Fandom Final Fantasy: The Age of Ophiuchus [Closed]

[Lucyfer]

Didymus didn’t soften his gaze at Jagger’s outburst. ‘Yes, you!’ he wanted to say, but he let her bite her thumb and mull over it, the anxious energy obvious to him. Not that he blamed her. He was asking her to do something that would be suicidal for him to do, he knew it wasn’t much better for her. Oleander wouldn’t take kindly to any suggestion Zariel was lying to him.

Didymus did snort at her comment for how things boded. “Yeah….,” the others might come on board, but Reva and Cleon? No, that’d be…difficult. He thought maybe he could still talk to Kikiti. Maybe, he could find a way to reach her, and that’s why he knew he had to get to her parents.

Not only to find out how to reach Kikiti, but to make sure they were okay.

To send Kikiti a message, on their behalf, too.

And Jagger agreed. Didymus let out a relieved sigh, “I know what I’m asking,” he wasn’t ignorant, “so maybe uh, don’t tell him where I am.” He knew Jagger was going to tell Oleander he was the source, if only to back up the bit about Zariel being dead, because Didymus saw her die. “And uh, if he really doesn’t believe you, just tell him to go throw a potion on Zariel. She has a wound that doesn’t heal. Prett sure it’ll open it right up.”

And that was a clear sign of undeath.

“Because he’s probably gonna fight you on this. Hopefully not – not literally.” Although he figured they both knew that wasn’t out of the question with anyone slandering Zariel, even if it was Jagger.

‘And yet she’s lying to him.’

He’d go to the ends of the world for her, and this was how Zariel repaid him.

Didymus didn’t get it, and yet, he did.

In a way, he still felt an undying loyalty to his dead sister he never met. His sister now in the form of Garuda. “I’ll leave you to it. I’ve…got some things to do, still, you know,” he gave a quick smile, that fled from his lips just as it hit them. “Trying to save all our asses.” In ways Zariel couldn’t, or wouldn’t.

Really, why didn’t she just send moogle messages?

“Um. Catch up with you after? I’ll make your favorite dessert.”

 

[Arcanist]

“Like I’d do that,” Jagger reassured him about not revealing Didymus’s location, though, she did wonder if Oleander would storm out and search for the thief himself. That was why she was there, to muffle the blow and bar the way to Diddy. And maybe because he’d believe her. She nodded. “Alright, I’ll tell him that, if he doesn’t believe me...” If he didn’t kill her first.

Why the hell hadn’t she seen it before? She didn’t look good at all in that temple, certainly not in the mist.Jagger still thought this was all a terrible idea, even if someone had to tell him, even if you couldn’t run from that truth. The others who witnessed her death would account for her.

“Our hero,” Jagger said, half-joking, maybe half-mocking too. Trust the two of them to get their hands dirty. Or well, Jagger mostly. But then he was going to the lalafell’s parents. She didn’t imagine that was going to be a pretty conversation.

But she could tell how much he cared about her, even if he just met her. The sister he never had.

“But yeah, good luck down there,” she nodded, and walked off, though, shouted back, “it better be the best fuckin’ mango roulade I’ve ever tasted!”

Maybe it would help take the horrible taste of the bad news out of her mouth.

Jagger soon arrived at the infirmary as soon as Lixue’s intern was leaving, so preoccupied with their thoughts that they almost collided with the mercenary.

“Whoa,” Jagger chuckled a little, “easy there. You look eager to get away.”

“Sorry,” the intern stammered, “Busy morning, even busier trying to help the Imperator.”

“I’m sure. How’s he doing?”

“He’s doing well. He should be free to leave soon. Well, whenever Lixue gives him leave to.”

“And you can’t?” Jagger raised an eyebrow.

The intern shrugged in some helpless, almost clueless way.

Jagger hummed. She imagined Oleander did not take well to being confined to a medical cot. “I guess that makes sense.” She figured Lixue didn’t have the time to sign off on something like that. But he knew Oleander best, even the extent of his injuries best, where Zariel was concerned.

“Anyway, I have to get back to the lab,” they skirted around Jagger, though, looked back at her and added, “you can still go and see him though, if you’re wondering. Last bay on the right.”

“Thanks,” Jagger replied, watching them hurry off. Poor thing really didn’t know what they were getting into with Lixue as a boss. She walked through the infirmary, noting how quiet it was, bar a couple of soldiers getting some sort of minor treatment. She stopped just before the bay Oleander was in, taking a moment to hype herself up. She rolled her shoulders back, trying to muster her usual laid-back attitude. It felt unusual to feel this tense going to speak to Oleander. It was always so relaxed. But she never had to tell him his sister was dead before.

She exhaled, before she walked in.

“Guess who,” she smiled, “figured you could do with some company. Lixue’s little intern was telling me you’re stuck here for awhile.” Jagger reached into her belt as she approached him, pulling out a silver flask and holding it out to him. “And I’d be a terrible guest if I didn’t bring a little something for you.”

 

[Lucyfer]

Oleander was really only expecting Lixue to drop by at some point, and he was beyond frustrated with the waiting. Sure, he could leave. No one was capable of stopping him, physically, or even authoritatively. ‘Except Zariel.’ He swallowed against that. It nagged at the back of his mind. This wasn’t right.

‘This isn’t….’

His mind stumbled on what it wasn’t. On what it was.

He sighed and let the back of his head hit the wall as he stayed in his cot. ‘No, it’s fine.’ He was imagining things again. They all knew how powerful Leander had been. Zariel would be even more – of course she was, she was his sister! And he’d follow her. He’d rise up, once Ixion manifested for him. ‘But why don’t you? C’mon man, I could use you.’

His gaze flickered at shadows, and he straightened up at the sound of familiar steps. They paused, which seemed odd, so when Jagger entered, he was already leaning forward, knee up, with a strange little questioning grin on his lips. “Yeah, Lixue’s running late. No surprise,” Oleander rolled his eyes, and reached to take the drink.

Would Lixue recommend it? No.

Did Oleander care? Also, no.

So long as it didn’t kill him, it was fine, and so he took a swig from the flask. “Oof, Ifrit’s balls, Jagger, this is stronger than usual,” he made a bit of a face, before laughing at himself, “Man, I really am weak today,” and so of course he promptly took a second drink and managed not to make a face at the way it burned.

Maybe he really was fucked up more than the intern could tell if the alcohol burned that much.

“I’m fine, I swear,” he said, “I just lost a fight, it’s hardly the first time it happened. I don’t know why they want me to sit here on my ass and twiddle my thumbs. They didn’t even make me do much of that after Levi kicked my ass.” Some of it, yeah. Though, he supposed, Lixue was right there…maybe that’s why he got out faster.

Probably.

“This is bullshit, there’s celebrations going on and I can’t go join them.”

~***~

Didymus rolled his eyes at Jagger’s request – but of course, he’d make the damn mango roulade. And it’d be spectacular, too. Although, he wasn’t sure it’d be good enough for either of them to put the day behind them.

At least he wasn’t alone.

At least Lixue couldn’t…no, wouldn’t target him alone if all knew. If at least Jagger and Anissa stood by him, Lixue would have to relent. They couldn’t risk alienating that many Zodiacs. Not with the current situation. ‘Yeah, keep telling yourself that, idiot.’ His mind conjured images of Lixue’s lab and his body twisted in agony as he went down into the…well, the political prisoner dungeon.

Which was a far nicer area of the Amarum dungeons.

He definitely wasn’t locked up here, where there was natural light, mattresses on the beds, and where Kikiti’s parents were kept together rather than separated. The guard hadn’t even given him a hard time when he asked to come down, and he was able to pick them out from the details Kikiti offered.

That, and there was only one lalafell here.

“Hey, uh…Mr. and Mrs. Tochu?” He greeted tentatively as he approached the bars, hands automatically going into pockets, a strange embarrassment coming over him. ‘I did the right thing…didn’t I?’ He pressed forward, “Hi. I’m Didymus, I um. I know Kikiti, your daughter?” why was he even phrasing that as a question, he knew they were her parents. “I…I wanted to let you know she’s safe. And I wanted to make sure you…were.”

Not that this was a good environment, but…well, it was safe, wasn’t it?

 

[Arcanist]

‘That’s the point.’ The drink was meant to be strong. She needed it for her jitters, never mind for placating Oleander. Not that it would make hearing the news any more difficult for him, but…

“What Lixue doesn’t know,” Jagger forced a grin. Thank fuck she caught Oleander before he did. Though, even then, she couldn’t help a sidewards glance as if he would come sniffing at the first sign of treason. He had a habit of appearing at just the perfect moment.

Jagger leaned up against the wall, folding her arms as Oleander insisted the fight was nothing, as if he didn’t get his ass handed to him tenfold by his sister. His dead sister. She shuffled a little.

“I mean,” Jagger shrugged, “it’s a little unfair the compare the two, right? Lavi didn’t have Phoenix behind him, you know, powering him up and everything. Plus, you probably used a lot more juice fighting Zariel.” Oof, what a way to help the ego. She didn’t really think about what she would say to Oleander, despite thinking about it the whole walk down to him.

Jagger usually didn’t take other people’s feelings into account, purposefully, or accidentally. She just said it as it was and ran with it, never even thought about. But it was different with Oleander. Just like it was different with Diddy, with any person she cared about.

She grabbed the flask from Oleander again and starting chugging. Even though she could taste how strong it was, it didn’t burn her throat in the same way it did Oleander’s, though, even after several gulps, its overwhelming bitterness forced her to stop. Jagger gasped for air, wiped her mouth, and handed the flask back to Oleander, still enough for him to partake of.

“Zariel’s dead,” Jagger blurted out, just loud enough to be contained between the two of them, “she’s just like Leander and all those corpses at the temple, because Phoenix is dead, because that fucking snake thing killed him. She looks fine and she looks alive but she’s not the same, definitely not the same, and Diddy saw Cleon stab her, and everyone else on that Rozarian prince’s ship did too. Lixue knows all about it, and Diddy let on to Anissa, and me too, because Phoenix doesn’t want anyone to know he’s dead and fuck, Zariel wouldn’t either, so her and Lixue are keeping it hush. Dead gods aren’t good, so, really, you don’t want to go to those celebrations anyway.”

Jagger panted. She stayed tight against the wall, and she watched Oleander.

This wasn’t ripping a plaster off, more like pulling a sword out from a wound she never wanted to deliver.

~***~

Sosola and Marden were good and just people. They paid their taxes, ran their shop, tried to make a decent, peaceful living for themselves. Lalafell Town wasn’t perfect, but they made their corner of it their own. They kept their heads down and made a simple life for themselves with each other and their daughter.

So, when their daughter disappeared during the upheaval in Ucantis, naturally, their life was similarly thrown into upheaval. As if that wasn’t bad enough after they got a letter from their daughter on the run, they had Imperial soldiers banging down their door and taking them into custody.

To think, their Kikiti, a fugitive!

“Sosola, please, would you just sit down?” Came the hushes of a man sitting on the bed, brimming with an anxious energy. He was shorter than most men, and stocky, but if Kikiti was more of her mother in physicality, she had more of her father’s colouring, judging from his hair and beard. Next to the lalafell, his physical age seemed exacerbated, but the lines in his face saw him approach his late forties.

