Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Martyn stared at Drake’s Tail as the ship approached Twinside.

Drake’s Tail didn’t seem to care that it was being observed.

He had been told that crystals were a Bad Thing now. The big Mothercrystal ones at least. Despite this, Drake’s Tail didn’t seem to mind that it was being slandered and called a Big Bad Crystal now. The small shard of fire crystal in his pack for lighting his campfire felt a little heavier than it did before.

All this was far, far too big to be his problem, but now it was and he had no choice but to deal with it. Cid still had a few Mothercrystals to tick off his bucket list, and that’s where Martyn had been roped into helping. Because of course the Phoenix was helping his brother and that meant that Prince Dion was also helping - and by proxy, Martyn and Gerard were helping.

Just another entry on the list of things in his life he hadn’t signed up for. What a time to be alive.

They had boarded the ship bound for Twinside early that morning, and to his infinite dismay Martyn had quickly discovered he didn’t have much of a stomach for sea travel. Short boat rides had never bothered him, but a voyage on the open waves turned out to be a different thing. He had opted to stay out on the deck in the fresh air instead of going below to the cabins with the Phoenix and Prince Dion. They seemed to have some ‘last minute planning’ still going on. If you wanted to call it that. Any actual planning that got done, Martyn was sure they’d tell him if he needed to know. The rest of the details they could keep to themselves.

Gerard had decided to accompany him to provide a - for once - welcome distraction from the swaying of the deck, and it hadn’t taken them long to start another round of word games. Apparently that was a thing they did now. The voyage had thus far added a few more things beginning with the letter S to their ‘I spy’ game repertoire. Such as Sea, Ship, and Sail, and a number of other words beginning with ‘sea’, which to Martyn felt a bit cheap and lacking inventiveness. The game was turning into ‘I spy things starting with an S’ at this rate.

It had also led them to another taxonomy debate on whether the creatures following their ship had been dolphins for D or porpoises for P, or if those were the same thing with just a different name. Martyn wasn’t sure how their bickering over sea life had turned to the topic of mermaids and if they were real or not, but he wasn’t going to ask the Phoenix if he knew the answer.

Mermaids were not a thing, and he was prepared to die on that hill, if only to get the last word. Also, those creatures were porpoises!

At first, Martyn felt excited when the top of Drake’s Tail came into view over the horizon far before they could see even a sliver of the Isles of Ark. This was his first time in the Crystalline Dominion, and now the only chance to ever see this Mothercrystal. Before they had been destroyed, he had been lucky enough to see those of Dhalmekia and Sanbreque, and once even the one that the Iron Kingdom and Rosaria had been squabbling over for generations.

The Mothercrystal just kept on growing as their ship approached Twinside. The closer they got the stronger the feeling of vertigo became. There was something terrifying about how the crystal loomed over the city, like the slightly tilted angle could make it topple over at any given second. Even Drake’s Head hadn’t given Martyn this feeling of unease on the few times he’d visited Oriflamme. They had built the city to follow the shape of the crystal, making it feel like a part of it. Twinside on the other hand seemed to want to contend with their crystal. The skyline was dotted with tall spires that looked as if they were extensions of Drake’s Tail reaching high above the city’s streets.

Even Gerard went silent for a moment when the harbour came into view. Only for a moment, though, before he started admiring the scene out loud and wondering if they’d have time to stop for some food once they arrived.

It was late afternoon when they finally disembarked at the Twinside docks. Even with actual ground under his feet Martyn still felt like he was walking on the ship’s deck, the world swaying just slightly. And his father had wanted to be a sailor in his youth! He couldn’t imagine having to deal with this feeling constantly. This day had made him reconsider his plan to escape to the Outer Continent. How many days would a voyage that far last? Even the shortest route from Storm to Ash was a few days, and that wasn’t the safe route. He knew he’d be miserable the whole journey, but maybe the payout of not having to deal with all this would make up for it.

“This way,” Martyn yelled over the noise of the crowd and beckoned Gerard to follow.

“Wow, I didn’t expect there to be so many people here,” Gerard said, his head swiveling around as he took in the sights.

“Don’t get lost now,” Martyn sighed and ducked past a group of porters sorting through a stack of crates that had arrived on their ship. “They’re expecting us.”

Maybe he should have brought a leash for Gerard. For some reason that thought along with the accompanying mental image made his cheeks heat up. He needed to stop having these random impulses about that man. It wasn’t healthy. There had to be something wrong with his head, he had never had thoughts like these about another person. He had no plans on asking a chirurgeon how to fix it, though. And he most certainly was not going to ask Cal for advice. He would never survive the ammo that would give her to further tease him.

(‘But Gerard would look great with a collar’, his brain helpfully supplied before he could fully suplex that train of thought.)

It felt almost impossible to keep his gaze off Drake’s Tail as they made their way up the streets. How did the locals get anything done with a massive crystal shading their daily lives like this? Martyn shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. They had a mission and he needed to focus, and Gerard was no help at all. Instead, he was doing his best to distract Martyn with the food stalls they were passing by as they weaved their way through the throng of people on the street.

Twinside was a melting pot of cultures thanks to the history of the isles, and the Empire taking it over hadn’t changed that. You could hear accents from everywhere around Valisthea in the crowd, and a Dhalmekian skewer vendor was happily doing business next to a Dominion curry stall. On the other side of the street, a Waloedian weaver was peddling their wares in a friendly competition with a local cobbler. The atmosphere of the markets reminded Martyn a lot of Dhalmekia and especially the hustle and bustle of Ran’dellah. It also reminded him that he should go visit his parents there one of these days, he hadn’t seen them very often after his mother had been stationed in the Republic’s capital. Officially she was a librarian, but in truth her actual occupation was snooping around the old archives and looking for any information that might interest the Undying. Covert jobs ran in the family, after all.

His mother would probably love Gerard, and the sheer thought of those two meeting each other made Martyn wince. Gerard would instantly charm his parents, compliment his mother’s cooking - that got Martyn to preen a bit - and in the end they would rather have him as their son than Martyn. But why would he even introduce Gerard to his family, where was that coming from? He was clearly losing it. The oppressive presence of the Mothercrystal looming over him was getting to him. Maybe that was a good enough reason to get rid of it, Cid’s crusade be damned. Martyn Barker wasn’t going to be bested by a lump of shiny rock!

“Can we-” Gerard said, pointing at a fish cake shop and interrupting Martyn’s momentary family problems. His expression was definitely going for the ‘puppy eyes of doom’ direction.

“Not now,” Martyn snapped, but then relented. He was getting too soft when it came to Gerard, Flames damn it. “We can come back here after we’re done.”

Gerard brightened up immediately. It shouldn’t be cute, but it was. Promise him a tour of nibbling through an alley of street vendors and it was like he had found heaven. Martyn wasn’t quite ready to unpack the wish that they could stop for a bit to explore the markets because Gerard enjoyed them so much. Luckily, they had a job to do first so he could put a pin on that for now. However, the job at the moment seemed to consist of Gerard drooling at the freshly baked, cheese filled dumplings they were just passing, but the sentiment was there. He was focused.

“Oh fine,” Martyn muttered and nudged Gerard’s elbow, steering him towards the dumpling stall. Maybe some baked goods would help him concentrate on the mission. And Martyn himself was feeling a little bit peckish after the long journey. His stomach hadn’t been very happy about the ocean waves so he hadn’t eaten much all day.

Instead of biting into the dumpling, Gerard first broke off a piece of the dough, eating it separately before pulling out some of the stretchy, melty cheese. The look on his face was so blissful Martyn had to look away. He hoped he wasn’t blushing, even if his tan should conceal it. The dumplings were very tasty, he could admit that. They were cooked over wood fire which left a slightly smoky taste for additional spice, and the cheese stuffing had a nice amount of tang to it.

“So what’s the deal with you and food?” Martyn asked, unable to hold back his curiosity any longer. Food seemed to be the only topic Gerard was truly passionate about. He inspected each food item he tried with great interest, and even asked the vendors questions if they weren’t too busy.

“I love good food! I mean, who doesn’t? And I want to open a restaurant one day,” Gerard said, grinning at Martyn and taking another bite of the dumpling.

“And that’s why you want to try everything we come across?” Martyn said, staring at him blankly.

“I won’t know what to serve otherwise,” Gerard said with his mouth full, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Martyn hummed in response, but he had to ask. “Are you just going to put whatever things you like on the menu?”

Gerard just nodded, his mouth full of cheese. Martyn sighed. He felt like he was signing up for something again but he just couldn’t help it. He might not know much about what running a restaurant entailed, but he’d done some traveling and spent a lot of time with people who had way more education than he did. You tended to pick up things in such company, if you kept your eyes and ears open.

“That’s not going to work, you need a focus. See all these street vendors you so love sampling?” Martyn gestured with his hand, waving the remains of his dumpling at the street lined with stalls. Some crumbs fell off and two little birds started squabbling over them at their feet. “They have a focus. They all sell just one thing, maybe two if they’re ambitious, because they can make it well. You should do the same. Make a small menu with just a few items that are really good and work together.”

Gerard chewed thoughtfully and then swallowed his mouthful with determination. “That’s a great idea! I should have thought of that too,” he said brightly, before his face fell. “But there are so many good foods, it’s going to be hard to decide.”

“You could change the menu every now and then so you would eventually go through all the stuff you like,” Martyn said placatingly. Sad Gerard was… upsetting to see. He was always so cheerful. The world felt a little bit brighter when he smiled.

“I should take notes…” Gerard said, patting at his pack and stuffing the remains of the cheesy treat in his mouth, his cheeks puffing out.

“We can plan this later. Eat up, we have to go find the meeting point.” Martyn sighed to himself. Why had he said ‘we’? The restaurant was Gerard’s idea, not his, and he wanted no part in it. He headed up the street, not caring if Gerard followed.

He didn’t glance over his shoulder, just to make sure he hadn’t lost Gerard. He didn’t.

