Traveler

Their boots clicked against the metal of the gangway as the ten members of the expedition group finished teleporting into the fragment of Dalamud. Alisaie and Alphinaud took point, looking around. The entire internment hulk had been ablaze with power, blue throngs of wall hatches hummed in energy. 

Alphinaud pondered aloud. “So this is how it looks on the inside.” 

Richiro Wichiro whistled, his hazel eyes wide as he viewed the area. “Even with it being the third time inside, it always humbles the mind.” 

Alisaie said rationally. “This internment hulk still functions.”

“The teleportation was a success—it seems we have come to the right place.” Mjnt observed, pulling her lance out to her side. 

“There’s no telling how much further Bahamut has regenerated since we last beheld him.” The younger scion replied, a bit of worry in her voice. 

“Let us make haste to the main bridge and deactivate the coil.” Azlyn replied over to the girl, a small smile. “And to whatever defensive horrors we may come across.” 

Ozwin laughed with a scoff. “Only one way to find out. Thuzu?” 

The warrior stepped up, retrieving his axe from it’s sheathe. “Let’s move.” 

Together they walked a few hundred feet, looking up and around them to the brightened receptacles. Alisaie made notes about how similar they looked to the previous internment hulks, something Azlyn didn’t miss in her own observations as they travelled further inward. As they got closer to a large circular platform, it was there where she could see giant capsules full of liquid and some kind of... creature. And it wasn’t just one, but numerous capsules filled. 

“Those held chimerical beasts, but only the Allagans know what other abominations may be sleeping within.” Alisaie spoke beside Azlyn. “They may well be part of Dalamud’s internal defenses. We must stay our guard at all times.” 

Koroko Koko brought her staff out, sending a bit of fiery aether into the orb of her staff. “Then we should try not to wake them.”

“Just don’t cause a chain of explosions and we should be dandy.” Ozwin teased, while their caster chuckled darkly. 

“If I’m mass casting for destruction, there will be a reason for it. Don’t you fret Master Ozwin, I’ll be sure to avoid burning you and your newly dyed hair.” 

While they were speaking Alisaie turned to her quiet brother. He caught her gaze and shrugged with silent reconciliation. She scoffed, shaking her head and went to move ahead of their group. 

When they reached the central mainstay of where a majority of the capsules resided, they found a broken one, with dripping vicious fluid dropping around. The shattered glass spread out in a wide cone around the area. 

A roar echoed in the hulk, and everyone turned their attention upward to their new friend. A four legged giant hybrid dragon-Coeurl like creature hunkered upon its haunches. It’s wide whiskers twitched as it growled. 

Alphinaud stepped back, pulling out his grimoire from his back pocket. A carbuncle appeared next to him—a shade of teal green. They watched as it jumped down to their landing, making eye contact with N’thuzu Tia up at the front. 

The warrior’s ears twitched, his tail swished back and forth in his adrenaline rush as he growled back. 

“So much for not waking anything up.” Azlyn pulled out her own Grimoire, summoning her Ifrit-Egi to her side. A blaze of heat burst beside her, as she waited for the creature to make the first move. 

Everyone positioned themselves around the central zone. A surge of electricity crackled from the monster Coeurl-dragon, as the rings on the platform they stood upon started to glow. A surge of static zapped upward from the outer ring, forcing them away from the edge. 

The hybrid had been the first to strike at them, raking its claws at Ozwin who lifted his shield to parry the blow. The Midlander Hyur thrust his sword forward, knowing the movement would either cause the beast to jump backward or take the damage. Everyone watched as the blade nicked into the beast’s scaly-skin, and barely made a cut.

“Hardened scale.” Alphinaud commented behind Azlyn. “Most likely due to the myriad combination of mutation between a coeurl and a dragon? I sense this beast might have—”

“Really?” Alisaie glowered to her brother before she sprinted to the side following Roll, Kida, and Koroko Koko.