“I will not!” The only lalafell in the cell huffed, pacing the surprisingly comfortable cell. At first glance, she was as tall as Kikiti, though, she was really a few inches shy of her daughter. She had the same countenance all lalafell shared, such as large eyes, a round face, and chubby cheeks. There was a childlike waddle in the way she marched in her cell, not helped by the pitch in her voice. The only real difference was in her hair, blonde and smoothed into two buns atop her head. “We’ve been nothing but cooperative and still they choose to keep us in here! It’s not like we told her to run off!”

“At least it’s comfortable,” Marden considered, though he cringed at the way Sosola whipped round, “n-not that I’m not worried about Kiki, I mean. We haven’t been treated as horribly as we could have been.” He sighed, one thumb circling the other. “I hope they treat her just as kindly.”

Sosola sighed, but reassured, “she’s a smart girl. I’m sure…”

Both straightened with cautious anticipation at their names being called, only to meet the approaching gangly figure, who went by Didymus. He wasn’t dressed in the familiar red and black and of a soldier’s uniform, and when they looked, there was no clear sign of an imperial insignia. As cautious as they were as to who he really was, the mention of their daughter thawed them.

Sosola was first towards the bars, gripping them as she looked up at Didymus. “You’ve seen our Kiki?”

“Really?” Marden asked, following his wife. “She’s safe?” Whether they heard the man’s concern for their wellbeing or not, it was overshadowed by news of Kikiti.

“Kirin’s horns, that child has been driving us nuts, going missing like she did!” The lalafell rested her forehead against the bars, voice mixed with irritation and relief. No mention of the letter, though, not that it made much sense anyway.

It spoke of too much to speak so openly to a stranger.

“Where is she?” Marden asked, almost attempting to peer past the side of the bars as if he believed she was hiding around the corner, waiting to make her grand appearance. “Is she here with you?”

 

[Lucyfer]

Oleander rolled his eyes at Jagger’s words. ‘I don’t feel like I got to do anything at all against Zariel.’ It wasn’t true, but when he had a good fight, he was used to it…well, lasting. Like good sex. He hadn’t lasted at all. It was…bitter. But he didn’t think long on that as Jagger chugged her flask. “Geeze, what’s—” he took the flask, and as he did, she began to speak.

No.

Zariel is dead. ‘No.’

Phoenix is dead. ‘No.’

Leander was the person he fought. ‘No.’

Lixue was keeping secrets. ‘No – well probably but not this.’

Every proclamation darkened his expression further and further, and he did not drink from the offered flask, but let his gaze gain heat, fury, as Jagger spouted lies. Did she think it would make him feel better that he was defeated by a zombie? She must have, although she looked nervous enough at the end that she must have realized she fucked up.

Oleander waited for the laugh. For the ‘just fucking with you’.

It didn’t come.

Oleander threw the flask into the wall, and it was likely only thanks to recent upgrades due to Lixue’s experimentations that the wall didn’t break – but the flask did, its remaining contents spilling to the floor. “What the fuck, Jagger?” Oleander didn’t stay in his cot any longer. “I don’t know what kind of bullshit Didymus said to get into your head, but I’m going to make sure he can’t spread those lies any further,” Lixue would understand why he left the medbay as he stalked away from his cot. “She’s not dead. I’ve seen her get stabbed plenty of times – I’ve gotten stabbed plenty of times,” he raged at the air, “one little stab from a weak-wristed prince isn’t going to kill her. I don’t care what Didymus thinks he saw.”

But his mind hit back with the memory of Lavi’s sword through Zariel. ‘Why else would your father stab his beloved daughter, his favorite child?’ No, he mis-saw that. Lavi hadn’t stabbed Zariel. There were assassins. It was a confusing mess.

And that hadn’t killed her anyways.

Oleander headed towards the exit of the medbay, intent to find the thief and wring his fucking neck.

~***~

Didymus approached closer to the bars and dropped to his knees so he was closer to the mother’s height. Sosola, he remembered. Musical names, like Kikiti. But, it had been Marden’s that was so important to their mission – the one who got them passage. “Yes, I have,” he agreed. “She’s…last I saw she was in Rozari. She’s not with me any longer,” he sighed, “I left her with the fae.”

Did they know of fae?

That probably wasn’t the best place to leave anyone and he winced, “They’re not…going to harm her. She’s with a lot of good people – the Prince, his bodyguard, and even Rozari’s royalty,” Didymus tried to reassure them. “Even the Empire doesn’t want to harm her.” Did Zariel explain anything to Kikiti’s parents? Give them a talk?

Try to get them to reveal where their daughter was?

“I’m sorry I couldn’t bring her with me, but I…wanted to see you two so I could reassure her that you’re all right. I know this isn’t…the best place to be,” he glanced up the bars. No, not the best place, and despite how nice it was…it was more secure than his prison had been. He could feel the tingle of magic, stronger magic than his had been layered with.

Well, political prisoners were a greater risk.

In several ways.

“If you have any letter or anything you want me to get to her, just let me know.”

 

[Arcanist]

Jagger saw how dark his expressions grew, and even if she braced for the fallout, she still shirked away from the flask that took the brunt of his anger, the alcohol spilling down the wall. Somehow, she always forgot about his strength. She should have been more wary of that.

She didn’t move when Oleander got out of the cot, expecting the tempest contained in this med bay. He didn’t believe her, but she didn’t expect any other reaction. Yet, it still stung like a bitch and all his words coiled around her chest. But she wasn’t afraid, not of him, not of his outburst. She let him rave, and only when he started to move, intending to knock Diddy’s lights out, did she follow.

“I’m not bullshitting you! Why the fuck would I lie to you about something like this?” Jagger called after him, still as hard and blunt as she first told him. “Diddy wouldn’t just make this up either, not to me, I know he wouldn’t.” It felt childish, insisting Diddy wouldn’t lie, as if insisting it wasn’t in a dog’s nature to bark. Of course, he lied, but not in the way Oleander thought he would. “You know something funny is going on with her, how weird she’s been ever since we got back from Escander. Even a blind person would see there’s something just fucking weird going on!”

Probably too far, but Jagger didn’t really consider that in the moment. Just as hypocritical, given she couldn’t sit it either, not until her eyes were opened. She just had to pry Oleander’s open for him.

She rushed forward, putting herself in Oleander’s way at the exit. “What about those wounds she got when we were fighting at the temple? She just kept bleeding, and they never closed. She was still injured even when we walked out of there.” Jagger didn’t have any other evidence. Only what Didymus proposed.

“Look, I know you don’t believe me, but try her with a potion or something next time you see her. Just a drop of that anywhere near that wound she got and it’ll have the complete opposite effect on her, and then you’ll see, trust me,” Jagger insisted again. “And I’m telling you all of this because it isn’t fucking fair that she’s keeping it from you, when everyone else knows about it and saw it."

~***~

Both parents’ expressions softened with relief, a longing to see their daughter, only to have their hopes dashed just as quickly. Marden’s was one of confusion, disappointment. Sosola’s was one of fury. Her knuckles turned white as she gripped the bars.

“You left her, in Rozari, with fae?!” She grew impertinently red-faced. It was a good thing she wasn’t strong enough to bend them. That magic around them wouldn’t allow for that, even if she was capable of it. “How do you even know she’s safe if you’ve left her behind?!”

Marden reached down to Sosola, squeezing her shoulders. Even if he had his doubts, he didn’t show it. “Even if things change, she has a good head on her shoulders, like you said. She’ll stay safe.”

“I know she’ll stay safe, but it’s not her head I’m worried about. Not that I’m saying the others don’t…” She withheld the ‘but’ as she looked back at Didymus. Though, she couldn’t have been closer to the truth of it. You couldn’t exactly account for what other people would do.

“I don’t know your reasons for leaving them and being here,” Marden said, looking at Didymus, and even he was frustrated underneath it all, “but you at least seem genuine, and if you’re saying she was okay last you saw her and she’s with good people, I’ll trust you on that.”

Sosola relented and released her grip on the bars, even if she was still just as sceptical. “I suppose we could be in a worse position. No one has treated us badly in here, even when we were arrested. The Empress even came and spoke to us herself, asking when we last heard from her. She was less threatening than we thought she’d be.” Even after a whole siege on Ucantis, she wouldn’t think of getting on the wrong side of her.

“She asked us about that funny little mark Kikiti had,” Marden added, scratching his head, “said it was important, that whoever else was with her had one too. I can’t really get my head around it, all that stuff with the Zodiac…”

“If you do get in contact with her,” Even with that petulance still bouncing through her, Sosola restrained herself from barking at Didymus again, “tell her we’re not upset with her, and we’re being treated well here.”

“And we love her,” Marden added. “If Kirin really is behind her, we trust she’ll do the right thing, whatever that is.”

 

[Lucyfer]

Oleander tuned Jagger out. He knew her blind faith in Didymus, but if he listened to her, he was going to punch her, and he didn’t want to punch her. Well, he did, but he held enough of himself together to know that he didn’t really want to. When Jagger stood in front of him, however, lightning flared off of him in a way it never had before. This was not Lixue’s tattoo-induced lightning (a side effect never intended) – it was something that didn’t so much as shake Oleander the way that did, though he felt it rumble in his soul as he stared down at Jagger in his path.

How easy it would be to trample over her and keep going, but he listened, because she knew the danger she put herself in.

He had noticed Zariel’s continued wounds. How could he not? It was his sister, after all.

“Fine.”

The single word was a pain to say. Sheer agony at agreeing to anything that was the slightest betrayal of his trust in Zariel – and in Lixue, by extension. “If you’re wrong, Jagger, Ifrit won’t save you or Didymus for this slander,” he snarled, before he did, indeed, lift a hand and set it on Jagger’s shoulder – and pushed her hard enough that if she didn’t brace or try to catch, she’d find herself likely toppled over or against the wall, as he went by where she stood and out the door.

Fuck the medbay.

His fury was evident to everyone he passed, like a storm cloud hovered over his head. People made way quickly, and everyone assumed, it was over his loss to Zariel. One guard attempted to stop him from entering Zariel’s quarters, and that guard was simply knocked out with a single blow to his helmeted head.

The helmet was dented.

His companion didn’t waste his breath on an attempt, but dragged his friend’s body to the medbay – and opted to go find Zariel to discreetly warn her that her brother may have taken the loss worse than any of them anticipated so she could do something before Oleander destroyed her room.

Not that he was.

He took a seat on her bed.

He held a potion in his lap.

And he waited.

~***~

Didymus winced under Sosola’s fury. Yeah, ‘with fae’ wasn’t exactly what anyone would want to hear, so he didn’t fault that rage at all. He did at least nod a confirmation as Marden spoke to him, about Kikiti’s safety.

Yes.

He believed it.

And he swallowed hard as they spoke of Zariel coming to speak to them. Of Zariel being…nice. No, it wasn’t a surprise. She was diplomatic, after all, even when Phoenix took over that still remained, but with fear coursing through his veins it was hard to fully accept that truth. “Yeah. The mark,” he moved his own arm and offered his wrist, pulling the bracelet down to show the markings of Gemini.