Despite arriving on the same ship as Martyn and Gerard, the Phoenix and Prince Dion had entered the city separately, to draw less attention in case someone recognized Dion under his travel cloak. Not to mention, having everyone together if he did get noticed would complicate things. They needed to stay undetected to pull this off. Cid had arrived a few days in advance to scout out the place with Lady Warrick and Torgal and to finalize the whole plan he had.

Martyn wasn’t happy about that plan. It was a bad plan. Actually, not just bad, it was terrible. And it was going to go awfully, if you cared about Martyn’s opinion - which no one had asked. It was a better plan than Cid’s first draft, which had involved a lot more busting through the front door while someone created a diversion. Cid was a pretty straightforward guy, so Martyn hadn’t been surprised when he first heard it. However, after Prince Dion had informed that he knew another way into the sanctum Cid had thankfully revised his original idea - all the while looking a bit crestfallen about not getting to kick down doors. The Phoenix was on board for this version, so Martyn didn’t think his opinion would matter. He probably should have voiced his concerns, if for no other reason than to get to say ‘I told you so’ when everything went pear-shaped. Not that he would say it to the Phoenix’s face, that wouldn’t be appropriate.

Martyn didn’t know how exactly one got rid of a Mothercrystal, apparently there was a core somewhere? And destroying that core would make the crystal disappear into thin air. It seemed impossible to make something that big just vanish, but there had been nothing left of Drake’s Fang so Martyn had to believe it. Unless it was because Titan had gone critical mass there. That possibility was a terrible prospect when you thought about four dominants going in for the mission. If any of them lost control… Well, it would not be a pretty sight once the dust settled.

Terrible, just terrible. But at least it was a plan, and Martyn had nothing better to offer. If he acted fast he might still catch a ship to the Outer Continent.

Martyn had expected something discreet, on a side street. Instead, they found the inn where Cid and Lady Warrick were staying on the main thoroughfare of the city. To his ever growing annoyance, Martyn discovered that he wasn’t really surprised when they stepped in. This was textbook Rosfield behaviour, and they had already gotten him used to their antics. Come to think of it, he should write a textbook on this for future agents of the Undying. Knowing Cyril it would just get stashed in the forbidden tomes section with all the juicier stories about Natalia Rosfield, but maybe he’d do it anyway, as a form of therapy for putting up with all this.

The ground floor was packed with patrons having a bowl of curry and a mug of ale for their evening meal, and Martyn had to tiptoe a bit before he spotted Lady Warrick by the stairs to the second floor, waving them over. Gerard of course only had eyes for the food being served, which was another thing Martyn had already gotten accustomed to. They were the last ones to arrive, and if anyone asked, Martyn was going to blame that on Gerard for wanting to stop and buy some snacks to bring to the others. He even got a skewer of roasted meat for Torgal.

Lady Warrick guided them upstairs, and the first thing Martyn did when they entered the meeting room was to check behind every tapestry and inspect the windows. He was still a bodyguard after all, so he was going to do his job and do it well. The Phoenix either trusted him to perform his duty, or he had not even noticed him. Martyn’s gil was on the latter option. His Grace was huddled together with Prince Dion, poring over something in his notebook. You couldn’t fit a sheet of paper between them, it was like they were attached together.

They were all so lackadaisical about this, going through the details of The Terrible Plan in a packed inn. If someone wanted to intrude on this meeting they’d have to go through Martyn first, since nobody else seemed to pay attention to security. Cid trusted his dog as the best spy alarm system a man could get. Martyn had his silent doubts about this as well, since the so-called best spy alarm in the realm was currently napping under the table with a full stomach after scarfing down the treats Gerard had gotten for him.

Martyn gave the room one last once over and sighed. There had to be something contagious about Cid’s specific brand of crazy, it was the only explanation why people just rolled with his ideas. He hoped he wouldn’t catch it. He went to stand next to Gerard who had taken up a guard post by the door, while Cid spread out a map on the table. Torgal sneezed in his sleep under said table, possibly indicating that all was well in the spy alarm land.

“Okay, here’s the plan,” Cid said, his hands resting on the map of the city streets. “We move after midnight.”

“We tracked the movements of the guards so we’ll have about half a bell to get into positions,” Lady Warrick said.

“You two,” Cid said and pointed at Martyn and Gerard. Martyn perked up and Gerard straightened to attention like a good imperial soldier. “You will stay on the lookout here, and create a distraction if it looks like an alarum has been sounded.” He tapped the main sanctum entrance on the map.

Martyn nodded and gritted his teeth. It was too late to back out now. He could have spoken but he had remained silent, and this was it. He could only hope everything went without a hitch. He felt Gerard place a hand on his shoulder, and he almost pulled away. Almost. The touch seeped some of the tension away from his frame and he breathed out slowly. When the hand retracted after a moment it left a lingering feeling of emptiness.

“Meanwhile, Prince Dion will lead us through the old tunnels to the sanctum,” Cid said and nodded to the Prince.

“The entrance is here,” said Prince Dion, extracting himself from the symbiosis with the Phoenix. He pointed at the map, several blocks away from where Martyn and Gerard’s position would be. “There is a whole network of tunnels built under the city. Once we are in, we can reach the sanctum undetected.”

“We go in, we deal with anything that might be down there guarding the core, and take it out along with the core itself.” Cid’s voice was full of determination.

Flames, it sounded so simple the way he said it. But Cid was also a dominant who had destroyed several of these crystals before. Martyn had to trust he knew what he was doing, even if the wreckage left at Drake’s Fang was telling otherwise. Would the same happen here, or would it be a clean cut like Oriflamme had been? He glanced at Gerard who was bouncing on the balls of his feet, seemingly excited about the night’s mission.

Yeah, this was going to go swimmingly.

Martyn climbed up the wall to reach the top of the tower. As far as lookout points went, a regular roof would have done, but this tower was right there, calling out to him. ‘Climb me.’ He wasn’t going to pass up on this chance. Gerard had merely grinned and winked at him like he was in on some secret when Martyn had pointed at the tower and told him that he would be up there. Guess it was too tall for even a dragoon to jump up to the top? Which meant that Martyn would have a few bells of peace and bliss with just his own company, while Gerard stayed on the street level.

Whoever had built the tower had been pretty good at their job, but not good enough to keep Martyn at bay. Or maybe the blame was on the salty sea air that had eroded the walls just enough that he was able to find purchase for his grapplers. This climb wasn’t child’s play but it was exhilarating, and he would have been fully enjoying himself if the terrible, awful, no good plan wasn’t nagging at him in the back of his mind. If the destruction at Drake’s Fang was repeated here, in the middle of a busy capital city… He just couldn’t stop worrying about it.

The tower he had picked for his lookout point seemed to serve no actual purpose. It was very decorative, almost graceful in its shape, but there was nothing of note at the top. It also seemed to be a newer design, added much later to embellish the roof. A clear sign that the owners of this mansion were in possession of too much money and not nearly enough common sense, but that seemed to be the norm in these bigger cities where the upper class folk congregated. They had probably wanted a crystal spire of their own, but had fallen short on the actual crystals. Martyn attached his escape rope and signaled down that he was ready and they could set the plan in motion. Far below he saw Prince Dion leading the others to the direction of the tunnel entrance.

Standing so close to the Mothercrystal was unnerving. Drake’s Tail filled Martyn’s entire field of view if he faced it, and maybe the original purpose of the tower had been to bring the viewer closer to it. It felt almost like you could touch the crystal if you reached out. Martyn turned his back on it and looked over the city. The view was stunning, he had to admit. The hillside leading to Drake’s Tail sloped down towards the coast and the city flowed with the terrain. The buildings got taller the closer to the crystal they were, as if to compete with it for the skies. The tower he had climbed was the tallest building on this street, the neighbors having settled for more sensible and moderate architectural goals.

Being a lookout wasn’t the most thrilling job, especially when the city below was already asleep. The docks were still lit up, night fishers going out for the catch that would be sold in the morning when the markets opened. The entertainment district wouldn’t quiet for a few more bells, going asleep around the time the fishers returned. Guess those guys never got to enjoy the parties there. Martyn glanced down, but Gerard’s guard post was hidden in the shadows. He suppressed the urge to wave down at him. 

Martyn sighed and turned his attention back to the street below. No movement in either direction. Cid had mentioned there should be a night patrolman going past every bell, but from experience Martyn knew night guards weren’t often the most diligent at keeping their schedule. The patrol had passed just before he had started his climb up the tower, and that had been at least half a bell ago. The others should be in the tunnels by now. Everything seemed calm and quiet.

Maybe this mission would go without a hitch after all, but he was certain there had to be more ways to get to the core. Covering them all would have been impossible even if they had called in more agents from the Undying. And the Phoenix still kept up the ruse that Cyril didn’t know Martyn had been exposed.

Whatever. If he and Gerard weren’t needed for some other ridiculous plan right after this, maybe they could stay in Twinside for a few days, just so Gerard could try out more local specialties. Like the seafood market. It was bound to have some freshly caught delicacies, the city was famous for the fish curry after all. They could even stop for breakfast after this nonsense. Martyn groaned and shook his head. He was actually planning to willingly spend time with Gerard now, what had his life become?

Thinking of food vendors had made him hungry. Dinner had been bells ago, so he rummaged through his tool bag for the snacks he’d stashed there.

Another bell or half passed in blessed peace while Martyn chewed on a piece of jerky. He had nothing to tell the time, but the Moon and Metia were still high up, so it hadn’t been that long. How long did it take to destroy a crystal core? Surely they should be done soon. Martyn glanced over his shoulder, but Drake’s Tail was still there, rising towards the clouds in the night sky. Would have been funny if he’d looked and suddenly it was just gone, blinked out of existence. Poof, just like that. He chuckled to himself at the thought.

