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year 5, quarter 3
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A little over a week had passed since her near death experience deep within the temple's depths and Aranea still found herself worse for wear. The whispers that passed between both the visitors and tourists were that the dragon woman on the edge of delirium and near death had to be sedated before the monks were able to tend to her wound. They said she was babbling incoherent nonsense about a plague, darkness, and a dangerous man. Of course in rumors he had been muddled from an actual man that had attacked to her to the personification of the shadows deep below that had bested her. No man could do the things she claimed he could. Could he?
The truth of the matter lay somewhere in this word of mouth. Aranea grimaced as the white mage told her all about how she was the current talk of the temple. "There'd be no talk if you'd just let me leave." It was an argument that Aranea knew she wasn't going to win.
~
After awakening the initial time in this room, Aranea had made to get up and warn someone but her body bemoaned the idea causing her to fall as soon as she got out of the bed. The group of monks and mages that had been watching over her hastily tried to help her up but Aranea tried to fight them off. The only thought on her mind was that Ardyn was here and she had to evacuate these people as far from here as fast as possible
Of course no one had taken her seriously as she was yelling orders at anyone in earshot. It came to the point where the white mage cast a silence spell on her just so they could talk over her. They explained that she had been sleeping for close to six days since she had burst out of the catacombs an inch from death's doorstep. She had passed out after giving a cryptic warning of darkness. The monks had moved her to where the white mages studied their curative tomes and had kept watched over her as they tried to restore her body. They had been able to fix her nose but explained that although her flesh had been mended that her strength would be slow coming back. She had been coming in and out of it but this was the first time she was coherent. Her body needed time to replace all the blood it had lost.
Aranea didn't have time for her body to catch up. She needed to make a plan. She tried to explain this but through the silence spell but the gargles of noise that escaped were not anywhere close to words. After promising that she wouldn't start yelling again and having the spell removed, Aranea recounted to them what had happened in the darkness below them. After finishing she once again tried to get up to leave but was held back down. She sighed into resignation as the monks began to whisper among themselves about what she had said. Nodding solemnly they all left the room leaving Aranea alone save a single white mage.
She bade her time giving flippant answers to any ice breaker questions the white mage tried to make small talk with her. His name was Rainer and apparently he believed her as a matter of fact. She bade her time until he eventually tuckered out of the one way conversation. She waited even longer for him to nod off before she made to leave. She stood by the bed a moment as her legs shook violently. Combating the lightheaded dizziness she felt from standing too fast she looked down. She hadn't realized until now that she was wearing a long gown and her armor was nowhere to be seen. Damn. She'd have to search for that too. When she finally was able to stand somewhat upright, Aranea made her exit making sure not to wake her "guard".
Aranea was glad to see the hallway was empty. Each step pained her as she cautiously made her way. Her stomach ached viciously as she realized that she must not have anything but magic coursing through it at the moment. Her arm throbbed every time she moved it but at least the gash was now healed up. She looked at the scar forming and knew it was gonna be one of the new crown jewels of the many she had littered across her. Thinking on it she had been stupid to try to take Ardyn on but who else was going to? She didn't know where Noctis was and Luna, the Oracle, who was to fight the darkness and plague had been dead for so long. Someway, somehow she'd figure it out. No one else needed to suffer at his hands.
Lost in thought she didn't realize that she had been followed. She felt the touch on her shoulder and tensed reflexively. Aranea knew she didn't have the strength to throw her assaulter over her shoulder. Instead she tried to drop low but her knees screamed their opposition and she found herself crumpling to the ground instead. Standing above her was Rainer giving her a soft laugh. "You've been stumbling about like a drunk. Let's get you back." She probably had but she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of the smile she knew he wanted back. Reluctantly she got up and followed him back knowing that even if he couldn't he'd find someone to get her back their forcefully. And lo and behold on their return a guard had been placed at the door. These helpful types were a real pain in the ass.
