#Gwenefyr Franks

[thebmatt]

If you’ve ever wondered what Gwen looks like, wonder no more!

#Final Fantasy XIV #Gwenefyr Franks #old lady franks #she's just pretty

[thebmatt]

FFXIV Write 2022 Prompt #1: Cross

Cross – annoyed (among many other definitions)

“Honey? Can I ask you something?”

“Sure can, love. One second.” Aleister called back to his wife. He was in the middle of preparing their dinner, but the sauce needed to simmer for a while longer before he could move forward, so he adjusted the heat levels on their home’s stove and stepped away, towards their living room. “What’s up?”

Gwenefyr Franks stood in front of the shelf he had set aside to store and display the various grimoires and codices he had wielded over the course of his career as an arcanima-wielding adventurer. It contained a myriad of tomes, from simple leather bound grimoires to ornately decorated thick volumes. Three, however, were more prominent displayed than the others. It was these three that Gwen’s eyes were fixated upon.

“Refresh my memory”, she said, her eyes not moving from them. “You’ve mastered two ancient magical arts that have their roots in modern Arcanima, right?”

He nodded. “Yup, that’s right. Allagan summoning and the scholarly magicks of Nym”

“Right. And I’ve seen you use this tome when wielding the former art.” she responded, gesturing the dark blue and black tome in the center. Its cover was more metal, blue lighting, and magitek devices than any sort of leather.

He smiled as he walked over to pick up the….tome? device? He was never really sure which term was more proper. “Ah yes, the ‘magitek grimoire’ as Cid named it. It’s not even really a book, technically, the pages inside are actually a display screen that calls up the various formulae and array designs required to execute the necessary spells.”

A smile came across his face as he recalled the memory of first seeing the device (he was settling on that now, he decided). “Cid actually gifted this to me just before our assault on Castrum Meridianum. After I met him and his memory had returned, I pestered him endlessly with questions about magitek, how it worked, what all it could accomplish. He never once seemed annoyed, though. I think he was happy someone regarded his passion with such wonder. He custom designed this for me, made it look more like a tome just so it would feel more familiar when I used it. That’s why I still use it to this day. It was my first real experience with magitek. Without this….I don’t know, maybe I’d still have gone on to learn as much as I have about engineering and help build the Machinist’s Guild, but, this was still my first step.”

Gwen turned to him, smiling. “I know what you mean, love. And I’m very proud of you for how far you’ve come.”

She pressed a quick kiss to his lips, then broke away, giving him a rueful look. “But no more distracting, I still have questions. This book-” she said, gesturing to the rightmost item. “This one is the one you use when wielding the Scholarly magicks, right?”

The book in question was a thinner volume, bound in red and blue leather, but with a strange series of gear- and pipe-like metallic decorations. Attached to the back cover and extending beyond the edges of the cover were two small cylinders which each contained a glowing substance–pure aether.

Aleister set the Ironworks grimoire back in its place. “Good memory, I know I haven’t needed to wield the Scholar’s art much since you became a Sage, That actually isn’t one of Cid’s or Nero’s, believe it or not. Did I ever tell you about Gerolt Blackthorn?”

Gwen’s face scrunched as she thought. “Isn’t he that legendary weaponsmith you told me about? The one that Rowena keeps around because she’s actually in love with him?”

He chuckled “That’s the one, and just a reminder, don’t EVER say that in front of her. He was part of the Anima project, the one that was trying to create life from aether. As part of it, Gerolt restored a number of ancient relics to functional use, all of which were potentials to use for the Anima’s vessel. We ultimately decided to use the greatsword he made for Dahk, but the restored relics were still perfectly great weapons on their own. This one in particular is called Elements, an ancient treatise on the relationships between the different elemental forms of aether. As you might guess, the metallic bits were additions Gerolt added to help contain the Anima, but even without that, well, I admit I just really like the look of it. It fits my whole aesthetic, you know?”

Gwen snorted. “I’ve seen the attire you wear as a Scholar, husband mine, and yes, I can agree, that like said attire, it does fit the absolutely ridiculous aesthetic you have going there”

“Hey!” He swatted at her backside, which she expertly dodged, giggling the whole way.

