Chapter Text
Ysayle awoke in a metal-clad room. Restraints coiled around her arms and legs where she sat in a padded chair. The only other furniture was a small table and regular chair off to one of the walls. It was cold, ironic though it was that that would bother her out of all people. More importantly, she was alone, and she didn't find any injuries, beyond feeling sore from being tied to a chair for an untold amount of time.
Tugging at the restraints did nothing. They were padded like the chair, but it seemed like there was solid steel in them as well. Perhaps she could use magic…
Her eyes narrowed as she reached out to the aether. It was scrambled, somehow. When she tried to hold on to it to cast a spell, it was like sand running through her fingers. Though she eventually managed to conjure up shards of ice, they were tiny and shattered easily upon making contact with any surface.
So she was trapped, then. She had nothing at her disposal to work with, aside from trying to get a handle on this strange aether. Unless she could somehow talk the imperials into letting her go free, when they finally deigned to speak to her. They had to, sooner or later, didn't they? They weren't just going to let her starve to death in here.
As if on cue, a voice echoed through the room though nobody had entered. Some manner of magitek device, presumably.
“I see you have awoken. Your name, if you would.“
The voice, though distorted, sounded like van Hydrus.
“Ysayle Dangoulain,“ she said. There would be no harm in telling them that. There was nobody she was close to that they could track down through her name. Or in any other way, really. Neither Hraesvelgr nor the Warrior of Light, Alphinaud or Estinien would allow themselves to be captured so easily.
There was a pause, as if van Hydrus was waiting for her to say more, before he continued, “Very well, … Ysayle.“ He said her name with an odd inflection that came through even over the transmission. “You understand, of course, that I'm very interested in how you managed to damage my dreadnought so thoroughly.“
So he knew it had been her. Well, it had been too much to hope they wouldn't, of course. She wouldn't give him that answer anyroad. Let him puzzle it out, or not. She wouldn't be the one to hand knowledge like this over to the Garlean Empire.
“No answer?“ van Hydrus asked after a moment. “That's a shame. I had hoped we could come to a mutually beneficial agreement.“
Mutually beneficial? Ysayle frowned. What in the world possessed him to think that was possible after she had attempted to murder them all even at the cost of her own life? What could he possibly offer her to make her give up that kind of information?
“You seem confused. Allow me to elaborate. Perhaps you can find it in you to consider my offer afterwards.“
Ysayle said nothing in response. She wanted him to elaborate. Maybe he would give away details she could use; either way she wouldn't have lost anything.
She also didn't want to give him anything to work with, however. If she judged the situation correctly, he would take her silence as invitation to speak.
And indeed, he continued a moment later, “To be absolutely clear about the situation you have found yourself in: You are at our mercy. I'm sure you've already found that you can't use your spells in this room, and I doubt you have the bodily strength to break free of your restraints. Don't hope for food delivery to help you, either. We have taken precautions.“
He wasn't wrong about any of that. Did he simply mean to coerce her by pointing out the hopelessness of her situation?
“Furthermore, we are aware that you have dealings of a sort with an eikon, though the particular details elude us. Once I report your capture to His Radiance—and I will, the next time I report in—he can and will demand that you be transferred to the capital for further research on the matter.“
Ysayle closed her eyes. Great. Shipped off to Garlemald and used as a test subject in their demented experiments.
“However,“ van Hydrus said, “I report in at scheduled intervals, and it just so happens that the last one was yesterday. It will be a few days before I call in again, provided that nothing catastrophic happens.“
“What are you getting at?“ Ysayle finally spoke up. “Speak plainly. You don't need to dance around it like this.“
“Very well,“ van Hydrus said. “In short, I would make use of whatever expertise you have regarding eikons to help solve our quandary here.“
What?
“There are three eikons imprisoned here in Azys Lla. I believe they are what your late archbishop came here for as well. My orders are to analyse the technology used to trap them and evaluate whether it will be of use to us. However, we have run into certain… difficulties along the way.“
Difficulties? Of course there were difficulties! What in the world had that man expected? Meddling in ancient Allagan technology and primals invited difficulties!
“It appears that you have wrested control over a primal somehow. That, or you are merely a victim in thrall of it, in which case you would be useless to us… but I am hoping it is the former, not the latter.“
It was the former, after a fashion. Ysayle didn't fully understand the relationship between her and Shiva herself, but nothing indicated Shiva had tempered her. (Then again, and the thought made her feel queasy, would she even realise if she was tempered?)
