speaking from nearby.
"And you're sure that my brother is going to be alright?"
He recognized Alisaie's voice at once and upon knowing that she was here and safe made him feel better. Still feeling dizzy, he slowly stood from the bed, ready to reassure his sister that he was here, but the voices went on speaking even as he shuffled towards the door.
"Yes, while injured in the fall and on the brink of freezing, we were able to rescue him quickly enough to avoid any lasting damage," Y'shtola's voice spoke up reassuringly. "You can thank Thancred for pulling both him and Ryne out of the waters with such haste."
Water? Fall? What were they talking about?
Alphinaud had just placed his hand upon the door handle before Ryne's voice spoke up in a scared tone, "But what are we going to do? Vauthry can't get away with this!"
"No one is planning on letting that happen," Thancred's voice spoke up this time. "But you heard that announcement. We're going to have to think of a plan fast if we're to avoid the execution in a few days."
Execution? Who… who were they…?
Alphinaud shut his eyes, trying to fight his way through the thick fog and think back. The images were muddled at best, but…?
Wait… he was starting to remember…? He was looking for Claire and…?
His eyes snapped open as a horror dawned upon him. The image of her standing above him as he fell backwards from a crumbling balcony… her face beaten and bloody, but smiling as she turned to face off against Ran'jit and Vauthry…?
He let out a cry as he staggered, his mind a confused mess as some kind of phantom pain struck like he had just been hit over the head by something hard. He leaned up against the door, which turned out to have been unlocked, and he tumbled into the room. Through the ringing in his ears, he heard the cries of surprise and someone calling out his name as he laid on the floor, gritting his teeth in pain.
He soon felt someone carefully help him up into a sitting position and he cracked an eye open to see who it was.
"Ali-Alisaie?" he croaked, his voice sounding like his mouth was full of cotton as his sister helped him up.
"Easy, don't push yourself," she said, for once her teasing tone absent as she supported and guided him over to the table where the others were waiting. Alphinaud glanced over recognizing Thancred, Y'shtola, Krile, and Ryne all there—half risen from their chairs with concerned expressions on their faces.
"How are you feeling?" Ryne asked in concern, her hair and eyes still a startling change while she had a thick blanket wrapped around her shoulders, as Y'shtola moved towards them quickly so that she could help Alphinaud as well.
"I'm… I think… where are we?" he asked in distraction.
"A small inn in Stilltide," Y'shtola answered, "The Leaky Keel. The owner is one of our allies and has agreed to shelter us here… for the time being."
"How…? What happened…? How did I…?" he croaked out unable to form full sentences as his head still pounded painfully.
"You were pretty out of it," Thancred offered unhelpfully, "Don't you remember anything?"
"No, not really," Alphinaud said, trying to force his mind to think before sitting in one of the chairs at the table and he hunched over, now feeling sick. "I remember being on the balcony…? But everything after that…?"
"You and Ryne fell from the Canopy… all the way to the ocean below you," Thancred explained in a surprisingly soft tone, "Thankfully, you both were only in the water for a few minutes before being pulled onto a fishing boat so that's probably why you're having a hard time trying to remember."
"It was Thancred who pulled us from the water," Ryne added quietly as Alisaie quickly rushed into the room that Alphinaud came out from and carried a blanket over to cover his shivering shoulders.
"You're welcome for that by the way," Thancred said, waving his hand at her as if it was nothing, "You must have hit the water hard because you were just barely conscious when we pulled you from the ocean. After that, we had to beat it towards land before we all froze to death. We were lucky that a passing Chocobo cart spotted us and the driver offered us a ride all the way to Stilltide. After I brought you in here, I contacted Y'shtola who brought Krile and Alisaie from the castle to help treat us. That was a few hours ago. Good news is that you should be just fine, but you should stay inside until we're sure. Vauthry isn't too happy at the moment and he's got his men out hunting for you two."