“Did you just ask me in here to tease me about my attire choices, or was there something else?” he mock-growled.

“Actually, there was one last one.” she said, gesturing to the leftmost and final of the three tomes given prominent display on the shelf. This particular volume was quite massive, bearing a green and brown cover with a metallic brass covering the edges and in patterns across the font and back, set with green and red gems. The upper corner of the front had a long green horn extending from it. “So if the other two are your preferred implements for your two Arcanima-based arts, then what is this one? You normally keep the older tomes further in, behind the current ones.”

“Ah.” he responded, looking at the volume with a mixture of resigned acceptance and fondness. “Well, that’d be because it’s not exactly old. In fact, it’s probably the newest acquisition of the collection, actually. It’s called Espiritus, another Gerolt restoration, but this one is from Bozja.”

“Oh right! I remember Fearless talking about these, they were the weapons of their old queen’s elite guard, right?”

He nodded. “That’s right. I guess they had a particularly talented arcanist in their ranks. Either that or Gerolt just massively improved on the design. Even the paper within is a rare material.”

He removed the grimoire from it’s resting place and opened it. The paper inside was a dark bluish-gray, the arrays and formulae within inscribed with a brilliant gold ink. Gwen marveled at the beauty. She knew her husband and provided the specifics of the designs to Gerolt to fill the tome’s pages, but it had been Gerolt’s expert hands that actually put them to page. The man was a marvel.

“It’s beautiful, but….if you prefer the magitek grimoire for day to day use, then what purpose does this one serve, then?”

His face twisted up in irritation. “I keep it handy for when I need to visit Maelvaan’s Gate.”

“The Arcanist’s guild? Why?”

“Because the last time I opened the Ironworks one within its halls, every single Arcanist in there looked at me like I’d insulted them personally.”

Gwen was taken aback, crossing her arms. “You’re joking.”

Aleister shook his head. “I am not. I was force-marched to the office of one of the departmental vice-chairs, the one with the insanely piercing eyes, and harangued for a solid hour on the importance and correctness of using ‘an actual, proper paper book’ when practicing Arcanima. Any protests I made about its effectiveness were shushed, and any examples I gave of deeds I had accomplished while using it were met with ‘and think about how much better you could have done with a proper grimoire’ and the like”

Gwen struggled mightily to hold back in her laughter, covered her mouth in the process, but she could tell from her husband’s expression that he wasn’t fooled. The man always could read her moon in her eyes very well, damn him. She regained control of herself and tried to set her mind back on his side. “Okay, funny as that image is, they shouldn’t treat you like that! You’re a Warrior of Light! You not only brought back two Arcanima based styles back out of history, you improved upon them! Please tell me you told Thubyrgeim about this, she needs to have a word with her people.”

To her shock, Aleister laughed, almost bitterly. “Who do you think did the forcible marching?”

She gasped, mostly to cover another laugh. “You’re kidding!”

“I am not. She might present herself as the picture of sanity in a madhouse, but the truth is she’s just as mad as all of them. The whole guild. Sometimes I’m amazed the Gate hasn’t exploded already”

She smirked at her husband “Uh huh. You’re part of that guild too, my love. And don’t even pretend you don’t enjoy a good explosion, I’ve seen the mad inventions that you, Cid, and Stephanivien have concocted before.”

“Quiet, you. I’m going back to making our dinner.”

I dyed the Ironworks grimoire and Espiritus soot black and hunter green, respectively, so don’t yell at me that I got the colors wrong!

#FFXiv Write 2022 #Final Fantasy XIV #oldmanfranks #Aleister Franks #Gwenefyr Franks #look I'm not the only one who thinks arcanists are all mad scientists #arcanima

[thebmatt]

FFXIV Write 2022 Prompt #9 – Yawn

Gwenefyr Franks really didn’t want to fall asleep yet, but seven hells was it hard.