“I tried…to convince Kikiti to come with me. Zariel’s…she was given a bad lot in life, but she is genuinely trying to save the world, and keep the world from knowing it ever needed saving. And she needs us,” he sighed as he shut his eyes, and drew his arm back. “I will tell Kikiti that you’re all right, and that you still love her, I promise. And that you’re not upset.”

He wouldn’t say anything to make her come running. He wouldn’t use that, as Zariel no doubt hoped news of her parent’s imprisonment would send her running. Zariel was counting on playing emotions by keeping them here.

Counting on that by keeping Sesario’s ship, too.

There was no denying that Zariel was very good at using emotional manipulation against people. “The gods just don’t want to agree, but,” Didymus shrugged, “not like they ever did in the stories, eh?” He rose slowly, “if you…want anything. You can ask the guards for me. They may not like it, but they’ll deliver the message and I’ll come here.”

He was one of the Marked, after all.

He got some deference.

 

[Arcanist]

Jagger should have known better when she blocked Oleander's exit. She flinched and backed off at the sudden ferocity of the lightning that bounced off him. It was a marvel seeing it used against others. It was different standing in the firing line of it, and she was silent at his display. She didn't have much of that foolish bravery left in her when she stared back with that glare. She understood how all others felt under Oleander's anger, and a small part of her wanted to shrink back, but she stood her ground out of pure stubbornness.

He said little to her plea to believe her. What little else he said was a warning, a clear threat. Her throat ran dry. "I--" She couldn't finish, because Oleander wouldn't let her. Even if she did brace for Oleander to barrel through her, it was not enough to stop herself from being shoved against the wall or to prepare for the shock of it. She didn't dare move from the wall, even as Oleander disappeared out the door and away from the medbay. She had been witness to his tempest before, but never victim to it.

Jagger rubbed her chest, waiting for him to come back and throttle her. She didn't get it. She didn't fear anyone, anything. She felt shitty, of course she did, but she hadn't felt this shitty since...

"Like I'd thank Ifrit for saving me anyway," she muttered, pushing herself away from the wall. She caught the stares from a couple of medics from afar, and couldn't help but round on them. "What the fuck do you think you're looking at, huh?!" She barked, both of them turning away, acting as if they hadn't seen her or the whole outburst.

Jagger stormed out herself, or rather, fled, licking her wounds. She didn't flee to Didymus right away. She would pace the halls, what little fire she had well and truly doused by the storm.



Lixue never met Jagger in the hallways. He was unaware of any major incident, even went so far as to ignore the hubbub further back in the medbay. He was more concerned on releasing Oleander, given how his patience grew thin within minutes of being medically treated.

Lixue reached his bay, and peered around the curtain, already partially pulled back.

Empty.

Lixue pinched the bridge of his nose. "Twelve give me strength." He heard the crackle of cold laughter in the back of his mind. At least Shiva found it amusing, but she was not the one who had to retrieve him.

He made his way back out of the medbay, knowing he wouldn't have to ask any medic about Oleander sneaking out. Though, he did gather more about the Imperator through one of the guards who narrowly avoided his stormy mood. Something about taking that loss to the Empress worse than they all thought, and that another guard took the brunt of his anger in the progress on his way to Zariel's chambers.

Any wonder there was a hubbub in the medbay. What was worse was Oleander marched straight to Zariel's chambers as if to confront her about it. This couldn't have all been over a loss, could it? He was sensitive and certainly hated losing, but to garner this kind of reaction?

Lixue braced himself when he reached Zariel's quarters, and he meant to breach its defenses when others were wiser not to. It was unwise to think Oleander wouldn't be angry with him, or he might not find his skull caved in. But he was still a friend, even if the secrets grew between them. He would be the only one who could speak to him without such a thing happening.

Lixue didn't knock when he entered, unusual given his professional manner. He already felt like he was crossing a line entering Zariel's rooms, but there was nothing else for it. He closed the door behind him, and he moved away from the door, looking at Oleander seated on the bed.

With a potion in hand.

Lixue did not react, and masked the stormy mood that thief had put him in. He hoped Oleander had taken his fury out on him, but then why would Oleander have a potion?

"You've been busy. At this point, you'll set a record for the amount of soldiers you've put in the infirmary." He took off his glasses, grabbing a cleaning cloth from his pocket. "I was on my way to discharge you, but instead I find you here. What's happened?"

He had a number of theories as to 'what'.

~***~

Both Sosola and Marden watched Didymus as he pulled down his sleeve, revealing the mark of Gemini.

"So it's true then. Everything the Empress was talking about," even then, Marden still sounded bewildered by the thought of it. Their daughter, chosen by Kirin.

"Any wonder Kikiti is caught up in all of this," Sosola murmured, releasing her grip on the bars. "There's still so much we don't understand but...well, I suppose it's not really for us to understand." After all, the Empress was trying to do this all without so much fuss. There was no use in worrying everyone else.

"We appreciate it, Didymus," Marden nodded to him, "you coming and letting us know about Kikiti, even if she isn't here."

"And even if you left her behind," Sosola murmured, only a brush of annoyance across her face, before it softened again. She supposed Didymus was caught up in all of this as much as Kikiti was. "You tried to bring her back here, I suppose I won't fault you on that. She must have some reason for staying behind." She reasoned, not quite understanding why.

"And who knows what the gods are thinking too," Marden tried to chuckle, only a little. It faded quickly. "You've done enough for us, but we'll remember that, if we ever need anything. If there's anything else we can get in here..." He murmured, looking around the cell. He wasn't sure what more they could get...

"Thank you," Sosola managed a smile, "I hope things will all work out, somehow."

 

[Lucyfer]

Lixue.

Oleander wasn’t surprised to see him, and the storm continued to roil beneath the surface. Lixue, if Jagger was correct – which she couldn’t be, the potion would prove it – was privy to the lie as well. The one that Zariel willingly told. Not him. “Don’t tempt me or I’ll set a record for how many medics I send to the medbay, too.” Not that Lixue was a medic, exactly, but he counted for the situation.

He rose, if only to tower over Lixue.

If only to remind Lixue who Oleander was, outside of his friend. Usually, his friend. That was being tested. Everything was being tested, right then. “Zariel’s dead, Lixue,” he stated it as if he knew it was true. He didn’t. But if he pretended, maybe Lixue would come clean. “She’s not going to tell me, so I’m going to prove it,” he held out the potion, not for Lixue to take, but to show how he intended to prove it.

To see if any reaction would cross that tetra master face.

He wouldn’t throw Jagger under the chocobo just yet. Or Didymus, for that matter.

“She won’t be able to lie to me then.” In theory. He had a feeling, in the pit of his stomach, she still could. And he would still believe her. He hated that thought, hated that he was sure he’d already fallen under a few lies like that already.

Why would she lie to him?

He was trying to help! If he knew more, he could help more!

~***~

“Mmmm,” Didymus hummed agreement. Everything the Empress said was true, which was the most unfortunate thing of all. The world was in danger, she had gone to war with nations, and all of them had to figure out how to save the world. He felt the guilt Sosola tried to push on him for leaving Kikiti behind. He deserved it, so he wouldn’t fight against the feeling.

He understood where Kikiti got so much of her own attitude from.

Kikiti did have her reasons for staying, too. Not that Didymus had tried in the last encounter, he’d been too taken by everything, and quite literally taken by Garuda, sealing his choice. Now, he still couldn’t really hear her, as she healed in the aether.

“It will work out,” Didymus said, “and when Kikiti gets here, I’ll make sure to bring her right to you, if the Empress doesn’t release you then,” he straightened up, “I…thank you, for listening to me,” not that he’d said much earthshattering, but they could have yelled him out after hearing he abandoned Kikiti with the fae.

But, they didn’t.

“I see where Kikiti gets her spirit and strength,” Marden was all that spirit, that optimism. Sosola was all that strength. They were…a good match. “I’ll get that letter to her so she doesn’t worry, and if she says anything, I’ll let you know,” but he didn’t add that he doubted it. She would be more cautious about writing back to him.

If she even considered it.

If she even read his letter.

 

[Arcanist]

A threat. He expected as much, given Oleander's mood. He did not counter, merely hummed, cleaned his glasses, put them back on. Lixue did not move when Oleander rose, but acknowledged how much taller and stronger he was when he was forced to look at him.

He boasted about it several times. There was a time Lixue stood taller than him, a gift from the Virys lineage, though, once Oleander hit his teenage years, he shot past him. Oleander often lorded it as a playful one-over, as Oleander did with much of his abilities. How he wished this was just one of these occassions, instead of the intimidation he wielded as easily as his blade.

Lixue was silent as Oleander claimed Zariel was dead. How he would use that potion to prove the lie Zariel presented to him. Lixue did not falter, At least, he tried not to falter. A corner of his lip twitched but that meant nothing. That could mean anything. He looked up Oleander again. Even if he did not - would never - fully understand Phoenix's motives, he would still try to uphold Zariel's. Even behind his fury, he saw the hurt in Oleander.

He detached himself.

"How did you come to that conclusion?" Lixue kept his voice levelled. "I spoke to her no more than an hour ago."

He knew he couldn't have figured that out himself. Someone pointed it out to him. It couldn't have been Didymus, or else, he would have heard about his caved-in skull. Oleander wouldn't have thought twice about the slander from a two-timing thief.

But he would take a chance on the word of a drunk, dishonest mercenary, who was given the ammunition by said two-timing thief.

Maybe Oleander could surprise him.

"Don't be rash, Oleander. We're exhausted, every one of us, after the excursion at Phoenix's temple. And that fight has done no favours either. Perhaps it was too soon after our return for that to happen."

He didn't know why he insisted on lying to Oleander, when he had so easily admitted the truth to Didymus. It should have been the other way around. There was a certain power he could hold over him that he could not over the Imperator, or perhaps, he was more willing to spare Oleander's feelings.

~***~

What more could the two do but nod, but hope on Didymus and Kikiti's behalf that this all would even out? But still, the appreciation would not be lost on Didymus with their smiles.

Marden squeezed Sosola's shoulder. "I'm glad you think she's such a credit to us. She's a good girl, always has been."

"As if that was ever in doubt," Sosola emphasised, most likely given they raised her like that. "Really, we should be thanking you. Not that it absolves you of anything," she pointed in that scolding way that Marden must have been on the other end of too often, given the face he made. "But at least you were able to tell us she's okay."

"Right," Marden nodded. "We appreciate you going through the trouble for us." Though, he tried not too seem so overly optimistic. Didymus did leave her behind after all, and Twelve knew the trouble he might have even getting a letter out to her.

But he had to hope. They both did.

"Take care of yourself, Didymus. We'll wait for any updates in the meanwhile." Sosola smiled, just a little. Not that they could do much other than that.

 

[Lucyfer]

Oleander wrinkled his nose at Lixue’s prying question of where he got that idea. He was tempted to say Jagger, and then Didymus, but he knew how that would be laughed off by Lixue. Dismissed. The way Lixue was trying to dismiss this now, as exhaustion, and so much else. Oleander was exhausted, but not in the standard way.

This felt different, and familiar, all at once.