“Think carefully about your answer. If I decide that you are a tempering victim, I may simply opt to put you down on the spot, or send you off to the capital. If you have the knowledge to help us, though… perhaps you will find a way to escape before my next report. It will necessitate letting you leave this room, after all.“
Ysayle blinked. He was blatantly offering to let her go if she helped, instead of consigning her to whatever fate awaited her in Garlemald. That was… tempting, she had to admit. On the other hand, it would require her to help them acquire technology that would be used to wreak even more havoc on Eorzea and the imperial provinces, of that she was certain.
“Let me think about it,“ she said. She wouldn't rush this decision. “How much time until your next report?“
“A week. I will leave you to your thoughts. Food will be coming later.“
Ysayle settled back in her chair. The padding was tolerable, at least. Though the chair was made of metal, nothing dug into her skin.
It wasn't the worst position to be in for thinking about turning traitor and helping the Garlean Empire, though she would change her mind on that soon, she was sure.
The woman who brought her food was the one who had tasked her with bringing supplies when she had raided their stores. The sour look on her face told Ysayle that she hadn't forgotten about that, either.
The silence between them stretched to the point of awkwardness, then discomfort, then almost outright boredom when the woman finally spoke up. “Part of me wants to say that you pulling that off says more about us than it does about you, but the greater part is displeased because you got my pay docked. Thanks for that.“
“I'm sorry,“ Ysayle offered, not meaning it in the slightest. She wasn't going to shed any tears for them, especially not over something like payment.
“Oh, keep it to yourself.“ The woman put down the bowl containing some kind of slop and stepped around to the back of Ysayle's chair. There was a loud click and the shackles holding her hands and feet were released from the chair. When she tried standing up, however, her hands and feet moved sluggishly, as if wading through pudding flesh.
“Safety precaution,“ the woman explained. “You can't use magic in here, and this way you also can't run before I tackle you to the ground. So don't even bother trying, hmm?“
Ysayle nodded. Raising her hand up to her face took several seconds. There was no way she would make it anywhere like this.
On the other hand, her newfound movement would perhaps allow her to inspect the chamber and figure out how to get past whatever mechanism was scrambling the aether.
“Start eating,“ the soldier said. “We'll be here for a while if you stall even further.“
Ysayle glanced at the chamber walls. She really did want to take a closer look, little though she knew about magitek… but she needed to eat. It wouldn't help her if she found a way to escape while being weak from hunger.
And so she settled down at the table and pushed the spoon into the slop. There were recognisable, if shrumpled, vegetables in it. When she took a bite, it didn't taste like much, but at least that meant it didn't taster evolting either. All in all better than she had expected of them.
The fact that it took her nigh half an hour to finish the relatively small bowl didn't endear her to it, however.
The soldier who had brought it remained silent all throughout. Ysayle wondered if they had purposefully sent her to do it, rather than someone who had no connection to her. Well, if they'd had a purpose, it didn't seem to be doing anything. The soldier wasn't doing anything, and it didn't bother Ysayle to eat while being watched. Or, at least it didn't bother her any more than if it had been someone else.
“May I have your name?“ she asked on a whim. Perhaps it would help her to get to know this imperial, if she was the one who would bring her food during her stay here.
“...why?“
“I just… like having names to put to people.“
“Apollonia,“ the soldier said, “though I really don't see why it's important to you. You won't be here long anyroad.“
She wasn't wrong. Regardless of what she chose, she wouldn't be staying. Ysayle sighed and placed her spoon in the bowl with a movement that bordered on agonisingly slow. “Say, Apollonia...“
“What is it now?“ Apollonia rolled her eyes as she collected the bowl. “I really am just here to bring you that, you know.“
“If you had to choose between abandoning your principles and doing something terrible or giving up on your life, what would you do?“
Maybe asking an imperial was stupid. It wasn't as if she trusted Apollonia to give a good answer, and in the worst case she would give information away to van Hydrus—but the man had to know she would be caught in that dilemma regardless of what she said, unless he was very stupid.
“What?“ Apollonia stilled and eyed her dubiously. “Is this about you attacking us or something? In that case, I'm not going to tell you anything to reassure you.“
“It isn't,“ Ysayle said. Or perhaps it was? She had decided to give up on her life to redeem herself. “It's about a choice I need to make now.“
“What manner of choice are you going to make here? The legatus has taken every single possible precaution, and you haven't transformed into that eikon yet so that isn't your way out either.“
That made Ysayle pause. She hadn't considered that option. Whatever Shiva was, she didn't want to give her more weight than she already had. Her regular spells hadn't worked, but those required fine manipulation of aether, whereas summoning Shiva simply siphoned aether around her.