Azlyn gestured for him to follow behind her as she went the opposite direction. Mjnt jumped into melee with N’thuzu and Ozwin, the three easily moving around one another to attack fluidly. Their group coordination had been easy to orchestrate, as they were observant of each other’s distance and placements.

It was such a good thing their group had such great cohesion.

Richiro Wichiro popped up between Alphinaud and her, summoning Eos to his side. The fairy danced between the three of them as Azlyn commanded her Ifrit-Egi to enter the fray. Alphinaud’s carbuncle joined in beside Alisaie’s, sending bursts of aetheric damage to the beast.

The beast hunched lower to the ground, as it puckered the whiskers upward—and a burst of lightning spread out into the grounds around them. Azlyn felt the shock of the attack and felt the pulse of energy getting absorbed into the rings beneath them.

Eos sent out an aetheric bubble of healing wounds out to those nearby—and from across the way—Azlyn could see Roll had casted a large helios spell to cover their end. Then altogether they continued to press the attack.

Alphinaud had been the first to realize what the lightning charged rings meant, after the next time the hybrid coeurl sparked the energy outward to strike them at once. He gestured to the center of the space where the coeurl had been protecting. “That’s a charge core! If the lightning it sends continues to charge the platform, we’re going to be electrocuted by a heavy conduction of aetheric energy. You can hear the ground humming!”

N’thuzu Tia hollered over to Mjnt. “You’re up Mjnt—strike it from behind with everything you got. Ozwin, come up front to keep it’s attention!”

The dragoon smiled warmly before elusively jumping over the Coeurl to the flank and started to unleash all of her energy into her lance. A crimson glow started to form on her weapon’s point as she performed a series of jabs, thrusts, and piercing attacks.

The hybrid had been on it’s last leg, heavily breathing, with the whiskers starting to rise to spread another round of lightning. This would charge the entire area if it went off. Kida started to fire arrow after arrow, and finally brought out one of the special arrows Roll made for her. She grinned deviously before shouting.

“CLEAR THE WAY BITCHES—ARROW’S COMING!”

Ozwin flipped back, and N’thuzu Tia followed his lead. Mjnt jumped away, close to Roll as the Au Ra with the spiraling globe cast small aspected regen spell upon her. “Nice job.”

Mjnt nodded confidently.

Koroko Koko started to unleash explosion after explosion, on top of Kida’s relentless aerial assault. Azlyn attributed what she could with her quickened ruin spells, and commands to her Ifrit-Egi to cause her own aetheric inferno’s rage upon the creature.

A small spark ticked off the whiskers—and soon faded—as the creature’s legs gave out from underneath it. The aetheric energy of the creature started to siphon away from the body—and finally dispersed into the aether. As it disappeared the ten of them reconvened back to the center where they noted the charge control had not triggered yet.

Azlyn heaved a sigh of relief. “Nice work—my hair was sticking up on my neck for a second.”

Richiro Wichiro exposed one of his arms from his sleeve. Everyone could see the growing goosebumps from the static shocks beneath them. “I have goosebumps!”

Kida chuckled deviously, rubbing both of her feet on the floor rapidly before reaching a finger out to zap Ozwin. The Hyur jumped at the shock before he glared to her. “Ow!” He started to store energy the same why she had by shifted his feet. He flicked her on the forehead, where they all witnessed her bangs spritz upward from the shock. 

The blue-haired Au Ra laughed.

While some were amused by the antics of their group, the two twins were staring up to the capsules of the creatures. Upon closer inspection of the green-hued glass, some of the shapes had been draconic in shape.

“By the Twelve. Dragons and so many.” Alisaie looked around in wonder, her blue eyes keenly aware of their surroundings. “We were aware that the Allagans possessed the means to control the creatures, but to imprison them thus is—barbaric.” She gave a disgruntled look to Azlyn who looked at one of the capsules at the edge of the platform. That capsule, along with some others looked to be several stories tall.

“I wouldn’t wish such a fate upon my worst enemy.” Azlyn commented, looking to the dragons trapped in the fluid of the capsule. She could see barely any moment from the creature within.

