AN: I am so sorry for the delay between the previous chapter and this one. Life has just been a fair bit hectic for me between work and home, and trying to keep myself from stressing via my Gunpla, but now I am back! This chapter may be a bit rough, and may be edited when my beta readers get around to looking it over.
Now, take the time and enjoy the chapter! Oh, and as a reminder, I do not own Rising of the Shield Hero, nor Final Fantasy XIV. I am just playing in their sandbox.
Valina groaned as she sat up in bed, rubbing the back of her neck as the pounding in her head seemed to get worse. It had been quite the night even after she retired to bed as nightmares beset upon her mixing her old reality with her new, watching her husband slowly fading away and her body twisting and changing. Tortured to see all that work of fixing her body, slowly stripped away to bring about the wrong form. Several times the Spear Hero had awoken with a start, heart pounding in her chest and each breath being a struggle just to hold onto, until the gentle touch of Larissa helped to calm her each time and ease her back to sleep.
Valina groaned as she rubbed at her temples to fight off the building headache pulsing there, sunlight slowly coming into the room and attempting to shine into her eyes despite the hand that was in the way. With a growl of frustration she dragged herself out of bed and into the small lavatory to wake herself up and try to abolish the throbbing pain. When she came out fully dressed ten minutes later it was to see that Larissa was starting to rouse herself as the brightening sun brought more light into the room, making it impossible for either of them to even think about going back to sleep.
"I guess that we may as well get this day started," Valina grumbled, glaring at the spear that had refused to leave her side and teleported itself into the lavatory with her, "I do think that we should give the interviews a break for today, and instead focus on getting ourselves some equipment and levels."
"That sounds like a good idea. Should we take Naofumi with us for the shopping? I would hate to leave him all alone…" Larissa suggested, passing by the Spear Hero on her way to the small room that had just been vacated by her.
"Yeah, I don't like the idea of abandoning him while the other two are off training with their full parties," Valina said with a sigh and shake of her head.
The pair would finish getting themselves ready for the day, Larissa assisting the Spear Hero with some light makeup that made her feel a lot more like herself, before heading out to meet up with Rojeel and Naofumi who had bunked together to save on money. A hearty breakfast and discussion of their plans for the day followed, with Valina adding in questions about anything that could work as a replacement for the ADHD meds that she no longer had access to. That then led to the Heroes discussing the difference between various medications and drugs of their respective worlds, though the both of them ending up shocked at Larissa being able to keep up with them and helping to figure out what could work in their current world to possibly replicate anything that the pair needed to work with.
Conversation slowed down quite a bit when they finally arrived at their first stop of the day, and one that Valina had been quite looking forward to as it would allow her to show off a bit. A small bell sounded as the young woman opened the door and looked about at all the gowns and dresses that were on display, her eyes gleaming with excitement and joy. Even just reaching out to touch the fabric of some of the dresses, relishing in the feeling of soft silk upon her fingers, was enough to bring a bright smile to her face. She would finally start to feel more like her proper self, soon enough.
"Hello, and welcome to my shop! I'll be with you in just a moment!" came a voice from deeper in the shop.
"No need to rush," Valina replied, moving deeper into the store, "It gives me more time to look around and get acquainted with the fashion of the land."
Just a couple of minutes later and a short young woman with light brown hair held back in a simple ponytail and a pair of simple half-rimmed glasses. Everything about this woman screamed 'simple' to Valina as she looked her up and down, but at the same time she got a sense of how serious that this woman took her trade. Naofumi said something behind her about an 'otaku vibe', drawing a small giggle from the woman as she could picture the shorter woman as such if she had been in their world. The Spear Hero took a deep breath before coming out from the displays to stand before her, hands on her hips and a smile on her face.
"Sorry about that," the young woman said, her gaze going up and down those gathered in her store, "So, what brings the four of you into my simple shop, today?"