It felt like the exhaustion of a prison cell, the one where he shoved poison down—

“Our mother drank the poison herself, she couldn’t bear the pain.”​

Zariel’s voice was ever in his head, correcting the narrative.

“There’s nothing rash about using a potion on a person. It’s not gonna hurt Zariel, right?” Oleander pressed that matter, because of course, there should be no reason for Lixue to get between a simple test with a potion. No reason at all. Potions weren’t even expensive enough to worry about from a financial perspective!

“I mean, yeah, she might be a bit pissed with all I did to prove she’s living,” he shifted his weight to one hip. His posture relaxed, just a little, with that. “But I can’t really take that back now, can I? May as well see it through when she gets back from…whatever she’s doing.” Someone had probably gone to tell her by now, though.

She’d probably be finding an excuse to duck out.

Unless she sent Lixue. “She didn’t send you to come talk to me instead of coming herself, did she?”

~***~

“Take this letter to the Sesario with Hector.”

Anissa remembered the instructions that she had been given, after she penned her letter, and forced it into the hands of a moogle. The changes were already happening; soon, moogle mail wasn’t going to be an option. Zariel’s grip was tightening. As she conquered the world, she set up more boundaries, more limitations, more stopping points.

Letters would be caught in transit, but maybe, just maybe, not yet.

“Kupo! Will do!” the moogle seemed enthusiastic about this. Maybe Hector really did tell her right?

Anissa didn’t linger, and was surprised they didn’t ask for a fee. She didn’t waste time thinking about it as she headed off, running the contents of the letter through her head, again and again, wondering if she should have added more.

Added less.

Dear Hector and Sesario,

This is Anissa. The priestess of Capricorn. Also marked by Capricorn. Like you two. Who I found out, also tried to assassinate the EMPRESS?

And succeeded. Look I don’t know the full story, she doesn’t even want me to know, but your friend Didymus is spilling her secrets. So, I’m with the Empress now. I watched Phoenix cut down his own clergy and put Zariel in that position.

I got dragged into this thanks to stumbling on Oleander and Jagger in Escander, along with some Cardinals. Don’t know if you know what they are, but you should be on the lookout. They’re apparently agents of Ophiuchus, which if you don’t know, is a world-ending snake that literally killed Phoenix. A God.

Anyways.

Look, I promised I’d fill you in if I learned anything about that ruin we found for Fenrir. I had to tell her where it was BUT I’m including a map of all the ones she told me about. You have to be marked to enter it. She entered Phoenix’s. It’s kind of a pre-requisite. They hold items of power associated with that Zodiac, so now Zariel has the Corona of Phoenix, and it’s honestly terrifying that way that bumped her power. I saw her fighting before, and I saw her after, and listen. Keep that Cancer boy safe.

I’m not sure Phoenix can reign Zariel in.

But I don’t think she’s wrong. And I think you know about this, too. She’s locking down everything, so moogle communication may not be an option in the future, but all of you need to think about what’s best for the world. So do I, probably.

But I thought you should know. Maybe some of you can head to these places, and figure things out. I’m not sure if you need your Zodiac to be able to manifest or not.

Try to stay safe. It may be a holiday in Amarum right now, but she’s not lifting the hunt, and Didymus…definitely gave her some ideas of where to look.

~Anissa ​

It was as she was leaving the moogle depot, that she nearly ran into Didymus. She stepped back with a scowl on her face. “Oh, so you weren’t needed in the dungeon?” she snapped at him.

“I was and I finished up in there,” he said, “Who are you sending letters to?”

“None of your business, obviously,” she said, “just as your business in the dungeons—”

“My friend’s parents are locked up,” he said, “I was checking on them, and getting a message from them, for her.”

Anissa wanted to stay angry. She succeeded, but the edge left it. “Oh. But that couldn’t wait?”

He pressed a hand to his temple, “No, because I needed to fill Jagger in on the way, and now I have to avoid being murdered by Oleander, so I’m here to send a letter, and then I’m going to go hide in Amarum somewhere.”

Anissa arched a brow, “You know, I don’t know the Capital very well if you need an excuse.”

Didymus did indeed need an excuse. “I can play tour guide.”

“Excellent, I’ll let you send that letter and we can get on our way!”

He wasn’t sure if he should be happy about this, but it did give him a legitimate reason other than Absolute Terror of Oleander, so he’d accept it. He walked into the depot, and handed over his letter. “Um, Kikiti Tochu. She should be in Rozari, somewhere.”

“Kupo! We’ll find her!” The moogle promised, then, “any chance she’s with Hector?” the Moogle noticed how Didymus and Anissa talked outside.

“Um. Probably. Why?”

“No reason! Don’t worry about it at all!”

Didymus did worry, but he’d not question it further, not connecting the dots of Anissa having any connection to this, as he left, and prayed.

Kikiti—

I’m sorry.

Your parents are fine. I’ll keep an eye on them. They send their love. Sosola doesn’t like me much. She shouldn’t. But she’s not upset with you. Neither is Marden. They wanted me to tell you that.

They trust your judgment.

You don’t need to rush to save them. Zariel won’t harm them. I won’t let her.

I’m sorry.

-D​

 

[Arcanist]

Oleander was right. There was no reason for him to be so uptight about throwing a potion at his sister, not unless there was something wrong. There were many things wrong, many things that Zariel did not want Oleander to know that Lixue was cursed to know and keep.

The scientist was stiff as if he was being forced to stand upright, a stark contrast to how relaxed Oleander looked. That wouldn’t have been hard, Lixue’s posture was never relaxed, never casual. But even here, there was something uneasy in him with Oleander needling him.

Lixue shook his head, resisting to urge to scoff at Oleander’s comment of being sent to find him. “I came to find you of my own accord. I can never forget the places you frequent when you start sulking.” As cold as it sounded, there was at least some care behind remembering where Oleander hid while in one of his moods, not that Lixue was a comforter by any means. “I’m sure she’ll hear about you in the same way I did from an eyewitness.”

That was guaranteed.

He swallowed. He couldn’t stop him. He could mitigate further damage, even if it was already done. “If you want the truth from your sister, Oleander, hurting her to get your answer and prove some point is not the way to do it. Your anger is justified, but you deserve better than to hear anything from me or another source.”

~***~

Bodies passed through the fine mist cloaking tree trunks. The hairs on their necks stood on end, bumps rising across their skin, all the while watching, and waiting. The group was lucky that Kikiti had spare cloaks, though, was there anything at this point that Kikiti couldn’t stuff into a backpack?

Including Yarrow, who poked his head out and kept his beady eyes on Oma travelling behind her. He proved a wonderful distraction for her, who poked him as he swiped at her playfully. Her reluctance followed the others away from her home and the fae. Her anklet, woven of several flowers and plants of the fae’s realm, only proved so much of a distraction. When they paused earlier in their movement, Oma plucked a lily from it, and a rhododendron blossomed in the empty space left behind. She resorted to playing with Yarrow so not to waste its magic.

Cleon and Reva kept up front. She knew best where they were going, and Cleon, well, the two were never so far apart from each other. They were entwined by duty, yes, but by home the most in Cleon’s eyes. She was all he had left of it. His hand rested on the hilt of his sword. There was a strange comfort to it that pulled him in, and he wanted to keep alert for anything strange in their surroundings.

Sesario wandered behind the group, Cid not too far in front. He let Hector walk ahead, not wanting to push his irritation. He knew not to after all this time, and he certainly took his whole journey to the home of the viera to heart. He understood why. They’d walk into a trap, especially with Didymus gone and cooperating with Zariel, willingly or otherwise. It was that or walk into the arms of Amarum.

Which Cleon and Reva would not willingly do.

His thoughts turned to thoughts of the viera, the stories his grandfather told and his repeated warnings to not approach part of this forest, any part of this forest at all. Sesario was sure Ignacio’s ashes, wherever they were now, shuddered at the thought of his grandson disobeying him. What he remembered most about his stories of the viera was that their time on Hyune spanned several more than of a human’s lifetime.

“Cid,” Sesario whispered.

“Mm.”

“How long have you known…?” Sesario nodded to Reva in front of them.

Cid looked at Reva and back at the sky pirate. “A little less than I’ve known Cleon. His old man,” he added. Inara made it confusing with that posthumous name.

“That’s like, what, twenty five…thirty…?”

“Somewhere in between. Haven’t counted,” Cid didn’t clarify, but narrowed his eyes. “Why?”

Sesario shrugged, his fingers making a harsh scratching sound against his stubbled jaw. “Just curious.”

“Just curious.”

“Yup.”

There was a pause. Sesario pressed further.

“Does she…look any different?”

Cid scoffed. “Why don’t you ask her?”

“You know she can hear you whispering,” Cleon called from the front of their group, causing the two to straighten up and look elsewhere like scolded schoolchildren. There were no secrets where Reva’s hearing was concerned.

Cid grunted some sort of apology. Sesario took another route.

“I meant no harm. I just think she looks good, no matter how old she is.”

Kikiti groaned behind him. Cid side-eyed him. Cleon looked confused, then aghast. Oma giggled.

“That’s…” Cleon started, though, didn’t seek to continue.

“Very smooth,” Kikiti murmured to Hector. She wondered if that was why Sesario wasn’t married. She was beginning to think none of the nobles she met had a filter on them.

Sesario held his hands up before he dropped them and cleared his throat. “Uh, sorry, Reva. But you do look good. Honest.” That didn’t make things much better. He fell silent. You never asked anyone their age. Most especially Viera, but could you blame a man for being curious?

After some minutes of walking in awkward silence, the rustling started. Cleon stopped, his grip tightening on his blade. The others paused behind him. It only got louder as someone emerged.

“There you are--!”

Cleon’s sword sliced through the air, a branch toppling and falling at his feet. In front of it was a quivering creature, holding their pompom close to their head.

“Ku-kupo! You almost sliced my ku-pom off! I’m not covered for loss of limbs or other injuries you know!”

Cleon’s stared wide-eyed at the moogle in front of him, sword still gripped in whitened knuckles. “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t…I thought you were someone else.” His cheeks flashed red.

“Do you greet other people with a sword swing? That’s not exactly proper greeting etiquette!”

Cid sheathed his half-drawn swords and huffed, “We’re not exactly in the position to be thinking about ‘proper greeting etiquette’.”

“Kupo! I suppose not, given your situation right now. Biggest word on the street right now. But don’t worry, your location is safe with me! Something, something, client confidentiality. And maybe because I wouldn’t rat out Hector, kupo.” The Moogle rummaged through her bag, fishing out two letters. “Speaking of. One letter for yourself and Sesario!” She fluttered over to Hector, beaming at him as she handed over the letter. “Oh, they’re right, you are getting taller! So cute.”

Sesario moved to Hector, letting him do the honours of opening and reading the letter first. He could read it over his shoulder.

He caught the priestess’s name on the letter. ‘Oh.’

“And Kikiti! I have one for you too.”

Kikiti was surprised at that, though, she wasn’t sure she was meant to. “Oh, uh, thank you,” she took the letter from the moogle, turning it over in her hands. She remembered the letter she sent to her parents some time ago, and wondered if they were finally getting around to responding to her. Why did they wait so long to do that though?

And then she wondered, loathing the longing hope in her.