"How…? I don't…? Claire… where is she?" he asked, trying to make sense of all that was going on. But when he looked at them at the mention of his wife's name, they all grew pale and looked away.
"What? What is it?" he asked, feeling panic growing.
Y'shtola poured a glass of water from the pitcher he only noticed was there and held it out to him while saying in a bracing voice, "Calm yourself. If you start to panic then it will only make things worse and you won't be of use to anyone if that should happen."
"But…?" he asked, trying to get his breathing under control as Krile reached over to pat his hand in a kind way.
"It'll be alright, you just need to calm down and we will tell you everything we can," she promised as he took the cup.
"Yeah, I don't expect that the Warrior of Darkness would be that impressed to hear that her husband is losing his mind for her sake," Alisaie said and he stared up at her in surprise.
"Alisaie… you know?" he asked as she shook her head with a bitterness he couldn't pinpoint the emotion for.
"They told me after we got here," she explained.
"She wouldn't stop demanding answers the whole way here so it was the only way we could get her to shut up," Thancred offered with a shadow of a smile. "The look on her face when she learned the truth…?"
"Well of course! If I had known that my sister-in-law was someone like that…? I wouldn't have been so suspicious of her when we first met," Alisaie countered with a huff and folded her arms with a pout that made her look like a child who was in time out. "That she was the infamous Warrior of Darkness? Running around Norvrandt at night helping people, fighting sin eaters and monsters, opposing Vauthry at every turn? If I had known about that I would have asked to join her! Oh, just thinking about how father would react if he heard this made me laugh. Not that there's anything funny about what's going on now…?"
"Where is she?" he asked again anxiously, looking around the room wildly as if hoping she would suddenly appear, but when she didn't, he repeated, "Where is she?"
He knew from the looks on their faces that something was horribly wrong. They all lowered their heads, unable to look him in the eyes, and he felt as if the ground had given away from underneath him. With trembling hands he grabbed Thancred by the shoulders, though still too exhausted to shake him as he asked once more, "Where is she? What happened?"
Thancred took a deep breath before seemingly forcing himself to look Alphinaud in the eyes and answered, "She's still alive. We need to take comfort in that."
"What do you mean by that?" he demanded, wanting answers now instead of dancing around the question.
"Alphinaud, you must calm down," Krile said bracingly, "Please sit down and we will explain everything that happened…?"
"First, I need to know where she is!" he answered back, "Please, what is going on?"
"She is being held in Eulmore castle for the time being," Y'shtola finally answered with a sad expression, "And Vauthry intends to hold her there until… her execution."
The moment he heard that last word, it was like he was underwater again. He felt both lost, scared, and confused all at once. He didn't know which way was up anymore nor could he breathe… just the thought of it was too alarming as the word 'execution' echoed in his mind like how it would across a great canyon.
"Vauthry declared that she is guilty of treason and therefore is to be sentenced to death," Thancred explained with the grinding of teeth. "He's trying to sell the story that the princess has gone mad and attacked him in his chambers without thought or provocation. Which, is complete nonsense, but you know how it is. For now, anyway, we know that she is alive but we aren't sure exactly where she's being kept. We were afraid that he would target the rest of us because of how close we are to her and so made a temporary retreat as we try to figure out what to do from here."
"No…" Alphinaud whispered in horror before collapsing in the nearest chair again, his mind still confused to all that was going on. "He… he can't…?"
"Calm yourself and let's try to avoid thinking of the worse," Krile said reassuringly. "Ryne was able to already tell us what happened. Apparently, they had just returned from playing in the snows before they were summoned up to a meeting with Vauthry."
She looked over to the girl, who nodded once and tugged her blanket a little tighter around her.
"Neither of us wished to, of course, but we had no choice but to see what uncle wanted this time," she muttered as Alphinaud stared at her as she twisted her hands in her lap. "But we didn't think it would be anything more than what he usually did… yell at us for 'disobeying' or not fulfilling our 'duties' as princesses, whatever that means."
