Chapter Text
The first time G’raha sees Pike in hundreds of years, Pike punches him directly across the face.
Technically, it’s not until they’re alone. But outside of the Ocular, in front of his people, something in him ceases to be G’raha Tia, and becomes wholly the Exarch. If he were a younger man, he’d think that warrant talking about with someone; that kind of cognitive dissonance couldn’t be healthy.
But G’raha is centuries old now, and such things should be left to those who will live to see the darkened skies of Norvrant, anyhow.
G’raha collects every one of Pike’s differences on their way through the streets, notes the way the smiles reach his eyes now when he thanks someone, notes the contemplative quiet that overcomes him when he’s alone, notes the way his eyes tighten with anger when they glance over G’raha.
It shouldn’t surprise G’raha that Pike takes the first opportunity to strike him, then, when he’s noticed that—but it does, so much so that he overbalances and falls to the ground. He’d wager that, if not for the careful application of spells, his hood would have fallen off and revealed his identity.
Pike rolls his shoulders, the anger sliding off his features like a snake shedding its skin. “Been waiting to do that one for a while, now,” he says, grinning. It doesn’t feel pleasant.
G’raha touches his cheek gently, hissing at the pain of a burgeoning bruise. “You hit me,” he says, stunned.
Pike shakes his head. “You took everything from me. Unintentional or not. My closest friends, my lo—” he cuts off, letting out a heavy breath. “So yes, I hit you. Be glad it was just the one.”
G’raha still feels stunned. He’s known, since he woke in the tower to a sea of unfamiliar faces, since he was told Pike perished at the end of the world, that he would be different. Reading Heavensward, hearing stories from people who knew him—all of it prepared him for Pike to be a different man to the one he knew. Or so he thought. But staring up at the man he’s spent centuries chasing and loving—it feels like a beautiful stained glass window shattering and revealing a barren landscape beyond.
G’raha takes a settling breath, collects himself, and moves on. He’ll deal with the fallout of his shattered image later, when he’s alone—when he can just be G’raha Tia, without having to be the Crystal Exarch as well.
Pike tears his armor off, the second he’s in his room, sick of the crushing feeling wrapping itself around his chest.
He throws it in a pile on the floor, because Valliant isn’t here to tell him not to. Then he sits on the bed, grabs a pillow, and screams into it. He only barely keeps himself from shredding it into pieces after he’s done, instead throwing it back on the bed.
He stands, restless, and crosses to the window. Staring out at the endless light is depressing, but there’s a breeze, and the scent of forge smoke is familiar enough to settle Pike. It reminds of him of Mor Dhona, of sitting at Rowena’s cafe with Valliant, of cool night air settling over his bare skin when in bed with Thancred, of shopping in the markets with the twins.
Twelve, he misses them all, so much it feels like he may just die if he doesn’t get to them soon.
“You…?”
The voice from behind him makes Pike jump, and he whirls around. A black miasma, in the shape of a person, stands there. The miasma fades, and standing there is a man...a familiar man. Who glows. Pike feels the headache start.
“I know you...You’re the Warrior of Light from the Source!” The Warrior of Darkness says.
“ One of the Warriors of Light,” Pike says irritably. “Does everyone seem determined to forget Valliant exists? You literally fought her, Mister Warrior of Darkness.”
“What? Did you just...you can hear me!?” The Warrior of Darkness looks shocked. “Oh gods, how long has it been…?”
“Oh, you’re a ghost,” Pike says. “Okay. Explains the glowing.” He sits on the ground and puts his head between his legs. “This is the weirdest goddamn day of my life. The Warrior of Darkness is a ghost and only I can hear him.”
“My real name is Ardbert,” the ghost says unhelpfully.
“Mine is Pike. Nice to meet you.” Pike picks his head up. “Wait, if I’m the first person you’ve spoken to...where are your friends?”
“They...they gave their lives to stop the Flood, with Minfilia,” he says, looking downcast. “Leaving me behind to bear witness. Tell me, do you know the year? How much time has passed since we caused the Flood?”
“A hundred years, I think,” Pike says.
“A hundred years...a hundred long years…” Ardbert shakes his head. He crosses to the table, swiping at a cup. His hand passes through it, because he’s a ghost , there’s a ghost in Pike’s bedroom , and he’s so tired he can’t even have a crisis about it.
Ardbert’s talking. Right. Maybe Pike should listen to the ghost. “I feel as if I've been walking forever... I hardly noticed when my mind and body began to fray at the edges. Then “bang,” my senses were sharp again. I felt like a fish being reeled in, and before I knew it, I found myself in this room. Why is it that you can see me? What are you even doing here, come to that?”
“I was summoned,” Pike says. “To...save the First from the eternal light. Apparently it’s going to cause a Calamity anyway. Don’t know why I can see you, but it’s probably some Hydaelyn bullshit. It’s always some Hydaelyn bullshit.”
Ardbert scoffs. “You were summoned to save the First? A waste of time. This world is beyond saving─like those who try to save it. Muddled as my mind may be, I've not forgotten that.”
“ Nothing is beyond saving,” Pike says. He stands. “I know you’re all depressed because you caused all these problems and you’re a ghost, but I’ve got a duty to try to save these people, if I can. I’m not going to give up at the jump just because you failed.”
“Good luck, but don’t come crying to me if you fail.” Ardbert rolls his eyes, but he looks conflicted. “Well. I'll be watching, Warrior of Light. But do me a favor. Be careful out there. This world has had its fill of heroes.”
He fades. Pike sighs.