"I'm looking to get myself a couple of outfits for a variety of occasions," Valina said, pulling out her pouch of coins while leaning her spear against a counter, "Travel, simple social gatherings, and one or two fitting for meeting with nobles. They also need to be sturdy, well padded to protect me, and able to flow as I move in combat."
The tailor frowned as she focused her scrutinizing gaze on Valina with hands on her hips and a gleam in her eyes, a very calculating look that took in every detail and exact measure. It had her shuddering at the intensity of that look, rubbing at her arms as though a sudden chill had come over the Spear Hero. Then that gaze lightened up and a smile crossed the tailor's face, a sparkle surrounding her like a shiny Pokemon sent out from their Pokeball, and an air of very palpable excitement.
"I have been looking for a way to challenge myself, and a woman like you…" she said, the gleam in her eyes getting brighter and stronger, "I will take this on, but only on the condition that I, Alice, am the only tailor that you go to from now on!"
"That sounds reasonable, so long as you are willing to also work with whatever blacksmith that I go to for my armor," Valina countered, holding out a hand towards the woman.
And just like that, the pair of them struck up a deal as a pair of otaku women with strong goals ahead of them. But as Valina stepped back she ended up tripping over her spear, sending her sprawling onto the ground and coins flying from their pouch… to land on the gem of her spear. A notification popped up in Valina's HUD that said, Treasury Spear Unlocked [Account: 5 Silver]. A smirk slowly grew across her face as she began pouring the rest of her coins into the gem, ignoring the astonished looks that the others were giving her, until it read; Treasury Spear [Account: 685 Silver]. And just like that, Valina had solved one of the major issues of traveling with a lot of money on her person, hoping that the other Heroes would follow her lead in doing the same when they were all informed of the process… which she quickly began doing using the friend system that she had managed to establish.
"Why did that have to take so long?" Rojeel grumbled as the four were finally leaving Alice's shop several hours later.
"And why did you have to drag the two of us into the whole deal?" Naofumi added, tugging at the collar of his new padded coat, "And you really should be saving up some of your funds for yourself instead of splurging on us all."
Valina just hummed as she skipped alongside Larissa, the pair of them in matching outfits that had just been made for them. A blouse of vibrant emerald green Magic silk that hugged their curves while also providing the illusion of the Spear Hero's missing curves, embroidered with roses of silver along the hem and collar to help keep the eyes flowing along, while the sheer sleeves seemed to almost shimmer and sparkle in the light as they went. Paired with a simple yet elegant flowing black skirt and short heels, the two women were drawing a lot of attention that had the men nervous and ready to jump at a moment's notice.
"It is no use, Naofumi," Rojeel said with a shake of his head, "I have learned from experience that when a woman is set upon her path, it is best just to steer them clear from danger. Especially with this being a matriarchal kingdom."
"Wait, this place is a matriarchy?" Valina asked as she suddenly stopped in the middle of the street, Larissa nearly falling on her face at the sudden pause, "Because if that is the case, then why is it that we have been dealing with the King instead of the Queen?"
"Because the Queen is currently out of the country, in talks with the other nations about the Waves," Larissa said with a sigh, "And honestly, she is likely having to put out fires with the other nations after hearing that all four Cardinal Heroes were summoned here, instead of being spread out to deal with the Waves everywhere."
"So, the King took advantage of the wife being away to summon all four of us and… wait…." Valina frowned as a number of things started coming together in her mind, "Later tonight, there is something that we must discuss behind closed doors. A topic that is best not disclosed out in the open."
The other three nodded, the Spear Hero seeing the turning of gears in their eyes as each started putting together various pieces they had with what had just been discussed. The idea that the King would go behind the back of his Queen and risk the peace between nations, something seemed off and pieces missing in this entire thing. Pieces that it seemed she would need to look into while working to save the world from these Waves that were threatening the world. And there were many things about that which also did not make much sense to Valina as well, many pieces that just felt out of place or lacking in information that was not clicking in her mind. Why were she and Naofumi summoned after reading a book about the Cardinal Heroes while Itsuki and Ren had no knowledge of such a thing, but instead had a pair of vastly different video games that were linked to the world?