~
The monks explained that while she was healing they would be looking up anything that might help. Not only was the darkness she had been hired to face lurking about but another darkness entirely darkened their temple. They were going to keep things quiet though; they didn't want to cause a panic among the inhabitants of the temple until they were absolutely certain they needed to alarm them. Aranea sighed at their explanation. She knew that if Ardyn chose to make the temple a hot bed of daemonic activity the plague there was nothing these monks would be able to do to stop him. They agreed to tighten security a bit and deny excess to the catacombs even to the upper echelon of researchers for the time being but that was it
The time passed and Aranea's strength slowly returned to her. With aide of a crutch, she was now allowed to stalk the hallways under supervision. One morning Rainer thought it might be good for her to walk the grounds and get some fresh air. He even agreed to let her explore alone , but Aranea rolled her eyes as he mentioned that because of her concern all paths to the temple had a guard stationed along the path and so if she tried to leave they were told to make sure she couldn't. "I get it. I'm your ward until I get better. Whatever." she growled as the white mage pushed the door to the grounds open for her
The bright early afternoon sun caused Aranea to squint and use her free arm to block her eyes. She wouldn't admit it but the fresh air smelled incredible. Giving Rainer a two fingered salute, Aranea began to hobble into the warm spring weather. She wasn't blind to the people staring at her and whispering whatever they had to see to each other. Let them talk. Maybe it would inspire fear in one of them to leave. Aranea could feel her energy depleting faster than she liked. It was so frustrating, her body had never taken this long to bounce back from a fight. She saw a large fountain ahead of her with benches circling it and made her way to one.
Aranea took a seat watching the fountain. It was a glass fountain with a see through bottom aquarium. The fountain bubbled as a statue of a mermaid playing the harp took the main focus. She smiled as she watched the fountain and the fish swimming freely about. The constant sound of bubble and warmth of the sun hitting did seem to cause her mind to ease. Maybe Rainer knew more about what was good for her than she thought. She would never tell him that though.
Post by Caius Dragelion on Apr 26, 2018 23:08:15 GMT -6
Why... Had he taken the egg?
He found it clutched to his chest still even as he stumbled into town. Even as he managed his way to the temple. He just... Couldn't stand to leave it out of his sight. He hadn't let go of it the whole trip back, and shoved it carefully into his pack only for minutes at a time if even - and only when absolutely necessary in moments where it was to protect the egg or if he seriously needed to use his hands. If he could kick a pebble that was in his way instead of flinging it, he would. If he needed to push past something, he would do so with his body instead of his hands. He didn't know why but an instinct kept him this way.
Perhaps it was his time as part of the Kingsglaive shaping his behavior and his mannerisms again. He was a Kingsglaive, not a Crownsguard and yet one thing had always been hammered into his head for the day that it would be necessary... Protect.
To protect what was dear to him, what was precious to him, protect what gave him a meaning, what he was here for... This egg was not any of these things and yet he protected it as though he were protecting His Royal Highness himself. He didn't know why, but all he could think of was the aftermath of the battle... He had gone to that cave only for the sake of a job. A job, that was it. That was all. No more, no less. Kill the beast that was terrorizing the village in the cave, bring proof that he had killed it, get paid and move on knowing that not only had he gotten a good payday, but he'd saved a village from monsters as well. It was as simple as that.
But these things just loved to be damn complicated, didn't they? The dragon inflicted wounds on him that he was still recovering from, but with Rydia's help, he'd been able to slay it. Unfortunately, it was the nest nearby that had caught his attention after the battle. One unguarded egg. He couldn't stop himself. Knowing it was helpless, and would likely die without being guarded, with all the other creatures that were on that mountain. That instinct to protect just... Overtook him.
He'd been in the temple overnight when he had arrived. No amount of bedrest and small healing spells that he knew was going to fix what that dragon did to him. He'd broken some things, he'd been roasted pretty bad in some areas, and they were still picking out pieces of his hair that had been charred to a crisp and stuck to him and itched like all hell... Not to mention he'd lost a ton of blood. His body was weak, his body was frail, and he had been having difficulties moving for the trip back... It was a miracle he'd managed to get back, but he had Rydia to thank for that. He expected to be mobbed, to be asked questions, to hear muttering about the idiot who thought taking on a dragon in a small party was wise. But those mutterings only lasted for a bit... Something about a woman who had claimed to encounter something that might as well have been death himself, with how she described it. Those tales made his dragon battle seem obsolete, though he welcomed the peace.