“’Tis plain that no love was lost between the Allagans and the dragons, but was it truly necessary to keep so great a number here?” Alisaie started to point out all the towering capsules. “There must be hundreds.”

Alphinaud chimed in. “Dalamud did not want for defenses, this we experienced by the coeurl-hybrid earlier.”

“And the Allagan nodes!” Richiro Wichiro perked up, pointing his finger up to the sky. “And an enslaved dragon with a collar named Twintania!”

Alisaie decided to point out the simple truth behind those defenses and the dragons locked away in front of them. “Such guardians as the Allagans created—both living and unliving—were surely no less capable of repelling intruders than these poor creatures.”

“Tell me something Alisaie,” Alphinaud pondered to his sister curiously. “Have you not managed to determine by whose will Bahamut exists?”

Azlyn took a moment to consider the question. Had they determined it? Given what they knew of the coils and how far they ventured, it didn’t seem to come up in their journal—or during their conversations.

The scion shook her head, also taking in the question. “No, I have not. At first, I assumed that Bahamut had no people of his own—that the Allagans had perhaps discovered a way to simulate prayer itself.”

That was the conclusive evidence they came up with after the first coils, when they opened the bulkhead to see the regeneration of Bahamut in motion. The aetheric leylines that ran through each of the internment hulks seemed to be powering the primal, but also acted as the chains that bound it.

“Nael’s words gave me cause to reconsider—specifically, the shade’s mention of Bahamut’s ‘beloved children.’” Alisaie pulled out the bullet journal, perusing the notes. Her fingers flipped through the pages before landing on one of the pages. “We discussed it a bit in our notetaking—Azlyn made the observation initially in the journal—and we inferred from that, that maybe the primal is given form by the will of worshippers whom we have yet to—”

Azlyn stared up at the dragons within the capsules. As Alisaie started to talk about the beloved children she had a sneaking suspicion it dealt with these capsules and the dragons within.

Kida popped up beside Azlyn, poking her arm to release some static. “Aren’t the beloved children the dragons? It comes up quite a bit in our shared histories in Othard and Doma—especially as the beloved children of man and dragon?”

The girl bobbed her head. Something about the Dusk mother and Dawn Father’s history played a role in that story—but Azlyn couldn’t remember the exact details. However, she did give Kida the point for figuring it out prior to the scion. “Something like that? But I don’t think the Au Ra are the children of Bahamut—as our two clans celebrate the Dusk Mother and Dawn Father respectively. Although I’m not all too familiar with the stories of our ancestors—remember I’m a linguist, not a historian.”

Alisaie widened her eyes, looking up to see the room. “Oh…” She realized immediately. “Oh…” Her tone darkened once more. “God strike me down for a blind fool!”

N’thuzu Tia and Koroko Koko shrugged to each other wondering what the problem was behind this.

Alisaie brought her attention back to her brother, giving him a bit of an appreciative glance for pointing out the obvious. “Bahamut’s beloved children have been right in front of us this entire time. How could I have been so stupid?”

Alphinaud blinked in surprise to his sister’s sudden admonishment of herself. She didn’t stop there as she turned to the rest of them to explain.

“Who else but the dragons of eld would summon Bahamut? Who else but they could sustain him? And to think I wondered why the Allagans kept them imprisoned here!”

Alphinaud furrowed his brow, as he started to wonder about their new predicament. “So even should the flame of Bahamut’s life go out, his faithful children would summon him back. For this reason the Allagan Empire kept an army of dragons here in a perpetual state of duress, that they might sustain the primal’s existence.”

Roll crossed her arms. “It’s not like we can do anything about it at the current moment. We can’t just start opening capsules to release them—cause they’d… you know… probably eat us?”

Mjnt pursed her lips, gazing up at one of the dragons. “The size is comparatively huge to the scalekin back in Coerthas. It’d take an entire platoon or more to take on one of these in size.”

Richiro quirked his head to the side, he was trying to wrap his head around what Alphinaud had stated. “Explain how the dragons could summon him back…? Aren’t they… like comatose or something?”