“Right,” the moogle sounded, rising into the air, “I must be off. Stay safe out here, kupo!” And as quick as she arrived, she was gone again. This forest was no place for moogles such as she to linger.

Cleon turned to Sesario and Hector. “Who is the letter from?”

Sesario looked up from the letter. It was an innocent enough question, and a valid one to ask, but he caught the suspicion that lurked underneath. There was no point in keeping it a secret. Trust was not a word to describe the bonds between them all.

Perhaps this was what would convince them to turn away.

“Anissa. She’s a Priestess of Capricorn,” he added, to avoid confusion, “and apparently another marked – you guessed it, Capricorn.” Did she find that out after becoming a priestess? He wondered but didn’t ponder too long on it. There was only one Zodiac left to claim anyhow.

Sesario cleared his throat, taking the letter from Hector. He read the contents, the warnings of what was to come. About Phoenix cutting down his own clergy, Ophiuchus, the Zodiac’s temples and the pieces of their powers within, the Cardinals – and felt a strange and painful feeling of familiarity there – and an idea of just where they were headed.

Cleon thumbed the hilt of his sword. A lot of the letter slot in with what they had heard from the fae. “How long have you known Anissa?”

“Not long,” Sesario admitted, understanding what Cleon was getting at, “Hector and I met her at the ruins of Fenrir’s temple. We didn’t get into it, obviously, but she mentioned about keeping in contact if either of us learned anything.”

“She’s been learning a lot from Zariel.”

“A lot that we don’t know,” Kikiti murmured, and she flushed at Cleon looking at her. She swallowed back. “What about the Cardinals? If they’re agents of Ophiuchus and Ophiuchus…killed Phoenix, then they’re obviously going to come after us. What if that man on the ship with us was one of them?”

Sesario felt that odd familiarity again. He didn’t fancy being taken down by a Cardinal. Neither did Bahamut from what he felt. “Zariel’s the least of our problems right now. If she doesn’t reach us first, one of those agents will. At least Anissa is warning us and giving us some more options, maybe even a fighting chance if we come across them.”

“If the temples are even there on that map she’s produced,” Cleon argued, “if we could even reach them anyway, considering where we are. You don’t know her, you said so yourself.”

“And yet, she’s risking enough to tell us what’s going on,” Sesario shook the letter and shrugged. “Didymus too, apparently, even if he pulled a dick move on us.” He sighed. It was personal at this point. He could understand that.

“Just because I say Anissa might have a point, and Zariel might be right, doesn’t mean I agree with Zariel and the way the Empire is going about things.” Something wasn’t equally as right with Phoenix. “But you can’t deny what we’ve heard from all accounts. We could go to Reva’s home and learn something, or we could go to one of the temples and learn something, maybe even come out with something that can help us. We can’t delude ourselves into think Zariel will just leave us alone after everything that’s happened.”

 

[Lucyfer]

Oleander wasn't exactly happy that Lixue knew where to look for him when he was moping. He didn't think Zariel’s room should be on the list, though it probably was. People didn't barge in, even the guards, unless they had strict orders from the empress herself.

And even before she was empress, she was given such deference.

And he knew she'd hear. She'd break away from everything she was doing, as soon as she could, to come see him - because this was abnormal, because she loved him, because….

So why couldn't he trust her? Why didn't he think she'd tell him the truth if he asked?

Lixue wasn't.

That was one red flag as Lixue cautioned method. His gaze narrowed at that. If he was too…accepting, she was going to work around it, wasn't she? Was Lixue hoping for it? He all but said the truth in the way he tried to say he couldn't tell, so Oleander fell back onto the bed, form spread wide as he took his seat.

He was the Imperator. “I'll handle it whatever way works.”

He was the Prince.

Heir apparent.

Her brother.

Lixue’s friend.

So why was Jagger the only one telling him anything? Why did Didymus try through her?

There wouldn't be much waiting. It seemed as soon as the words left him, a flare of fire manifested from the balcony, and he stood right back up and as Zariel entered through the glass doors, he hurled the potion to shatter against her shoulder.

Except, she caught it.

“I did not think you would be such a sore loser, Oleander.” Clipped. Staccato.

Not Zariel, but Oleander wouldn't know.

“I'm not!” He said, “I'd be happy if you beat me,” the ‘but’ was strong, “but you're dead. That potion will prove it.”

Phoenix gave Oleander a bored look, without so much as a clipped glance at Lixue. “Who told you such a lie?”

“Use the potion and prove it's a lie.” Oleander said, “and I'll tell you.”

Phoenix looked to Lixue instead. “Didymus?”

~***~

Reva could indeed hear the all too familiar discussion of her age. Her ears twitched are each sound, but she focused in for a few moments before the trajectory became obvious, and she went back to trying, desperately, to hear an old voice.

She did not speak to Reva, however.

Cleon seemed to hear enough to know she was being talked about, as he interjected, forcing Sesario to come clean. Hector let out a loud groan and palmed his face in utter exasperation at his guardian’s behavior once again being an embarrassment to everyone around him.

Reva just stared. Silently. Until it was awkward enough and she could turn away and get back to walking, and more important things.

Then there was rustling. Something small, and yet Cleon's sword still swung, almost harming a moogle. Reva’s eyes widened in alarm, and she stepped closer to Cleon. She didn't whisper a word of her displeasure right then, but she made note to speak up a touch more to prevent this from occurring again with alarming sounds.

Not that something small couldn't be a threat, but…his response worried her that it was right to violence.

It didn't used to be this way.

‘We did not used to be at war.’

The moogle, blessedly, took it in stride. The whole continent knew about them. She delivered the letters to Hector and Kikiti.

Hector didn't hesitate in opening his, as he flushed crimson at the comment, “Thank you,” he murmured, before reading through everything that Anissa had to say about Zariel and the temples. He hadn't expected this chance meeting to pay off, but then, how chance was it, really? She was chosen, and so were they. Odds were, their marks were slowly driving them together, for one goal: to kill Ophiuchus.

Except, they weren't.

They were avoiding this.

He looked up quickly to the moogle, “Stay safe, ok?” He offered, “I'm worried about all of you so don't deliver if it's too dangerous.”

Then she was gone and they were left with questions and suspicions that Sesario tried to address. Hector frowned when Sesario took the letter, but didn't stop him, just stood there with his arms folded over his chest.

Cleon tried to dismiss her claims in a way. “We could have learned it if you didn't stab her,” Hector added on, equally grumpy, but not nearly as quiet as Kikiti. Nor did he add in details about what was said. Cleon had a point. They didn't know Anissa well enough to trust her. He preferred caution.

“It doesn't really matter right now, does it?” Hector snapped. “We're going to the viera, and with how little they get out, they won't be able to confirm the details of the locations. If we want the truth, we just have to pick one and check it out. If we want the truth on the Cardinals, we just have to wait until they come and kill us, and politely introduce themselves.” The scowl was obvious.

Reva answered it. “We continue to the viera. It is true, they will not know all the happenings outside their forest, but they know more than you think. We can pursue other leads afterwards, when we've had time to consider them and their sources.” They were already so close. “No Cardinal will get in unnoticed among the viera. She will not let them.”

“I'm sure the viera think that about the empire, too.”

“Unnoticed, yes.”

But Reva did not delude herself that the empire wouldn't get in. One Cardinal might fall. The might of the empire didn't need subtlety any longer, though.

Still, she continued. “The viera know the gods as any other. We see the same sky. We interpret and understand.”

“As you should understand you are trespassing.”

The voice was heavily accented. To Reva, it held the rustle of the leaves, the fall of dew, and all the sounds she had lost.

To Hector, it was simply an additional purring accent, a bit wispy, too light to sound like it could crack bones – but it did – and from a tree above a lone viera dropped to the ground, her fall silent to his ears.

He saw in the trees, others.

Armed.

It was Syji who stood there, fair to Reva’s dark, tall, and exactly as Reva remembered her. Reva couldn't help but feel a terrible ache. “Your choice was made, Reva, yet you return.”

“It is an emergency,” Reva stepped forward, desperation and a terrible ache in her voice, impossible to hide, “Please…I need to see Veda.”

Silence, for such a terribly long moment.

“Veda lays in fields of green, Reva. She has for many moons.”

 

[Arcanist]

Lixue watched Oleander fall back on the bed, assuring him, or maybe himself, he would handle whatever way the truth would come to him.

That was precisely the problem.

And the truth came in through the balcony, red-hot and flaring like the sun. Lixue watched Oleander stand up, armed with the potion, and he stepped forward as if to stop him – like Oleander wouldn’t be able to subdue to him if he tried.

But he should have known Phoenix would be quicker than a potion hurtling towards him. Zariel’s absence was much more obvious to Lixue now, even if Oleander seemed clueless.

He wondered if part of him suspected, but chose not to acknowledge the change, even if he did prattle on about her being dead.

Perhaps there was a way of telling him, without telling him.

Phoenix didn’t quail in the face of the truth. Not at Oleander’s threat nor the exchange for information he sought. He turned to Lixue instead, knowing he would impart that information to him instead.

“Jagger, actually,” Lixue admitted, “though you can imagine who had her well-equipped. He’s most likely arming the priestess with the same drivel.” Didymus didn’t seem to be the type to leave it with just Jagger.

~***~

Cleon’s lip twitched at Hector’s comment, but he didn’t have much to counter with against a valid point, just as Hector couldn’t regarding this priestess. Anyone would have done it too in the spur of a moment. Some people might have even tried it a second time.

“We’re this far anyway,” Sesario murmured after Reva’s reasonings, “we might as well keep going and see if they can give us anything that they do know.” Something, perhaps, but not enough. Not enough to keep running. How long and how far could he run for?

Oma’s eyes wandered during the the argument, and she paused, watching a shadow – or several – move above them in the trees. By the time she had pulled at Kikiti’s sleeve and got her attention, a thick voice, full of authority, told them something they all already knew.

All eyes and arrows were on them.

Sesario’s eyes had moved to count the viera. Their numbers would outmatch those of their group. Viera, of the few he saw before, were quick. They may not have dwelled beyond their homes, but those few were brazened enough to do so.

And still, they didn’t hesitate if one foot went out of place.

Even then, none of them had to negotiate on moving an inch.

Cleon stiffened. He did not reach for his sword this time, as much as his hand felt tempted. That accent, different and still hauntingly familiar all the same, warned there was no need. He never thought Reva or him would ever see her home and had settled for the stories she willingly told him.

And it was true that there was not another so dark as Reva, yet, she still loved her sisters all the same. It was true still as he and the others listened to her plead with the one that spoke with them. He did not intervene, only listened.

The silence after Reva’s plea lingered, and it grew heavier before the viera had explained Veda – her leader, he remembered, when Reva still called this forest her home – had passed.

It was not Cleon’s loss, and yet, he felt his heart drop. He could only look at Reva and share in the solemnity of the news. He did not know her, only through the stories Reva told of her and her home, but he felt her devastation all the same. He could never have known, truly, the difficulty in returning home, when she buried it to put others first, him first.