Suddenly there was a ringing sound from deep below. Martyn dropped down to a crouching position, his head turning around to try to locate the source. Something was happening, but what and where? Were they at the core now? Was this an alarum? He held his breath for a moment, trying to hear the sound again. He couldn’t see anything amiss, but something felt off. It was like a vibration that got under his skin. Not nervousness, he knew that all too well. He put his hand against the roof tiles and realized they were vibrating.

The humming of the surface under his hand died down, and the silence and stillness that followed was deafening. Martyn held still, ears straining for any out of place rustle. Then the sound returned, and the whole building resonated with it, making him feel like his bones shook to the marrow.

“What the…” Martyn whispered to himself before he bolted up and toward the edge of the tower’s roof.

Was this an earthquake? Below him, the lights were turning back on in the buildings along the street. As he peered over the edge he spotted people coming out of the houses in their night dresses, looking around confusedly as another blast of the sound rang, causing his teeth to rattle. Someone shouted something Martyn couldn’t make out, and then a man carrying a child started running, down the street and toward the crossing that would lead to the harbour. That didn’t feel safe if this really was an earthquake. The other option was no better, because it meant something had gone wrong with the plan. A diversion might not cut it anymore if there was a stampede of people trying to escape the area.

The world went silent again, but the ground was shaking intermittently. There were no guards that he could see coming this way, most of the people had cleared off the street to what they probably perceived as safety. The remaining ones were heading away from the sound as well. He wondered if Gerard had left his post to investigate what was going on. If he had, Martyn had missed him in the crowd.

Another sound, followed by a more violent quake. This time he had to slam his hands over his ears. The building shook with the tremors, and then it felt like it lurched downwards. Everything shifted sideways and Martyn almost lost his footing as the tower swayed like the sound itself was making it shudder. He realized that his lookout post was tilting now, shaking as the precarious foundation it had been built on was failing. It was going to topple over at any moment. The rope he’d secured for a quick descent was useless, if he took it he would be crushed under the rubble.

He needed to get away from here and fast. He scrambled toward the safer side of the tower, his feet slipping as the tiles started coming loose.

“Oh fuck, fuckfuckFUCK! ”

Martyn went over the edge with a scream, putting all the force in his legs into leaping across the street to the next building. This was going to hurt and he might break a few bones but it was a better option than going down with the collapsing tower.

If he even made it all the way across.

He had to make it.

He didn’t want Gerard to find his broken body among the debris. He reached out with his hand, trying to extend the jump.

The distance was too far. His stomach lurched when he realized that he didn’t have enough momentum.

He fell.

Chapter Text

The hallways leading down into the sanctum under the city were both cramped and gloomy. The building housing the spiral staircase that had led them deep down below the streets didn’t look like it could have been a part of the original temple complex. Maybe it hadn’t been, and it had been built over the old tunnels as the city spread around the Mothercrystal.

Dion hadn’t spent a lot of time in Twinside since Sanbreque had invaded the Crystalline Dominion, but he had been shown the way through the tunnels. He had to know about them, if he were to defend the crystal from any invaders. And yet here he was, sneaking in with an invading force to destroy the very reason why he’d been ordered to take over the Dominion in the first place.

He found himself not really caring that he was actively betraying his duty. This might not be the right way to save the realm, but he had come to the conclusion that it was their best chance. If they succeeded, maybe the accursed prison Joshua had embedded into his own body could be dispelled before it ate him alive. Dominants rarely lived to old age, but Dion kept hoping, as foolish as it might be. Maybe they both could yet be saved, but if it came down to it he would give his life to protect Joshua’s. It would be a fate he chose on his own terms, not one he was pushed into simply by having been born as a host for Bahamut.

After Joshua had re-entered his life and convinced him to join on this crusade against the spreading Blight and the possible end of the realm, Dion Lesage had finally started to face the hard truths in his life. His father was not some infallible presence he needed to obey. His choices, his path, his entire existence had been determined for most of his life simply because he was Bahamut. It didn’t matter what Dion Lesage thought and wanted, only Bahamut mattered, and he had been burning himself out trying to achieve what was asked of him - no, of Bahamut.

He was good at fulfilling those tasks, but ultimately if you took away Bahamut… Who was Dion Lesage? An angry shell of a man who tried to fill the empty void in his life with whatever or whoever was within his reach. He did not want that to be his reality anymore, not after Joshua had walked into his tent and dragged him away (he had gone willingly). Joshua had shown him that there was more to life than just existing from day to day until Bahamut was needed. He was convinced that their fates had been intertwined from the day they had met, and the news of what had happened at The Phoenix Gate had felt like the sun itself had turned away from him.

Now the sun’s rays had found him again, and if they made it through this alive, he wanted to be something more. Someone who was at the same time equal and worthy of Joshua Rosfield. For now, surviving this mission was enough of a dream, but after it… Maybe together they could dream their own dream.

The closer to the Mothercrystal they got, the more the walls tinted to blue, as if the glow of the crystal was seeping through sheer stone. Both Joshua and Ifrit had conjured balls of flame to light their way. Shiva was holding the rear with Ifrit’s hound. They passed hallways leading to old storage rooms, and Greagor knows what else. He had not had a chance to explore past learning the routes to all exits. There were supposedly even ancient catacombs down here, if you left the main path.

“It shouldn’t be far now,” Dion whispered. The sanctum was empty at this bell, but the echo in the tunnels still felt too loud.

“Good,” Shiva called out from behind the men. “I don’t like this place.”

Joshua had his notebook out and he was examining the map he had copied, courtesy of Lady Vivian. That map had also been incomplete, and downright sketchy at parts, but Joshua never turned down what could be an advantage. He was now keeping track of their progress as they moved down the tunnels, the orb of fire dancing around his head in a lazy circle like a halo of liquid flame. For a moment Dion was mesmerized by the glow of light on his hair, the reds, oranges and yellows making him look like he was crowned with fire itself.

“Do you think we’ll need that?” Ifrit asked, looking over his shoulder at his brother. Despite Dion being their guide, he had insisted on taking point.

“We might not. But if we get separated, I would rather have the route mapped out just in case,” Joshua said.

The narrow hallway ended with a small door that opened into a wide chamber, its walls decorated with intricate golden carvings and blue crystalline inlays. The ceiling was high above their heads and Dion felt relieved he could stretch to his full height. He’d had to duck his head a few times in the corridors, and had even unstrapped his lance from his back to avoid getting stuck. The tunnels had not been built for dragoons.

There was a decorative crystalline statue guarding the center of the room. Everything glowed in the same shade of blue as the Mothercrystal, as if permeated with its aether.

“This is the place. The old sanctum entrance. The doors on the other end of this chamber lead to the former temple grounds and outside. If we go through the doors behind that statue, the hallway will take us to the bridge to the core,” Dion said and pointed across the chamber. He winced as his voice echoed in the open space.

Ifrit nodded and headed over, moving gingerly to avoid causing unnecessary noise. The creaks of leather on every step still rang in the chamber. Dion followed him, but stopped before reaching the doors. He looked up at the massive statue in the center of the room. Ifrit’s hound jogged past him and started sniffing around its base.

It was not in the image of Greagor as one might expect in Sanbreque and he felt foolish for even assuming he might encounter Greagorian iconography here. Dion wasn’t sure what god or gods they worshipped in the Dominion - maybe the crystal itself? The statue was humanoid in shape, but about thrice the size of a normal man. The face was featureless and blank and it was impossible to tell if it was supposed to depict a real person. It was holding its left hand up, palm facing outwards as if in a gesture of greeting. Its right hand held a long shard of crystal, pointed down like the blade of a sword.

Joshua had turned the page on his notebook and was furiously scribbling on a new page to commit the details of the chamber to his memory. He looked up and frowned at the statue. “This statue… I am certain I have seen it in a manuscript. But I cannot remember where and what was said about it.”

“I believe it is very old. This part was built long before the current main entrance to the sanctum. I was given a tour after…” Dion went silent for a moment before he continued. “After the Empire invaded the Crystalline Dominion.”

“You were following orders, do not be so hard on yourself.” Joshua soothed him with a smile.

He was right, Dion hadn’t made that call, and Bahamut just appearing had been enough to make the invasion a success. Thinking back to it now, it hadn’t felt right to him even then. The Empire had broken a number of treaties with the invasion. He was no politician but he understood the gravity of that.

Ifrit had reached the doors and was inspecting them. “Is there a mechanism to open these? They look quite heavy,” he asked and reached out to touch the engravings.

“Clive, stop-!” Joshua suddenly yelled.

The doors did not budge. A flash of energy radiated out from where Ifrit’s hand had touched them, sparking along the crystal inlays everywhere on the walls. 

“...It’s a trap.”

Dion spun around following the crackle of energy as it traced its way on the walls and the floor, ending up at the statue. It now glowed faintly as it shuddered and started to move. A grinding sound emanated from it, like nails on a chalkboard, and shards of crystal fell off the joints on its limbs. The hound backed away, hackles raised, growling menacingly.

“ Fuck ,” Ifrit said with heartfelt emphasis. The statue’s head turned towards him, giving off an aura of judgemental stare despite the total lack of recognizable features. Then it lunged.

“How was I supposed to know the doors were rigged?!” Ifrit yelled and dodged the statue’s swing at him. He launched into a counterattack with a grunt, but it seemed to do nothing, his sword glancing off on every blow.

“I did not know this either, the doors were open when I was shown through here!” Dion yelled back at him.

“We need to deal with this before we can continue. We can only hope this has not triggered an alarum somewhere!” Joshua exclaimed and tucked the notebook securely in his bag.

Shiva rushed past them to aid Ifrit, casting a stream of ice aimed at the crystalline golem’s feet to try and slow it down.

“Aim for the chest, these things usually break down with that!” Ifrit yelled and launched a flurry of attacks from the wind talons he’d conjured in his hands. The statue staggered a step backwards.

“Brother, how often do you fight these to know such details?” Joshua asked, sounding mildly exasperated. He pulled out his sword and cast a barrage of flaming orbs at the statue with a flick of his wrist.