"I don't think that he knows," Thancred grumbled as Ryne went on.
"As soon as we were brought before him, he demanded that we tell him all that we know of the Warrior of Darkness," she explained softly.
"And what did you both tell him?" Alphinaud asked.
"Nothing," she answered back. "We told him that we knew no more than what was common knowledge. But Ran'jit didn't like that. He started asking all manner of questions, demanding that we answer them. Every time that we refused to answer or come up with one that he didn't like…?"
"He would hurt you," Alisaie said and Ryne sniffled a little before nodding.
"Vauthry then tried all manner of methods to get us to talk," she explained nervously, "Reasoning, guilt, bribery… but the longer that it went on, the more suspicious that he seemed to grow. I… I don't know what gave it away, but I think that he did come to suspect that we did know something after all. Perhaps it was all the questions that Ran'jit asked but…?"
"We can see where this is going," Thancred sighed before patting the girl gently on the head. "Don't think too much about it. You did your best. And I know that Claire wouldn't blame you for doing all that you could. I'm just more upset about the meol that he had on standby just to try and force a change."
"Hurt?" Alphinaud asked in confusion as Thancred's hand left Ryne's head, his fingers letting her long hair slide right through them with a sad expression.
"But what did he do to you?" Alisaie said, reaching over and taking a lock of Ryne's now blonde hair to examine it herself. "What happened to cause you to change?"
"He forced her to consume light," Y'shtola answered and Ryne finally raised her head to look up, clearly surprised by the answer.
Alphinaud was confused as Y'shtola seemed torn about something before looking up to Thancred over Ryne's head, who gave a jerk of the head in agreement and Y'shtola took a deep breath to continue.
"To understand everything, we must look back to the journey of Venat, your distant ancestor," she explained to Ryne. "She was one known as the Traveler… and during her journeys she had saved countless lives, helping to solve many different problems that afflicted the realm."
"Yes, we all know that, the story of Venat is a legendary one," Alisaie countered, "And apparently Claire and Ryne happen to be related to her? But what does that have to do with what's going on now?"
"It's part of a legend that was passed down in Venat's line for centuries," Thancred spoke up grimly, "M-Minfilia spoke of it to me once. That all those who share a connection to Venat have a special affinity for light. But it was never something that we had to be worried about. When she was young, Minfilia came in contact with a large amount of light aspected aether and… well, it changed her."
"Changed her… how?" Krile asked worriedly but Thancred just shook his head, looking like the last thing he wanted to do was talk about it. But Y'shtola patted him on the shoulder before she finished for him.
"Minfilia was born a normal woman like any other, but about ten years, she was accidently exposed to powerful waves of light aether—which I am ashamed to admit was partially my fault," she sighed, a faint pink dusting her cheeks in embarrassment. "To explain simply, she was swept up in my Flow spell."
"Flow? I think I've heard of that spell from somewhere before…? It sounds familiar," Alisaie muttered as she tried to think back, but Alphinaud already knew the answer.
"That's because our teachers warned us about it," Alphinaud answered, "It is considered to be a very powerful teleportation spell. An ancient one if I'm not mistaken. I'm afraid I don't know much about it save for the fact that is considered to be a forbidden spell…?"
"With good reason," Y'shtola sighed with a nod to confirm his thoughts. "To traverse the Lifestream safely with spells such as Teleport and Return requires a great deal of aether to pull off successfully. While many individuals, such as adventurers, possess the fortitude to endure such travel often enough, some individuals do not. What's more, even if one has the ability to handle such spells, the frequency with which one can do also varies, meaning that the time used to case the spell can be long or not. Flow is an almost instant teleport, but it is far more dangerous for it sends one directly into the Lifestream and where one ends up… can be completely at random."
"So, you mean to say that should you use it and become unfortunate to become caught up in such a spell, you could be sent anywhere?" Krile summed up.