She’d had an early morning as it was. First was the morning guest lecture at the Sharlayan Institude of Somanoutics (which, honestly, was like 2 rooms in the Studium so why it needed to be a called an Institute was baffling to her), then yet another session of demonstration and data collecting on the advancements she had apparently made in the field while helping the Scions save the world. She hadn’t quite stopped enjoying seeing Forchenault’s incredulous reactions to those yet (and really, she should stop that, the man was trying to be better about his prejudices. It was a work in progress for both of them)

A quick lunch and then she’d had some clinic hours scheduled, but those got absolutely derailed by the children. Sharlayan’s many youths had figured out who she was and when she would be walking between buildings, and they had been absolutely hounding her with questions about Eorzea and Ilsabard. Really, she should have stopped letting them get away with this days ago, but they were earnest and cute, her absolute two weaknesses, and so more than once she’d had to ask one of her fellow sages or their advanced students to cover for her.

Thankfully nearly all of them were more than happy to repay her for her part in saving the world (star, she mentally corrected herself).

The children didn’t even seem to care that her own knowledge was still lacking in detail, and so for many of their questions, she’d had to respond with a fairly simple answer and encourage them to ask her husband for more information. He’d been to all of the places they asked about many more times than she had after all! The kids could only look at each other and simply respond with “Yeah, but you’re nice. He gets grumpy after like….three questions!”

She giggled at the memory. Her husband was absolutely the best version of himself that she’d ever seen, but some things would never change.

She’d remained patient for as long as she could, but eventually she had to shoo them all away and go get some actual work done in the clinic. Finally, after her last patient left, she was able to go back to the home she and her husband had settled into, a gift from the Forum in gratitude for their deeds and for their willingness to stay and record the knowledge they had gained for posterity (although to be fair, they were getting Archonates out of that latter part too)

Aleister had contacted her via their shared linkpearl and let her know that he was delayed in getting home (something had apparently gone wrong with an experiment at Maelvaan’s Gate that they were trying to salvage) and that she probably shouldn’t wait on him to eat. She still hadn’t quite gotten over yet just how insanely good his culinary skills had gotten. She’d prepared all of their family meals in their past life, so adjusting to him taking the lion’s share of that work since their reunion had been…a bit of an adjustment.

She was far too tired to cook, so she made a quick stop at the Last Stand for some takeout (they had a REALLY good beef stew that she suspected her husband had helped them develop just for her, if those knowing smiles were any indication) and was now reading a novel on their couch, waiting for Aleister to get home. The hearty meal and the business of her day were starting to take a toll, and she had lost count of the number of times she’d realized she had gotten to the end of her current page but not retained a single word. Her eyes kept drooping shut after she’d force them back open, hoping to at least talk with her husband for at least a few minutes before surrendering to sleep.

She had just finished a substantial yawn, trying to will her body to stay awake just for a moment longer, when her large ears picked up the sounds of approaching footsteps. Seconds later the door opened and her grumbling husband entered their home.

“Hi honey. Finally finish the experiment?”

He sighed. “No. it only got worse after we talked” He moved to set his grimoire on it’s storage shelf and set the rest of his pack down, dramatically flopping down on the couch next to her.

She immediately snuggled up next to him, enjoying the scent. He always smelled like book paper after spending a few hours at the gate. And a bit of sea air, that was nice too. “What happened? What were you working on?”

“We’ve been trying to formulate replicable arrays for the three alemental aspects not currently in use for aspecting carbuncles, you know, lightning, ice, and water, but we haven’t quite solved for the problem of-“

Hmmmm, carbuncles. Hey where was Snowball anyway? Probably went off to eat if her husband hadn’t demanifested him. Oh well, he was nice to cuddle too. Oh wait, she should pay attention.

“-and it turned out, the crystals they had were slightly corrupted, so OF COURSE they exploded”

Oooh, she needed to tell him about Fourchenault’s reaction to her test data, he always loved it when she flummoxed the head of the Forum. Hadn’t really forgiven him for that public disowning of Alphy and Ali. She should go see them soon. Right, he was still talking!