“We can save the reminiscing for later,” Shiva said. A spray of ice was coating the statue’s foot and it stumbled, unable to take a step forward. “Help me keep it occupied a bit, will you? He’ll need a little time to get charged up!”

“On it,” Dion said and gazed up at the ceiling. It was high, but it might not be high enough for a properly powered jump and cracking his skull that way wasn’t how he’d planned on going out. He adjusted the grip on his spear and took a few jogging steps at the wall closest to the flailing statue. He vaulted sideways at it, using his spear to help him pivot in the air and launched himself feet first at the statue.

He had aimed for the chest as instructed, but the statue was still fixated on Ifrit and it turned so instead he hit its shoulder. The studded heels of his boots connected with a grinding sound and the statue’s arm flopped down, the aetheric flow into the limb broken. He propelled himself away with a backflip and landed in a crouch.

“Nice work,” Joshua said and smiled at him.

“You can praise me when it is actually down.” Dion grinned back at him. He could hear Shiva snort at them, but he didn’t care. It was rare that he got to fight as himself, not as Bahamut. He was going to enjoy this while it lasted - and he may have added just a teeny bit of extra flair into that backflip. For no one in particular.

“Oh, I shall.” Joshua winked at him and twirled around, launching a fireball that landed in the back of the statue’s head. It did nothing to get its attention off Ifrit, but Dion felt like he might need to give Joshua some praise in return. It was a very good shot and that spin had given him an enjoyable view.

Ifrit was dodging the statue’s swings and blocking the blows aimed at him. Dion could hear him swear under his breath. He had ordered his hound to attack the statue as well, but it didn’t even seem to notice the animal, fully focused as it was on the person who had dared to lay his hand on the door it was guarding.

“Watch out,” Dion called out and aimed his palm at the statue, reaching out to Bahamut. A stream of the dragon’s flare breath hit it, stunning it momentarily.

Ifrit yelled out triumphantly and Dion could feel his hair standing up on end, the air in the chamber suddenly charged up like a storm was coming. Thunder crackled all around them, the crystalline inlays on the walls sparking with purple glow. Lightning aether gathered around Ifrit, and then he launched a spear of levin out of nowhere into the immobilized statue’s chest. 

The statue shuddered and then fell down in a heap of rubble, the core in its chest shattered. The doors it had been guarding swung open silently and effortlessly as if they weighed nothing. Ifrit sheathed his sword like the tussle with a living statue was merely a minor obstacle and nothing of special notice. He peered through the open doors into a more spacious hallway than the ones they had taken so far. The dog poked his head between Ifrit and the doorframe and sniffed the air.

“No one’s waiting for us, it seems that we’re still undetected,” Ifrit said.

“Good,” Shiva said dryly. “Let us make haste before that changes.”

Dion glanced dubiously at the crystalline remains scattered on the floor. Joshua came to his side and patted some crystal dust off his shoulder.

“Was that the guardian of this core?” Joshua asked.

“If so, it was not much of a guardian,” Dion said. A normal person trying to intrude would have perished, but for the four of them it hadn’t been much of a match. This had been easy, too easy when you considered what their mission was. The real guardian was still out there, waiting for them. It had to be.

“Are you guys coming?” Ifrit called out, beckoning his hound to follow as he stepped through the doors.

The blue glow grew ever more intense in the spacious hallway. Crystal veins dotted the walls here, and Dion had to wonder if the Mothercrystal was spreading. That hardly made sense, the crystals weren’t living beings. Joshua was fascinated with the crystal webbing, running his fingers along with the streaks of blue on the wall as they made their way down the corridor. Their footsteps echoed on the decorative stone floors, and they were again making too much noise for Dion’s liking. No one seemed to be coming to stop them, so that was something at least. Either an alarum hadn’t sounded, or Sir Clairmont and the grumpy one from Joshua’s organization had thwarted the guards.

“This hallway goes all the way to the new temple building, and the big doors to the left lead into the sanctum.” Dion pointed at the doors with his spear when they finally came into view.

“Let’s go do this, then,” Ifrit said and strode forward. He pushed the doors open with a heave, not paying attention to Joshua who started to warn him to check for traps first.

This time, there were none.

The crystal sanctum was a vast cavern. It reminded Dion of the space inside the mountain where Drake’s Fang had been.Veins of blue crystal were extending out of the wall formed by the Mothercrystal behind the altar where the core was housed. How far was the crystal already reaching as it siphoned aether out of the surroundings? The theory of all the Mothercrystals being connected didn’t sound so weird now.

“Look at this,” Joshua whispered with awe in his voice. He stared at a streak of crystal as wide as his arm.

“It is as if… it is spreading,” Dion said. “How can it do that?”

“There is much we do not know about the Mothercrystals. Much that we will not be able to learn. But we must do this,” Joshua replied forlornly. His natural curiosity was at odds with their task, Dion realized.

“We will learn what we can, then,” he said.

“Yes, we will,” Joshua replied with determination.

A wide walkway led them down to the long bridge across a chasm that was filled with water. It was impossible to tell if the chamber was connected to the ocean, or if there was a freshwater spring here. The surface of the pool was unmoving, like a mirror that reflected and intensified the glow of the crystal. Everything was so bright and so blue that he could feel his eyes straining. The design and construction of the place was very similar to the one in Oriflamme. Had all the sanctums been built at the same time, by the same people? The biggest difference was the colour, instead of the cold white light tinting to purple everything was rippling between azure and indigo here.

The other major difference was that there was no dragon to guard the bridge leading to the inner sanctum. No statues or other guardian creatures, either. No, in the middle of it there stood a child. Dion sucked in a sharp breath. What was he doing here?

“What?” Ifrit said, stopping so abruptly that his hound almost walked into his legs, making an indignant yelp.

“Is that…?” Joshua whispered next to him.

“Meet Olivier Lesage,” Dion spat out through gritted teeth.

“How… Why is he here?” Joshua asked, his shoulder brushing against Dion’s. It felt like reassurance.

It was almost comical how a group of four adults and a dog were locked in a staring contest with a child so small he didn’t even reach their waist. Olivier was standing there nonchalantly, fidgeting occasionally like he was bored.

“I do not know,” Dion said, looking around. Something wasn’t right. That woman would never allow her child to wander off alone even in daytime, and now it was the middle of the night.

Dion wasn’t very experienced when it came to how children of any age should behave, but there had always been something off about Olivier. The way he didn’t play like you’d expect from a normal child. He had heard his nursemaids praise him for never crying like other babies when he was a newborn. It went past obedience to a parent, the way he just clung to his vile mother’s skirt. He was more like a puppet without anything resembling his own will. And then there were the peculiar moments when he acted like he was far beyond his summers. Those always sent a chill down Dion’s spine.

“You have come,” Olivier said. There was an odd echo to his voice, soft and unsettling. It made him sound older. Ancient. Timeless. He tilted his head to the side and fixed his eyes on Ifrit. “But you are not ready, not yet.”

“What are you?” Ifrit asked, his voice almost a whisper.

“Should that not be obvious?” Olivier asked, his eyes now glowing blue. Not of the blue of a conscious prime. The shade was wrong. And Dion knew that the child was no dominant. If he were, that woman would never have stopped gloating.

Joshua gripped Dion’s shoulder to steady the both of them, and let out an audible gasp. “Ultima,” he hissed.

“You should hurry and make yourself ready,” Olivier said, still looking straight at Ifrit. “The guardian of this place is coming, it can aid you with that. Surely it is no match to you?”

The bridge shuddered and Olivier-not-Olivier laughed, at the same time sounding like a child and something ageless and indifferent. He turned around and skipped towards the crystal’s core in a playful gait, out of the way of whatever was coming from below.

The pool below the bridge that had been serene mere moments ago now rippled violently. Something was emerging from the depths, and it broke the surface in a spray of water droplets and shards of crystal. It was a giant, amorphous, glowing mass of gelatinous material, rising above their heads. Limbs resembling arms extended from its main body, and a gap opened where its head might have been.

For a moment there was silence. Then the abomination screamed, and the soundwave emitting from it felt like a physical strike. Dion had to steady himself with his spear, fighting to stay upright. Joshua clung to his side, ducking his head down to shield himself. The whole chamber resonated like a gong, leaving his ears ringing when the sound died down.

“Fuck,” Ifrit said, eloquent as ever. He wiped water off his face, looking offended.

“I guess this is the big brother to that statue,” Shiva said, staring at the creature towering over them.

“I didn’t come down here for a family reunion,” Ifrit said.

“Oh, you wound me, brother ,” Olivier’s voice chimed, this time with more childishness than before. He almost sounded his age.

Ifrit squared his shoulders and started running toward the abomination together with his hound. Dion stared after him for a moment, then glanced at Joshua. They nodded in unison and followed him.

There wasn’t even a trace of fear in the way Ifrit threw himself to fight the creature that was now trying to swipe them off the bridge. Shiva shot forward, a sparkle of ice crystals forming after her as she sprang into the air and primed. She floated gracefully, rising above the abomination and snapped her fingers. Temperature dropped around them and Dion’s breath fogged as frost coated the creature, but it didn’t take hold for long enough to slow it down. It raised both its limbs above its formless head, aiming at the eikon bothering it.

“Out of the way!” Shiva yelled and dove down, away from the strike.

The abomination screamed again and smashed its arms down on the bridge. The strike was far too slow to hit its target, but the construction gave way under the onslaught and almost half of the bridge fell into the pool, cutting them off from the core.

“Founder,” Joshua muttered under his breath, backing away from the edge where the bridge now tilted slightly down. That strike had been a little too close call.

“I did think the statue was too easy,” Dion said. He shot Joshua a quick grin.

“That it was,” Joshua scoffed and then covered his ears, dropping down to his knees when the creature let out another burst of sound waves.

“I can feel this in my bones,” Dion gasped. He had to shake his head to try and stop the ringing in his ears.

