Work Text:
Primal - ‘eikons; magical beings worshiped by others; monsters’
<Warnings: Implied character deaths and possible triggers>
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The once peaceful, beautiful blue sky over now burns bright red with the burning of the city-states. The air is filled with the cries of Eorzea’s people, terror, and despair filling their voices. Katsum hears it all from her place on her pedestal at the head of the square, yet with the chains around her wrists and ankles, she can do nothing but sit on the cold and harsh stone slab. The war was over and somehow her strength had not been enough to save them from the forces of the empire. They had won and now set about shaping the entire world in the image they wished it to be in, reforming the “savages” and their primal ways. She was their trophy, the mighty warrior of Eorzea made an object and a slave as a sign of their victory. Here she had watched them execute her fellow Scions, powerless and helpless to stop it, only being able to pray for their souls to enter the halls of Heaven and find peace until she could join them. She had watched the executions of the Alliance leaders too, and the deaths of countless Eorzeans. Some had cried out to her for help, breaking her heart and spirit more as she could not move to help them. She could hear the voice of the Garlean people rising again and she knew another execution was coming, and so she raised her weakened gaze to the executioner’s block at the end of the plaza, and who she saw walking towards it caused her heart to stop and her body to move with a strength she thought lost to her.
Aymeric.
How had it slipped her mind that he was an Alliance leader, the Commander of Ishgard too, a leader of a defiant nation? She had thought him safe from the axe as she had not seen him in so long, yet now, her body shook in horror. She found the strength to try and stand, yet her chains clinked as she could not stand from her knees though she pulled and raged against them. From deep within, her forgotten voice rang out across the plaza, “No, spare him, please!! Take me instead! Please spare him!”
So long had it been since she’d used her voice that it was hoarse and weak and was drowned out by the shouts of the excited crowd that gathered around the executioner’s block. Yet somehow, Aymeric seemed to have heard her as he glanced back at her, a loving and sad smile on his face. Tears fall from her eyes as she calls out to him desperately, the sight of him bound in chains breaking her very soul, “Aymeric, please! Please spare him, PLEASE!!”
Yet still, he smiles sadly, and mouths the words to her from afar: ‘I love you always.’
Katsum pulled at her chains again, feeling them loosen the harder she pulled, yet not enough to break. She watched as he did not fight his fate, kneeling before the executioner with a stoic expression of a knight. Katsum cried out again as she rattled her restraints to break free, the cheers of the Garleans as the executioner stepped forward making her heartbeat loudly in her ears as she fought to move. Yet none listened. The executioner raised his axe and prepared to swing.
And Katsum screamed.
Suddenly, her body is bathed in light and a burning flame engulfs her and her chains snapped as she lifted into the air, Her aether shifts and the fire moves around her body as a pair of red wings sprout from her back and red scales cover her tattered clothing and skin, creating armor and plating across her body. A tall, spire-like crown of gold appears on her head and her tears stain her face with a glow that burns glowing lines down her face, her eyes sparkling as the glowing eyes of Raihogg mix with her own. The fire around her flew down to her hands, forming a flaming sword and shield and she hovered in the air as a primal unlike any before.
The people below her stop cheering to scream in terror at her Primal form, all except Aymeric and the executioner who seemed not to notice her at all. With a dravanian shriek in place of what was once her voice, Katsum dove down through the skies, her sword outstretched as she aimed for the executioner. The world slowed as he swung his axe, her speed not fast enough to save him, and she panics, screaming as she beats her wings again to gain more speed. The crowd runs away in terror as she descends upon them, but it is clear to her she is too late…
“AYMERIC NOO-!”
The sound of her own voice jolts her out of her sleep and she nearly falls from the bed in the force of her jump, landing on her hands and knees on top of the sheets. Her mind whirling in its panic and sweat pouring down her body, her ears swung around her as she scanned the room, but all was silent and it was far too dark to see. She sat back and grabbed at her clothes, finding herself dressed in her silk nightgown, not in her armor or Raihogg’s scales like she had been not a moment ago. She recognizes its silky feel and the softness of the sheets and she feels around in the dark for any sign of him or anything to help her know that it was not real. Suddenly, she feels a hand gently takes hers and she whirls to look back and strained her eyes to see into the dark, and her heart shook as she saw him.
Aymeric’s concerned expression shone through the darkness as he caresses her hand with his thumb, a sad smile crossing his face as he sat up on his elbow, “Another nightmare, love?”
Katsum’s body shook as her breathing was still so uneven, nodding as she couldn’t find her voice to speak. A tear of relief fell from her eye, trailing down her stained cheeks and Aymeric sat up to wipe it away, opening his arms as she fell into them and he gathered her into his embrace. The warmth of his skin and the smell of his shirt should have brought her peace, yet tonight, it made her body shake as she sobbed in relief, pressed her burning forehead against his shoulder as she curled her body around him.
The miqo’te felt her beloved elezen lay his head against hers and sigh, his hair tickling her ears as he rubs her back, “I do hope your fever breaks soon and this sickness leaves your body. I am worried for you and your health if it continues.” She felt him place a kiss to her shoulder, his warm lips feeling cool on her burning skin.
Katsum pushes her face further into his neck, filling her nose with his scent as she wrapped her arms around his neck and straddled his hips, her tail slipping out from under her nightgown to wrap around his waist as if to shield him from some unknown force. Aymeric whispers sweet things softly in her ear, rubbing her back as his grip around her tightened to secure her against him, letting her cry into his shoulder until her sobs subside and she goes quiet. She nuzzles his cheek, hugging him tightly as she sighed with a shaking breath.
Aymeric placed a kiss on her burning forehead, “Will you tell me what you dreamed?”
Katsum shivered, the events of her nightmare replaying in her head and flashing in front of her eyes as she thinks back to it.
“Please, Katsum,” He pleaded, “I wish to help unburden you in whatever way I can, fever dreams or not,” He ghosts his lips over her forehead again, “Please, my sweet.”
She hides her face in his neck and shivers again, whispering, “I will tell you…when I am better…ok? Not now…I am too tired…”
“What can I do to help?”
“Let me lay on you and sleep…please? I…I need to know…nothing can hurt you tonight…”
“Of course, my love,” He kisses her hair and he holds her close as he moves them to lay down on his back with her on top of him, pulling the covers back over them as Katsum snuggles under his chin. Aymeric caresses her back and starts to hum a quiet tune in her ear, and Katsum’s mind lulls at the sound of his angelic voice. She takes a deep breath and tightens her arms around him, feeling herself drift off into sleep again.
“I shall never let anyone harm you again, Aymeric,” She whispers, “This I swear…I promise…”
She hears him answer with a soft sigh, hearing the loving smile in his voice as she responds, “I love you, my dear sweetheart. Pray, have sweeter dreams now wrapped in my loving embrace knowing that you and I are safe.”
With these words, Katsum’s weary mind drifts off, quietly flying to a much happier dream than the one before.
“I love you too…”