“-last of the Carbuncle-quality gemstones! The crystal shards were at least easy to sweep up, but now there we are covered in aetheric goop!”

She giggled. Slime-covered Aleister. Her eyes were open right? Nope. She should open them. Nope, too hard.

“Honestly, at this rate, I don’t know if I’ll ever see a Shiva, Ramuh, or Leviathan-Egi,”

Aleister looked down to see Gwen’s reaction, but she was absolutely out. He smiled, tucking some of her grayish white hairs behind her ear and planting a soft kiss on her forehead. “Long day for you too, I guess? All right, guess the story can keep.”

He twisted himself into a position where he could stand while keeping her leaning against him, and hoisted her into a bridal carry before heading to their bedroom.

She barely stirred.

#Final Fantasy XIV #FFXiv Write 2022 #Aleister Franks #oldmanfranks #Gwenefyr Franks #I know this might seem a bit rambly but that's really just how Gwen thinks #might be slightly based on my RL wife heh

[thebmatt]

FFXIV Write 2022 Prompt #15 – Row

“You’re seriously not going to tell me where we’re heading?” Gwenefyr giggled, affecting a pout in the direction of her husband. Unfortunately, she was blindfolded and ended up aiming in the complete wrong direction.

He laughed. “No. Also, I’m over here”

She whirled around to face him, but almost lost her footing. Snowball, thankfully, was right next to his mama and steadied her with his trio of tails, yipping angrily at Aleister.

The oarman had to laugh at the trio’s antics. Were these two really part of the organization that had saved the whole star? He’d always imagined meeting two Scions, one of them a Warrior o’ bleedin’ Light, would be like meeting some larger than life figure from history. And yet these two were acting like a pair of lovesick dorks and their glowing carbuncle kid (who, ironically, didn’t even hide the fact that he preferred Gwenefyr over his actual summoner)

People were just people, he supposed.

Aleister had brought his wife to the boat blindfolded, explaining that he wanted their destination to be a surprise, something she bore with only moderate annoyance, mostly at the constant tripping despite the carbuncle’s best attempts at leading his mama around them.

The oarman supposed a private island with an entire homestead that Aleister had built by hand was a pretty good surprise. He’d had more than a few occasions to ferry Aleister back and forth to the island and see some of his progress, from the shores anyway, and he’d mentioned that early in their marriage, before ever embarking on an adventuring career, the pair had owned a farm.

He had no idea how well one could farm a tropical island, but he supposed if anyone could, they could pull it off. Well them and the small army of mammets Tataru had hired him to ferry to the island prior to gifting it to Aleister.

“We’re getting closer, sir. Should be coming into view in the next minute” he called.

Aleister nodded in thanks to him. “Alright, love. Go ahead and remove it”

She did so, taking a minute to blink her eyes into adjusting to the brightness, then twirling around to look at the malms of empty ocean around them. Finally she settled in the direction the boat was traveling. “So what’s coming into view?”

Aleister only smiled. “You’ll see.”

A few moments later, Snowball began yipping in excitement as a landmass broke into view through the distant fog.

Gwenefyr leaned back, hands over her chest. “An…island?”

Aleister moved behind her, wrapping her in his arms, nuzzling her furry ears. “Our island, dear.”

She turned her head, mouth open in astonishment.

He smiled. “Surprise!”

“Where did you….love, I know we’re well off, but how did you afford an island??

“I didn’t. Tataru on the other hand….”

She had to laugh that that. “Okay, yeah that makes a lot more sense! And what….she gave it to you?”

He nodded, kissing her forehead. “Yup. Well, really, us, but she found me first, and I told her to keep it a secret. I wanted to spend some time there, getting it ready for us”

She smiled wryly at him and tapped his nose. “So THIS is where you’ve been going on those so called crystal hunting expeditions, huh, mister?”

He at least had the decency to appear abashed. “Sorry?”

She giggled. “So what has my handsome hard worker built for us?”

He considered. “Well….there’s a lodge for us to stay in, of course. Pretty well decked out. I’ve built a number of landmarks, like a windmill you should be able to see in a moment. But primarily…..it’s a farm for us, hon. “

Her jaw dropped. Tears swam in her eyes. “You….you built us a new one?”