"And that is assuming that you are fortunate enough to escape the Lifetstream at all," Y'shtola nodded. "Half of those who attempt such a spell never are seen again, torn apart along the lifestream. That is why it is considered to be forbidden. To use one is not to be taken lightly and you are risking your life the moment that you make the attempt."
"And you cast such a spell?!" Alisaie demanded, unable to believe what she was hearing, "Whatever for? What could have been so important that you would risk your life like that?"
"To escape from a collapsing tunnel," Y'shtola answered back with a sour expression. As everyone but Thancred stared at her, she took a deep breath and explained, "It happened years ago… long before coming here to Norvrandt. Thancred, Minfilia, and myself were deep below the city of Ul'dah in Eorzea when it happened."
"Why were you there?" Alphinaud asked in surprise and Y'shtola looked away.
"We were young and we decided to explore those tunnels with Minfilia," she answered back grimly. "We were part of an organization known as the Circle of Knowing at the time and well…?"
She looked to Thancred, who looked down sadly before explaining, "Looking back, we barely knew what we were doing. We helped people out with various jobs, trying to make the world a better place. We were asked to help with exploring those tunnels for excavation purposes—to see if we could find any remains of Sil'dih—the ancient twin city to Ul'dah. There was so much we could learn down there… so many different paths and tunnels to take that they needed all the help they could get and so when we were asked, we could hardly refused."
"I don't remember any of this?" Ryne muttered in confusion.
"You were still just a babe at the time, not even three summers old yet," Thancred reassured her in a gentle way, "And you were with Minfilia's parents when this all happened so you weren't anywhere near us. Which is one blessing, I suppose. I don't think we could have forgiven ourselves if something happened to you if you were caught up in the flow."
"Anyway, the section of the tunnels we were exploring it were barely being held up, and through a series of events… the tunnels became weakened," Y'shtola went on, "I won't bore you exactly with the details, only that I could see the walls starting to break apart and there was little hope of escaping before the tunnel fell around our heads."
"So you had no choice but to use the spell to try and get the others to safety?" Alisaie asked and Y'shtola nodded.
"Correct," she confirmed. "Moments before the tunnels collapsed… I used Flow in the hopes that I could spirit Thancred and Minfilia away at least. But I ended up being swept up in it as well… where I would eventually find myself emerging in the frozen lands of Coerthas."
"Where you and Claire met?" Alphinaud whispered, remembering what she said about meeting Y'shtola while she was still in Ishgard.
"More or less," she confirmed, "It was around there that my master found me wandering the wilderness, barely alive, and brought me to her home, or I guess I should say cave, and nursed me back to health. Though I know she would deny it… I think she was impressed by my gusto on using such a spell but was angry that I would risk myself in such a way. Something about the youth of today being too impatient or some such. Anyway, in time, after I recovered, she eventually agreed to take me under her wing. Though it took no small amount of effort to win her over, I'll tell you that. Anyway, during my many lessons, she would often send me out to collect ingredients… and one day I happened to meet Claire, where we became fast friends."
"And you were there until Claire was taken off to Eulmore?" Alphinaud asked.
Y'shtola nodded before explaining, "I couldn't let her go off alone, especially after learning that Ryne would be forced to go as well. After emerging from the Lifestream, I fear that it has cost me dearly such as in terms of my sight." She waved her fingers over her blank eyes as she acknowledged, "I cannot 'see' like how you can anymore. I can see by sensing the aether around me, so it's more like I can see the colors of aether, which tell me where everything is. Though it took a lot of getting used to, I fear that I got off lightly compared to what happened to Thancred and Minfilia."
"Why? What happened?" Ryne asked in worry, glancing to Thancred, who looked even more miserable than ever.
