Chapter 4
Notes: Titled "Transition" | Please note: replaying this portion of the game as of June 19th, 2024. This chapter was originally published January 2nd, 2024 and, as the previous chapters have been updated/added/tweaked as I've been playing, this chapter is all sorts of rough. As the title states, it is simply the transition from Heavensward to Shadowbringers. Replaying Stormblood may or may not add context but it will change the flow of this chapter at some point that is still to be determined. Thank you for your patience and grace with its choppiness.
He wasn't sure if he was disappointed or unsurprised when Nidhogg took over Estinien's body. He probably should have been frustrated but the hollowness that had followed Haurchefant's death still held fast despite his best efforts to counteract it which meant it had fallen to Alphinaud to try and find a way to save the Dragoon. Hraesvelgr's eye made quick work of that hollowness, filling it with the surge of power it briefly bestowed upon him. It left him feeling raw and oddly giddy but it finally allowed him the countenance to be properly present for the last of it.
He made sure Alphinaud didn't spend every waking moment at Estinien's side. Not alone, at least, if he could manage. It was far from enough to make up for his lack of being there for Alphinaud sooner but it was at least a start.
Peace never seemed to last whenever they got it. There were good things that happened, like Nanamo's death turning out to be faked because of another man's interference and the contest between Ishgard and the rest of the Eorzean Alliance bolstering moral and deepening bonds. But they never seemed to quite counter the bad things.
From Warriors of Darkness to a Primal being summoned within Garlean territory and Papalymo's subsequent death, there seemed to be no sign of the fighting stopping. Between Gyr Abania and Othard, he found himself half wishing for that numbness to return, even if only fleetingly, - Zenos he could have done without, period - but he could appreciate the small moments littered within the chaos of war that made the lack of numbness mostly worth it. There was just so much. How he was managing to eat through it all was beyond him.
And then Thancred collapsed.
Whatever was reaching out to the Scions of the Seventh Dawn was dropping them fast and hard. After Thancred, Y'shtola and Urianger collapsed and he couldn't blame Alisaie for her growing fear, especially not when Alphinaud was returned to them in the same comatose state shortly thereafter.
After Alisaie collapsed, it was only a matter of time before he did too, and doing so at the peak of conflict with the Garlean Empire was not the most ideal time to do so. With both sides holding fast, he followed through with the voice pestering him - what gate? - and quickly found himself deposited onto a world being swallowed by Light.
The First was certainly in a sorry state. Beyond the Light still threatening the people, the populations that remained were barely managing in some areas. He didn't trust the Crystal Exarch. Granted, he understood the urgency but it was hard to truly tell what was truth and what was lie after everything he had been through.
The Exarch encouraging him to seek out his friends first certainly helped ease that distrust, as did the man's hospitality.