Healing magic at the temple was a wonderful thing, he'd found. They healed wounds, mended broken bones that back in his world would have taken weeks, months to heal... Even for a Kingsglaive. Even for one of the toughest, most stubborn bastards around... Who then joined the Kingsglaive. His body was healing at a rate that he never thought possible... When he would be discharged, he knew he'd be told to lay off for a little while longer to allow his body the rest it would then need, but... Considering the time he was saving by coming here, he could live with that. He'd earned a bit of time to rest anyway... And his fee for that village had gone up quite a bit for his job ending up including a dragon. Not that the village chief was going to complain... They'd fully expected him to not come back at all. He'd be fine to take a few days away when this was all said and done... Even if he was technically considering the time he'd be spending here days off. But in this case... He had no choice, was it really right to count it?
Still, he had listened. He listened to the stories. He heard about the woman who came here near death, babbling incessantly, spouting things few understood... Something about plagues, shadows, dangerous men that could do awful, inhumane things... It piqued his curiosity... And helped kill the boredom a little. They still wouldn't let him train, as much as he wanted to. He couldn't grow soft just because he was out with injury... Even if he knew that he might not have made it back at all if things had been just a little bit different.
With the egg stashed in his pack and out of sight, he'd been allowed to wander the grounds now that he had regained a great deal of his strength. He'd been here... At least a day. Maybe two, maybe three? He had lost track but it felt like weeks, months... And he hated it. He didn't like to be tied down, he wanted to get out there again. But his body needed the treatment and the rest... As much as he hated to say it. He hated it but he needed it if he was to keep doing what he was doing.
As he wandered the grounds, a bit slower than he would like, he could at least appreciate being able to come out here again, wander around outside again. He couldn't go far, but... Honestly, it was better than nothing. He would have his day... And he would have it soon, he knew. He just had to be patient.
Coming to the fountain, he couldn't help but stare up at it a moment, before his gaze caught sight of a woman sitting nearby. He squinted a bit, wondering if perhaps his time inside had caused him to begin hallucinating. But if he wasn't mistaken, that was... Aranea Highwind? The mercenary? The demon slayer? He had met her once, in his world... But he had been fairly young. And much shorter. No way she would recognize him now.
Though she looked... Younger, than he figured she would despite the years. This chick clearly had some kind of miracle body to retain her youth this long. Of course, he had no idea this wasn't the Aranea he remembered.
"Aranea Highwind" He greeted curtly with a light smirk crossing his lips as he leaned against a surface nearby. "Never thought I'd meet you again in this world of all places. Though I suppose you wouldn't recognize me... It's been a hell of a long time."
Aranea closed her eyes as the sun warmed her cheeks. How long had it been since she had been able to do this. Just sit and feel the beauty of nature surround her. She had grown accustomed to the coldness, the darkness, and the heaviness the Darkness had brought to Eos. She grit her teeth at the thought of it. She remembered the people unable to leave the city of Lestallum in its artificial light that kept the daemons always just waiting beyond the threshold; people unable to enjoy the sun.
Her eyes snapped open as soon as someone called out her name. And not just anyone, this person knew her full name. Only a handful of people had the nerve to call her by her full name one of them being... Instinctively she grabbed for her spear but found only her crutch instead. Still she pointed it at the interrupter just the same. Was he here to finish her off? Had he let her think she had escaped only to pounce like a cat watching a mouse run in circles?
But as Aranea took in the view of the stranger, it was not Ardyn. Instead she was faced with a man about a foot taller than herself. He looked as though he had just crawled out of the dregs of burnt building. And she thought she looked bad. Still he knew her and she would study him until she could conclude if she knew him or not. She stayed silently as the fountain bubbled feet away. Her eyes darted around; there were enough people taking pleasant afternoon strolls that if her started anything at least there would be some backup. Backup. She felt ashamed that she was a point she needed it. Her gaze returned to the man.
