Chapter Text
"Well now," G'raha murmured. "what do we have here?"
He had snuck into the restricted archives of Sharlayan to find what they might know about the Final Days, and while he hadn't found exactly what he was looking for, he had found something almost as helpful. At least, he hoped it would be once he shared it with the others. Now however he had found something else of interest, which while likely not important to their current situation, might still come in handy.
The books in question were Allagan journals. Unadorned but brightly colored even after millennia, it was as good as gold to G'raha, especially when only a few technologists had used them. Most had preferred to store their knowledge and theories in data storage nodes and other similar methods. The fact that they were in such fine condition was a pleasant surprise, but he wasn't one to look a gift chocobo in the mouth.
Carefully he opened the first journal, only to be met with a nigh indecipherable script. The letters themselves were easy enough to make out, but the words were incomprehensible and nonsensical. A cipher perhaps? Setting that down for the moment, he picked up the next. This one was written in normal Allagan, but a brief glance through gave him nothing of interest or information why it was in the forbidden archives in the first place other than the crime of being Allagan.
Several more journals, some of them of minor interest, and then another with seemingly the same cipher. He carefully leafed through this one, and on a random page he found it, the key. Had no one else tried to translate it? Or having done so, determined it to be Allagan and locked it away without further thought like the other one?
He gathered up the two journals containing the cipher and put back the rest, whispering the incantation to hide them from view before tucking them onto his person and moving to sneak out of the archives, his mind turning away from the journals for the time being to concentrate back on what he'd learned of Sharlayan's activities. So preoccupied was he in considering this however, he didn't see the security mammet until he ran into it.
"Oh hells..."
------
Fandaniel was not in a good mood.
Once he had revealed his intentions, he had expected the Scions to react immediately. He'd anticipated it and planned for setbacks, but what they were doing was unprecedented. Certainly they couldn't attack every one of his towers, but since they mostly needed victims to work at peak efficiency, he couldn't just put them in the middle of nowhere. Some were certainly, places that were rich in aether, but mostly they had to be in populated areas. His favorite were the two that he'd put down in the Viera homelands. Oh, they were so angry that the males and females had even teamed up to try and destroy them! He'd have them all tempered before long if they kept that up.
But while most of his towers were safe from the Scions, they were still moving with disturbing swiftness. He wasn't overly concerned about the two in Thavnair, but the ones slinking into Garlemald with a small force did have him a touch worried. That one had the Warrior of Light in it, and Fandaniel had really been hoping to keep him and Zenos apart a while longer. He needed to keep Zenos focused on the task at hand, but if he knew his ‘dear friend' was about, he might decide to ditch the plan and just go try to have his fight, intention to absorb Zodiark be damned.
He floated in a sitting position with his legs crossed and tapped his cheek with his curled fingers as he watched them now, unseen as long as no one bothered to glance up. While he certainly had an army willing and able to defend the Tower of Babil, Anima's influence was causing some of them to deteriorate a little too quickly, making monsters of them but also making them easy enough to deal with that even the pitiful remnants of the 1st Legion could handle them. Well he'd turn the 1st against the intruders then, that was easy enough. The horrible Eorzeans were coming to enslave them all!
"Ugh..." He muttered. "They'll never be able to stand against the Warrior of Light..." Besides, the more fuss was made the more likely Zenos was to take notice. Perhaps that couldn't be helped, in which case he would deal with the issue if necessary.
With an expression of disgust, he vanished into the void. While it might have been in part his own doing, he was still highly irritated at the extra effort he now had to go to in order to delay them.
------
Emet-Selch sank into the Aetherial Sea while scanning the myriad sundered souls below and around him with his soul sight in search of one that shone brighter than the others. When he located it, he drifted toward it. As he approached it coalesced into a shape and weary crimson eyes met his.
"I see you've finally remembered your true shape." Emet remarked.
"Yes." Lahabrea responded, his voice a rasp. He had recovered well from the dregs of aether left to him by the time he had been freed from Nidhogg's eyes, but he was still quite weak. If not for his stubbornness, Emet would be surprised to find he hadn't gone completely to his rest. "What do you want? If you haven't found him, I'm not interested in talking."
"Oh don't be like that. I'm afraid some things are a touch more important at the moment than finding the shard of your son. Are you aware of what Fandaniel is doing?"
Lahabrea responded to this by simply staring and finally Emet sighed, giving an expressive shrug.
"I could use your help, and you're the only one who can offer any."
"Get to the point, Emet-Selch." Lahabrea growled.