Azlyn looked to the Lalafellin healer with a small frown. “We may view them in a sleeplike state, but as Alphinaud mentioned—they’re in a perpetual state of duress. It means that they could be awake even now. If you pay attention to some of the capsules, you can see some have fractures and cracks spanning around the glass. For centuries they’ve been trying to free themselves—and failing. These dragons aren’t just monsters—they’re highly intelligent creatures—like the beast tribes. And since Dalamud, their eternal prison has a continuous amount of energy coursing through it all day and all night, they won’t have any problem with running out of a source.”

This concerned her very much. With Dalamud pierced into Eorzea, it could even be inferred that Dalamud is taking energy from the land itself—to feed Bahamut where it is lacking. It would literally bleed the lands dry.

She couldn’t help but think back to Gaius in that moment—where his warnings of the lands being bled by the primals. Perhaps he was alluding to this?

Alphinaud stepped forward to her, agreeing with her assessment. “Truly—the Allagans’ ingenuity knew no bounds—and neither did their cruelty.”

“Emperor Xande was a man with great ambition—and someone who I wouldn’t put past him to order something like this.” Azlyn flicked her hand upward to demonstrate the entire space of this containment bay. “In fact, I would be surprised if we don’t see more of this somewhere down the line. Whenever the Allagan’s are involved, there’s also something—more to discover about their era.”

Alisaie scoffed behind them. “Small wonder that Bahamut was so enraged! Let no one deny that it was man who sowed the seeds of the Calamity!”

“Will you now turn your hatred towards our own kind, dear sister?” Alphinaud gave her a glance from over his shoulder.

“Do not patronize me, Alphinaud. I merely acknowledge our guilt. Lest you be in any doubt, I have no intention of allowing Bahamut to lay the world to waste, regardless of the atrocities the Allagans committed against his kind. We have no choice but to eliminate all who worship him, be they his children or his thralls.”

Ozwin cleared his throat and started making his way further into the internment hulk. He was not the type to sit through bickering. “Well I’m going on ahead. Nice chat and all, but I’m sure there’s more important things to do.” He put his hand behind his head and casually walked away. N’thuzu Tia went to follow him, and slowly everyone else did the same.

Alisaie, Azlyn, and Alphinaud remained for a moment longer. The scion with the red ribbon sighed audibly. “It seems reasonable to assume that the system responsible for the primal’s regeneration is also responsible for sustaining the captive dragons. If we disable it, all should perish.” Alisaie started to press forward, marching after the party members that trailed ahead. “Let us press on.”

They traveled through a series of live tunnels and bays, gazing up at the strange contraptions that ensconced the space with aetheric energy. After a bit of time, they soon found an elevator shaft that took them further within the hull.

Roll pulled out her aetheric watch, registering the amount of yalms they had travelled inward. “Given our trajectory and path downward—my device is stating we’re about seven thousand yalms beneath the surface.”

Kida whistled. “So—we traveled quite a ways.”

Their travel wasn’t too bad, as the defense mechanisms were like the first and second coils. They were able to get past them without too much fuss. When the elevator hit the bottom of the level, Azlyn walked over to the terminal where the ancient allag letters sprung to life. She started to click away at the terminal, seeing multiple screens come up as she worked. She quickly scanned through the grid before frowning.

“This says we’re near the Regeneration Grid. But to access it, we’ll have to use the coils to jump.”

Ozwin nudged her from behind with an elbow. “It’s your favorite part.”

“I hate it.” She groaned.

Alisaie offered her a bit of pity as they went to the next terminal. Azlyn started to activate the access ways, and thus allowed them a chance to travel through the interment hulk within the regeneration grid. Just like in the first coil, they were propelled by the jump apparatus to the next jump point and continued until they landed upon a giant central platform.

Azlyn queasily leaned to Roll. “I’m gonna be sick.”

“Over the edge.” Roll blankly replied, directing her cousin to the side.

As the pair moved away, the rest went to look around the central area. It was spacious and wide. Koroko Koko chuckled into her hand. “What a great place for a showdown to occur.”