“If an alarum had not sounded before this, I am fairly certain everyone in Twinside knows something is happening here now,” Joshua said.

“Then we had better hurry,” Dion said. He drew from Bahamut’s power and summoned two satellites, guiding them to fire at the abomination and draw its attention off Ifrit. Then he jumped.

Nothing they threw at the fiendish creature seemed to make much difference. Ice slowed it down only momentarily. Fire didn’t faze it. Dion’s spear had deflected off it with almost a bounce, and he’d had to flip to safety. Thunder had made it even angrier and it had nearly swatted Ifrit across the cavern. Only Shiva’s fast reflexes had saved him from falling into the pool below.

“I think the Mothercrystal is feeding aether into this creature,” Joshua said, dodging a crystal that fell off the ceiling when the abomination tried to strike Ifrit again. “The statue had its own aether charge, but this one could go on forever.”

“How do we stop it?” Dion asked. There was so much charged aether in the air that he could almost taste it.

“Clive, we need to destroy the core and cut off its aether before it destroys the whole city!” Joshua shouted. He shot forward in a burst of fire, semi-priming as he got out of the way of the flailing limb of the barely sentient abomination. A soft glow enveloped him and then spread outwards from him in a wave. When the light touched Dion, he could feel himself revitalized.

“Kind of busy here!” Ifrit responded. Shiva had dropped him on top of the abomination and he was now hacking at what passed for its head in the hopes of silencing it. The hound was barking at the creature from the bridge, clearly upset he couldn’t reach his master.

Ifrit had to abandon his valiant attempt to avoid getting crushed, as the thing was now trying to stand up. It was taller than the chamber and it struck the stone ceiling, loosening crystalline stalactites and sending them falling down. Cracks started appearing, and Dion realized the cavernous space might cave in at any moment.

“There are buildings above us!” he yelled. “They’re all going to crash down on us if the ceiling breaks!”

“Prince Dion!” Ifrit called out. He appeared to be on the brink of semi-priming as well, his eyes glowing. “Can you get past this thing and to the core?”

“Consider it done,” Dion said. He looked over the gap in the bridge and gripped his spear tighter.

The broken bridge would not be enough to stop him. Dion reached out to Bahamut and felt the wings burst from his back as aether coalesced around him. Horns sprouted from his temples, the aether forming like a crown to surround his head. He could see the flow of energy surrounding them as the third eye of Bahamut formed. It was always a bit disorienting at first in this form, while being fully Bahamut it was a natural extension of his field of view. It might be that he didn’t do this often enough to get used to it. But more importantly, Joshua had been right. He could see it now, the abomination was feeding off the Mothercrystal, which meant it had a nearly limitless source of aether.

There was no time to waste. Dion ran toward the broken edge, brandishing his spear as the focus for channeling Bahamut’s power. A leap. A wingbeat. He glided over the gap, closing the distance that would have been too much for even the best of dragoons. 

Olivier was fixated on watching the abomination as its limb hit the wall on the opposite side of the chamber, the rocks crumbling under the onslaught. It let out another ear-shattering noise that nearly made Dion stumble when his feet met with the bridge’s surface on the other side of the gap. He steadied himself with Bahamut’s tail and took aim.

He did not hesitate. Later on, Dion would think back to that moment of clear decision, and he could not find a fault in the choice he made. The spear left his hand, aided by a burst of light. It flew in a clear line and struck Olivier in the center of his chest, going through his back and piercing the core of the Mothercrystal. A phantom scream emanated from all around them, and Olivier looked down at the weapon now pinning him to the remains of the core. His expression was one of surprise, not pain.

Dion panted heavily, the aether still coursing through him. He didn’t avert his eyes when Olivier looked up at him, his eyes now going dull as the glow in them faded and his skin started to turn black, blue veins rising to the surface. A moment later the core exploded in a burst of shimmering dust and Olivier collapsed into a heap of ashen substance on the floor. The spear clattered down the stairs and stopped just short of falling off the edge of the bridge. Something shimmered into view where Olivier had stood. Something that didn’t look part of this realm.

“Greagor…” Dion gasped. For a moment the silhouette had looked like the Goddess herself had appeared in front of him, but this creature was no God of his.

“That is Ultima!” Joshua called out.

Ifrit yelled something unintelligible (but from the tone Dion could tell it wasn’t a word suitable for finer company) and when he turned around he saw the abomination was sagging down, back into the depths of the pool. Ifrit was scrambling to reach the remains of the bridge before he went down with it.

The whole chamber shook as Drake’s Tail started to slowly crumble. Rocks and fragments of crystals were falling down from the ceiling. Dion dodged his way to retrieve his weapon before a falling piece of debris would knock it out of his reach.

“It’s going to collapse, we need to get out!” Shiva yelled and waved at them. A piece of the cavern’s ceiling fell, splashing the water high as the debris hit the pool.

“Where is that bastard going?” Ifrit yelled as he glanced over his shoulder at where the core had been and where the apparition now started to lift into the air. It was floating through the disintegrating crystal toward the sky.

“We will go after him, brother. We have wings, you do not,” Joshua shouted and turned to Dion, nodding to him. His eyes glowed blue against the oranges and reds dancing on his hair and across his skin. Joshua was always beautiful, but at that moment, he was a sight. One that Dion wished he could drink in. Another part of the cavern crumbled, raining dust and small rocks on them. They were running out of time.

“You need to carry me out of here!” Dion called out to Joshua across the gap. “These wings are not for flight, and there is not enough space for me to prime in here, not with the ceiling coming down!”

Joshua’s eyes widened for a second before he nodded. “Grab on to my claws,” he yelled before he jumped off the bridge. The plume of flames engulfed his form completely, shooting up in a spout of fire before becoming that of the Phoenix. He swooped over the gap, and Dion took a running jump, the wings and tail of his semi-primed form pushing him upwards until his hand curled around the Phoenix’s claws.

“You have me, go!” he shouted, and then they were flying.

A powerful wingbeat lifted them both through a hole in the ceiling where an entire building had fallen into the cavernous chamber. The cloud of crystal dust surrounded them as they rose in the air above Twinside. Dion instinctively shielded his eyes from the glittering shards. He glanced down and saw another house slide into the pit now opening beneath them.

“Now!”

Dion let go and reached out to Bahamut, the eikon roaring into life. The Phoenix dodged out of the way and then hurtled after Bahamut as the dragon’s wings lifted him toward the Moon and Metia.

“It is heading off fast, give chase!” The Phoenix turned in the air and shot after their prey.

“Try to keep up, Firebird,” Dion grinned and followed suit.

They raced off together after their target, leaving behind the crumbling Mothercrystal and collapsing streets.

Chapter Text

‘This wasn’t how I had planned on dying.’

Not that Martyn had ever thought about that, not until now that he found himself rapidly approaching the ground. He’d been too preoccupied with his duty to think about what waited for him in the afterlife. Was there even an afterlife? Did they just dissipate into the lifestream to be born again?

It felt like time slowed down as he plummeted down towards the cobbled street below. In the corner of his eye he saw the massive shape of Drake’s Tail starting to disintegrate, azure crystalline dust sparkling in the moonlight like the sky had suddenly burst alight with thousands of new stars.

He twisted in the air so he could see the sky better, rather than the approaching ground. He didn’t want to know when the collision would inevitably happen.

‘At least they succeeded.’

Ah, but that success was why he was about to die. He felt oddly okay with it, now that it was unavoidable. If the city was collapsing, he hoped everyone had gotten out. He hoped Gerard didn’t get crushed under the buildings. If he did survive, Martyn wished he’d get to open that restaurant, if he ever decided what to put on the menu. Too bad Martyn wouldn’t be able to sample the dishes himself. He had an impending date with the ground, and as far as first dates went, this one would also be the last. Maybe he’d visit the restaurant in the next life, if there was one waiting for him.

Unless he was reborn as a sabotender. Or some other creature with a name starting with the letter S. That would be fitting.

‘I wonder if this is going to hurt?’

Maybe he should have spared some more thought on his spirituality past dutifully serving the Phoenix. He hadn’t gotten a chance to ask the man if he had any thoughts on the afterlife, or the possibility of a next life for that matter. It hadn’t seemed important at the time. Now it was a bit too late for that, or for lamenting what he had and had not accomplished in this life. No big dreams, no aspirations, just a sudden stop at the end. Maybe he would have wanted to do something else than act as a shadow for a man who hadn’t turned out to be quite as divine as he’d been brought up to believe.

One thing he was pretty certain of was that he would have made a terrible helper in Gerard’s restaurant. And here he was spending his last moments thinking of that pain in his rear. This was his life now. Soon to become a had been. 

Martyn couldn’t help the smile rising to his lips. He hadn’t been able to escape Gerard from the moment they had met. Not even now when he was about to die. He grinned at the starry sky.

Oh. 

‘Stars.’

That was an S word too. But there were no more games for him. He was going to die thinking of Gerard and stupid word games of all things. Twenty-seven summers summed up in the past moon.

He closed his eyes.

Time sped up again when - instead of a sickening crunch as his back met the pavement - he heard someone yell his name. The next thing he knew his side collided with something. It wasn't the street. An arm wrapped around him as wind was knocked out of his lungs, the trajectory of the fall changing.

Another twist in the air, a hand cradling the back of his head, and he landed on something soft and firm that let out a pained groan as they slid on the smooth cobblestones.

“By Greagor’s teats, you gave me a scare,” Gerard’s voice said near his ear. He sounded out of breath.

“Isn’t that… kinda blasphemous to say?” Martyn gasped, trying to draw more air into his lungs. Gerard was squeezing him tightly against his chest and for a moment he went limp with relief. Somehow, he was alive .

“No time to worry about that. We need to move, the place is collapsing. It’s not safe here,” Gerard said.