It could be possible.
But the process took time during which she was vulnerable, and she hadn't missed the gunblade strapped to Apollonia's back. If she did it now, she would get shot long before she completed her transformation.
“Not going to answer? Well, then I can't give you any answers either, if I don't know what imagined dilemma you're stuck in.“
Ysayle slowly nodded. “I… apologise for wasting your time, then.“ Apollonia hadn't been told about the deal van Hydrus had offered her. Was there aught to be gleaned from him keeping it a secret?
If his soldiers didn't realise how badly things were going for them, then if he told them he wanted to enlist her help, perhaps panic would break out. That was something to keep in mind for later.
“Right, you finished eating, go relieve yourself and then back to the chair.“
Apollonia pointed at a corner of the room behind the chair. Ysayle turned. There was a small toilet. No walls to shield it from view.
“Get over it,“ Apollonia said. “You out of all people won't be afforded privacy, not when we know what you could possibly do.“
Ysayle grit her teeth. Imperials seeing her in that position was revolting, but it was also the least of her worries in this situation. If they wanted to embarrass her, then she would simply go along, show them it wouldn't work to break her.
With forcibly slow steps, she walked towards the toilet. Taking off her breeches when neither her hands nor her feet responded properly was difficult, but eventually the garment dropped to her ankles. She made it a point to look at Apollonia as she sat down and went about her business.
It was Apollonia who looked aside first.
When she was finished, she returned to her chair and allowed Apollonia to chain her up again. There was no way out of that, short of attempting to summon Shiva right this moment.
Apollonia didn't say goodbye as she left the room, leaving Ysayle to her thoughts once more.
“What exactly,“ Ysayle asked the empty room, “would helping you with your problem entail, legatus?“
Van Hydrus hadn't returned to speak to her for the rest of the previous day. Now that she had awoken (surprisingly well rested, given the circumstances) and been fed, she wouldn't accept any further delay. If they were concerned about her summoning Shiva, they would be keeping an eye on her. An ear, too? If so, they would report back to van Hydrus and hopefully get her an answer.
The minutes ticked by with no response. Ysayle resisted the urge to fidget. He would either come, or he wouldn't. There was nothing she could do that would influence the outcome. If nobody responded to her request by the time her next meal came, she would summon Shiva and break out or die trying.
Then there was a crackling sound and the familiar voice filled the room. “I have been informed you asked after me.“
“Yes. I want to know what exactly you want me to do.“
“Provide your expertise, for one. We have our own research results on eikons, but your rather more… intimate relationships with them—or at least one of them—will provide you with insights we can't access, I am sure. For another, if we must, you may be required to visit the eikon prison itself to assess the situation yourself.“
That would be the ideal, of course. If they did that, they'd have to take off her shackles and let her leave her own prison. Unless the aether scrambling technology was portable, that would give her considerable leverage to search for ways to escape.
“You said 'for one'. What else would you have me do except tell you what I know?“
A moment of silence, then: “You seem to have an immunity of sorts towards being tempered, seeing how I believe less and less that you are a tempering victim. It could be that it only extends towards the eikon you have that peculiar bond with, but I suspect, after having read van Baelsar's research, that you are in possession of the Echo.“
That and the fact that she spoke fluent Garlean—but if he didn't know that was an effect of the Echo too and instead believed she had simply learned the language, she wouldn't correct him. “You would have me face off with the primal, then?“
“That,“ van Hydrus said, “is the absolute last thing I want. I'm fully aware that you have no desire to help us. Bringing you into proximity with the eikon would only give you more opportunities to jeopardise not only our mission, but our lives and minds as well. But yes. If there is absolutely no choice, then I will ask you to face the eikon together with me instead of risking my soldiers.“
Ysayle raised an eyebrow. “You have the Echo too, then?“
“No.“
“Then why would you try to fight a primal? You clearly know the risks inherent to that.“
“I can't in good conscience demand of my soldiers what I myself would not be willing to do.“
Ysayle opened her mouth, then closed it again. That wasn't at all what she had expected. He was willing to face a primal without the protections the echo would afford him? To risk becoming thrall to it? Such… honourable actions from a Garlean legatus? She wasn't sure whether she would be willing to do the same.
“And your end goal in this is to…?“
“Evaluate whether these technologies are of any use. Given our recent… setbacks, I harbour doubts that it is, but I will not make the call this early.“
Setbacks. That would be the containment technology failing, in all likelihood. Which meant that if Ysayle could engineer circumstances to make it look even less reliable, then…
“You will not be the one to decide that, and I will have you watched very closely to prevent sabotage.“
So much for that—but that didn't mean it was impossible, merely harder.