"You remember when Y'shtola was first teaching you how to use healing magic? You asked me if I could help with tutoring you? Do you remember how I explained that I am incapable of using any spells because of an incident in my youth?" he asked her. When she nodded, her strange blue eyes widening in understanding as he answered, "I'm afraid that was the side effect of being in the Lifestream for as long as I was. I was able to escape… eventually. But, I'm afraid that whatever Flow did to me caused my aether to become messed up to the point that I can't use even the most basic of spells. Not that I relied upon them all that much to begin with…? But it can be a pain. It's why I don't use any magic when I fight, but also the reason why I have you imbued my ammunitions for me. Because I am unable to."
"I'm sorry, Thancred," Y'shtola muttered sadly.
But Thancred shook his head, reassuring her, "Don't be. I know that if you didn't use that spell then we would have died for sure. While I wouldn't minded on having two lovely ladies at my side for all eternity… I think I speak for all of us that I'm happy that it didn't turn out that way."
Thancred then pulled out his flash and took a long sip of it before pulling up a random chair to rejoin them at the table as Alphinaud asked, "What happened to Minfilia?"
"She was sent adrift within the Aetherial Sea," Thancred muttered so quietly that they almost couldn't hear him. "She was eventually able to find her way out and returned to Ul'dah after a time… but the problem is that she was infused with a vast amount of Light. So much so that when we did finally meet up with her again she was… barely recognizable."
"I don't like how you said that," Alisaie said as concern became plain on her face. "When you say 'barely recognizable'…?"
"It's difficult to describe, but she was more… goddess I suppose than mortal," Thancred muttered, "No, maybe not goddess. Perhaps more spirit than mortal? I don't know how to exactly describe it. But the point I'm trying to make here is that whatever happened while she was trapped in the Aetherial Sea made her something else. She could see things that the rest of us couldn't, she knew things that would be impossible… it was… a difficult time for everyone to see her like that."
He lowered his own head as Ryne reached over and took his hand, her smaller one giving his a tight squeeze that Alphinaud could see Thancred trembling slightly.
"The light certainly did a lot of damage to her, but also granted her unusual powers. She could even control light to a certain degree," Y'sthola went on more business-like. "Though she was still a dear friend, there was no doubt in our minds that she had changed and maybe not necessary in a good one. She was able to help a lot more people afterwards, but the light had done a lot of damage to her body to such a point that it significantly shortened her lifespan. Which was ultimately what killed her. The fact that she became so powerful and didn't end up transforming into a sin eater afterwards was nothing short of miraculous. It was from that incident that we have come to believe that those who have a connection to Venat have a powerful tolerance to light. Therefore, only someone with this quality could access the Mothercrystal if it turns out that it is within the Aetherial Sea."
"So that's why he was after these Ryne and Claire? He thought that he could use one of them to find access to the Mothercrystal?" Alphinaud asked. "Just what is this Mothercrystal anyway?"
"Long ago, it was said that Venat waged war against a powerful being known as Zodiark," Y'shtola answered, "By doing so, she collected light from all over and used it in her battle—eventually joining together to create a towering crystal filled with both light and power. Legend has it that the Mothercrystal is still out there but where, no one knows… though it seems that Vauthry is convinced that it's somewhere in the Aetherial Sea… which makes sense."
"Also according the legend, only one who carries Venat's legacy can freely access the Mothercrystal, wherever it may be," Thancred stated after that, "How to do that, we don't have any idea. Minfilia certainly didn't and as far as we know, Claire's family didn't have any idea of its location either. But it seems that Vauthry was quite convinced that he could find it. So he set out to hunt down those few living survivors and that's how these two ended up here… which you know the rest."
"Is that why he brought them both here? In the hopes that they could awaken to this potential and use them to locate the Mothercrystal?" Krile asked in awe.
"That's what we believe," Thancred confirmed bitterly. "But it seems that he has finally grown tired of waiting and is now trying to force the outcome that he wants. I'm guessing that by forcing one of them to swallow light, which is what meol basically is, he could have any dormant powers awaken and see what he could truly do with them. But now that he knows that Claire is the Warrior of Darkness, he has made it his mission to have her taken care of… and with her out of the picture, that would leave only Ryne as his one last chance to access the Aetheral Sea and locate his prize. Which is why he's sending his army all over Kholusia to try and find her."