Aranea raked her memory of any tall blonde men she had known. Aside from Prompto and Ignis, she could only assume that the man may have been in her fleet at one point when she was a commodore for Nifleheim. Or perhaps she had given him a good beating when she lived as a mercenary. Still his face eluded her. One didn't become anything without making a few unknown enemies though. The man also knew they weren't on Eos anymore. What else did this man know. Her brows furrowed. Until she placed him, her suspicions and guard were set on max.
"And yet here I am," Aranea replied after she was ready to confront him. It was both a statement and a warning. She leaned on her crutch as though it were a prop instead of the vital aid she needed to stand. She let her intense gaze stare across the few feet that separated them. "That's not a problem is it, ...?" she trailed off showing her lack of knowledge at who he was, waving her hand in time. Although she posed it as a question, it carried a threatening tone. She might be weakened but she wasn't in the ground yet. And she be damned if she let this crusty singed man change that.
Post by Caius Dragelion on Apr 30, 2018 19:57:11 GMT -6
The truth was, Caius did not know the woman that was standing in front of him. He'd for a hot minute worked with a version of Aranea from his own timeline, but of course he didn't know this. But he couldn't help but note that she looked about the same as the woman he'd met back then. It was as though she had hardly aged a day since. Caius had been quite young at the time, so maybe it would be a surprise he would recognize her... But the woman had been fierce. A merciless demon hunter that struck fear and respect in all around her. She was strong... She was mighty. So he remembered her.
But his greeting would cause her to reach for what he knew to be her spear. As he hadn't clued in that she didn't have it, he would immediately enter combat mode himself out of pure self-preservation instinct as his gunblade would appear out of thin air into his hand. They hadn't taken his weapon because they hadn't been able to. How did you take something that wasn't there unless he wanted it to be? Lonoaw would be pointed at her at the same time as she pointed her weapon... A walking cane?
Caius would quirk a brow as he peered out from behind his weapon and stared at the cane, then at Aranea. And then he began to laugh. He couldn't help it! He couldn't help but laugh! "You're still as fearless as I remember you being" He cracked. "You'd probably be able to kill a man with that thing even in your condition, I'm not stupid enough to try to attack you unless you do so first. You may find peace, Lady Highwind. I am not your enemy."
Of course, he had unintentionally outed himself as a Glaive to Aranea, though it didn't matter much to him. It was very clear she was heavily on guard. He supposed he couldn't blame her, considering he had yet to meet someone from his own world before now as well, and he might have been a little on guard if someone he didn't know well had approached him. But he also didn't know how else to approach her in this instance.
He would lower his blade then as she would lean on her crutch, indicating that he meant her no harm. "No, no problem at all" He spoke as his blade would disappear into thin air once again. She didn't know him, it seemed by how she trailed off. That was fine, he would have been surprised if she did.
"Don't worry about recognizing me, I was a lot..." He trailed off as he looked himself up and down. "A lot smaller back then, to say the least. Though you look like you haven't aged a day" He would admit, chuckling lightly. He held out a hand then, with a warm smile. "Caius Ignis Dragelion, but Caius is fine. We were part of a team on a mission together at one point, routing demons. But it was a long time ago."
The man materialized a sword faster than she could move. A glaive? Her history with the "Protectors of the Land" was an on again off again relationship. Back in the day she'd had some run ins against them when she was supporting Nifleheim, gathering intel scoping out bases. For the King's personal guard she'd never had too much trouble dealing with them. Then when the Darkness came she'd often find herself teaming up with the fledgling remnants of the glaive. Or more like her protecting the people who when they lost everything else decided to take the call, but weren't really up to snuff with fighting literal daemons.
Still the sword was the thing she fixated by. Aranea didn't know all the ins and outs about how their powers worked, but she did get that somehow somewhere Noctis must be doing alright. At least still alive at the least. Well that was plus. At least now there was maybe a glimmer of some hope of dealing with Ardyn in the long run.