He patted Martyn’s back, like he was reluctant to let him go. Hells, Martyn was reluctant to be let go, but Gerard was right. They had to get away from here. Then he was pushed off Gerard as he rolled on his side with a wince. Martyn still hadn’t moved when Gerard scrambled to his feet and grabbed his hand to hoist him up.

“Can you run?” Gerard asked.

Martyn did a quick check on himself. He felt shaky, but nothing seemed broken. He probably had a few scrapes and bruises, but he was otherwise fine. For a certain definition of ‘fine’. Mostly being ‘fine’ right now equaled ‘thank the Flames I’m alive’.

“I’m fine,” he managed to say, his legs wobbling as he gripped Gerard’s arm to stay upright. Then his eyes locked on the cloud of crystal dust still falling down where Drake’s Tail had stood. “Look! Look!”

A bright orange light shone from below, reflected on the shards suspended in the air. It intensified and then a plume of fire burst up through the dust, followed by a screeching cry. It was the Phoenix, and he was taking flight. He shot up to the sky like a streak of flame, making the crystal fragments dance in his wake. His glowing plumage reflected off each glittering shard of crystal, turning the night into a lightshow of cascading azure and red. The crystalline dust billowed out in waves as his wings lifted him higher and higher. While the Phoenix was gaining altitude and rising towards the clouds scattered on the night sky, Martyn saw something fall from his claws.

“What is that?” he gasped, just when the Phoenix dodged to the side. A moment later, the aether coalesced around the falling figure and Bahamut came into existence, its form taking shape in a burst of light. The dragon spread his wings, dwarfing the Phoenix that was already heading off eastward. Together the two eikons shot away as if chasing something.

“Flames,” Martyn breathed out. “I didn’t think I’d get to see the Phoenix.”

“That was amazing,” Gerard said, staring in awe, his mouth hanging open.

There was another rumble from below as the street under them shook. A building further up the street, toward the where the Mothercrystal had stood, started to sink as if it was being swallowed by the ground.

“Come on, we need to go now ,” Gerard urged, taking Martyn by the hand and picking up the lance he had dropped with the other. Martyn let him lead as they broke into a run. He forced his legs to move to stay with Gerard, and to stay alive. Alive. He was still alive.

“How did you…?” Martyn yelled at Gerard over the crashing sound of falling rocks and bricks behind them.

“I jumped,” Gerard replied, glancing over his shoulder to shoot a grin at Martyn.

“You jumped. Of course you did.” Martyn felt like laughing. He swallowed it down before it could burst out. Better save that for later. He could indulge in hysterics when they were out of the immediate danger, he was barely holding it together at the moment as it were. But still, dragoons! He couldn’t even curse them anymore, not after this.

Behind them an entire row of houses was crumpling, the support of the Mothercrystal gone. There would be casualties once the rubble had settled, but Martyn didn’t want to be one of them. He drew more air into his lungs (alive, alive, alive ) and ran, letting Gerard lead him away from the destruction.

This had not been part of the plan, but he’d think about that later.

The ground finally stopped shaking when they had made it a good way through the city to the docks. More and more people were pouring onto the streets, awoken by the tremors and noise. Then the cries of shock and terror started when they saw that where Drake’s Tail had stood was now just a cloud of crystalline dust.

Martyn’s lungs burned and his feet barely carried him. He was nearing his limit.

“Wait,” he gasped out, tugging at Gerard’s hand and pulling him toward the alley they were passing. “I think we’re safe. I need a moment.”

Gerard skidded to a halt, turned around and slumped against the nearby wall, sliding down to a sitting position. Martyn collapsed on his knees next to him. He wiped sweat off his face and willed his body not to shake like a leaf. The night wasn’t cold, but he felt freezing. He couldn’t afford to go into a shock now, Flames damn it!

“What in Greagor’s name happened there?” Gerard asked, turning his head and craning his neck to see the remains of the Mothercrystal in the sky. He took a deep breath and hissed in pain.

“Beyond them destroying the crystal? I’m not sure,” Martyn said, looking over his shoulder at the cloud of dust from the rubble and the cascading shards of crystal that still rained down like a shower of diamonds and sapphires. How tall had the Mothercrystal really been, that it should last this long? Was his sense of time off? Then his focus swivelled back to Gerard. “Wait, are you hurt?”

“Might have broken a rib or two stopping your fall. You really are heavier than you look,” Gerard said. He grinned lopsidedly at Martyn and clutched his side.

“What, why didn’t you say anything?” Martyn said and patted Gerard’s hand away to inspect the damage. “And did you just call me fat?”

“You’re not fat, just, uh, compact,” Gerard said. Despite everything they’d just been through, he still had it in him to sound cheerful.

“If you say so,” Martyn said, narrowing his eyes. He wasn’t quite sure if that was an insult or not, but he decided to let it slide. Thanks to Gerard he had survived what had seemed like a certain death.

“This isn’t a big deal, it’s not the first time,” Gerard said and shook his head. “It’ll heal. And we needed to get out of there. Ow.”

“What do you mean it’s not the first time?” Martyn’s eyebrows shot up as he looked up from his task of patting at Gerard’s ribs.

“Training with lances and learning the jumps? That’s pretty rough at first. And they don’t even give us the weapons with real crystal foci until we’ve mastered the basics. Would be a waste if you impaled yourself on the first try.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, I’ve broken more than one bone before I got it right. Didn’t have any really badly botched landings. There are always some who can’t get a hang of it and they… Well, they don’t always leave the army on their own two feet.” This time, Gerard’s smile was sad.

Martyn could only nod. The thought of Gerard injuring himself so bad he wouldn’t be able to walk put a chill in his bones. In comparison, the Undying seemed tame. Sure, Martyn had had to learn a lot of survival skills, but mostly the training had played to his strengths. If he hadn’t possessed an aptitude for climbing and acrobatics, he wouldn’t have been forced to learn those skills. Hells, he could have become a scholar if he had wanted to.

“We should go see the damage,” Gerard said. The cheerfulness had faded away and his face furrowed into a frown. “They might be looking for us.”

“If they didn’t fall into a bottomless pit…” Martyn said under his breath. The Phoenix and the Prince had gotten out, that much was clear. Cid, Lady Warrick and Torgal might not have been so lucky.

“I think they’re fine,” Gerard said, his voice full of conviction, and at that moment Martyn could believe him.

“Okay, but let’s be careful,” Martyn said reluctantly. “We don’t know how far that collapse spread. It might not be safe yet even though the quakes stopped.”

Gerard pushed himself up to a standing position, and held out his hand to Martyn. He didn’t protest the help.

It took all the mental and physical fortitude Martyn could muster up to get back on his feet, even with Gerard pulling him up. He gritted his teeth, because they had to press on. He wasn’t even injured, he had no excuse. Next to him, Gerard drew in a breath through his nose and held on to his side.

“Maybe His Grace can take a look at that when he returns?” Martyn said.

“It can wait,” Gerard said, shaking his head. “Let’s go check out the situation.”

They hobbled up the street together, bumping into each other on every other step. Martyn’s legs still shook but he tried to ignore it. A few other people were daring enough to return, or maybe they had never run like the rest. They were shuffling along the streets, their eyes fixed onto the remains of Drake’s Tail still in the sky. An old woman had stopped in the middle of the street, tears streaming down her cheeks. Twinside would never be the same.

Martyn exhaled a grateful sigh when he felt Gerard’s arm on his shoulders, and slid his own arm around his waist. It was the least he could do, offer some support after the man had broken his ribs for him.

After all, he was still alive.

Meanwhile…

The Isles of Ark had vanished under the horizon and the Phoenix and Bahamut were now flying over the open ocean, following the creature that darted ahead of them in bursts as if it was blinking from place to place. Dion had started thinking it was just toying with them, easily keeping out of reach no matter how fast they tried to fly, and slowing down when they did. He had tried to shoot Bahamut’s flares at it, but the target was too slippery, dodging away effortlessly like it could read his mind. It was aggravating.

“Dion, I think we need to turn back. I am afraid we are being led on. It is heading to Ash.” Joshua said. There was an odd echo to his voice when he spoke in his eikon form.

“So it would seem. This thing is definitely playing with us,” Dion said, his voice tinged with annoyance. The apparition ahead of them darted in a zigzag pattern, still keeping well out of their reach. It felt like an insult.

“I agree. Ultima can appear and reappear at will where he wants, this is nothing but a ruse,” Joshua said. He rarely allowed his own annoyance to display, but Dion could hear it now.

“Do you think it is another trap?” Dion asked. “I can take on Odin if he is waiting there.”

“Odin’s Nemesis, that you are,” Joshua said with admiration in his voice. It made Dion want to preen, if only a little. “It could very well be a trap. The flight to Ash takes too long, and we will be exhausted by the time we reach their shores.”

Dion sighed. Joshua was right. Maintaining a full prime for so many bells would tax their bodies to the limit. And truth be told, even though he could take on Odin, it was always very risky. He didn’t enjoy those bouts as much as it may have seemed to the onlookers. A single mistake would cost dearly, and right now, he didn’t want to make any mistakes.

“Moreover, we do not know what the state of the Kingdom of Waloed is. It would be foolish to rush there blindly. For all we know, King Barnabas might be waiting for us with a full army,” Joshua said.

“The two of us would be a match for Odin, but I must agree that it is too dangerous to continue,” Dion said. Getting captured all the way in Waloed would tip the balance to Ultima’s advantage.

“Ultima has to know Clive will be coming there eventually. They have the very last Mothercrystal,” Joshua said.

“An invitation, then?” Dion said, slowing Bahamut’s wingbeats into an easy glide.

“It seems they do not want my brother to tarry. Let us return and relay the message.”

The Phoenix made a quick spin in the air, turning to face the way they had come from. Bahamut took a slower turn, circling around once to see the apparition now stopped to hover at a distance from them, observing their retreat in silence.

When he looked behind them again, the creature was gone.