"So all of this for something like that?!" Alphinaud demanded, slamming his fists on the table, causing the pitcher to rattle and his blanket to fall to the floor, "He's brought all of this suffering for what? For part of a legend that may or may not exist? And even if he does gain access to the Mothercrystal, what does he intend to use it for?!"
But no one could answer, which only made him angrier, his hands curling up into fists with self-loathing.
"Can't say that I understand what goes on inside that pea-sized brain of his and I can't say that I'm eager to find out. What I do know is that, for some reason, he seemed to think that exposing Ryne to light was the key to it?" Thancred said as he ran his hand over Ryne's golden locks again sadly before turning to Y'shtola, asking, "Is there anything we can do to fix this?"
Y'shtola frowned as she thought it all over before saying reassuringly, "She was force to consume only a small portion of light. This isn't like what happened with Minfilia who was overexposed to a vast quantity of light for a prolonged period. I do think that Ryne's hair and eyes should return to normal in due time. But we will have to make sure that she doesn't go anywhere near light-aspected aether again until her body fully recovers. Such light shortened Minfilia's lifespan drastically and weakened her in body even if her spirit grew stronger from it—which is ultimately what led to her death. We don't know the full side effects that their light tolerance could gain or suffer from… so it's still dangerous for Ryne in this state. But so long as we are careful, I see no reason why she won't recover naturally."
"Thank goodness," Ryne sighed in relief as she leaned her head against Thancred's shoulder, whose face grew surprisingly gentle and he wrapped a protective arm around the younger girl.
"That's good to hear. I hate to say it, Ryne… but I can't say that blonde suits you. I think our little carrot-top is much better as a redhead," Thancred teased and she gave him a wavering smile.
Y'shtola smiled as well but it quickly faded as she folded her arms and went on, "With that worry laid to rest for the time being, we must direct our attention to our next most pressing matter. Which is that our friend is now being held somewhere and awaiting her execution. I think it goes without saying that we will have to find some way to rescue her before it gets that far."
"When is the execution to take place?" Alphinaud asked quickly.
"At the end of the week, nearly five days from now," Krile answered back.
"That's another thing I don't understand! Why is he waiting!?" Alisaie said with a frown, "I mean, Vauthry was all set upon killing the Warrior of Darkness up until now, so why wait? Why not just get it over with?"
"Because he doesn't want to risk something happening without Ran'jit there," Y'shtola answered grimly.
"You mean…?" Alphinaud asked slowly, thinking of the old man with hate.
"Word has it that Ran'jit suffered a grievous wound recently and will be out of commission for a time," Y'shtola explained. "At least, according to some of the guards who arrived after the balcony broke apart, they were greeted to a vicious battle between the two."
"Seems our girl was able to hold her own against Ran'jit—even giving the bastard another scar or two… but then, Vauthry managed to get her under control long enough with the collar for Ran'jit to subdue her," Thancred finished, letting the front legs of his chair hit the floor with a clatter. "Vauthry was heard screaming for an execution right away but had wanted to do so with a crowd watching. Since he probably doesn't want to risk being attacked without his guard dog there, he's willing to wait. He wants to make an example out of her public death."
"Basically saying that not even your greatest champion is a match for me, so give up and obey," Krile stated in understanding.
"More or less," Y'shtola said bitterly.
"But she's still alive though," Ryne said urgently, "We have to rescue her! I can't bear the thought of her trapped in one of those awful cells."
"I think that we're all in agreement on that, Ryne, but first we need to plan this out," Thancred said firmly, "Chances are that she's being held in the underground gaol, but it's like a maze down there. We have to be careful if we want to get to her in time. I don't think that it's going to be nearly as easy as pulling you both out of the ocean."
"How did you know to rescue us?" Alphinaud asked him, his mind finally clearing to a point that he could thick rationally.