But still…
Ysayle closed her eyes. “Give me one more night to make my decision.“ If she could only go through all possibilities that occurred to her a little more, she would be able to make a decision—or force herself to, if she hadn't come to one yet.
She would never be able to atone if she kept wavering, after all.
“Very well,“ van Hydrus said. “I will return on the morrow for your answer.“
In the end, it didn't take nearly as long to decide. And maybe it was selfish of her, to risk handing Allagan technology over to the Garleans, but… Hydaelyn had saved her life. Ysayle didn't want to throw that gift away by allowing herself to be carted off to Garlemald, never to return.
She would help the imperials figure out the technology. If she could, she would sabotage them, or convince them that it wasn't worth it, or at least try to escape before giving them anything of use.
If she couldn't, she would live with the shame, like she had lived with everything else, and do her best to make up for the damage she had caused.
Despite having made her choice, sleep wouldn't come to her that night. She sat in her chair and stared up at the darkened ceiling after trying and failing to fall asleep for hours. Instead, she now felt out to the aether to see if she could glean aught about this mysterious scrambler from it. Maybe it wouldn't help her escape now, but if they used it against her after letting her go, she wanted to be ready.
At first, it felt like a mess without rhyme or reason to her senses; aether swirling about in ways that it would never naturally. The fact that it wasn't harming her was surprising, frankly, and it would be a lie to say that she wasn't concerned about possible long-term effects.
There were patterns to it, though.
She hadn't noticed at first, since it behaved so unusually, but the longer she focused on it, the more regularities she noticed. She was no scholar; she couldn't put a name to what she was feeling, nor accurately describe it, but the aether pulsed in ways she could, given time, predict.
And if she could do that, she could account for the fluctuations. And if she could do that, she would be able to cast spells.
Perhaps making her decision hadn't even been necessary, though making van Hydrus think she would go along and thus give her more time would have been helpful either way.
Tentatively, she reached out to the aether. Like before, it slipped free of her grasp even as she tried her best to anticipate its swirls. That was fine. She hadn't expected immediate success. With a deep breath, she tried again.
And again.
And again.
Until the aether violently rebounded after she tried to make it do something against its unnatural flow. Misshapen shards of ice exploded in every direction, embedding themselves in the walls, ceiling and floor and very nearly into Ysayle herself; all that saved her was her reflexively pulling in her head. If not for that, she would have been impaled against the chair.
They had to have seen. Any moment now there would be a voice booming into the room, or perhaps a squad busting in to shoot her, or—
—nothing.
Minutes ticked by, and nothing whatsoever happened.
Why weren't they doing anything? This was clearly part of an escape attempt on her part, and it clearly made her a danger to anyone around her.
She put the thought out of her mind. It didn't matter. She had already blown her cover. Now was the time to stop being careful and find a way out before they came to punish her.
She tried again, remembering what she had done the last time. It had resulted in usable ice manifesting, even if not in the way she had wanted to. If she could replicate that, but control the outcome…
This time, the result was less explosive, but no more useful. A massive chunk of ice crashed to the ground where it materialised. Ysayle pursed her lips. She'd need ice sharp enough to cut through her shackles—something that was possible, her ice spells could punch through solid armor. If she tried doing that here, though, she would end up cutting her own hand off, like as not. Even under normal circumstances, the balancing act of conjuring up a shard strong and sharp enough to cut through metal while sparing her flesh would be difficult. Here, with the aether scrambled? It would be almost impossible.
She tried anyway. She had naught to lose at this point, except a hand or two, and what did that matter faced with the specter of being taken away to Garlemald? After what she had done here, van Hydrus would rescind his offer for sure.
A shard splintered against the cuff holding her left hand down. The aim had been correct, the make-up of the shard had not. She was growing more skilled at working like this. One more…
Blood spattered on the ground when the ice punched through the cuff and straight into her arm. She bit down a scream. It hadn't cut through. She hadn't lost her hand. She would endure.
The pulsing agony in her wrist distracted her, but she didn't dare look at it yet. There was nothing she could do about it before freeing her other limbs. Thank… thank the mothercrystal she managed it while only nicking herself slightly.
The remnants of the cuff tugged on the edge of the wound as she pulled her arm free. Tears shot into her eyes. This wasn't like the thrashing the Warrior of Light had given her at the Akh Afah Amphitheatre. It almost felt like a chunk of flesh had been carved out of her.