Dion let out an audible gasp when the silhouette of Twinside came back into view. It looked naked without the Mothercrystal. The cloud of crystal dust had dissipated, leaving no trace of Drake’s Tail behind, save for the gaping maw of the crater. It reminded him of Oriflamme and how it had looked after the crystal there had been destroyed. Worry began to gnaw at him when they got closer and he saw the collapsed streets surrounding the crater.

“What have we done?” he said, pain in his voice. He had expected some devastation but this was much worse than he could have imagined.

“Maybe we can help the people,” Joshua said after a moment of silence. “The situation may not be as bad as it looks from up here.”

It did look bad. The area around the sanctum’s temple complex had taken the hardest hit, it along with the temple buildings had completely fallen into the sinkhole created by the cavern when it collapsed. The streets around the temple had either been demolished by the quakes or sunken into the pit. Dion focused on Bahamut’s aethersight but he couldn’t detect many people amidst the rubble. The ones that he found were moving on their own, away from the ruins and into safety.

“There are survivors!” Dion exclaimed as relief flooded him.

“Maybe all that clamoring gave the people a warning, that is good,” Joshua said.

“We need to get down to the ground before the sun rises, or the people will see us,” Dion said. The horizon was starting to show the first glow of dawn already. He wasn’t sure if seeing Bahamut in the sky would be a good thing under the circumstances. The last time he’d been witnessed in the skies of Twinside hadn’t been a good occasion for the locals.

“They will see me regardless, I am not exactly subtle in this form,” Joshua chuckled, a bit of pride in his voice as he did a little spin in the air. Dion had noticed he liked to do rolls and spins, and he found it endearing. “Maybe they have already spotted me.” 

“Fly directly above me, Bahamut will shield you. And then we can drop out of prime together,” Dion suggested. Bahamut was much bigger than the Phoenix, even if most of the eikon was wings and tail. Still, he could be Joshua’s shield against the onlookers.

“Are you offering me a ride?” Joshua said, flirtiness in his voice.

“If a ride is what you are after, we can discuss it later in a more secluded location,” Dion said.

The Phoenix trilled along with Joshua’s laughter as he did a loop in the air above Bahamut before gliding into position over his back.

Synchronized flight had come easily, like they had fallen into a pattern that they didn’t even know they possessed. Despite the subtle awareness of where the other eikon was at all times when they flew together, lining up for dropping prime at the same time turned out to be much more challenging. They circled together over the devastated area, looking for a spot where landing would be relatively safe.

“Over there, the entrance to that street is blocked with rubble. There are no people nearby,” Joshua said, spotting the empty stretch of road ahead of them.

“I have to pull my wings in tighter for this, so be ready,” Dion warned him. “I will catch you.”

“I trust you,” Joshua said.

Dion’s heart tightened in his chest at the words. He had come to realize just how much faith Joshua had in him. He didn’t fully understand where it all stemmed from, but it made him strive to be worthy of that unwavering trust. He tucked his wings closer to his flanks as they descended. He could feel the Phoenix’s fire on Bahamut’s scales, flying so close to him that the smallest wrong move would make them crash together.

“Now!”

Joshua let go of the Phoenix first, dropping onto Bahamut’s back for a split second before the dragon vanished from under him, and then they fell together into the street, stumbling as they landed on their feet. Dion wrapped his arms around Joshua and took the brunt of the fall.

“That was excessive,” Joshua groaned, sprawled on top of Dion amidst the rubble where they had both rolled. A violent, wet cough ripped through his body, and he turned his head away to avoid getting blood on Dion.

“Let us not do this again right away,” Dion said. He rubbed his hand up and down Joshua’s back, soothing him. Priming, and holding it for so long, not to mention flying that far was strenuous. He could feel the ache spreading in his bandaged hand already, but he ignored it. It was merely a mild inconvenience he’d grown accustomed to over the years.

“Agreed,” Joshua said. He lifted his head and looked Dion in the eyes. His face was pale in the dim morning light and his mouth was smeared with blood. He was breathtaking. “I would kiss you but…”

“I do not care,” Dion said and craned his neck to press their lips together. Before he could finish that, he heard a bark.

“ Woof! ” Torgal bounded toward them, leaping over rubble. He was covered in crystal dust and regular dust. His tail wagged as he reached them and ran a circle around them.

“Hold that thought,” Joshua said, smiling. Dion let his head drop back down, but he too smiled with relief.

“Joshua!” Shiva’s voice rang and then Dion spotted her, running towards them after Torgal. Her clothes were a mess, but she appeared to be otherwise unharmed. She helped them back to their feet, taking a moment to brush some dust off Joshua’s scarves and to fuss about his condition like a big sister.

“Jill! Full glad am I to see you well. And my brother?” Joshua asked her while she made tutting noises at the blood on his face.

“Clive is fine. He went to the harbour to make sure our ship is ready for us,” Shiva said. Joshua’s shoulders relaxed at the news.

“What about our lookouts?” Dion asked. He no longer had the benefit of the aethersight and he couldn’t spot anyone else nearby.

“They got away in time, but Sir Clairmont was injured. They’re waiting over there,” Shiva said and pointed over to a half-standing building further down the street. “Master Barker seemed quite rattled by what happened out here so I left him to take care of Sir Clairmont. I think he needed a distraction,” 

“Come, Dion. Let us see if we can help,” Joshua said and tugged at Dion’s hand.

If Sir Clairmont was injured, he didn’t show it. He was trying to get up from where he was sitting while the clearly twitchy Barker was forcibly pushing him back down. Sir Clairmont waved at them when he noticed them approaching, his grimy face lighting up with a smile.

“Look, Martyn, everyone’s all right!” he exclaimed.

“Yes yes, will you please just stay put so you don’t puncture your lung?” Barker sighed, his hand firmly on Clairmont’s shoulder. “Your Grace, I’m relieved to see you well,” he continued as he turned to greet Joshua.

“What happened to you?” Joshua asked and knelt in front of Sir Clairmont. He beckoned Dion to follow.

“It was my fault,” said Barker. His hair had come loose from his usual hair tie and hung messily over his eyes.

“It wasn’t your fault and it’s really fine, just a broken rib. It will heal,” Sir Clairmont said dismissively.

“It will heal faster this way,” Joshua said and felt around Sir Clairmont’s side. “It doesn’t feel like the bones are misaligned, probably just a crack.”

“Thank the Flames for some good news finally,” Barker said, his posture relaxing slightly.

“I want to show you something,” Joshua said and reached for Dion’s hand. “I know you can do this, too.”

“What do you mean?” Dion asked. Joshua’s hand in his was warm. What could he possibly do in this situation, except go look for any survivors amidst the fallen buildings and drag them to safety?

“Bahamut’s light can be used in many ways, you have only been shown one of destruction,” Joshua said and guided Dion’s palm over the injured area.

“I do not…” Dion started, but then he could feel the Phoenix’s aether mingling with his own, with Bahamut’s. It pulsed like a heartbeat, the rhythm of life itself.

“You do. You just need to feel the aether and guide it,” Joshua said. He looked at Dion and smiled reassuringly.

“Your Highness?” Clairmont asked, looking at Dion with uncertainty.

“I can feel it,” Dion said with awe. Bahamut was responding to the Phoenix, the aether now flowing in a way he had not felt since he was a child and experimenting with what he could do with his gift. The Phoenix’s rejuvenating flame receded, leaving only Bahamut’s gentle light behind.

“It’s not hurting as much anymore,” Clairmont said with wonder.

Dion looked at Joshua who was smiling at him with a soft expression, and nodded his head. He felt a sudden rush of relief. This was another step toward a new beginning. He didn’t have to be a force of destruction for the empire, he could learn to be a force of regrowth. This way, he could help people.

“Can you tell us what happened here?” Shiva asked.

Clairmont and Barker glanced at each other. “We could ask you the same about what went down underground,” Barker said flatly. His demeanor was of a person who had seen enough for one night.

“It seems we have tales to tell,” Joshua said, looking around at the grimy assembly.

At the light of the dawn…

Martyn and Gerard sat together on a piece of collapsed wall, near the edge of the new crater where the Mothercrystal had stood. The sun was rising over the horizon, and the scenery looked odd without the looming shape of Drake’s Tail casting a shade over everything as the day broke.

Gerard was covered in dust and dirt, his hair sticking up in odd angles. There was a scrape on his cheek. Martyn saw he was faring no better when he looked down at his clothes. He made an attempt to dust off the leg of his pants but rested his hand back on his thigh when he saw how badly it was trembling.

Off to the left of them, Prince Dion lay sprawled on his back, like one of those weird star-shaped fish Martyn had seen being fished off the Dhalmekian coast. He had his head on the Phoenix’s lap who in turn was dabbing off blood from the Prince’s forehead. There was a trickle of blood on the Phoenix’s lips, and Prince Dion reached up to wipe it off with his thumb.

Martyn turned his head shakily at a noise he heard from behind, and saw a woman in an imperial court official’s garb sidling through the debris with a notebook in hand. She noticed them and waved her hand, clearly happy to find survivors.

“My goodness, are you gentlemen all right?” she asked as she approached. The Phoenix quickly pulled off one of his scarves and shielded Prince Dion’s face in an attempt to hide his identity. To be honest they were all so dirty that wouldn’t be an issue. The Prince’s white clothes had turned into a muddied gray during the night.

“We’re fine, ma’am,” Gerard said. “Be careful where you step.”

The woman stumbled, almost tripping over her skirt, and stopped at a respectable distance from the edge of the pit. She scribbled something in her notes and then stared at the empty space that had housed Drake’s Tail mere bells ago.

“Dreadful, all this. I’m glad that there aren’t as many casualties as one would have expected. Those earthquakes before it happened gave the people enough time to evacuate. But the palace is in complete disarray,” she said, clicking her tongue.

“What’s happening there?” Prince Dion asked, his voice muffled under the scarf.