“Really?!” Richiro gasped in horror. “But I don’t see anyone here!”

Mjnt shrugged to the Lalafellins. “Let’s hope nothing comes, as we have one of our party members vomiting.” At this, they turned to see Azlyn holding her stomach. Her face was pale.

“Nope. Fine.” She weakly replied, as her cousin rubbed her shoulders.

“I think we’re going to have to work on your fear of heights at some point Azlyn dear.” Mjnt warmly spoke to her. “Spend a few weeks with me in Coerthas, we’ll have you jumping off the cliffs of Boulders Down in no time.”

Azlyn shook her head, grimacing. “No—that’s—it’s fine.” She stopped speaking to turn away from the group. Roll cast a quick healing spell over the girl as she relieved her stomach.

Ozwin rubbed his hands together, the friction of the movement warmed his palms. “Alright, so let’s rest for a moment while our fearless… oh wait… while our leader regains her composure.”

A weak, “I resent that,” came from behind him.

“Alisaie, Alphinaud—do you see anything that would be like one of those terminals Azlyn works on?”

The girl pondered this, before pointing to the opposite end. “I suppose we could check out that terminal over yonder. But Ancient Allag is beyond my understanding.”

Alphinaud shrugged. “It can’t be too bad; nothing ventured, nothing gained—am I right?”

As the rest of them went to check out the terminal, Azlyn hung her head in abysmal shame. “I hate my life right now.” She darkly admitted.

“What’d you have for lunch today?” Roll asked.

“Just that chicken soup in Fallgourd. And hot chocolate.”

“Ah—that’s probably all gone down below.” Her cousin gave her typical one sound of her laugh.

“Could be worse.” Azlyn mumbled as she reached into her side pouch to grab a cloth. She wiped her face before chucking the cloth down below. She watched it flutter in the air before Roll tapped her shoulder with a canteen of water.

“Swish some water in your mouth.” Roll recommended. “It’ll get rid of the aftertaste.”

“Thanks.” She did as instructed—swishing the water like she would if she were using mouthwash. She spat out the water over the edge and handed the canteen back to her cousin. “Alright—let’s see what our…” The pair turned around to see something large start to materialize in the center of the platform.

A slight buzz of an alarm started to go off as they noticed their group of friends on the other end. The Lalafellin healer had started to panic jumping up and down, while Alisaie and Alphinaud were pressing random buttons.

But they couldn’t be concerned with the system anymore as a three headed dragon roared to life.

“For the Dawn Father’s sake.” Azlyn groaned, slapping a hand to her forehead.

“Heh.” Roll brought out her globe and prepared her deck. She plucked a card from it and showed it to her. An inverted Spire card.

“Every time I see that card inverted, I always know we’re in for trouble.” Azlyn shook her head. “Alright—let’s go.”

The pair ran up to face it, while the others moved behind it. Working efficiently and quickly, they combined their strengths, cohesively working together with spell slinging, stabbing, slashing, and cleaving. 

After four minutes Kida blasted the three-headed dragon with her aetheric-charged arrow set. They watched as the dragon with three heads collapsed to the ground, shuddering before it burst in a violent wave of aetheric energy. As it soaked into the atmosphere and channeled into the platform, the twins examined the central hub.

“This looks like…” Alphinaud looked upward and around the platform now that they had time to breathe.

“A model of Dalamud, yes.” Alisaie concluded, drawing everyone’s attention to the interior walls that encompassed the entire platform. The dull red and black wall face surrounded them in an arching circular crest, wrapping up where chunks of the ceiling had fallen. The other walls continued around and behind the main platform they jumped down into. “For a millennia, Bahamut must have gazed at this unchanging view. Trapped inside a prison that was scarcely large enough to contain him, unable to move, denied the release of death… how his hatred for man must have burned.” 

Richiro Wichiro whistled. “Is it bad I’m feeling bad for it?”

Ozwin rolled his eyes. “Yes, be piteous to the deity who will decimate your homeland to ashes.”