"It wasn't exactly subtle," he answered back with a shrug and half a laugh on his lips. "When I learned that Ran'jit had collected the girls, I had a bad feeling about it and snuck onto the roof to try and see if I could get close enough to find out what was going on. But no sooner did I get there did I hear the sounds of fighting… and the three of you out of the balcony…?"
"Well, she certainly did her job well," Alisaie agreed in an impressed way, "Upon hearing the commotion, I looked out to see the balcony falling apart and was already heading there before Y'shtola stopped me, calling for Thancred over the linkpearl—though he already jumped in after you two."
"Oh, that was probably why she made such a show of it, she was trying to get our attention so that we would know to rescue you both," Krile said in understanding as she shook her head, "I swear I could hear her yelling from the library, which is impressive with such a quiet voice."
"Not that I'm not grateful for her quick-thinking… but why didn't she also free herself if she had all that time?" Alisaie asked, "Ryne told us how she got the collars off but she didn't free herself?"
"Vauthry only had the two devices for us," Ryne reminded them with a tremble in her lip. "When he was questioning us, he pulled them out of his pocket and showed them off—explaining that they were the keys to our collars but could only be used once. He tried to tempt us by saying that he would free us if we were to tell him all that we knew of the Warrior of Darkness. But we knew that he was only saying that to try and trick us."
Ah, now it all made sense to Alphinaud. So that was how she knew to go straight for that sash he was wearing… she must have been planning to go straight for that the second she realized that the keys to their freedom were in sight.
"Of course, he had no intention of actually freeing you, but he had to at least make it sound convincing," Krile agreed.
"So we would have to find the third key to free her as well," Alphinaud said in a bitter tone.
"Not necessarily," Y'shtola said and they all looked to her as she explained, "Remember our friend in the Crystarium? He recently sent word that they've almost finished the prototype. Upon hearing that there is to be an execution, he has his craftsmen working overtime to finish it as quickly as possible. They had planned to test it out first safely before trying it on an actual person, but I think that this may be our best chance. After we break into the gaol to free her, we need to get that collar off to ensure that Vauthry no longer has control over her before leaving Kholusia. Even if it hurts her, I think that this is a chance that she would be willing to take."
Alphinaud had forgotten about that part of their original plan! If that was true then they could still pull this off and he knew that she would be willing to risk any amount of pain or harm that could come from using this device if it meant gaining her freedom. But he was so full of worry that it was like he was about to be physically ill. How were they going to do this? Good for them that the others seemed to have given this plenty of thought and were already forming a plan.
"With that in mind, this means we have five days to stage a rescue," Y'shtola nodded, "So we best have a plan in mind before then."
"But where will we go after?" Ryne asked quickly, "The Crystarium?"
"No, I don't think that will work," Thancred countered with a shake of his head. "Vauthry will no doubt suspect that is where we will go, given how well we've gotten along with the Exarch in the past. While I think that G'raha would only be too happy to support us, I rather not risk bringing a war to his city."
"Then what about Sharlayan?" Alisaie suggested, "It's far out of their reach, and we can rest and recover there while deciding upon our next course of action."
"We would need a ship to be ready to go by then," Alphinaud pointed out, knowing that the journey was sure to take a few days even with fair weather. "And they do check all people who disembark at the ports…?"
"That will be tricky, but we can make due," Thancred said without much worry, "You both and Krile should have no problems being welcomed back into the city. The rest of us can always make a distraction and sneak off the boat ourselves if we have to and just have a place to lay low… we could make this work."
"Right then, let us discuss this in more details once we have more information," Y'shtola said as she clapped her hands together. "Alisaie? We shall leave Alphinaud and Ryne in your care while we get to work. Thancred, you see what you can learn back at the palace, if you find any information, be sure to share it with us as quickly as you can."
"No problem, and with Ran'jit temporarily out of the picture, it should make my job easier," he agreed. "Finding out where Claire's being held is the most important part here and you can leave that to me. Especially since we still have a lot of guards and members of Vauthry's army on our side. Hopefully, it shouldn't be too difficult to track her down."
