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In the midst of a serious discussion about memory, the Crystal Exarch spotted Alphinaud thinking deeply. The young scholar had been thinking like this for the last several minutes, he realized. It piqued his curiosity. “Alphinaud, do you have any thoughts on the matter?”
Alphinaud looked up to see that everyone was looking at him. “As a matter of fact, yes.” He turned to Alisaie. “Do you recall a peculiar girl we once met?”
Alisaie knew immediately, as she nodded. “Do you think she can help us?”
G’raha turned to Moonflower, but she was equally lost, confusion in her green eyes. She met his gaze and shrugged, silently telling him she had no idea. Curiouser and curiouser, he thought, but decided to take the bait. “You know someone who is experienced with memory?”
“By chance, we do,” said Alphinaud, and then he put a hand near his chest. He made an odd tugging motion on air, and then again seconds later. “I think that perhaps instead of pushing too far, Exarch, we should consult with her.”
“If either of you should feel like gracing the rest of us with more details,” Y’shtola began, but stopped.
A tall, dark portal burst from the ground between Alphinaud and Alisaie, and the Exarch could see a figure coming out from the gloom. Everyone but the twins jumped, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Thancred and Ryne reach for their weapons, Y’shtola not that far behind. Moonflower took a step forward, edging out in front of him protectively.
A small step. A delicate hand. A shock of fine blonde hair. And when she lifted her head, striking blue eyes. It was a girl dressed in a thin white dress, with little blue sandals. She smiled when she saw Alphinaud and Alisaie, but then she looked at him.
The second their eyes met, G’raha Tia knew that she knew. She knew every little secret of the Tower he kept hidden in his sleeve, every moment of history passed down by the Allagans, every page of research he’d ever collected. There was power in these eyes, and kept in such a tiny body. He held her gaze, refusing to back down and expose weakness. No matter how powerful she was, he had to protect the Crystal Tower and the Crystarium.
Her smile didn’t change, but she stopped looking at him and turned to those she knew. “Hello, Alphinaud, Alisaie. You called me, and here I am. What’s going on?”
“Hello Naminé,” said Alphinaud. He and his sister were smiling, to G’raha’s great surprise. Maybe they are greater friends than any of us could have guessed? “We need help with memories, and you came to mind.”
Urianger asked, reacting to the strange situation at last, “What dost thou know of memories, child?”
“My name is Naminé,” she said, and it sounded like something she had said many times before. “I am a witch with the power over memories.”
It was here that the Exarch realized the reason why her skin looked odd; she was glowing. Light shone on her skin, making her seem even more ephemeral. She was certainly beyond anything he’d ever known. “Power over memories?” he echoed.
Naminé nodded. “I… I still don’t know everything about it. But I have created fake memories before, as well as restored old ones. I had to go in and chain the memories back together.”
“You created fake memories?” Thancred asked in astonishment. He and Ryne had lowered their hands away from their weapons, but he was still rather unnerved by the little girl, and G’raha couldn’t blame him. After all, the man had personal experience with the Asicans, and she had appeared in their midst in a manner far too similarly to their ancient enemies.
“It was easy,” she answered bluntly, and a chill went through the Scions, with the exception of the twins. “All I had to do was draw.”
The Crystal Exarch could tell she was withholding information, but considering how disturbing that was already, he didn’t want to ask. “Very well, Naminé. Let us hope that you can help us with our problem.” He went on to explain, “Our friends, with the exception of Moonflower, Ryne, and Beq Lugg here, are souls separated from their bodies.”
“That explains why the chains were broken,” she mumbled, but didn’t elaborate, and once again, G’raha found that he didn’t want to ask.
Moonflower, on the other hand, did want to know. “What do you mean by chains? Chains where?”
“Chains connecting me and the twins. That’s how Alphinaud called me here.” Then she became upset. “I couldn’t find my friends when I wanted to visit them; the chains broke. Now I see why. They aren’t whole.” Naminé splayed her fingers out in front of her, and he could see how she pressed her fingertips together hard enough for the pads to turn white. “It is a terrible thing, to be unwhole, incomplete.”
He nodded. “And we are working to fix it. I have the ability to pass memories on, but the problem is that we need to transfer their souls into an inanimate object instead of another person.” Never mind what his wished-for ending was, they still had to make the memories go into the white auracite. It was frustrating.
Naminé stepped forward, and it was such a human gesture, he found himself confused. She just seemed so entirely unreal that it stood out. The girl inspected the auracite and then looked at him. Once again, he could tell that she knew; she knew how much it was costing him to attempt this, she knew every time his arm cracked, and she knew how much further the crystal was growing along his body.
He found it extremely unnerving that she knew all of this and yet gave nothing away.
“It’ll work,” she declared. “Everything will work.” And again, she looked deep into his eyes and he knew she was talking about him going home.
“How can you be sure?” he asked.
“Because you have the power in your blood, and the strength of will to see it done.” A small nod told him she was assuring him he was strong enough, and that he would see Eorzea again.
That small nod gave him such great hope that he almost felt dizzy. Oh, to go home! Home, with Moonflower and the Scions. Home, where Krile was, where Rammbroes and the others from NOAH were. Home, where he might go on an adventure with the love of his life. “Very well,” he said. “Then I will keep working on applying my blood to the auracite.”
“Hold on,” Moonflower spoke up. “Why can’t you do it, Naminé?”
She shook her head. “It has to be him. Blood is not something I will play with. This is more than creating and linking memories together; this is moving souls with their memories. I can’t control the soul. The heart, perhaps, but not the soul.” She smiled again, smoothing the shiver that last statement sent through everyone. “Have faith. You will all go home. But you knew that, didn’t you?”
“We have certainly hoped so,” Alphinaud told her. “Thank you for coming, Naminé.”
The blonde brightened and patted his hands. Then she did the same for Alisaie. “Call me when you go home; I have missed you both so much!” She sounded like such a normal human girl that again, G’raha felt off-kilter. Who was she, and how did the Leveilleur twins know her?
Alisaie grinned. “See you later, Naminé.”
Another dark portal burst open and she disappeared. As soon as she was gone, Ryne turned to the twins, wide-eyed. “How did you meet a creature like her?” she asked, both horror and awe in her voice. “She’s made of pure light! Not even Moonflower is like this!”
Alphinaud looked uncomfortable at the question. Alisaie, however, crossed her arms. “Let’s just say she’s from another shard and found a way to wander into the Studium, and leave it at that,” she said. “We’ve got important things to be focusing on.”
“Talking with her has given me ideas,” announced the Exarch. “I will work on them with Beq Lugg here, so we will let you know the results soon.”
They would all go home, and he would go with them.