Aranea rolled her eyes at the compliments he gave her. They were true of course, but "No one likes an ass kisser, kiddo. And you can drop the "lady" never suited me much," Working with the rookies was the worst. They'd endlessly pester her with questions instead of focusing on the mission at hand. But worse was that she really couldn't kill the man that needed to be killed. Trying to had left her in this sorry state, a hobbling ward in a free flowing gown looking less like a famed daemon slayer and more like a decrepit useless being.
The sword disappeared about as fast as it had appeared. Well, that was one less thing she had to worry about. She just stared at his outstretched hand then at him and back to his hand. Great, he must be one of those stuffy proper types. Ignoring his hand she commented back to him, "Caius. Can't say the name or face is familiar. Your bosses threw a lot of rookies my way. Had to toughen you guys up if you were gonna call yourselves Glaives. Hard to keep track of all of you."
She hadn't been standing this long since her attack and her legs begged for respite. Angered that her body was healing at the rate she wanted, Aranea made her way over to the fountain where she found a seat. Her attention turned back to the man. "But we can use all the helpful hands that we could. The daemons seem to get stronger by the day." She stopped and though about it. If glaives were being pulled here as well, was there anyone protecting Lestallum? She shrugged it off though. There was nothing she could do, and she trusted Iris well enough to take care of anything that tried to creep inside.
"You look like shit. The monks got you captive here too while they heal you up?" she asked as she looked over that burns and bruises on his face and fried hair. He looked almost bad as she probably did. She glanced into the foutain's water confirming her thoughts. She'd entertain him for now. Perhaps he knew where Noctis was. "Or is being charred a new fashion statement among you guys?"
Post by Caius Dragelion on May 10, 2018 23:29:02 GMT -6
She didn't seem to let her guard down all that much, which was fine with him. She was the sort that liked to remain on edge, that was her style. He used to be that way, to be quite honest, but... Becoming a glaive had changed a lot for him.
He hadn't had much chance to converse with her way back when, seeing as they were on mission and everything and the Aranea he remembered didn't seem to have much time to chat with young-uns. "Ass-kisser? No, no... I've always been told that a warrior's honor dictates honesty. I'm saying what I've seen and heard... Sadly it's a double edged sword, I think you can guess why" Caius would joke in response, with a big, cheeky grin crossing his face.
She didn't seem to recognize him, neither name nor face. Which didn't surprise him. "I actually wasn't a Glaive at the time" He would admit, stretching out with his arms relaxed behind his head. He had no idea the bomb he was about to accidentally drop on Aranea. "I was a hunter and mercenary at the time, I was probably about... 13, give or take, so I'm not surprised. I joined the Kingsglaive after the Ten Years Of Darkness, after The Chosen King wiped out the Starscourge. King Noctis is the one who recruited me, gave me purpose you could say" He spoke, letting out a sigh then as he remembered the circumstances that brought him here. "Makes me wonder if he survived the assassination attempt. I got pulled here right when I had the fucker" He admitted with a light growl in his tone. He couldn't help but bring it up, that incident had been bothering him for a year and Aranea had been the first person from Eos that he had met since he got here. "Second more and I'd have killed him. But considering I can still use my powers, His Royal Highness probably survived it. Though I have no clue how I can still use them regardless, considering I'm in a different world entirely."
He had seen the portal open up, he'd been sucked in himself and His Royal Highness had been nowhere near it. So he hadn't thought of the possibility of Noctis being here.
When she would observe that he "looked like shit" and asked about the nature of it, he would look down at the fountain for a minute as it seemed to dawn on him how much of a wreck he looked. "Oh yeah, it's the latest fashion craze, didn't you know?" The glaive would sass right back with a light, sly smile. "Rock the charred look, I was told. The ladies will love it. Sadly, I was a victim of false advertising as all I've been told so far since I got back is to serve a prison sentence at the temple."