“Look at me, talking to ghosts,” he mutters. “I really need to find my friends.”
When he has them back in his sights, Pike tucks the twins to his sides like ducklings and ignores their protestations. For all their blustering, neither is trying that hard to actually separate themselves, and he knows Alisiae is too proud to ask for comfort even after the trauma she’s endured. He smooths a hand over her hair as he turns his attention to the Exarch.
“Alright,” he says. “Where’s Valliant?”
“Tracking Lakeland’s Light Warden,” the Exarch replies, then launches into a description of the mentioned monsters.
It’s relatively straightforward, and Pike thanks the Twelve for it. He’s had enough of warfare and politics for the moment, and he’s ready to have the whole problem boil down to stabbing a big monster in the face.
As luck would have it (though Pike doesn’t think a whole town being attacked is very lucky), the Light Warden finds them. Holminster Switch is fairly close, too, so they can go right away. Pike punches his palm and gives a grin to the Exarch. “Let’s go save some lives and punch some giant monsters,” he says.
“One thing, before we depart,” the Exarch says. “Valliant’s last reported location was Holminster. I would like to prepare you if...she…”
“We’d better get a move on, then,” Pike interrupts. “Valliant’s stronger than me, she’s probably halfway to the Light Warden already.”
For all his confidence in her, though, Pike still finds his mind straying to worry. Valliant is strong, stronger than anyone Pike knows, but he knows it only takes one mistake before you’re flat on the ground with a monster on top of you.
He defeats the Sin Eater that turned Tesleen, and then Tesleen herself with only half his mind present. He takes some blows for it, which has Alphinaud casting Physick on him with dark mutterings, but otherwise they continue on just fine to the town square. And there’s a sea of Sin Eater eggs, and for a brief, horrible moment, Pike wonders if Valliant is in one of them.
He doesn’t register the egg splitting until it’s too late, and the claw slams into his chest, slamming him to the ground. It presses into him, baring teeth dripping with white drool, and Pike can’t move, can barely breathe as it rests all its weight on his still-healing scar, like it can smell his weakness. Pike wishes he could see Valliant one last time, that the next time she sees him won’t be his mangled corpse, that he could see Thancred one last time—
The Sin Eater goes flying as a figure in shining armor crashes into it, shield first.
“I swear, kid, you’re determined to bring the Miqo’te average life expectancy down all on your own,” Valliant says, putting her sword directly through the thing’s head. “And mine, too.”
Pike’s still struggling to breath, but even so, he can’t keep the grin off his face at hearing her voice once more. “Well, hey, someone’s gotta be the punching bag when you’re off playing hero.”
“Good to know I was missed.”
“Yeah.” Pike grins, feeling something settle in his chest. “Yeah, you were.”
“Are you purring?” Valliant asks, amused.
“You’re brushing my hair,” Pike says, interrupting said purring to pout. “It’s inherently calming.”
“You’ve never purred before, is all.”
“I have,” Pike admits, and Valliant can see the edges of his cheeks tinge red. “I just was quiet about it. Because it’s embarrassing.”
Valliant snorts. “You embarrass yourself daily. Purring is the least of your concerns.”
Pike pouts harder, but the purring starts up again after a minute. Valliant smiles to herself, and begins to twist strands of hair together into Pike’s customary braids. It’s only now, as the familiar feeling of soft blue hair in her hands reminds her, how long she’s been without Pike.
“How long has it been for you? Being here, I mean,” Pike says, giving unwitting voice to her thoughts.
“A year,” Valliant says softly. “A long year. You?”
“Less than a month,” Pike replies. “Feels kind of like a year, in some ways, though.” She’s not sure if he realizes he’s touching his chest. There’s a hint of a scar, still pink with healing, that she can see through the neck of his loose shirt. It looks ugly, like a reminder that she wasn’t there to protect him.
“Mm.” Valliant finishes the braid she’s working on and ties it off. “Everyone doing well?”
Pike starts listing off what their other friends are up to, and she has to laughingly tug him still again as he begins to gesture broadly, caught up in the story telling. He even hints at Gaius, and Estinien , which considering she hasn’t seen him since the Nidhogg incident, is kind of amazing. She notes how he carefully avoids details of how Estinien met, touching his chest again. But she knows when to push and when to let Pike tell her, by now, so she keeps quiet.
“What about you?” Pike asks, after he’s finished talking about Cid and Nero’s ongoing UST dance. “What did you do for a year?”
“I stayed close, at first,” Valliant says, and motions for him to turn so she can start on his front braids. “Kept expecting you to come over soon enough, and I wanted to be here so you wouldn’t be alone. But…” she shrugs. “It took a while, and I started getting antsy. Decided to go track down the Light Warden for you, try and make things a little easier. You saw how that worked out.”
“Yeah.” Pike starts to nod, then frowns as his hair is pulled. “Did you...did you see Thancred at all?”
It would be cute, how casual he’s trying to be about it, if it weren’t for the way his heart already looks broken about it. “Once. Met the little Minfilia, too. She’s sweet, but shy as anything. Thancred’s brusque with her, but she looked well-fed and well-clothed.”
“I’m glad he’s looking out for her,” Pike says with a small smile. “He didn’t…”
She knows what he’s asking. “He asked if you were alright, but not anything else. Time was short, so.” Valliant shrugs again, and finishes off the last braid. She pats Pike’s cheeks twice, laughing at his put upon expression, and stands, stretching her legs out.
Pike doesn’t follow up with the Thancred questions, instead moving on to talk about something else from the Source. The heartbroken look doesn’t leave his face until they part.