Mjnt bowed her head, closing her eyes. “That hatred found an ideal vessel in Nael van Darnus. Which made it easier for the legatus to succumb, I have little to wonder on that.”

Alisaie nodded. “In many ways, Bahamut is to be pitied, not loathed.” She replied to the two men. “But knowing the true extent of his fury, I am more convinced than ever of the necessity of our endeavor.” She turned on her heel to face the terminal. “Besides—his is not the only soul that cries out for vengeance.”

Azlyn watched as the young scion walked away from the group, looking at the computer terminal with an estranged look. She didn’t touch any of the letters, perhaps for fear it might summon another three-headed dragon.

“Well I daresay I wasn’t expecting something to manifest upon our work on the terminal computer initially.” Alphinaud shrugged, deciding to change the topic. “I suppose we should leave the ancient allag systems to our friend.”

Azlyn wiped the sweat from her brow, she had to expend a bit of mana to summon Ifrit-Egi and Titan-Egi numerous times. From offensive to defensive, they were all fighting for their lives trying not to get blasted by the defense protocols.

“How you feeling?” N’thuzu Tia asked their resident summoner.

“Better.” She rubbed her stomach that only mildly ached in pain. “Who knew a rigorous workout after vomiting would do the body wonders.”

“Sorry about that.” Alisaie apologized to her from up ahead. “If we knew it would materialize at our haphazard way of typing in the strange letters, we would have just waited.”

Azlyn shook off the apology. “No worries. Alright, let’s see what you guys did.” The girl walked over to the terminal and started to navigate through several screens of text. She meticulously scoured the texts before typing in a sequence of sentences and algorithms. By the time she was done, an elevator apparatus appeared at the north end of the platform. “Alright, onto the next platform.”

They all filed onto the hexagonal elevator, and when power shifted to start it, they felt the jolt of the shaft move them further within. Down and down they went, traveling at a decent pace until they came into a similar looking internment hulk with a grand view of Bahamut.

“About nine thousand yalms below the surface.” Roll had been looking down at her watch, the only one oblivious to Bahamut’s growing form in front.

Azlyn’s eyes widened at the sight.

“Gods, he is almost whole again!” Alisaie muttered in horror.

Three quarters of his body had been regenerated in the short time they were outside. The height of his wings, the length of his body. It was massive. The core of Bahamut’s body thrummed with energy and life as the regeneration continued. They needed to stop the internment hulks and deactivate the shards of Dalamud.

There was a main bridge that connected to a series of panels, alongside a larger terminal. Azlyn cracked her hands before jogging out from the group to the computers. She heard Alphinaud behind her.

“His size is staggering… I can scarce imagine how Grandfather stood against such a monstrosity.”

N’thuzu Tia turned to Ozwin, who had gone pale at the sight. “You alright man?”

The Midlander Hyur slowly nodded. “Sorry, went back to Carteneau. By the Twelve—it’s as terrible as I remember him.”

“That’s a big bitch,” Kida peered around his side, up to him. “It’s way worse than his first arrival?”

Ozwin answered shortly. “Comparatively…. Yes.”

“This cannot be allowed to proceed any further. Azlyn, how is the disabling of the coil going?”

Azlyn had navigated through several of the texts during their chat, as her fingers rapidly clacked against the ancient letters. “Just about finished. There’s a bit of a minor setback, but it’s nothing I can’t resolve.” As she continued to work, she didn’t miss the subtle gasps behind her as a soft teleport popped beside her.

Her reaction time to his presence went as poorly as she expected it would, as he magically lifted her up and sailed her backward with a driving force. She collided into Mjnt and Roll, before the three toppled in a heap of a mess.

“Grandfather!” Alisaie shouted.

Azlyn shook the pain away, as Alphinaud reached a hand down to help them up. Mjnt stood up by herself, giving support to Roll as she steadied herself.

“No.” Alisaie suddenly replied. She shook her head as she clenched the front of her scion robes. “That man is dead. I will not dishonor my beloved Grandsire’s memory by calling you such.” She glowered to the Elezen in their midst. “You are but his twisted shade—the thrall of a mad primal.”