He shook his head then, indicating that was definitely not the reason. "Long story short, a green-haired girl and I decided to help out a village, storm a cave, fought a dragon... So that was pretty fresh... Unfortunately, I came to the crushing realization too late that just because my last name starts with "D-R-A-G" does not even make me 3/4 immune to fire. So that was fun, we had some laughs... Dragon gave me a much needed haircut with his fire breath... Good times. No clue how I dragged myself back here, but if I'm stuck here another week, I think I'd rather try my luck with the dragon again."
Peering her over a moment though, he had to ask. "And what about you? You look like someone juiced you in a blender and walked you dry."
"Just how hard did you rock your head when you fought this dragon?" She believed the whole dragon story. She'd seen some flying around as she had traveled around the land picking up jobs. It was his cock and bull story about the Darkness ending that had Aranea glaring at him once more. Still there was too much attention to his details to make her dismiss his claims wholeheartedly. Sounded just like the sort of thing that more hopeful and gullible people would buy into. A thing for them to believe in almost. She had just faced off against Ardyn and, to her dismay, he was just as strong as ever.
Whatever his motives with this tale were, she would just sprinkle in questions for the time being. If it turned out he had overactive imagination maybe brought about by his trauma, she could probably convince him otherwise that but if it turned out he was spreading this narrative for some personal gain she'd have to bring him back down to size. Giving people false hope for some gil was something she had given up long ago, and if it were for something more nefarious well, she couldn't stop Ardyn out right, so she could start somewhere. Still a nagging thought kept poking at her? Maybe she had been gone for years on this new world, but Ignis and Prompto had looked the same age when she ran into them. Had Ardyn been banished here after a defeat. Had she been defeated?
Aranea rolled her eyes again as the man continued talking over her inner turmoil. This guy knew how to take a joke and really run it into the ground. Still, the wounds matched the story and Aranea could tell he was a capable enough fighter just from the sole fact he had survived the encounter. Before she could question him more on this supposed "assassin" and the end of the Darkness, he had hit her with the question she didn't want to answer.
"Yeah, seems these monks really get off on healing people against their will," she tried to joke but looking back into the fountain's water as the memory of her encounter with Ardyn began to swirl in her mind's eye. She didn't believe for a second that this man would let her avoid the question though. She chose her speech carefully; she didn't want him to know Ardyn was here for two reasons. If he was indeed telling the truth, it might break him to know that his efforts and Noctis' had been for naught, but more importantly, if he was a liar only looking to better himself, she didn't need him to know and try to face him on his own or spread word that she survived. "What can I say, even I bite off more than I can chew sometimes," she replied gritting her teeth.
Even as she said this though a group began walking by the fountain very badly trying to hide their talk of rumors about her behind palms as they passed glancing at her as though she was both stupid and something to be pitied. Aranea once again returned her attention to the Glaive. "Between the two of us, I'd say we'd have a fighting chance of escaping this doldrums, rookie. I don't like to be kept," she half joked as the crowd finished passing. More importantly she was still trying to deflect the conversation away from herself.
Post by Caius Dragelion on May 15, 2018 14:41:15 GMT -6
"Huh?"
He stared at her a few moments, completely unsure of and confused as to what she was talking about. Clearly she believed the dragon story if she cited it, but he didn't understand that she didn't believe the whole thing about the Darkness ending and there even being a world after that. For Aranea, that was a story, a fantasy he could have been cooking up. But for him, this had been his life. Caius had lived through the entire Era Of Darkness. Caius had suffered through it, lost everything through it, and survived it. Everything he was talking about, to him, was a fact and obviously as Aranea was from Eos just as he was, he had no reason to think that she doubted what he was saying in regards to that. Did she doubt the assassination story maybe, for how he got here? Or about him being a Glaive? No, there was no way she couldn't believe him being a Glaive, he'd literally used his powers right in front of her!
He just continued to stare at her for a minute, his face reading confusion and perplexation as he tried to find the words to follow up with. "I mean, pretty hard, but" He spoke honestly as he waited to see if she would perhaps elaborate on what exactly was the reason behind her question. Either way, the topic had turned for a moment to her own wounds. They looked pretty bad, though it was clear she'd likely recovered decently after all the time she'd been here. Considering he'd just fought a dragon, what the hell had she fought that would give her this kind of wounds? She was more experienced than him, or at least as far as he knew. He wasn't aware that the gap in experience between them was far closer than he knew, so to him, the dragon wouldn't have been as much of a problem to her as it would have been for him, even with over a decade of battle experience behind him. Though he would smile lightly when she made the crack about the monks healing people against their will.