Emet gave him an unimpressed look. "Fine. To be blunt, Elidibus is currently out of reach and I've not have the time nor inclination to track down our yet living sundered colleagues, so I have come to you with a--"
"Long-winded as ever." Lahabrea cut him off. "I am not interested in returning to life, if that is what you're getting at. You returned, you help Hydaelyn's chosen. I care for only one thing now."
"If Fandaniel succeeds, and Hydaelyn's chosen and his allies can't succeed where we failed, then not only will you not find Erichthonios, but we may well cease to exist." Emet gritted. "Help me now, and I'll return you to your rest once we've succeeded in stopping Fandaniel."
"Tell me why you're incapable of doing this yourself and I'll consider offering my assistance. Concisely."
Emet tsked. "Interment." He stated, looking unimpressed. "Assuming you still remember the spell, we need to capture him, and that's the only way to guarantee success."
"I'll teach you then." Lahabrea replied. "A mage of your skill shouldn't have any trouble."
"My my, you really don't want to return."
"What, pray tell, was your first clue?"
"Now now Lahabrea, no need to be sarcastic. Teach me the spell then and I'll let you return to your rest."
------
"What will you do?" Lahabrea asked some hours later, gaze even more weary than before. It was amazing he hadn't fallen asleep, given how little aether he had to spare.
"Hm?" Emet lowered his arms, the chains fading.
"Assuming they succeed where we failed. Assuming they stop Fandaniel from destroying Lord Zodiark. Will you return to the Ardor?"
"Ah." Emet shook his head, smiling wryly. "No. They won and we lost. I have my role to play, but then I too will rest. Assuming we win, and I have every confidence in the hero, I will then join you for a nice long nap."
"You swore to me you would find him!" Lahabrea snapped.
Emet looked at him quietly, then he smiled sadly. "Yet in all my millennia of searching, I've never once spotted his soul, not a single piece of it, not on any shard. There's really only one conclusion we can draw."
"He isn't a part of Lord Zodiark." Lahabrea growled hoarsely.
"No. But Zodiark isn't the only primal and just because he ignored our call, doesn't mean he ignored hers."
Lahabrea stared, snarled, then turned away. His physical form faded and his tattered soul floated away.
Emet watched him leave, then sighed softly and snapped his fingers to return to the living world. Sometimes lies were necessary, even if it was no kindness in itself. Perhaps one day Lahabrea would forgive him for it.
------
Zenos watched Fandaniel work on the Mindjack from his throne in the remodeled palace. Like everything else, it had been warped by the Ascian and his ideas of aesthetics. An impressive use of aether, what the Ascian called ‘creation magicks', but something he ultimately cared little for. What he was working on now however promised to bring him some entertainment and a momentary delay, for despite Fandaniel's best attempts to keep it from him, he had found out about his friend's presence in Garlemald. Based on how he had acted about it, it had been as if he had expected Zenos to run off, scythe swinging to challenge his friend. As if he was so easily distracted. Still, it was no surprise the Ascian was underestimating him. The other one, Elidibus, had done the same.
"You are sure this will work as intended?" He spoke. As much as Fandaniel irritated him and allowing him to monologue tested his patience to its limits, it also provided potentially valuable information. The Asian did so like to hear himself talk, and in doing so he gave away more than he knew.
"Oh yes." Fandaniel chirped. "The technology is a bit different I admit, but the basic idea is the same."
"The technology purportedly originated in Allag." Zenos stated, having remembered Aulus mentioning as such with great enthusiasm. "Based on something used by their royal family, I believe it was said."
"How attentive you are to remember such a thing, my lord." Fandaniel straightened up and spun around to face him. "But yes, you're quite right. It will neatly put your friend's soul into another body, as promised. It's sure to be entertaining for us both."
"What does an Ascian know of Allag?"
Fandaniel blinked, then after a moment he smiled. "Why my lord, you mean to say you don't know? Your own great-grandfather created Allag, just as he founded the Garlean Empire. Admittedly not in such a grand role as he served here, but nonetheless he had a hand in it. I too played my own part in that grandest of Empires, and therefore I know its technology quite well. You might even say I have a particular fondness for it."
"So I see." Zenos made a mental note of this, for while it didn't seem useful now he didn't know if it might become so later. In his experience all information that could even potentially be used to one's advantage needed to be held for at least a time. He pushed himself to his feet. "Well then. I'll leave you to your work."
"My lord." Fandaniel bowed as he walked away, his mouth twisting into a sneer as he straightened up again. How very far he had fallen indeed. Still, he only needed to suffer this ignominy a little longer and then it would all be over.