"I wish that there was a way for us to get in contact with the Queen," Valina muttered with a sigh.
"That just may be possible, I daresay," came a voice from just behind the Spear Hero, causing her to spin around.
Standing there was a very unassuming woman clad in clothes that were a little too simple and common, her very figure having many signs to Valina that there was more to this woman than could be seen. She could swear that there was even some kind of shimmer around her, something that could possibly be passed up as a trick of the light but she was quite sure was something more. But the biggest thing that stood out to her was the way that this woman carried herself, the sure stance and set of her shoulders, how she distributed her weight, even the way that her feet were placed. This was a person who had much to hide.
"Just who are you?" Naofumi demanded, his voice almost sounding like a growl which unnerved Valina.
"To use the words of your friend, 'a topic that is best not disclosed out in the open,' I daresay," was the woman's response as she walked past the group, Valina taking note of something being slipped into her hand with a subtle nod, "You will find that I can be most helpful in the future, I daresay."
"That's not an answer," Rojeel noted with a frown.
But they would not be getting an answer anytime soon, as the woman had managed to slip into and blend in with the crowd with how plain that she was. Valina shook her head with a sigh, running a hand through her hair as many new questions began running through her mind. But that was not for them at this time.
That night found Valina sitting on her own back in the same Inn as before, savoring a simple stew as her thoughts ran rampant once again. After meeting the blacksmith Erhard, the four of them had split up with Rojeel leading Naofumi off on a side venture while Larissa went to gather a few materials that would be required to experiment in trying to recreate some of the medications that Valina required. This had the unintended side effect of having left Valina on her own with no plans and no idea of how to keep her ADHD occupied lest she go mad with boredom. So she went back to the arena where the interviews had taken place and spent several hours there refining her fighting style.
The Spear Hero had the entire arena to herself, which was something of a small relief to her as the young woman began with some light stretches before running laps around. It didn't take long for her to realize that the stamina issues she had dealt with for much of her life were no longer much of an issue, easily running a solid half hour straight without ending up doubled over as was the norm for her back home. Instead, Valina felt a surge of energy rushing through her as she finished by moving into the center of the arena and taking up a stance that she knew quite well having seen it from multiple characters in Final Fantasy XIV, including one or two of her own.
Left foot forward, right foot back and pointed along the shaft of the spear. Right hand near the base, holding tight. Left hand loosely holding just below the blade, more to act as a guide than to add any power to the thrusts. Valina held this basic stance for a solid minute, making minute adjustments as she felt how her muscles pulled and tensed. It was actually kind of relaxing in a way, allowing her ADHD to hyperfixate upon every tiny detail before moving onto the next.
Finally satisfied with her basic stance, Valina took a deep breath before giving a very simple thrust forward. As her right foot slid forwards to follow through with the same hand, she began to subtly shift her weight to add more power into the thrust as a small "Hyah!" escaped her lips before quickly shifting back into her original ready stance. But then came the first mistake as the three inch heel of Valina's new shoes bit into the packed dirt of the floor, throwing off her balance and nearly sending her sprawling onto her face. She managed to recover with a small shift of her feet and by using her spear to catch herself, but already Valina could feel heat rising to her cheeks from blushing.
That one mistake was just a minor setback, and the Spear Hero would not allow that to hold her back from mastering this weapon. So she reset her stance and tried again, finding more success in the second strike and retreat as she adapted for how the heels took her weight. Once she had that down, Valina began adding in additional strikes per move and ways to weave the spear around potential counters other weapons could make supplied by her vivid imagination.
A greatsword swung down to cut her in half, so she deftly stepped to the side while sending her spear up along the flat of the larger blade. A pair of daggers thrown towards her face that she quickly spun to avoid, her skirt flowing like the rippling waves of a calm sea just after a storm. A pair of longswords from two different opponents, one before her and the other off to her side, led the Spear Hero to change tactics. She flicked her spear up with her left hand to smack away the lead sword off to the side, moving forward as she did so to narrowly avoid the strike from her side. But that would cost her in the end, as the sword twisted to strike her in the back and end her.