Cleon stepped forward too, slow and cautious, “I’m sorry for her passing, and equally our intrusion, but we do so only to seek out your wisdom on the Zodiac. We’ve been marked by them, identifiable by their constellations, but there’s still so much we don’t know, and we cannot speak so easily to the Twelve. We wouldn’t disturb the peace here if we didn’t believe you could help us.”

The least he could do for Reva in this moment was help her and be at her side, as much as she remained at his.

 

[Lucyfer]

Yes, Phoenix could imagine, and he wondered how to shut him up. Harming Didymus would mean issues with Jagger. He supposed he could set Jagger straight the same way he'd set Oleander straight, but that still left a problem if someone undermining his authority and getting away with it.

A problem for later as Oleander gave Lixue a rueful look for spilling the beans. “That doesn't prove you're alive, just because–” Phoenix broke the potion over the wound. It hurt, of course, and it broke open, bled, as he opted to show by moving the clothing that hindered visibility. “Then, you are….”

“No,” Phoenix gave an exasperated sigh. “I am not dead. This wound was inflicted by Asura’s blade. It has the unfortunate curse of necrosis that isn't healed by ordinary means. Lixue is looking into it,” Phoenix lied smoothly, looking up from the wound to Oleander, who looked properly mollified, and angry. Not at Zariel, no, at others not present.

“Why didn't you just say so?” Oleander huffed.

Phoenix shrugged, “I intended to be rid of it sooner but it is a frustrating condition. I did not want our soldiers to know. They may fear engagement with Cleon if they knew what he was capable of.”

Oleander nodded, then frowned, “What about Leander? In the crypt?”

Phoenix knit his brows together, mock confusion, “Oleander that was not…by the twelve, Didymus really is confused,” he sighed, “I will set him straight.” Oh, would he. “I am sorry he seems intent to sow discord. It is hard for a spy to return to the fold.

~***~

Reva felt a void in herself at the news. She never expected to be able to tell her dear friend goodbye, and yet somehow, she always expected to leave the world first. Veda was eternal in her memory. Why should Veda not be eternal in the woods?

The answer was obvious.

She was not eternal. None of them were, no matter how long lived they seemed.

Cleon stepped forward in her silence to press on the serious nature of it all. No, they wouldn't be here if it wasn't serious. Reva wouldn't be here if it wasn't serious, to learn that Veda was forever gone.

Syji did not look moved by the plea, nor was her tone sympathetic as she addressed Cleon, but nor did she sound upset. She was just detached. “We are aware of the troubles of the Twelve, we see it writ upon the stars, but these are not our troubles, nor will we accept the troubles of the world–”

Reva took a breath and forced words, “Please,” there was no denying the sob in her voice, but she forced herself to stay together. “I will not hear refusal from you, Syji.” She said, and there was harshness in her voice. Anger. “Ask Her. Ask Her if this does not concern Her. If she remembers the roiling mist we faced. If Her roots carry the screams caused by Phoenix’s fire, which will come to scorch Her. Ask Her if a viera stolen by Leviathan from her bough is to be turned away, when she comes with others so stolen from life and home.”

“Do you think we did not?” Syji queried, but Reva knew. An outsider was simply dealt with, they didn't need to ask, so as Reva kept her tearing eyes on Syji, the other took in a deep breath, spread out her arms, and stirred the woods in the way the viera could.

Reva envied it as tears rolled down her cheek, because she could not hear when the answer came, even as she heard cracking leaves and saw grass bow in the wind. The words, the understanding, was not there.

Syji let out a heavy exhale.

“...She permits.”

 

[Arcanist]

Lixue simply hummed in affirmation.

Oleander’s anger was redirected – whether that was wise or not would be seen – and further more Phoenix led him down another path of untruth. Not that Zariel had not already done that before Phoenix assumed control. He did not feel so bad about it then.

“Now do you see why I wanted you to hear it from...Zariel herself?” Lixue almost had to force the very words. “Didymus has an active imagination. It shouldn’t surprise us that he seeks to sow discord after he absconded from his role. He still has too much sympathy where they’re concerned. We can’t believe everything we hear, can we?”

Was that intentional? Perhaps. But he doubted Oleander would catch on to such words.

“He’ll need reminding of his place here. His place in all of this.” They all needed reminding by the sounds of it. Didymus drawing further divisions was a problem. They had to hush him in some manner, and Lixue could think of many, many ways to do it.

~***~

He should have known Syji would have been harder to convince, but Cleon was used to how Reva acted and reacted, even as calm as she appeared to be. She was bound to have softened in her years away from home.

Cleon was not used to seeing Reva so impassioned, hearing such an upsetting anger rage from her.

The others were not either. They stood and watched with discomfort at the agony in Reva and her desperate plea for them to listen and consider their plight. They understood if she could not convince them, then there would be no convincing any of the Viera. She begged for ‘Her’ to consider their plight over Syji.

Kikiti could not help her naivety of such a subject, and confusion crossed her expression at the repeated mention of ‘Her’. “Who does she mean by…?” She murmured.

“Forest,” Oma whispered, still cautious and alert as her eyes moved along the treelines, ever watchful of the viera. “She talks. They hear.”

The lalafell wondered how such a thing was possible, and she would have debated the idea more, but it was inappropriate within their home. She stayed silent, afraid to even scrape the ground with her boot should she interrupt something so terribly intimate.

Something all of them, even Reva, were excluded from, further marking their positions as outsiders. They could not know if Reva’s words stirred whatever life lived in this forest, only wait.

Silence, until Syji breathed.

And communicated that they were permitted here.

There was a collective sigh from them all.

“Thank you,” was all Cleon could say, even if it wasn’t a decision all the viera weren’t so happy with. He put a gentle hand on Reva’s arm, though, he knew that would bring little comfort to her.

Though they were not being turned away, there was still a slow hesitance to move forward. It was almost as if each of them roused slowly to move. Even Sesario did not confidently stride forward as he usually did, and he hovered near Hector. You could never be too careful. Anyone could change their minds here.

 

[Lucyfer]

Oleander did not, in fact, understand what Lixue meant. Nor did Phoenix, blessedly distracted by watching Oleander’s reaction and making sure it took. The flare of anger in Scorpio was a blessing, in a way. “Son of a bitch,” Oleander cursed, “I’ll teach Didymus—”

“You will not,” Phoenix interjected, “you have done enough damage today. Allow me to do it, I am the one being slandered. Make sure you simply tell Jagger the truth, and see to it that Anissa knows, as well.”

Oleander nodded. He could do that, “I’m…ah, I’m sorry about the guards. I didn’t mean….”

Again, Phoenix interrupted, this time quietly, with a shake of his head. It wasn’t necessary. “It’ll pass,” Phoenix understood that Oleander having a temper was no surprise. Lying about the reason was easy. Sore loser. “Now, go,” Oleander didn’t even question it, why he was dismissed, and Lixue not, he was too frustrated and upset with himself for doubting that he left easily to track down Jagger and correct her.

What emotion had been on Zariel’s face deadened completely. “Didymus will go on another venture, as far as everyone else is concerned. Something you and Zariel can work out later,” Phoenix didn’t have the care to dig through memories to determine the best lie right then, and he had festivities to get back to for the show of it all.

“Bind him. Use him to find what makes the Zodiacs tick, so we can force them to manifest. We are running out of time,” he knew Lixue was up to that. He knew Lixue was up to many things, of course, but that was important. “Take whatever guards you need to have it done, and then dispose of them so they do not speak of it to others.”

~***~

Syji did not acknowledge the gratitude, though she acknowledged Cleon with a look. The gratitude was not necessary. It was not her decision. There was no reason to be grateful to her, so she only turned, and made a gesture to the other viera. Some dropped from the trees, but others darted ahead in those trees, moving almost as if they flew from branch to branch, still so silent upon each limb.

The group followed, Reva briefly lifting her hand to touch the one that Cleon placed on her arm.

She ached.

Terribly.

Returning home was always going to be an ache, but it had been an impossibility.

An ache she never imagined knowing, but now, as she heard every step made upon the soft ground, it permeated her entire being. She could hear her sisters move. She could hear the steps of her companions.

Reva could not hear Her.

She could not hear Her when Syji formed the familiar glyph, and an illusion began to fall away before their eyes. What had once looked like a sheer drop from a cliff, was suddenly full of trees, and a traveled path.

Hector, staying alongside Sesario, could not help but feel uncomfortable amidst all of this. He understood from a young age that viera were…different. He understood plenty found that difference to be attractive, but he’d always found it more unnerving than not, and that feeling only heightened as he continued to be confronted with things foreign to him.

Illusion magic was not unfamiliar, but it was not magic as he knew it.

He could not hear it, but he felt the difference in the wind, and he understood there was a conversation in every gesture, just as loud as a shout, but his ears were deaf.

Something did, indeed, live here.

Something with great sentience, and a terrible timelessness he would have wanted to rage against for being implacable.

Yet, it let them in.

And soon, after the cliff opened up to a path, they were in a world of tree houses, gazebos, fountains, hammocks, and all manner of gorgeous, vining architecture – and an entirely female group. So much so, he doubted if he’d ever seen a male viera in his life, and he looked up at Sesario, “Hey…male viera exist…right?” he tried to be so quiet that he wouldn’t be heard.

If he was, none cared to address his words, although all attention was upon the group entering, and a few even fled at the sight of them. “Stay here,” Syji said, after taking them to a gazebo, where those who had been lounging in it were quick to leave. “I will make Rima aware.”

“She leads, now?”

Syji nodded, and left without further words, leaving them to the emptiness of the gazebo, and eyes upon them at a distance. Not all viera left their sight, and their interest was painted clear as day – as was their fear, and dislike.

 

[Arcanist]

The truth, it seemed, was so easily swept under the rug with enough lies on top to suffocate it. Oleander was so close to it, and even despite his words, as vague and unhelpful as they had been, could not compare to Phoenix’s ability to snuff it out.

He was silent during the exchange, Phoenix dishing out his orders and Oleander lapping up every word of it. He could sympathise. Perhaps the change was not so easy to see to the common eye, not when Lixue had been so brazenly exposed to it.

But there had to be something there. An inkling for Oleander. Didymus was the wind that stirred up the torrent in Oleander. It was only the start.

Oleander was dismissed, though, Lixue knew he was still to receive his marching orders. Phoenix’s expression tired of all emotion, and even Lixue could not help but be unnerved by that, despite his own aloofness.

The orders were simple if you could call it that. Things he was already working on. Though, he was given leave for new playthings, Didymus included, to test those theories. There was no visible delight on his face, the idea of putting Didymus in his place previously exhilarating to him. Only the voice of deference. “Of course. After I speak with Zariel, I ask that I am not disturbed during my work.”

Lixue did not bow or nod as he usually did, and instead, walked out of the room. That was reserved for Zariel, and in his own stubbornness, he would not give Phoenix the satisfaction of it.

~***~

Oma watched the trees as they all moved forward. She was not surprised by the glyph and its illusion. If anything, it was something she knew. The rest was unknown to her, the presence in this forest the loudest of all, even if she couldn’t hear it like the viera. The fae had warned her never to cross the threshold, and she felt an anxiety she never possessed rise in her. She could not fight here.

She could not help but take Kikiti’s hand, mostly for her comfort, but the lalafell appreciated just as much.