He finally decided to just ask.
"What the hell even did this to you?" Caius would ask. "Odds are you're better than I am, and I just killed a damn dragon. Yet you're clearly far worse off than I am. What kind of titan of a beast did this kind of damage?" He inquired, before adding on one last thing. "And do you know perhaps where I could find it? Not for right now, of course, but with more training and experience, I wouldn't mind taking a crack at this monster. There's a thrill to the challenge that brings a lot of life to this job of mine. Perhaps next time we could go together?"
Of course he had no idea that she had been attacked by a man - nor that this man had been the darkness that he had been talking about. Not to say he wasn't concerned about her well-being either by instead asking about the beast instead of her wounds, though he didn't shove that down her throat because well... It was pretty obvious she'd spent way too much time lately having that shoved down her throat already.
He noted the presence of other patients doing horribly at hiding what they were saying as they passed. He'd heard bits and pieces of what had happened to Aranea, but hadn't paid enough attention to get the full story. The funny thing was, he was pretty likely to believe her story considering what he knew she could do. He'd just gotten out of a dragon fight and yet she was worse off than him.
He couldn't help but laugh though when Aranea would make her joke about escaping. "Agreed. I've only been here a few days to a week and that's already way too much for me" He would admit. "Luckily, they can't take my weapon if they can't see it" He cracked, referring to his gunblade.
"Makes sense," she commented as he explained that he had suffered some head trauma. She could chalk up his nonsensical story to addled memories at this point. "One can dream," she mused as she thought of Eos without Ardyn's darkness permeating almost every part of it. She clenched her fist. She would be damned if he was allowed to do the same thing to this land as well.
"There won't be a next time," she growled turning her body quickly to cut this boy off. Her quick actions betrayed the wounds of her body and she inhaled sharply as the bruises and scars screamed their resistance to the sudden movement. The pain caused her head to swim. She wouldn't, couldn't, let anyone else into the depths of the temple. Not while he was lurking, waiting, plotting. When the sickness of pain subsided, she stared Caius down doubling down on her statement, "Not for me. And definitely not for you."
"Sorry to burst your little bubble, but we're not out of the woods yet," she began, her voice losing some of the sharpness as she looked back into the fountain's water. She could sense that if she wasn't forthright, he could learn enough from the rumors to do something stupid, and Aranea couldn't live with herself for even accidentally sending someone to their foolish death. "You're little stunt with the dragon has you dreaming big dreams. Sorry to say, but Noctis hasn't come back. What that has to do with this," she gestured to the world about them, "I don't know, but suffice to say the Darkness is still alive and well."
"So," Aranea stood trying to stand as tall as her small frame would allow. She'd see if he was smart enough to deduce what she meant. If so, good, she needed a smart ally in the times to come. If not, well at least she might have scared him away from his own demise. "I saw we best be on our way. First I need to get my spear back though." Once again she teased about escaping. As much as she wanted to, she knew that she still needed a few more days to heal. She began slowly hobbling back towards the temple slow enough to see the man's reaction.
Post by Caius Dragelion on May 27, 2018 11:16:40 GMT -6
Aranea had suddenly snapped at him regarding whatever she had faced, and he quirked a brow in turn. She didn't seem the type to just give up after one defeat. What the hell had happened out there? But her sudden movements clearly caused her a lot of pain, and instinctively he would reach out toward her, eyes wide as he was about to ensure that she had an arm for support if she fell or if she needed to be helped back to the temple. He almost hesitated, her attitude indicated she'd probably admonish him for trying to help her, but honestly he didn't care. If she needed immediate aid, she needed it, though he kept his involvement light at first, simply holding his arm under hers in case she collapsed. If she did, he'd take her back. But before long, she had started to make her way back up, and so he slowly retracted his arm when he was sure that she'd be okay. Or at least, she seemed like she'd be okay. He didn't rule out possibilities. But something else on what she was saying had caught his attention. He could ask about the monster later, this was something on another level entirely.