Or at least, that was what Valina was imagining as she went through the motions of her imaginative sparring, each opponent just an image conjured up by the mind of an author for her to try and figure out how to fight without becoming a Floor Tank. This last set had managed to point out two things which troubled the young woman as she set herself back into her ready stance, spear held a little tighter in her left hand than before. Her ADHD seemed to be both good and bad for her fighting capabilities, as the hyperactivity kept the young woman on her toes and reacting quickly to changes and flow in combat. But the downside was her hyper focusing on a single opponent, a sort of tunnel vision blinding Valina to sudden threats out of nowhere.
After a few minutes of holding her ready pose and allowing her body to shift and bounce, Valina suddenly launched herself forwards with an intense lunge that had her practically flying across the arena. That powerful burst of motion had the Spear Hero shocked and confused as she barely managed to keep herself from tripping over herself, only coming to a halt by managing to turn herself and plant one foot against the wall just as she reached it with the other digging into the ground. She looked out across the arena with wide eyes, staring at the slight groove that was left in the wake of her traversing such a distance with as much force as she had.
"Holy fucking shit!" Valina exclaimed, slowly lowering her foot to the ground, "How the fuck did I just do that!?"
A wave of her hand brought up Valina's stats once more, her eyes widening at how much the numbers had changed from what they were when she saw them but a few days ago. Her General Magic had actually gone down a few point while her agility had somehow managed to pick up that loss and then some as it was now a ten. It was quite confusing to see that there had been so much change in so little time, until she noticed that there were some numbers coming from her outfit. A sigh and shake of her head had the young woman dismissing her stat screen before moving back to the center of the arena, the clicking of her heels managing to calm her mind somewhat to allow proper thinking and to contemplate just what this could mean for the future a she picked up more and new equipment.
Suddenly Valina's mind was pulled back to the present in the Inn as a platter of food was set down in the middle of the middle of the table, drawing her attention to the fact that Naofumi and Rojeel had at some point joined her. And judging by the smirks on their faces, it had been white a while ago that they had done so. Feeling the heat rising to her cheeks and she blushed a deep red, the Spear Hero attempted to come up with something that could distract the men from her embarrassed state of distraction but could come up with nothing.
"Fuck you," she muttered, scooping up some of her stew to frown at it as it had become quite cold.
"Now, is that any way for a lady to speak? What would your husband say if he heard you speaking in such a manner?" Rojeel countered with a boisterous laugh, but that would slowly die down as he took notice of the look that came across her face. "Sorry."
Valina just shook her head and wiped away the lone tear that had started down her face, smiling softly despite the pang of depression at the reminder of what she had been taken away from. She would get through this and show her worth, without falling apart or letting her emotions controll her and - wait, now the looks on the men were quite serious as they looked between themselves before leaning forward across the table.
"Val, we need to talk," Rojeel spoke up with a sigh, elbows on the table and hands clasped beneath his chin, "And I don't just mean about whatever it is that you have figured out. Tonight… we need to get you and Naofumi to a certain tent, to get our final member and at least one for the Shield."
Valina nodded slowly and took a leg of some kind of poultry to bite into, knowing exactly what it was that her tank was talking about. It seemed that while she had been off training, the pair of them had tracked down someone peddling in slaves. And as much as it was a burden on her heart to rely on such a thing, she swore that whoever she ended up getting would be treated like a proper person and not some object that she owned.
"Tonight, then, as soon as Larissa returns and dinner is finished."
And that was all that needed to be said.
AN: And here it is, I hope that you all like what I have for you all! I am sure that you can all see where a lot more of the XIV aspects are coming in, and there will be more showing up as we go further along. Things are progressing a bit slowly, yes, I am trying to draw out as much as I can for each episode until we finally get to the first Wave. Until that happy day, though... enjoy!