The wound was deep and bleeding profusely. She had to stop that somehow. Her gaze wandered down to her own clothing, but it was filthy by now. Hardly suitable for making clean bandages.
There was no other choice, though. Nothing else in the chamber would work, and she couldn't afford to grow weak from blood loss. An infection was the least of her worries if she collapsed before finding safety.
With her healthy hand, she tore off scraps of her coat and clumsily wrapped it around her other arm. It was imperfect and it wouldn't completely staunch the bleeding, but it would have to do. She had to get out of here.
She rose on shaky legs and walked over to where she knew the entrance to the room was. The tiles showed little to no indication that they were mounted on a door, but it was where Apollonia had entered through during her food deliveries. She just had to figure out how to get it open.
There weren't any buttons or levers in the room, but now that she knew how to control this scrambled aether, she could use it to pry the door open.
This time, it took only a single attempt. A lance of ice buried itself in the barely visible seam. There was a deafening creak, and the door sprung open. The corridor beyond was deserted.
It was unsettling. Convenient, perhaps, but that was something to be wary of here. They wouldn't just leave her unattended if naught was afoot.
Pain lanced up her arm. She clutched the bandage with her healthy hand and staggered forward. Better not to think about how badly off her arm was, exactly. She couldn't do anything about it… but Hydaelyn, it hurt.
Moving further through the ship's interior, she soon came across a corridor that seemed to have melted inwards. The walls had collapsed into twisted metal, barring her path. More importantly, what could have caused something like this? One of the Allagan monstrosities?
She turned around. The corridors of this ship were laid out in confusing ways and she had no idea where she actually was within its interiors, but as long as she kept walking, she would find her way out eventually. Hopefully before running into whatever had done… that.
Ears strained, she continued. Her steps echoed across the metal floors. It sounded eerie, abandoned and silent as the ship was. If anything else was in here, it would hear her long before she came in sight…
But nothing happened.
It did nothing to soothe her nerves.
She rounded another corner. A crumpled heap lay on the ground, clad in imperial armor. Ysayle hurried forward and fell to her knees next to them. Enemy though they may be, if she…
“My lady,“ the imperial moaned, “Sophia, my goddess, where are you—“
The droning, monotonous voice… the breathless pleas to a deity… Ysayle had heard it once before, when an unfortunate Tailfeather villager had run afoul of the Gnath and their deity.
This imperial was tempered.
He attempted to push himself up, but failed. His right arm seemed to be broken, and he crashed right back to the ground. In doing so, he flailed about and finally laid eyes on Ysayle.
“You! You have to help me, help me get to Her. Come, let us bathe in Her glory together, we can—“
Ysayle backed away from the rambling man, who was now grasping at her legs. She couldn't do anything for him. Once tempered, always lost.
“No, wait! You can't leave me here! I need to go to Her! Help me!“
His cries echoed through the ship just like her steps had, but Ysayle didn't turn around.
There was a primal loose, and while she could do naught for this poor soul, if she could save even one other person, imperial or not, from his fate, then her coming back to life in this forsaken place would have been worth it.
The spectre of Shiva still resided within her head. She could feel her stir as she drew in aether, a consciousness she had once believed to be Shiva reborn that she now knew to be something she had manufactured out of foolish loneliness.
She hadn't wanted to, but it seemed like fate would not allow her to discard her legacy so easily.
“For the last time,“ she whispered. “One last time, come to me. For those we have lost. For those we can yet save.“
Ice encased her. The edge of the cold bit into her skin. It would stop feeling unpleasant in a moment as she became Shiva, for lack of better word. She remained herself—remained in control, but her thoughts were not entirely her own when transformed. Even now, she felt her resolve harden in a way that didn't feel like it was her—but what was Shiva, if not an idealised version of her?
But those were thoughts for later.
The ice shattered and she emerged in all her larger than life glory. The walls of the airship, already compromised, shattered easily before her, and she was out, out, out—
—and faced with the primal. A goddess encased in gold, floating above a small army of imperials who had prostrated themselves in her glory.
Too late to save them, too. But there were survivors. Some of them had entrenched themselves at the artillery stationed at the borders of their camp and were shooting at the primal.
She would protect them.
A wave of golden blaze flew from the primal towards the survivors. Ysayle swooped in. Her own aura collided with the primal's and extinguished it. It burned, but she could not be tempered. Neither in her human nor in her primal form.