“Oh, nobody knows for sure, you know. It’s just gossip,” the woman said conspiratorially. Martyn could tell that she was clearly into the gossip part. “I was told that Empress Anabella had a real fit, she did. Her Ladyship can’t find Prince Olivier and she’s been screaming after him for bells now. If you ask me, the poor little tot probably woke up to the noise and went into hiding, he’ll pop up again once he gets hungry.”

“Children, right?” Martyn managed to say. The Phoenix had recounted to them the tale of what had happened in the sanctum, and Prince Olivier’s game of hide and seek was already over. Seeing the traitoress Anabella lose her mind, though… That was something any member of the Undying would be interested in. If only she would lose her whole head.

The woman nodded, clearly not sorry for any hardship the Empress was experiencing. Then she sniffed and sneezed. “I hope this crystal dust isn’t dangerous, I have been breathing it all morning. Oh and if you need medical attention, the chirurgeons have set up tents along the Palace Garden Road.”

“Thank you,” the Phoenix said and gave the woman a clipped smile. Martyn was reminded that, despite everything, he was still the son of the traitoress.

“Well, I must continue. Damage to survey, you know how it is.” She gave them a wave, gathered her robes and climbed over a chunk of brick wall before making her way safely back to the intact part of the street.

Martyn stared after her, swaying gently. The exhaustion was weighing on him, and the adrenaline crash from the events of the night was hitting him now in full force. He didn’t dare close his eyes, he felt like he’d be back falling from the tower if he did.

“Hey, we lived,” Gerard said and nudged Martyn’s side.

“Thanks to you,” Martyn said and slumped against Gerard. He was tired and at the same time, wired. He needed something or someone to ground him. Gerard seemed willing as he wrapped an arm around Martyn’s shoulders.

“It was nothing,” he said to Martyn.

“It was a lot,” Martyn said, more to himself than Gerard.

“Oh, if we can get you a lance, I could teach you to jump and land like a dragoon,” Gerard suddenly said, sounding almost giddy.

“Please. Your lance is taller than I am, there’s no way I can handle something like that,” Martyn snorted and elbowed his side. Gently. Not in the injured ribs, even if they were already healed.

“Guess I’ll have to be there to catch you then. Don’t make a habit out of falling from high places, though.”

Martyn felt a giggle bubbling up. Gerard was ludicrous, he couldn’t fathom why he was putting up with him.

“Hey, we need to play I spy at night sometime,” Martyn suddenly said.

“Yeah? Okay,” Gerard said.

The arm around his shoulders squeezed tighter and Martyn let his head drop on Gerard’s shoulder. This plan could have gone a lot worse, actually. All things considered.

Chapter Text

Martyn startled awake, gasping for breath. The small inn room was dark, only moonlight filtering through the gaps in the frayed curtain. He sat up, wiping sweat off his face and willing his racing heart to calm. He looked around, relieved to see he hadn’t woken up Gerard.

This room actually had two beds, and since it wasn’t the size of a broom closet, they were proper beds. Such luxury. And on Cid’s gil, even.

He took a moment to get his bearings. They were in Kanver. This was the second night since Drake’s Tail. He was alive. Last night he’d been so tired he’d slept like the dead (hah!), but tonight… Well, tonight the nightmares had gotten to him.

Falling. Endlessly falling into the pit they had left behind in Twinside. Endlessly falling from a crumbling tower. Endlessly waiting for the fall to be cut with endless darkness. He didn’t want to think of how close he’d brushed death, but it kept replaying in his head over and over again whenever he closed his eyes.

The room felt too small, too tight, too oppressing. He needed to get some air. His legs felt like jelly when he stood up and took an unsteady step. He grabbed his cloak and wrapped it around his shoulders, and quietly slipped out, closing the door as silently as he could. Gerard seemed like a heavy sleeper so he probably wouldn’t even notice Martyn was gone.

There was no one else in the corridor at this late bell at night. He could go downstairs and sit outside in front of the inn. It felt like the more sensible option all things considered, but lately it seemed he had thrown all sense to the wind. He headed upstairs and to the roof terrace.

“Can’t sleep?”

Martyn was startled from his thoughts by the voice behind him. He hadn’t heard Gerard coming up the steps, he’d been too lost in his own head. Stupid, stupid, stupid , he should be more aware.

“Did you want something?” Martyn asked, not caring if he sounded tired. He wasn’t in the mood for dealing with Gerard right now. He hugged his knees tighter, wishing he had wrapped himself in the cloak instead of spreading it on the roof to sit on. Another protective layer wouldn’t have hurt.

“Are you all right?” The question was earnest, delivered in a soft voice.

Martyn shrugged. He was alive so that was good at least. Gerard sat next to him, almost close enough that their shoulders brushed, but not quite. Close enough that Martyn could feel the warmth radiating from him. He braced for the barrage of chatter that Gerard usually came with, but he was quiet, just looking at the stars.

They sat there in silence for a long moment. It felt nice. Like Gerard was giving him space, all the while being there for him. It was working, but Martyn couldn’t even make himself be annoyed by it. The frantic spiral of thoughts inside his head was slowing down. 

Martyn drew a deep breath and rubbed a hand over his eyes. He rested his chin on his knees and turned his gaze at the sky. “I spy… something starting with an S.”

Gerard chuckled and turned his head to look at him for a moment before he looked up again. “Stars?”

Martyn nodded and let out a shaky exhale. “You can laugh if you want, but that was my last thought before you caught my fall. ‘Stars’ starts with an S.”

“The sky was beautiful that night,” Gerard said. His voice was serious. He didn’t laugh.

Another comfortable silence. It felt a bit easier to breathe when Gerard was sitting next to him. A bit easier to exist with these thoughts. He wasn’t sure when he’d stopped viewing Gerard as the enemy and started trusting him, but here they were. Martyn felt himself wanting to lean into Gerard’s warmth, but he was vulnerable enough at this moment, he didn’t want to expose himself more.

“Do you know constellations?” Martyn suddenly asked, glancing at Gerard.

“Not really.” Gerard shook his head, still gazing at the stars.

Martyn flopped on his back, looking at the starry sky contemplatively, silently thankful that Gerard had taken his cue for distraction. “My father taught me them all when I was a boy. And he taught me how to navigate with the stars. He wanted to be a sailor, you know.”

A dream that never came to pass. Martyn didn’t even have a dream, did he? Falling from that tower had made him realize how empty his life was. What kind of person was he, just existing without aspirations?

Gerard turned sideways so he could see him, his leg pressing against Martyn’s. So much for that distraction. Martyn didn’t meet his gaze, but he didn’t pull away. The touch was grounding him, finally breaking the fall that had been replaying in his head. He looked at the sky, blinking away the wetness in his eyes. Gerard had barreled through all his carefully crafted barriers, and Martyn had barely protested. He prized his solitude and peace, but there were days when it was a lonely existence.

Maybe he had been falling ever since the first day they had met.

“The one to the right of the Moon is Garuda,” Martyn said, pointing at the sky and tracing the shape of the constellation. Gerard turned his attention back to the stars. “And below Garuda, near the horizon, is Leviathan. It wasn’t lost when they named the constellation.”

Gerard shifted and for a moment Martyn’s stomach clenched when he thought the anchoring presence of their knees touching would be gone. Then Gerard leaned back, settling to lay next to Martyn. Their arms pressed together and Martyn let out a breath of relief.

“You can’t see Odin very well right now, but it’s over there,” Martyn pointed again. “And that’s Ramuh on the other side.”

Gerard craned his neck in an attempt to see Odin, and Martyn could feel his breath brush his face. He smelled of the fruit tart they’d had for dessert after dinner. Gerard had asked for the recipe afterwards.

“You can’t see Shiva at this time, her stars only appear in the winter,” Martyn continued, clearing his throat.

“Does Bahamut have a constellation?” Gerard asked.

“Of course. That one over there is Bahamut,” Martyn said and pointed at another constellation. “And the one next to it is the Phoenix.”

Of course those two would be together in the sky. It seemed inevitable at this point. The Phoenix and Bahamut had always been linked just as their dominants, even before Natalia Rosfield. He wondered what else he would find out if he went digging through the forbidden tomes section of the archives? The thought was both amusing and horrifying - and a bit intriguing. Maybe they could slip into the archives next time they were in Tabor, if Martyn managed to ‘borrow’ the key. Or pick the lock, he wasn’t fussy about the details. If the Undying didn’t want him to break into places, they shouldn’t have taught him these skills. If Gerard could stay quiet they could sneak behind Cyril’s back.

“What about Ifrit?” Gerard asked, drawing Martyn’s attention back to the sky.

Martyn shook his head. “No one knew Ifrit even existed until Cid started going around smashing things. Actually, I’m not sure how many people know of Ifrit even now.”

“So shady,” Gerard huffed in amusement and then nudged Martyn’s arm. “Hey, we could make a constellation for it.”

“Hmmm. There’s a small cluster of stars next to Titan. That could be Ifrit so they can fight over Drake’s Fang in the skies every night,” Martyn snorted.

Gerard’s shoulders shook with stifled laughter. Martyn pressed his arm tighter against him while he was distracted. There was a feeling of peace taking over his senses now, his eyelids feeling heavy. He closed his eyes, just for a moment. Gerard was there, keeping him steady and from falling…

“Martyn?” Gerard said after the silence from Martyn dragged out. When he turned his head he saw that the man had fallen asleep, his face slack and peaceful. The perpetual crease between his eyebrows had evened out, and Gerard wanted to lean over and press a kiss there. It was too soon for that, so he didn’t.

Instead, his hand sought out Martyn’s, twining their fingers together. Martyn didn’t need to know that he too had woken up to a nightmare. A nightmare where he had missed the jump, and where Martyn lay dead on the cobbles, a pool of blood spreading around him as his eyes stared unseeing at the sky. Martyn had enough to deal with right now, but he was still here, alive. They both were. That’s what mattered. Martyn squeezed his hand in his sleep.

“Good night,” Gerard said quietly and smiled at the stars.