Louisoix looked down upon them all, regarding them with his enthralled red eyes. He slightly shook his head in disapproval. “You were foolish to disregard my warning, child. Are you so convinced of your own righteousness?”

Alisaie didn’t seem to have an answer and turned to look away. Her brother, however, stepped forward with his hand still in Azlyn’s. “’Tis the rightness of our path that led us to return. Eorzea will never be safe whilst Bahamut remains to threaten all we hold dear. What of the hero who gave his life in defense of the realm? Do you truly dispute the justice of our cause?”

“My poor, ignorant grandchildren—your world is shaped by naught but recent conflict. Listen—and I will speak to you of ‘justice’. Twas in the twilight of the Third Astral Era… the southern land of Meracydia suffered invasion at the hands of the Allagan Empire. With no atrocity too depraved for their purpose, the forces of Allag were unstoppable in their advance.” Lousioix looked to the entire group, gesturing with an arm to the dragon behind him. “Desperate for salvation, the dragons prayed to one of their first brood—to their ancestor Bahamut. Infused by the power of their fervent supplications, Bahamut arose from the abyss of death and took wing as the Meracydians’ newborn god.” The Elezen paused briefly, lowering his eyes to the ground, only to lift them back up to them. “Yet this great miracle could only serve to further the maniacal designs of the dragons’ imperial conquerors. The cruel fetters which bind my lord stand testament to the Allagans’ boundless greed and hubris.”

Azlyn frowned but knew the Elezen had more to say as he explained. 

Louisoix spoke calmly. “I once summoned the Twelve in an attempt to forestall the advent of the Seventh Umbral Era. What then did the dragons of Meracydia do that I did not? Wherefore are they accursed and I exalted?” His question remained a rhetorical one as he answered. “Tis man’s overweening belief in his own primacy that blinds him to the commonness of his condition—and the truth of his own tyranny. As long as man is suffered to remain, the dragons shall never be at peace.”

“So you want to eradicate all of humankind? Is that what you’re after?!” Ozwin finally snapped. He gritted his teeth in anger, throwing out his arm to the side. “Is not what you suggest the same as what the Allagans did to Meracydian? Must this realm suffer at the hands of a past grudge?”

Azlyn had to agree with him, stepping forth she sighed. “It is unfortunate what has become of the dragons—and there is truth in some of what you say. But I cannot condone eradicating an entire realm to satisfy an angry and frustrated primal. What you’re suggesting... will not be good for Eorzea or Bahamut’s children! That isn’t truly what Archon Louisoix worked for.”

“You are fools.” Louisoix gazed to the pair, before scoffing. “Only when the plague of people has been expunged shall the children of Lord bahamut be free. Then shall the world know true justice!”

“STOP IT!” Alisaie angrily shouted. She clenched her fists as she flared. “Grandfather would never say such things! His belief that people were worth saving never faltered!”

“Listen to her!” Ozwin pointed to Louisoix. “The man that saved me—the man that wished for the safety of all the realm—I won’t let you continue to spew these incessant flames of hate. Meracydia is gone. The Allagan empire is gone. The past is in the past! You can’t change it—you can’t make it different—it’s happened and we must move forward! It will end when Bahamut is no more!”

Alisaie nodded, calling out to the Elezen with a pleading tone. “Grandfather had faith in the strength of the people! That they could stand together and push back against the darkness seeking to shape them!”

“A false hope. Tis folly to place one’s faith in so flawed a race.” Lousioix gave a disbelieving chortle. “Stand together? Hmph. They would first need to agree on which direction to face. If history teaches us anything, it is that man cannot find common ground between his own two feet.”

Azlyn shook her head. “You’re wrong! There are people out there in the realm right now struggling and working hard to work around those barriers. This lack of common ground you speak of, the Scions have tirelessly worked day in and night, following your example, to lead the people to a new dawn! They wish to show others a different way, a new path in which we all can walk together!”