“Sin must be balanced with suffering,“ Sophia said. Though her voice was low, it carried all the way over to Ysayle. “Someone must be made to atone for mine imprisonment. If thou wishest to share their fate, then I invite thee to be weighed upon my scale and judged accordingly...“
Ysayle didn't answer. There had been no need for conversation with Ravana, and there was no need for conversation with Sophia either. Vast blades of ice appeared in her hands, and she charged. This time, she would not fail.
In the skies above Azys Lla, they traded blows, golden halo against shards of ice. Sophia's beams levelling forgotten buildings. Ysayle's swords shredded the ruins to pieces. In all this, she tried her hardest to keep the primal away from the remaining imperials. Whatever else came to harm in this cursed place didn't matter, but the survivors had to last. She would make sure of it.
“Why dost thou resist?“ Sophia asked as they danced around each other. “They must be punished. Thou knowest this as well as I do. Join me and my siblings, that we may right the wrongs of the past.“
“They don't deserve this. Nobody deserves this!“ Apollonia had been civil. Regula had been downright honourable. Many of the ones she had overheard hadn't even wanted to be here. How could she condemn them to—
Something collided with her and exploded. Surrounded by flames, she crashed to the ground. When she lifted her head, she caught the barest glimpse of Sophia flying away.
No. No! It couldn't end like this! She wouldn't allow it!
She managed to lift herself up into the air, but fell down almost immediately. She had to make it to the survivors. Had to. She'd protect them…
The aether that made up her primal form dissipated, swallowed up into the ambient aether of Azys Lla. What remained was her human shape. Frail. Too weak to do anything. Wearily she clawed at the ground she lay on. She'd failed. Again. Even with Shiva's help, she hadn't been able to do anything. Sophia would have reached the survivors by now.
Footsteps next to her. She looked up. The armor she had come to recognise as van Hydrus' loomed over her.
“This was not meant to happen,“ he said. “I forbid my people from firing at you. What poor way to repay you for your kindness. Thanks to you, we were able to disperse, the better to hide from that monstrosity.“
“Then why are you...“
“One, because I have no intention of abandoning our saviour to her fate. Two, because the threat is yet present. My soldiers have hidden for the time being, but there is no way out of this place while that monstrosity is still here, and sooner or later, she will find us. I need your help.“ Van Hydrus held out a hand.
Ysayle shook her head. “I am… spent. I won't be able to take Shiva's form again, much less fight against Sophia...“ It felt like an excuse. Like she was flunking out solely because she no longer wished to fight, even to herself. But she really couldn't do anything anymore…
...on the other hand, maybe someone else could.
“Tiamat,“ she said.
“What?“
“Seek out Tiamat. She is a dragon imprisoned on the southwestern island. If you beseech her in my name, she might help you. Tell her—tell her that Ysayle found a way to atone and now needs her help.“
It was a long shot. Tiamat had spent millennia in this place, unwilling to go free. Who was Ysayle to think that her having spoken to the dragon a few times would change her mind? But it was the only chance they had at this point.
“Very well,“ van Hydrus said as he bent down further, wrapped an arm around Ysayle and then lifted her up. “I will not be leaving you here, however. There is a nest of Allagan experiments nearby.“
Ysayle closed her mouth again. She hadn't expected that. Shouldn't he be more concerned about the fate of his soldiers and hurry to see Tiamat? Not that she was about to argue. Being eaten by a stray monstrosity wasn't how she wanted her life to end.
Regula turned around and began walking. There had to be a teleporter in that direction that Ysayle didn't know about. Which island was she on, anyroad? She hadn't been paying attention while fighting Sophia.
For the longest time, the only sounds were those of Regula's footsteps and the everpresent static buzz of Azys Lla—and the occasional explosion that could only stem from Sophia. Thank the mothercrystal they all sounded so far away.
“Why did you come to help us?“ Regula eventually spoke up. “However you managed to free yourself, you would have been able to hide and wait until the Warrior of Light arrived. Why didn't you?“
“And leave you all to be tempered? I hold no love for the empire, but… I couldn't have let that happen. Nor could I have simply let Sophia run rampant. I've relied enough on the Warrior of Light.“ How often had he helped her now? Without him, she would never have made it past the Dravanian Forelands—would have died to Ravana, like as not. Without him, Ishgard would have been laid to ruin while she was succumbing to despair. Without him, Ishgard and the dragons would never have sown the first tentative seeds of peace.
It was high time she did something to repay him.