Their entry felt sacrilegious and the viera made it known.

Cid tried not to let his hands linger too closely to the swords at his side. It was instinctive of him to defend himself, even more so walking into new and dangerous territory. But he knew better. The stories that travelled from bedroom to tavern to even the homes of nobles spun the mysteries of such forests laced with magic for hundreds of years. There was a reason why such stories kept being passed down.

And Sesario was no stranger to them too. His grandfather spun tales of trying to enter such places and coming out the other side, dazed, but lucky to be alive. The prince knew better now, but even in his wanderlust, he didn’t dare. He was insensitive to the idea of something living here, something they could not perceive or hear, but he didn’t doubt it. He could not put his finger on what felt different here, only that it just did.

Still, the green and natural society around them was a treat to see up close. He could not help but do the same with the forest’s inhabitants in equal parts attraction and caution.

Hector’s nervousness radiated in waves beside him. Sesario knew how tense his partner could get, and he joked often about it, to the inevitable bite back from him, but he stayed silent and near him for reassurance at least. He glanced down at him, just to hear him ask about male viera.

Sesario would have smirked at such a question, had they not dozens of eyes on them. Not wholly like his questions surrounding Reva’s age, but something in it was humorous from Hector asking it.

He did not answer it, not until they were led to a gazebo, told to wait, which none of them would have dared to. One foot out of place and they’d be part of the forest.

“If there are any men,” Sesario murmured, “they don’t live here with the women.” He heard conflicting statements before. That the Viera came from the forest themselves, that males lived separately and only came at certain parts of the year to trade and mate and leave again. Perhaps they were not so different from humans, or human fathers as most thought. It sounded transactional, but it was no less to how humans lived, was it?

It was silent for some time as they waited. Cleon had marvelled at the sights Reva recounted so clearly to him as a child. He never believed he would set foot in her home. Reva warned him of that. It was difficult to understand then why he could not be welcomed into Reva’s home as Reva was so welcomed in his. He understood as aged, and now, he understood it fully.

He wished they did not have to be here in such circumstances.

Cleon continued to survey around them. A flash of deep purple caught his eye, standing out in the sea of greenery around them. It grew only metres from where they stood. Hellebore. He remembered the name instantly. A call to a simpler, happier time, where he spoke of nonsense and picked flowers for his mother in the castle gardens.

“Reva,” he whispered, gesturing to her as he walked towards it. He stooped down to get a better look at it, gentle as he held the head and stroked the petals with his thumb. If he was younger, he would have plucked it without a care from the ground. He feared doing so here, where the Wood would feel it. He wondered if it would part with one, just for Reva to bring with her when she left.

 

[Lucyfer]

Reva had never felt the oppression of her own home in such a way before. At least, not when it was her home. Now, she understood that it truly wasn’t. Any lingering hope she refused to acknowledge, died with Veda. Now, she had to deal with another, and somehow, make them understand the dire need that brought this group to the viera. Make them understand they were going to come under threat from the Empire.

She tried to push it all out of mind, but she could not erase the silence that beat into her head, where she knew a voice should be. The Forest did not talk all the time, and yet it was all-present, like a person breathing, or the beating of a heart. There was always her sound, if not her voice, and Reva…felt out of place not hearing it.

It was difficult to hear Cleon through that silence, but she lifted her gaze from the ground to him when he spoke, the red eyes still hidden behind water that had yet to fall.

Hellebore stood out amongst the greenery. Cleon remembered. It was a flower she had not seen in a very long time, and she approached it. She knelt down besides it, a faint smile touching her lips, more at his memory than the flower itself. “I was not sure I would see one again.” Yet she still touched it lightly, and leaned in for a scent of it.

One long forgotten, but remembered in an instant.



Hector noted the movement, and the flower. No doubt, it was a sentimental moment. He would not involve himself in it. Much of this was…difficult for Reva. He didn’t know her well, but he’d gathered she was definitely the most Adult of the Adults, saving perhaps Cid. Even Cid was uncomfortable here.

Everyone was.

Every word felt like it could be the last under the heavy presence of the Wood. Reva even speaking seemed sacrilege.

His paranoia led him to notice the approach of a viera long off – recognizing she was not walking any other direction. He had a terrible instinct to try and hide behind Sesario, but pride would hardly allow that. Not to mention, Sesario definitely needed him if this went south. He’d have to be visible for that.



The viera that approached was wooden-skinned, a deeper brown than most of the others, but not the stark black of Reva. Her eyes burned a lighter amber, her hair held traces of gold amongst the yellow, and she stepped into the gazebo without any of the hesitance of the viera that still surrounded.

Reva rose, and inclined her head politely, “Rima.”

“Reva,” Rima returned, “She has told me of your trespass, but She has allowed it,” Rima made clear, the tension obvious enough, “The Stars have marked you. We knew this years ago, and knew not what it meant. The Stars stole you. She still begrudges them greatly for this, but will not turn you from her grass when you need Her, though you may only rest, not stay.”

Reva shook her head, “She may begrudge, but She will be lost if She cannot help.” Reva said, “Rima, we need help finding the Temples of the Stars. We need help understanding how to call upon them. She has known them longer than all of us. She must have some understanding.”



Hector desperately wanted to ask how a forest was going to know more when it was stagnate, but he bit his cheek to keep himself quiet. It would serve no one, and possibly get him filled with arrows.

Not to mention, it suddenly felt like Reva was speaking a code, even if she wasn’t. He understood it, but her mannerisms and enunciations changed. They weren’t quite like Rima, but they echoed it. Hector knew it – masking, dialogue cants – but it was strange to see with a viera. There had been a uniformity of sorts in those outside of their woods that made them alien, but now he realized the ones who left were also alien to those in the woods. They tried…and they failed to grasp the old ways they left behind.



Rima sighed at the request. “She has noticed the Stars grow fainter. We all have. She has worried, but it is not her place to intervene.”

“She will not! We will,” Reva insisted, “I only ask information, or the fate of the Stars will fall upon her, and she will fade. The Empire—”

“We do not fear humes and their kingdoms,” Rima cut off, “that threat is old and tired. Centuries, millennia, they threaten. Centuries, millennia, they fail. Do not presume to think now it is a threat. Your time out there has blinded you to the strength She has.”

 

[Arcanist]

It took Reva some time to realise he had called her, but he would not have pushed her if she never realised. He understood the sight of a Hellebore would not cure Reva of the sadness that was so visible behind her eyes and drove a dagger deep into her heart, but it at least gave some temporary reprieve and would pass the painful time waiting.

Cleon’s smile was also faint, but bittersweet. He never thought he would see Hellebore himself, despite Reva’s quiet encouragement that he would leave his home and perhaps find one someday. He hoped they both would see one, and it had come true in a way neither would have expected it to.

They couldn’t stay in their bubble, as much as Cleon longed to. A viera approached them, the closest to Reva’s appearance, but still a stark contrast from how she looked. Cleon stood too, though, he was not the first to address Rima. He listened to the pair speak, and only then did he notice how differently Reva spoke. It was one of many ways she stood out among his people, but this felt more defined, to gain at least a fraction of support from Rima.

Support which was not being curried so easily.

The viera were a sheltered people. They were capable and self-sufficient, but they could not really know the world from behind the veil of the woods. They did not know the world’s growing capabilities, no less the Empire’s, and it made the exchange more frustrating to listen to. Sesario wouldn’t last had he been born here. Reva certainly didn’t, but it took Leviathan to lead her away from ‘Her’ embrace.

Sesario wondered if Leviathan had been with Reva all her life with the way Rima spoke about her. It seemed to be the case for all the other marked and their Zodiac as if they were cherry picked, much like Zariel had been, but Bahamut just landed with him and never left. It forced a certain wanderlust into her that the viera forbade. It did for him too, but for less of a noble cause and only a selfish want.

Cleon stepped forward, feeling his protectiveness of Reva rising. “Reva doesn’t doubt Her strength. She worries that the very creature that took down the Stars will do the same to you and these woods.”

Talking was more of Hector’s strong suit, Sesario would admit, but the prince wasn’t blessed with patience and certainly not for negotiation that was going nowhere. “Forget about the Empire and every other kingdom in the world for a minute. Ophiuchus, a world-eating serpent, will tear this world apart without a thought. The Stars will disappear, and like Reva said, these woods and those here along with it. The Empire may not be a threat to you, but Ophiuchus stands to be a threat to everyone, kingdom, hume, viera alike.”

An idea that was constantly repeated to urge grudges be put aside, but one that was ignored.

Cleon didn’t appreciate the brazened charge in by Sesario, but it did make the viera’s predicament more of a reality, if they chose to believe it.

“We’re not asking you to stand and fight with us against this threat,” Cleon added, “we only ask to be armed against Ophiuchus with Her wisdom on the Stars so we can bring the fight to Ophiuchus on equal footing. Whatever information you have will give us a chance to defend this world. That is all we ask of you here, nothing more. We’ll ensure that we won’t disturb you or your home again.”

What more could he say? How else did he show he would not go back on his words, that it was truly all they needed, when viera did not trust outsiders, never mind one of their own? He was naïve to be surprised that there were humes kind enough to welcome viera among them, as strange as they seemed, and how the viera could be the opposite, despite the little information they sought.

 

[Lucyfer]

The humans interjected, and Rima’s gaze was icy on each of them in turn, although she heard every word. Every, too loud, word. Why were humans so loud? How did Reva even stand it, when they knew not how to speak, or how to listen? Yet, she would admit, they made a fair point: that which took down the stars had the potential to take down more, if it sought to take down more.

Ophiuchus.

Although she was hesitant to humor any dialogue on the matter, she asked, “You are…certain this Ophiuchus means harm to the world?”

“Yes,” Reva said, “and so we need to know where the Stars placed their secrets upon this world, that we may defend it. We wish to know that, and we believe She may know, from her long years, where the Stars once walked, and where they once parted with their gifts.” No, She had never walked those paths, but She heard much over time.

Of course, Reva wanted to insist on the more immediate threat of the Empire, but she could see that was a dead-end. Rima would not admit to needing help against anything as simple as a human kingdom. “Is that all the information you request?”

“If She knows of others marked as I am, we also seek information on how they awoke to their power. Many of us cannot awaken the sleeping within them, and it is needed.”

Rima let a sigh part her lips. “Very well,” she did not sound happy as she said this. “I will consult our records, and speak with Her to learn what She may be willing to share,” Rima could not force the information out.

“I can assist with the records,” Reva said. “So can they. Our written language is much the same.” Just as their speaking language was much the same, when conversing with each other. It was only in conversing with the Wood that it changed.

Rima’s gaze narrowed at that thought.

“We’ll be out of your hair faster if you let us help,” Hector said to that look, “I’m sure you want that.”

Rima fixed him with the same glare as the others, before looking to Reva, “You will follow the instructions of our scholars. You will not touch or read anything they do not allow.”

Reva inclined her head, “We will not,” she agreed.

 

[Arcanist]

Most of their words were met with Rima’s cold stare, which wasn’t unexpected, but nevertheless stinging. Though at least their words did not make her push away the threat of Ophiuchus as much as she begrudged them.