Once Zenos was gone, he tweaked the last few things that required tweaking and vanished into the void. Time to see what those alchemists in Thavnair were up to. Last he'd checked, they'd been annoyingly close to perfecting a method to avoid tempering, and he was curious if they'd managed to succeed yet.
------
Garlemald was a lot colder than Ardbert had expected. Not that he'd really known what kind of cold to expect, but for some reason he had expected Voeburt cold and instead was handed ‘Voburt with constant windchill' cold. They had been there for several days, which had not only been several days of being constantly chilled but also several days without the tonic repairing Albert's soul.
Unfortunately, Ardbert had begun to think that was a good thing. Not because he was changing his mind about wanting to stay, but because the only thing keeping him warm at all seemed to be a bubbling rage in his chest that was unquestionably not his own.
Coming to Garlemald had been a mistake, which he had known and yet he had been unable to anticipate just how the trouble would manifest. Albert may not have been awake, but it seemed he was in some way aware because he was furious about where they were.
Walking away from the abandoned town they'd dubbed 'Broken Glass', he found a place out of the wind to sit and curl up, staring out across the expanse before him. "Hey, Albert...." He murmured. "I don't know if you can hear me, but if you can....please trust me, okay? All of Garlemald didn't hurt you. The people here could be innocent--" He winced when a lance of pain went through his head. "Well at least I know you can hear me....hey, if you want to take over, then I'll gladly tap out." The pain subsided, but the anger did not. Gods, he should have just gone to Radz-at-Han. Even with the risk of running into Eden's adoptive father, at least he wouldn't have this constant pain and he'd be warm too. Was it too late to change his mind?
"Ardbert?"
He turned his head and looked over to see Eden had joined him. He raised a hand in greeting and then patted the ground beside him. She gladly stepped over and snuggled up to his side for reasons that were surely not just because she was cold. He felt the anger subside with her proximity and smiled wryly before he became serious again. "He won't wake up, but he seems to be aware of what's going on." He told her softly. "He's....he's furious, Eden. I don't know what to do."
Eden tilted her head slightly, then reached out to put her hand on Ardbert's chest. "Hey Bear? I don't know if you can hear me, but if you can…..we're trying to save the world, and here's where we've come to do it. We're not here to save Garleans, we're here to save the star. It'll be okay."
Ardbert closed his eyes. Listen to her, please. This is so much bigger than any of us. The anger didn't seem to lessen any further, but at least it didn't get worse. Ardbert hoped Albert would calm down soon. The anger kept him warm, but it was also exhausting.
His eyes opened again when he heard the crunch of snow and he and Eden turned their heads to look as Thancred came over to them.
"I hate to interrupt your brooding, but G'raha just contacted me. There's trouble in Thavnair…trouble that he and Estinien can't solve on their own." He motioned with his head. "Come on, I'll fill you two in with the others somewhere out of the wind."
Once settled indoors and joined by the twins, Thancred laid out the problem. Apparently a solution had been in the testing to protect people from the tempering effects of the towers and the chief alchemist on the project had gone to test their last attempt personally only to be captured. While the alchemists were sure that she had remained untempered and were willing to bet their own lives to prove it by copying her attempt, the fact remained that they couldn't mount a rescue and Estinien and G'raha couldn't do it on their own. They needed help.
Alisaie frowned. "I thought G'raha had gone to Sharlayan?"
"He had, but Urianger apparently was having too much trouble in the heat, so they swapped." Thancred replied before he smiled crookedly. "Besides, apparently G'raha got caught in the restricted section of the archives, so he can't do much good in Sharlayan anymore anyway."
Ardbert grimaced, but he was frankly sick of the cold and Albert's burning temper. So long as they didn't run into Eden's adoptive father, everything would surely be fine and was still easier to deal with than the constant rage. Not to mention that at least they'd be doing more than just sitting around this way.
"Oh G'raha..." Alisaie sighed, then nodded. "Right. So when do we leave?"
"You, Alphinaud and I are staying here for now in case things go awry. Alb–excuse me, Ardbert and Eden are the only ones going on to Thavnair."
Ardbert groaned softly. "As much as I'll be glad to get out of the cold, it's too bad we can't just make Emet-Selch do it…"
"Emet-Selch would just kill the tempered and call it mercy." Alisaie interjected sourly. "I trust that Ascian as far as I can throw him. Sure, he may be on ‘our side' as far as preventing the Final Days go, but I don't think he's trying very hard. Why not just kill Fandaniel himself and be done with it?"
