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All the ingredients had been gathered. Flour, Sugar, Eggs, Vanilla (extracted), Butter, Milk... Mielikki had even gone to the culinarian's guild to get herself baking the soda, but she was missing one critical ingredient. Mielikki had earmarked this ingredient from the outset but, considering the impossible feat Mielikki would have to do to achieve such a find.
Mielikki had felled gods. Mielikki had walked to the ends of the earth. Liberated nations. Fought the epitome of Depression AND WON. But all of that was nothing compared to the near impossible task, the unspeakable task, the task nobody could ever do.
Mielikki had to get Coerthan Rolanberries.
Now, the Rolanberry is a beautifully simple plant, with a beautifully sweet and simple taste, wonderful aroma and simple yet adorable look, it was widely loved and regarded by all as one of the best fruits available. Due to it's fame, it was very easy to get rolanberries anywhere in Eorzea, or the realm entire by that regard. However, the general, common Rolanberry was not what Mielikki was seeking for her beautiful rose's nameday cake. This was a milestone achievement of an age, and it needed a milestone achievement of a cake. Mielikki's background in botany led her to the most showstopping combination, a Rolanberry Cake.
The vibrant hues of the usual Rolanberry would be a beautiful compliment to her partner, and she knew that Rolanberry Red was a favoured dye by the Au Ra, but as fate would twist and the Opo-Opo's paw curled, it would happen that her Rose-tinted lover was allergic to the very Rolanberries she was known to inhabit in spirit.
Now Rolanberry allergy was a complicated thing, from contemporary knowledge and Sharlayan study it was determined that standard rolanberries carried an allergen called Fragaria allergen A1, or Fra A1 which was introduced into the Rolanberry as they ripen. Coerthan Rolanberries, however, or Alpine Rolanberries, did not carry this allergen as they did not ripen in the usual way, but with a lack of the colouration that also gave them the nickname 'White Rolanberries'.
When Coerthas was still a verdant nation, Alpine Rolanberries were quite a common export. Alpine Rolanberries had to be grown wild, and could not be easily cultivated naturally, so while the Coerthas was once a vibrant green, the white rolanberries were easily spotted against the landscape, but once the layers of pure ivory fell onto the land, finding Rolanberries was much harder.
Mielikki was different than the usual Ishgardian opportunist however. Mielikki was motivated. Though it can be said that at any point Izayoi was involved Mielikki was immediately guns-ready for any adventure, ever, we're going to disregard that so that this story feels alot more serious than it actually is, rather than yet another blind quest for something that could've been avoided if she had picked, you know, literally any other fruit. Like apples, or oranges, or- Look the point is she was motivated, and she also wanted to show her partner that she could take her botany knowledge, and her love for her partner, and combine it into one, cohesive, lovely gesture. So twelve dammit she is going to try!
Now, getting to Coerthas wasn't hard, and nor was it even slightly difficult to mask her reason for going there. Turns out once you become the warrior of light there's a tonne of bullshit you can pull under the guise of 'going on a quest' and people will just cope with that and not read into it any further. Well, I mean in life there's a surprising amount of stuff you can bullshit yourself into anyway, but saving the realm twice a week also does have some perks, if it isn't terrible for the nerves.
Airships came three times in three hours, now specifically when in those three hours was between the denizens of the earth, sky, and several airship pilots. Mielikki could only hope that they came sooner than later because the idea of waiting to get somewhere with chance was quite an anxious feat.
Ishgard was quiet this time of year, most of the people who would be travelling for //Christmas// would’ve already travelled back for now and Ishgard didn’t really see the usual summer tourists after the great freeze.
The first time Mielikki had come to ishgard, it had been a strong flurry of fleeing and she hadn’t had the time to pack any winter wear or properly prepare. This time she’d packed the coat that Tataru had made her and some fluffy ovim wool gloves. The coat had made her sweat and swelter in Gridania but she was grateful once they got into Coerthas.
Mielikki took her time to reflect on the city as she made her way from the airship docks in the pillars to the inn in foundation. There clearly had been some repair work done on the city because there seemed to be much less damage that previously seen. Stones in the pavement no longer squeaked and squealed under your boots and there was a surprising lack of impact holes. Society was still broken though, systems like governments often take longer to fix, as a street just needs cement but to fix a society like Ishgard you would need to fix a whole host of wealth inequality, generational trauma and learned hate. Mielikki always did yearn to help, especially seeing skeletal hands reach up at her from ragged raglan blankets, her heart ached. There was nothing she could do for them now, she reasoned, she would contact those she knew and see if she could get them to safe housing.