Reva assisted with convincing her further, adding what exactly they needed to know. At least her words were considered more over what the humes here were, even if she was outcast. Even if it seemed superfluous to the viera.

Cleon did not verbally agree to Hector’s suggestion, but he nodded. He did not want to be hit with the same glare that he gave to them, and now Hector, but it made sense for them to help. Even if it made this painful reunion all the shorter.

The others agreed to Rima’s conditions, much in the same quiet, respectful manner.

“Fair enough,” Sesario was the only one to deviate. He was tempted to do the opposite of what was agreed in a place no one was allowed, where such knowledge would never see the light outside this forest. Though, he did not fancy his chances at grabbing it here. Bahamut wouldn’t be able to step in to deflect an arrow in his Chosen after all.

Once that agreement was settled, there was no time wasted in moving towards the place of the viera’s best kept knowledge. That same feeling of dozens of eyes upon them, of varying degrees of curiosity and fear and disgust rolling over them.



Kikiti was used to overt odd stare, but it came with the uncomfortable familiarity that she was unwanted here. She felt the weight shift in her bag and felt the overwhelming need to join Yarrow inside it. At least out here she did not face the ostracization alone.

She decided to throw her focus to Oma instead. By the way she had been squeezing her small hand, and feeling every jolt, she wasn’t as used to it as the others were. Kikiti tugged at her hand. Surprise crossed Oma’s face for a moment before she realised, and she leaned down as they walked to hear her whisper.

“Are you okay?”

Oma chewed on her answer. “Mmhm.” She put on a brave face, but she did not sound so brazenly confident as she did when she faced them in her home.

“It’s okay to be a little nervous,” Kikiti reassured her.

“No nervous,” Oma affirmed. Her face contorted into something she thought looked braver, though it was terribly forced.

Kikiti’s smile up at her was sheepish. “That’s good. I’m a little nervous though. I don’t really like being stared at,” she admitted, “so can you help me be braver like you?”

Oma considered it. Kikiti did look more nervous than she did. She nodded and Kikiti smiled again. "Oma help.”



Cleon wondered about the space the viera kept such records as they walked to it. He hadn’t thought much of the viera keeping records and other knowledge in such forms before, and he could only imagine their architecture made to contain it.

But he wanted something to come out of this, just to prove coming here was useful. “I hope we can come away with something,” he whispered, perhaps more to himself than to Reva. He didn’t want to share the same doubts others had about what the Wood could provide.

 

[Lucyfer]

Reva nodded at Cleon’s soft words. She knew nothing was guaranteed here. The viera were isolated, after all, and yet they had retained a connection with a being thousands of years old. The Wood knew much, even about the world outside. Her roots went far, but more than that, she carried with her information that creatures like birds and rabbits brought. She carried with her the memories of bones that decayed and became a part of her.

Every viera that lived, and died, in her embrace – she knew.

And Reva, who had known what it would mean to leave, now felt it all the more acutely as she walked in a Wood she used to hear in silence.

And she hated Leviathan right then, as much as she hated Rima, with such strange, irrational ferocity towards both, that it ought to have torn her in two, but she was silent in this rage, in this sorrow, as they reached a building familiar to her, but always taken for granted.

It was built not of wood, but of stone, unlike so much else. Vining plants grew and blossomed upon it, care taken in how it grew so not to damage the building, though to an untrained eye it might still seem carelessly wild. Viera near grew startled at the approach, and some fled outright, while others remained frozen as the group walked into the arching stone structure, into a building where the arcing could be seen in the way the library had multiple domed ceilings.

Glass was atop, for sunlight filtered in, through the leaves that still hung heavily above the library.

Within, the stone structures continued. Stone shelves, stone tables, it was a place meant to be more protected from fire than everywhere else, the reason for that obvious enough: the books.

Leather bound paper were on every shelf. Scrolls, too, and on those it was easier to see that the paper was not as refined as it was among humanity. It was not as white, some of it seemed to have been made from tree trunks – rings were still visible upon some.

The viera wasted little; the leather of animal hides gave them ways to protect, and dying trees gave them paper.

The librarian, a waif of a woman, looked frozen as Rima approached, and almost callously gestured to the group, “They have permission to read on the Stars, but only on the Stars,” Rima stated, tone making it clear there would be no questions either way on this decision.

The librarian nodded, but her furtive amber gaze darted from Rima, to Reva, as if this was the most unusual thing, not the humans or lalafell, “Reva?” she finally asked that.

Rima nodded.

“I…but she….”

“The Wood has granted them passage, and it is for Her that I allow it. Find the resources. They will behave.” Or there would be consequences. Yet another statement that did not need to be made.

The librarian bobbed her head anxiously, and Rima turned away.

Reva lifted her hand, as if to stop her, but fell short. Still, Rima saw it, and paused alongside Reva, as her fingers curled back towards her palm.

So much to say.

So much to want.

Reva bowed her head and drew her hand back.

Rima left.

“This way, p-please,” the librarian stepped from behind a counter, and gestured them to follow her to a table, where she’d begin to bring them books and scrolls for them to go over.

Hector had no trouble immediately burying himself in a book that was brought.

 

[Arcanist]

The viera’s home was built with wood and similar means, so of course, the stone structure stood out. The foliage donned over stone almost seemed as if it was trying to blend it in or reclaim it to the forest.

As impressive as it may have seemed, the use of glass and stone to create a structure within this forest, it was simply glass and stone.

Primitive would have been a word to spring to most people’s minds. The foundation of the structure was there but lacked any flair or decoration. The books and scrolls were of a crude creation. There was no candlelight, no real warmth to this place. Still, it was a place of great importance, just like any other library.

Only it was practical and not a great piece of architectural artistry as humans often intended for libraries.

They were met by another viera, one who clearly devoted more time inside this haven for knowledge than most, and further instruction not to step out of line from Rima. The air only grew colder with her detachment from Reva, and all they could do was stand by and watch.

Cleon too could only stand in that pit of helplessness, watching Reva despair in a way he’s never known and never witnessed. He didn’t know how to fix it, because grief was too complicated to be fixed with kindness or goodwill.

Grief would still carry on, even through their subsequent research. Books and scrolls were brought and left for them on the table they were led to, and they were given leave to look through them. No guidance, no further instruction, only their wits and independent thoughts to guide them.

As daunting as it was, there was work to do. Hector was the first to grab a book and soon the others passed around their research material.

Kikiti blew a sheet of dust from the tome, bigger than her head. "I guess this one hasn't been taken out in awhile..." She coughed.

Silence followed, though, the sanctity of it in this library was broken by mumbles and whispers. As Reva said, the text wasn’t difficult to decipher, given the shared language between viera and humes.



Cleon was no stranger to reading or studying. Most of the time, it was all he could have done when bound inside, even it wasn’t what he particularly like to do when he was younger. It made this whole exercise a little easier. Though they were tasked to find anything useful about any of the Zodiac, he turned to chapters on Asura first. He felt selfish in doing so, but he was sure the others did the same.

What he read was like what he read before. A woman with three faces and six arms, fury and benevolence, a mother and a warrior. Most other books said little beyond the number of faces and limbs, though, this one described the three faces of those of a maiden, mother, and matriarch. He noted it, though, only from the difference from what everything else he read or was ever told about her. He wasn’t sure how it fit into anything he needed to know.

Asura always was perceived as young, or perhaps Cleon had that image of her in his head. He could not imagine her in the same way now.

He found accounts of those who saw her, or knew of others who saw her, in the flesh. He didn’t take them as undeniable scripture, but a few of them detailed trials in coves, caves, places of darkness. Some faced Asura herself to be deemed worthy of carrying her boons.

Cleon felt his forehead crease as he read further. There were no definitive answers, only vague clues as to where Asura awarded such boons, no temple explicitly mentioned. He wondered if he needed to do battle with her to prove himself worthy of being chosen, but why would she risk losing him? Did she have a choice?

“The look on your face right now isn’t screaming breakthrough, Cleon.” Sesario’s quiet jest reached him.

“My face is that easy to read,” Cleon stated, rather than questioned. His expression always did give way to his thoughts. He flicked at the ear of the page as Sesario moved closer to him. “I don’t have anything definite. Just vague ideas.”

“We’ve worked with vague ideas so far. What’s another few to throw onto the pile until we make something of them?”

“Until the pile gets too tall for us to narrow down.” Cleon murmured, moving his eyes from the page to Sesario. “Do you have anything to add to it?”

“A poem. Or a hymn. Things are tough enough without purple prose in the middle of it,” Sesario set down a scroll, and ever curious, Cleon unfurled it to look at it himself. “I don’t recognise it. But then again, I don’t frequent holy ground.” Only recently if one counted Fenrir’s Temple as holy ground.

Cleon read the contents and hummed. “It doesn’t seem like any hymns I would know of. But maybe it has some themes to it that might help.”

Sesario hummed in agreement. “An avid devotee of the Twelve, are we?”

“Not quite. I didn’t always attend the sermons,” Cleon admitted, lowering his voice further in sheepishness as Sesario smirked at him. His thumb traced the mark on his hand then. “My mother believed prayer is…was a powerful thing. She thought they brought Asura to me, given the mark I was born with, so I was expected to spend time in deference to her. It’s the only reason I know most hymns and texts off by heart.”

Asura was with Cleon from birth. Phoenix was with Zariel from birth. The way everyone else spoke, it sounded like he and Bahamut were outliers. “So, you were born with the mark.” He felt like now was a great time for the dragon to explain, but the long, heavy crackle of white noise in his head continued. Did he just expect Bahamut to say nothing? Was he listening hard enough for his voice?

Cleon’s brow creased at the statement. “Well, weren’t we all?”

Sesario wanted to laugh, but all he could manage was a knowing smile.

“Not me.”

 

[Lucyfer]

Escander.

Escander.

Escander.

Every single thing about Alexander, went back to Escander. There was no subtlety about where Alexander concerned himself, but nothing ever spoke of his temple, or where to find his favor explicitly. Just Escander, that place Hector loathed so much, it made him wonder why Alexander would pick him of all people.

It made him wonder if anyone else from Escander could easily swap the blessing, too. It wasn’t like this was a normal thing. Could gods just…switch? Leave a Marked, in this situation? Ophiuchus threw a wrench into normal proceedings.

But he worried if Didymus might be able to take his blessing, all the same. He was from Escander, and now with the Empire. What more did Didymus need? ‘Maybe people can’t have two.’

Exasperated, he did try to dig into Libra – Kirin – but as he started on that, Sesario had to start talking. He looked up with a withering glare to the princes chatting away, as if that was helping anyone study, only for Sesario to drop quite the bombshell on the rest of the party.

Reva even lowered her text, brows furrowed together, “When did you receive the mark?”

“How?” Hector hoped the fear that his own mark could be stolen because he hated Escander wasn’t too obvious in his tone. “Did you do something that made it show up or something?” That was a bit more important than when – but it likely lined up well enough.

Sesario had the mark as long as Hector knew him. At least, it was never some new thing Sesario had to comment on, wondering if he was getting sick, or was particularly drunk and got a weird tattoo. Not that Hector remembered, anyways, and he had a pretty good memory for Sesario’s ridiculous complaints and antics.