"I agree with you, but my guess is because killing an Ascian in any way that matters would also be a potential threat to him." Thancred stated. "If it's one thing we can count on, it's that he doesn't want the Final Days to return any more than we do."
Alphinaud frowned."But now that you mention it, isn't that the whole point of Zodiark? To prevent that?"
"Of course it is." They all jumped when a voidgate opened and Emet stepped out. He was no longer dressed in his Emperor robes, but instead garbed outright in Ascian attire, though with hood down and lacking his mask.
"Zodiark was created for the very purpose of holding back the Final Days, and He continues to serve that purpose." He continued. "I don't know how Fandaniel intends to change that, but as he knows how aetheric currents work far better than I do, I can only assume he has some kind of plan to disrupt Zodiark's control over them or some other such."
"I can't help but notice how conveniently timed your appearance just now was." Alisaie glowered at him.
Emet shrugged. "As it so happens, I was going to inform you of what had transpired in Thavnair, only to overhear that you already knew." He smiled sardonically. "As for the answer to your question; I'm not going to confront Fandaniel because I don't know his contingency plan. For all I know, snuffing him out would be playing right into his hands….and it is exceptionally difficult to spy on him. ‘Incredibly paranoid' is an apt descriptor."
Thancred crossed his arms. "So you're saying that unlike us who you can spy on at your leisure, Fandaniel would know you were there immediately."
"Potentially, yes." Emet replied dryly. "Not to mention, at the moment the only edge we have is that he is unaware I'm alive, and that advantage will be lost if he senses me in proximity."
"It sounds to me as if you're making excuses." Alisaie spat.
Any lingering lightheartedness left Emet's expression at that, and his eyes narrowed.
"Do you think this is a game?" He growled. "Do you think I want to be relying on you for any of this? To know I require your aid is galling, to say the least. To know one of my sundered colleagues is doing this and that he hid his intentions to do so since his ascension is even more so. Yet here we are." He snapped his fingers and a void gateway opened. "So you two. Get to Thavnair. Use this opportunity to gain further insights into the towers and what their true purpose might be. Clever things that you are, perhaps you'll find something I've overlooked."
Ardbert pursed his lips and looked at Eden, then at the gateway. The last time he'd trusted the word of an Ascian, it had nearly been the end of the First, and while he knew this situation was different, it didn't make him any less nervous. Eden gave him a gentle smile in return and reached out for his hand, pulling him toward the portal. At least she didn't have the same experiences to hold her back.
They emerged on an apparently unoccupied stretch of beach, and immediately saw the tower pulsing malevolently just offshore. The next thing they noticed was that they had somehow gone from the warm clothing required in Garlemald to the armor and robes they had been wearing before their foray into the colder climes.
"Well...I suppose that problem's handled at least." Ardbert mumbled before taking the lead and being the one to pull Eden down the beach in the direction of what appeared to be a fishing village. His eyes however continued to be drawn to the tower. He didn't know what they were going to be able to do about it, but he hoped that the answer was something effective. It was way past time they turned things around on Fandaniel properly.
As they got closer, they saw G'raha and Estinen standing on the shore with a group of locals, all of them anxiously looking toward the tower until an Au Ra youth turned toward them and brought them to the attention of the present Scions.
"Ardbert! Eden!" G'raha greeted them in surprise. "How did you get here so quickly? I sent the message but half a bell ago!"
"Emet-Selch." Ardbert replied simply and turned toward the tower. "Heard you needed backup."
"Probably a good idea, yes." Estinien agreed, though he didn't sound particularly thrilled about it, still getting used to being a part of a team as he was. "But between the four of us, we may just be able to do some good."
"Hopefully." G'raha agreed, tugging on an ear pensively, tail swishing. "Though we're going to be dealing with the tower's defenses as well." He pulled out the talisman the alchemists had given him and Estinien. "Provided these work as well as we hope they will."
Estinien growled. "It had better be after all the fuss they subjected me to." For some reason, he side-eyed the Au Ra youth, who gave him a pleasant and faintly amused smile in return.
"Ah, excuse me." G'raha said. "Ardbert, Eden. This is Varshahn, an aide of the ruling satrap." The youth bowed upon being introduced.
"I am glad you've been able to come so swiftly." Varshahn stated, straightening up again. "Nidhana is dear to us all for more than just her research." He looked toward the tower. "These towers have plagued this land too long already, taken too many of the satrap's people. He will be grateful for your assistance in rescue."