“We may be on opposing sides and nothing either of us can say will change that, but yours is a sentiment I understand. For the time being, let us act as allies, to stop our common enemy, and then part freely.“
“You're offering to let me go?“
“Yes. Even leaving aside the fact that I won't condemn my saviour to the fate that might have awaited you otherwise, my ship has sustained heavy damage, and I have lost many soldiers. I frankly don't have the resources to keep you captive on the return trip—especially not after you somehow managed to escape the room that I was told was tamper-proof...“ Regula sighed. “Though I suppose that mistake turned out to be a blessing, in truth.“
Their conversation trickled to a halt then. There simply wasn't much, if anything, that Ysayle could or wanted to say to him. They were enemies after all, just like he had said. Only temporarily allied.
Regula reached the first teleporter and stepped onto the platform without a word. The yanking sensation so unalike to teleporting the way Ysayle knew it still threw her for a loop. Upon reemerging, she had to squeeze her eyes shut for a moment while she fought off a bout of nausea.
“We'll have to take a second one,“ Regula said.
Ysayle took a deep breath. Throwing up on him wouldn't be helpful.
Tiamat's island looked every bit the same as when Ysayle had left. Sophia, it seemed, hadn't wreaked havoc here yet. As Regula stepped off the teleporter, she pointed at the hill she knew housed Tiamat. She could barely see the glow of her prison from down here.
“We need to go up there.“
Regula quietly obliged.
How would Tiamat respond to a Garlean legatus carrying Ysayle beseeching her for help? Would she decline? If so, what would Ysayle do? What could she even do? She would certainly try to transform back into Shiva if there was no other way, but she didn't think it would work. Shiva's presence in her head had diminished to a near imperceptible whisper, just like it had following her fight with Ravana.
She would go face Sophia as she was if Tiamat refused to help, then.
It was reckless, maybe, and almost certainly doomed to fail. She wasn't the Warrior of Light. Her own powers were not nearly enough to contend with a deity, but she would do it anyroad. She still had a little bit of protection from her echo, after all.
Tiamat's prison came into view. Regula stopped in his tracks.
“I hadn't known such a place existed here...“ Then he shook his head. “No. No time to lose for such musings. Do you think you can walk from here?“
Ysayle nodded, and he set her down. She remained wobbly on her feet, but if she steadied herself against him a little, it would work.
Together, they approached Tiamat's dais. Tiamat's eyes snapped open. “Daughter of man, whom dost thou bring to me?“
“He's a...“ He was what, exactly? Ysayle cast a glance up at Regula's helmet. He was certainly not a friend, but right now they weren't enemies either. “An ally.“
“I—we need your help,“ Regula said. “An eikon runs loose—“
Ysayle nudged him, trying to quiet him, as that surely wasn't the right way to approach this, but ere she could get his attention, Tiamat interrupted him.
“One of the imprisoned has broken free, then? I have felt the disruption in the aether even here…“ Tiamat fell silent again. Ysayle's heart sank. Would she not help? She sounded so impartial.
“I freely admit that I don't know your story,“ Regula said. “Your… mortal companion here has not been forthcoming with information, beyond suggesting that we come to you for aid. There is little love between your kind and mine, but for her sake—for the battle she started and cannot continue—will you not aid us?“
Unexpectedly, Tiamat laughed. It was a deep, rumbling sound that seemed to reverberate in Ysayle's bones long after she had stopped. “There it is, that mortal impatience. By your own admission, you know nothing, and yet you come rushing, determined to fix the wrongs you have caused. The eikon is free due to your own meddling, is it not?“
“Yes.“
“Foolish mortal—as foolish as I once was, eons ago. Back then, I would have condemned you for your misdeeds, would have considered myself superior to you, but no more. I see now that we can learn much and more from each other—you from the eternity I have had to learn and grow, I from your boundless enthusiasm and determination to make the most out of your limited time on this star. Free me. I will aid you against this foe, man of steel.“
Regula bowed his head. “Thank you.“ He stepped off the platform again and crouched down at its foot, where he tore free a panel and reached inside a hollow behind it. Ysayle merely watched. She didn't understand this technology. Perhaps it had been a blessing of disguise to have met him. She wouldn't have known how to free Tiamat, had she asked her.
What had changed her mind? Surely it couldn't have been speaking to a mortal like herself. She couldn't have had that much of an effect. But that was a question for later, after Sophia had been taken care of.
There was a click as the bindings around Tiamat's body unfurled and slowly retracted back into the platform. The eerie glow surrounding the prison dissipated until naught remained—until naught indicated that there had ever been an ancient dragon of the first brood imprisoned here, in fact.