-Was- his memories muddled? Or were hers from whatever had beaten the tar out of her? She'd made it very clear that she didn't believe one bit of his story. But how? She was there, wasn't she? During the darkness? To be fair, he hadn't heard much of Aranea in the years since he had met her... How long exactly had Aranea been here? Was this the same Aranea? He hadn't thought of time shenanigans even in this moment, but she had no memory of what he was saying, to her the Darkness was still going, and she looked exactly as she did when he had met her when he was about 13 years old... That just didn't make sense.
He let out a sigh. "Aranea" He spoke softly, looking her in the eyes. "I don't know how long you've been here. I don't know when you arrived here. But as far as I know, three years ago, counting the year I've been here, Noctis returned and stopped the Starscourge by killing Chancellor Izunia. The daemons stopped coming, and light returned to Eos. Nobody knows how he did it, but he did it. And Noctis is the man who recruited me into the Kingsglaive" He explained.
"And besides... Okay, let's weigh the possibility that my memories are muddled. Maybe I don't remember all the details right, it's possible I took a lot of knocks to the head, right? So let's look at facts that you would know for a minute instead of relying entirely on my account of events, in case my memory is faulty. Look at me a minute, how old do I look? There's no way in hell that I could have become a Kingsglaive while King Regis was alive. And after Regis died, and Noctis disappeared... Well, there's no way that new Kingsglaive could have been created, right? The remainder kept their powers thanks to Noctis still being alive, but there was nobody to draw power from to create new Glaives.
Which means... By your account, my being a Glaive should be impossible."
Caius held out a hand then, and his sword would materialize in his hand. "I'm pretty sure I'm a Glaive."
Regardless, as he would walk beside her while they headed toward the temple... He pondered everything she had said for a minute. About them not being out of the woods yet, about Noctis not having come back... And her being so sure that the Darkness was alive and well. He smiled lightly at her jokes about escape, but he was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn't answer at first. He made sure to stay near enough that if necessary he would be able to hold out an arm and take hers and support her if she needed it though, still worried about her. He muttered something about or other about it as he did, but still seemed distracted. Finally, he spoke proper. A question.
"You know, one thing sticks out to me. You seem like you've been here awhile. You seem so sure, like, just so confidently sure that the Darkness is alive and well, like you can see it here even, like there's no chance that it's been destroyed in your absen-"
Click.
Izunia was alive.
His head darted toward her, eyes wide as he just stared at her, trying to read her eyes.
"Izunia, is he... Did he...?"
Deep down, he knew the truth. There had been a familiar presence, that he could sense, for a long time now... Far fainter than it had been on Eos, but it had been there. His playful, light demeanor had completely disappeared in that instant as he realized what was going on. Then the one that had done all of this to Aranea was...
He clearly struggled to come to terms with this. He saw it! He saw it himself! He saw the light return to Eos! He saw the daemons disappear! He saw it all! He lived it! Didn't he? But what did this mean? Were his memories jarred from the fight? No, that was impossible, he knew he'd been thinking back on these things far longer than recently. The whole thing was... Overwhelming. Was Aranea lying? No... She wasn't, she couldn't be. There weren't many things that could do this kind of damage to someone like her, if it wasn't a dragon. And there was something to her wounds... Something that seemed like it was out of this world, and yet felt so familiar at the same time. He'd never met Izunia, only heard the stories, but she almost seemed to stink like the daemons he'd spent a decade fighting. No, she wasn't lying.
All he could do was growl the next few words, clearly upset for the first time since they'd started this conversation. Izunia was alive. And that was trouble.
"... Son of a bitch."
None of this made sense. Aranea being here, looking the same as the day he'd met her a damn decade ago. She had no memory of Noctis ever having returned despite it having happened years ago, and Izunia was here, in this world. How? What of his memories were real, and what weren't? What had actually happened?