"No need for thanks." Ardbert tried not to seem uncomfortable. He'd never liked such praise and it felt especially undeserved now when he hadn't done anything yet, never mind that he wasn't the real hero in the first place. "I don't even know if we can do anything...we'll do our best of course though...we'll try."
"That is all we can ask." Varshahn replied. "May the Sisters watch over and protect you."
"So we can hope." G'raha murmured, while Ardbert wondered about the Sisters. Primals, no doubt. Or at least would be if summoned. Considering what had happened to Fordola and Albert's friend Arenvald, he was guessing he was going to be meeting them up close and personal. Good thing he was as good at killing them as Albert himself was.
"Alright." He pulled out his axe. "Are we ready for this?" Hardly waiting for an answer, he strode for the boat that was going to take them to the tower.
From the moment they got inside, Ardbert felt sick. He'd never seen an Arkasodara before, but given that they were trapped in the walls along with Drahn–Au Ra, he reminded himself–it was easy to guess them to be a sapient race of the Source.
"Here she is." G'raha stated grimly, looking up at an Arkasodara who looked no different from any of the others to Ardbert. "Now the question is, how to get her and the others out..."
"They'll all be tempered, won't they." Estinien groused. "Easier when you could just kill them....not that it's the preferred method." He added hastily at the horrified looks the others gave him.
G'raha crossed his arms, staring up at her. "We don't have enough scales for a proper rescue mission, so we'll just need to figure out a way to get them out ourselves. Maybe if we just extract them a few at a time…"
"Oh, I wouldn't do that if I were you."
They collectively spun around to see Fandaniel emerging from a void portal behind them. "You see, if you try to remove them from the tower, all you'll get from it is a fresh corpse." He tilted his head. "I imagine you heroic types might prefer the individuals you're trying to rescue be alive when you're done rescuing them, so it really wouldn't be advised." He lifted a finger. "Not to mention, it really is quite rude to dismantle such meticulous artwork! My old patrons would never be so disrespectful!"
"Are you done talking?" Estinien launched himself at Fandaniel, only to hit a hastily erected shield.
"Tsk! No, I wasn't at all finished, and you're interrupting!" A gesture with his other hand and the floor erupted under Estinien, who barely dodged, only to be hit midair by flying chains that slammed him into the nearest wall and held him there.
"Now then." Fandaniel turned his attention to the others, his gaze flicking over them with a frown. He pointed at Ardbert and Eden. "Weren't you two just in Garlemald? How did you get here so swiftly?"
"Aetheryte." Eden answered, crossing her arms. "Not that it's any of your business."
Fandaniel tilted his head, then made a thoughtful sound. "Alright." He drawled. "Fair enough." His attention shifted to G'raha then and he tapped his fingers against his cheek thoughtfully. "And then there's you with the royal eyes of Allag. I knew some of the royals could have....odd proclivities, but this...this one is new."
G'raha glanced toward Estinien to make sure he was still alright, then looked back at Fandaniel, his ears half folding back and his tail vibrating in anger. "Why would an Ascian care about that?" He knew quite well why Emet-Selch had cared, the man had all but spelled out his interest in the time traveling when he had been his prisoner as the Exarch, but Fandaniel presumably didn't know about that.
Fandaniel smirked. "Well, funny you should ask! Weren't you paying attention when I gave my speech in that lovely rooftop garden? I'm a sundered soul! I inherited the memories of the Fandaniel who sat on the Convocation at the time of the Final Days yes, but I'm no more him than…well he could be me. I am only myself in the end. As for who I am, or rather was, well...." He motioned at Ardbert and Eden. "I have it on quite good authority that you two have poked around a few Allagan ruins, and of course you should know the name, my fine Miqo'te friend." He gave a bow. "Amon, at your service."
"Amon?! The Allagan Technologist who resurrected Emperor Xande?!" G'raha exclaimed incredulously while Ardbert grimaced as the Echo overtook him. He made a strangled sound in his throat.
"Ha! The very same!" Fandaniel straightened up, smirking. "But this is no time for chatting, you understand. I'm far too busy and have no time for fans. Behave yourselves now. I'm needed elsewhere." He vanished into the void just as G'raha exclaimed for him to wait. A moment later the chains restraining Estinien vanished, allowing him to drop back to the ground.
G'raha sighed heavily and looked back at Ardbert, waiting while he rode out the vision. He wanted to ask him what he'd seen, but Fandaniel was right about one thing; now was not the time. He looked at the path ahead of them and his ears drooped. This was going to be even harder than he thought if they were dealing with Amon's work, and he was very much not looking forward to it.