Tiamat, for her part, roared as she shook out her wings for the first time in millennia. The sound rattled in Ysayle's skull, but she didn't step back.
It took but seconds for Sophia's golden aura to herald her arrival. Tiamat took to the skies, as effortlessly as if she had never been held captive at all.
Had Ysayle's own fight with Sophia looked like this to the imperial survivors from the distance? The sky itself lit up. The energy the two unleashed against each other seemed to make the very air crackle. The only comparison she could draw was witnessing the fall of Dalamud, little though she had seen of the event itself in Coerthas.
Neither Ysayle nor Regula spoke. There was nothing to be said, really. They had fulfilled the goal of their short-lived alliance. Now, they would part ways and hopefully never see each other again.
Tiamat unleashed a blinding wave of energy that all but engulfed Sophia, whose attempts at freeing herself failed. There was a sound that wasn't so much a shriek but a rippling of aether that made Ysayle's teeth hurt. When the energy wave vanished, golden aether flitted about and soon vanished into Azys Lla's ambient atmosphere.
Tiamat had won.
“I must thank you again,“ Regula said after a moment. “I would not have known to ask this dragon, nor do I think she would have accepted, if not for you. Thus, you have saved us twice.“
“I didn't do it for you. I did it for those I could yet save.“
“Which would be us, but you may see it that way, if you wish.“ Regula bowed his head. “I see no reason to linger, and I must needs collect my remaining soldiers and get the ship running again.“
“I see...“ Ysayle watched as Tiamat began gliding back to her former prison. “Say. Is Apollonia alright?“
“Apollo—yes. She was when I last saw her. Why do you ask?“
Ysayle shrugged. “It's hard to see someone who complains over having her wages cut in that tone as a monster, I suppose.“
“Fair enough.“ Regula raised a hand in some gesture of… what, gratitude? Farewell? Respect? Ysayle couldn't tell, but it didn't matter. A moment later, he turned around and began making his way down the mountain, towards the teleporter. Then he hesitated and turned back to Ysayle.
“You should know that there are two more eikons imprisoned here. Though they have not broken free yet, I cannot say with absolute certainty that they won't. What you do with this knowledge is up to you.“
Ysayle nodded silently, and Regula went about his way.
With a gust of air that made Ysayle stagger, Tiamat landed next to her on the platform. She seemed unharmed, thank Hydaelyn.
“Thank you,“ Ysayle said. “May I ask… why did you change your mind?“
“The seeds were sown during my long imprisonment. They sprouted because thine arrival forced me to make a decision.“ Tiamat laughed again. “To think thou hast found the truth I arrived at in a fraction of the time I needed. I looked down upon thy kind once...“
Ysayle shook her head. “It is as you said, isn't it? We are hasty and it often leads us to foolishness… but not always. We can learn from each other and grow together.“
“Where wilst thou go now, daughter? I am sure thou hast plans already.“
“I can't just leave these other primals here, now that I know they exist… but I'm thinking we have some time. Time enough to go find the one most qualified to deal with them. If, that is,“ Ysayle said, “you will help me get out of here?“
“Didst thou expect me to leave thee here?“ Tiamat lowered herself until she all but lay on the platform. “Come. Let us go. I know whom thou art seeking. We will find him together.“
Ysayle nodded. “Thank you, again.“ She reached out and laid a hand on Tiamat's scales. Their coarse surface felt warm on her skin. Alive. They seemed to shift with every minute movement on Tiamat's part. When Tiamat didn't object. Ysayle grabbed onto a hard spike and swung herself up on her back.
There was something oddly appropriate, Ysayle thought as Tiamat once more took to the skies, to have come to Azys Lla with the dragon she had sought out as Shiva and leave it on the one she had gotten to know as Ysayle. It was fitting, somehow. A good sign for the future, perhaps.
“What do you want to do now?“ she asked Tiamat as the twisted shapes of Azys Lla vanished on the horizon.
“Once, I committed the crime of summoning a perverted image of my beloved in the flames of war. I think it fitting if I were to commit to keeping the fragile peace thy people have forged with mine instead… after dealing with the menace the Allagans have left in this place.“
“I like that idea,“ Ysayle said. “I will help you, if you'll have me. Despite my wish to end the war, I only succeeded in fanning the flames. It is as appropriate for me as it is for you.“
“Of course, daughter.“
After that, they fell silent. They would talk more later, Ysayle knew; learn from each other, like Tiamat had said. But that could wait until later, when they could talk more comfortably.
After all, they had plenty of time now that they had both thrown off their shackles.