Louisoix laughed. “Is that so Azlyn Ahz’el? What of you then—The path you walk is merely a shadow of your parents. The only reason you have made it this far had been due to the overwhelming support you’ve gained from your friends. Your parents were right when they said you were too young. It is apparent that your travels have left you with a rosy view of the world. Are you prepared to move on? Are you prepared to bear the hopes, the burdens, the responsibility, the weight of this entire realm with your righteousness?”

Azlyn faltered, feeling her breath hitch in her throat.

“Hey! Leave her alone!” Kida shouted.

Ozwin stepped forward, his green eyes ablaze. He drew his sword and readied his shield. “I didn’t fight in Carteneau, lose everything, and wind up back in Eorzea to have to tolerate that kind of bullshit!”

The Elezen turned to him, smiling fondly. “You’re quick to anger—as one who fought as the original Warrior of Light, it too appears you have lost your way. Lost in your own pride and stuck trying to prove your worth. The loss of your reputation has led you to choose the path of least resistance. To this day, you hope that by sticking it around with her you’ll finally reclaim what you lost. Your path is futile—as is hers. Your paths are nothing but constructs designed by men who have time and time again failed to save the realm from devastation. But this time, there is no spell to save you. You will die.”

This made Ozwin stop short, his eyes widened a fraction. Louisoix didn’t stop there, before turning to the twins with a slight shake of his head.

“Even you, twins whose veins run with the same blood, struggle to fathom each other’s reasoning. You hide your differing agendas behind the convenient banner of Eorzea’s salvation. Given all of your obvious self-interests, can you truly claim no kinship with the Allagans?” He sighed heavily, shaking his head. “And though I hoped they might bring you closer, ‘twould seem that the twin grimoires I bestowed upon you were a wasted gesture…”

Alisaie and Alphinaud both looked down to their grimoires on their back holsters, quiet as they and everyone silently took Louisoix’s keen observations to heart. 

Alphinaud finally broke the silence. “There may well be truth in your judgment of us—of Azlyn and Ozwin—of Alisaie and me—But such a one-sided tirade bemoaning the evils of man rings false coming from the lips of Archon Louisoix.” Alphinaud squeezed Azlyn’s hand once, before letting it go to walk to his grandfather. He spoke eloquently back. “Tell me—do you champion the cause of dragons because Bahamut compels you as his thrall? Or is it because you yourself have transcended the limits of man’s existence?”

Azlyn snapped her head to the boy, her eyes growing wide as saucers now at the implication he was making.

“Say whaaaaat???” Kida drawled out from behind them.

Mjnt stepped forward, her eyes closely upon him. “I too am with young Alphinaud. I have silently been listening to your words, and can’t help but hear the subtle lies in your words.”

Everyone in their group turned to Mjnt, except for Alphinaud who diligently kept an eye on the Elezen before them.

“WHAT!?” Richiro Wichiro gasped in horror.

Lousioix lowered his arm. He faced the boy with no attempts to hide it. “Ah, so the possibility did not escape your notice?” He turned a fleeting glance to Mjnt, a slight smile turned up the corner of his lip. “It seems you’ve been blessed with a certain talent to pick up lies. Nevertheless, I shall explain.” The man directed them to think back to when he tried to summon the Twelve. “What I prayed for, and what I have become—these are the keys that unlock the truth behind Eorzea’s rebirth.”

A massive influx of aether started to accumulate, gathering around him as the man whom they knew as Louisoix started to lift up from the ground. Everyone took a few steps back, as the aether continued to grow in swaths, reaching unbelievable amounts of collected energies.

Koroko Koko spoke behind them. “To imagine that one such as he exists. His aether is inconceivable.”

Louisoix continued to float higher and higher, his voice calling to them. “If you would have them, then you must needs take them by force. Come, rend this divine form asunder and claim your answers!” 

Blue flames started to grow around his core, expanding further and further outward. The light became intensely bright, as the main bridge of the hulk had been filled by the blue flames that burst out from his form.