Y'shtola nodded in agreement before thinking more over.
"In the meantime, I shall reach out to all our friends and allies, seeing if we can call in a few favors to help liberate her," she added with a thoughtful expression. "Perhaps Urianger may be able to lend us a hand with some of the tricks he's learned from the pixies in Il Mheg? We will also have to be ready to flee Kholusia as quickly as possible once she's in our care. We must also send word to our allies back at the castle like Tataru. Even if they aren't able to escape with us right away, we can't just abandon them there. This will be able to give them time to figure out their next course of action as well."
"You can leave that to me," Krile reassured them. "I've grown quite close to Tataru in the short time I've been here and I'm confident I can send a message to her."
"Ok, but what do we do after we find out where she's being held?" Alisaie asked them next. "It's not like we can form a rescue party and go charging in… can we? I mean, if that's the best course of action then I'm all for that plan."
"That all depends on what's waiting for us," Y'shtola reassured her, "The last thing that she would want is for us to risk our lives for her sake, but she doesn't have a say in the matter this time. Once we know for sure where she is then we can formulate a plan on the best way to get her out as well as escape from the isle. I do think that going to Sharlayan may be our best option for now, but we will have to be careful should we decide on that course, for I would hate to cause problems for other nations simply because of our presence."
"How do you think we could rescue her?" Alphinaud asked urgently.
Y'shtola gave him a piteous look before explaining, "Again, that depends on where she's located for now. But more than likely we will have to pull a team together to be able to infiltrate…?"
"I want to be part of the rescue team then," he said with certainty as they looked to him.
"I know that you're up and eager to help out, which I am normally all in for, but this is going to be dangerous for all of us. And, no offense, but from what I heard, Alphinaud, you took quite a beating from Ran'jit," Thancred reminded him, causing Alphinaud to flinch at the painful memory.
"I don't care! I have to help! I could never forgive myself it I did nothing and she was in danger!" he cried, looking at them all desperately.
"Listen, first thing's first—you need to rest and recover from your injuries," Thancred said firmly. "Should you feel up for it by the time we learn more, we'll talk about it but…?"
"No! I don't care if I'm injured! I'm going! She's my wife and I think I have some say in helping to save her life! Please, she means the world to me now and I couldn't live with myself if I just stood back and did nothing while letting all of you do the work for me!" he yelled, standing up again, glaring fiercely at them all.
Thancred was the only one who remained with giving him eye contact, looking at him firmly as he folded his arms, observing him quietly as if trying to see some kind of crack in his shell.
He then asked, "You do understand the risks involved? You know that this is dangerous and that we may have to face down Ran'jit again should he be there? After the beating you took from him before, do you think you will be able to stand against him again?"
Alphinaud nodded once with a firm determination that actually caused Thancred to smile slightly. He then clapped him on the shoulder, telling him, "Good man. Guess I don't need to worry about our girl staying married to you after all. Now let's hurry up and plan this out. She doesn't do nearly as good as a damsel in distress as in the old fairytales. In fact, she's normally about the furthest thing from a damsel in distress… you expect her to be the prince coming to the rescue… if not the crazy wizard who imprisoned the princess…?"
Alisaie laughed at that as Alphinaud allowed himself to be taken back to bed, putting his brain to work on the different strategies that could be used for their upcoming missing. They were coming for her, and they weren't going to leave these lands without her, he would make sure of that.
(She lives! She yet lives! Of course she lives, it would be pretty anticlimactic if the leading lady dies already! But time is not on their side right now and so they have to work fast. Not as exciting but I hope that this helped to answer some questions, but there are still more waiting and we are going to be getting our answers before the end. Also, I just want to wish FFXIV a very happy 10th Anniversary! Here's to hoping for another ten more at the least! Take care all and next chapter we will look more into the rescue!)