He nodded, smiling at the tears of joy. “Yeah. Got a big ol space cleared for crops. I actually have some potatoes growing right now. And there’s a pasture. There’s a lot of different kinds of animals on the island, I thought we might try the husbandry trade again”

She sniffed. “What kind of animals?”

“Well right now, it’s mostly chocobos and some sheep, with a few glyptodons and a particularly ornery coblyn that just kinda moved in and decided to let me care for him. I dunno what the deal with that is”

She laughed and found herself unable to stop. A farm, all theirs. Crops to tend, animals to care for, a place where they could capture a part of their lives that they had long thought lost again.

Wait, how were they going to do this?

“Aleister, how exactly are we going to do this? It’s a remote island, and while stuff has mostly been calm lately, we still have things to do. Our archonate work, all of our teaching, not to mention helping Varshan find his sister! How are we gonna take care of a whole farm??”

HE laughed. “Don’t worry, I’ve thought of that. Surely you didn’t think I managed to find the materials and build everything all on my own, did you? Tataru also provided us a small army of mammets. They can maintain everything while we’re away. This can be our little getaway when we need time away from the craziness of everything.”

She turned back to stare at the island. A piece of their home, of their stolen lives, returned to them.

She owned Tataru some baked goods. She owned Tataru a lot of baked goods. Maybe banana bread. No, Aleister would eat it all before she ever could get it to her. Maybe something with pumpkin.

Snowball lept into her arms, nuzzling her face before papping her on the tear trail on her cheek with a worried maow?.

She nuzzled the carbuncle. “No, sweetie. I’m okay. Just really really happy with the surprise your dad got me. Did you help him out? You’re such a good boy, you are.”

Snowball looked over to her summoner and rolled her eyes affectionately.

#Final Fantasy XIV #FFXiv Write 2022 #Aleister Franks #Gwenefyr Franks #Snowball the carbuncle #cause that little scamp deserves his own tag now

[thebmatt]

If someone were to sincerely ask your character(s) how they were at this current point in time, what would they answer with?

Aleister would legitimately answer that he is, without question, the happiest he has ever been. All of the horrors and trauma that came from his old life are behind him, and he's gotten a fresh start and actually done incredible things with it, while getting to retain the absolute best part of his old life: having Gwen in it. Dahkar would say he's very happy. He's reconnecting with his culture, he has a person in his life who truly loves him and he her, in turn. If he had any complaints, it would be that he misses his brother and sisters and the other scions, as none of them are close by and they don't get to see each other as often. But he knows he's where he needs to be.

Rheika would just smile and gesture around her. Wherever she happens to be and whatever she's doing, she'll probably be having a good time and enjoying life.

Fearless has been traveling the whole of Radz-at-Han with Troupe Falsiam, lifting the spirits of survivors of the Final Days. She's been working hard in her performances, but she gets to dance with her girlfriend Ranaa and also has their other girlfirne, Makoto, close by (The Bugyo of Kugane granted her a leave of absence to accompany the Troupe on their extended homecoming tour, as they are fond of the Troupe and wanted to ensure they were protected until they could return and complete their tour of Kugane). So while she does wish she had more downtime to just be with the two of them, they are still together and don't have to hide their relationship

#character asks #oldmanfranks #aleister franks #gwenefyr franks #rheika aliapoh #fearless willow. #dahkar darkspear

[thebmatt]

FFXIV Write 2022 Prompt #7 – Pawn

For upon thy life’s reel wind too many threads. Of Fate. Power. Weal, enmeshed with woe. More terrible still is the attrition wrought upon thy companions, as they are swept up in the storm of thine existence.

Take heart and protect them well. They will be your strength and your salvation.

After willing the nightmare to end for what seemed like an eternity, Aleister’s eyes finally opened.

A comforting weight was resting on him, arms wrapped around his body. Someone was holding him. Gwenefyr. She was weeping softly, and he raised his arms to return her embrace. She cried out in joy and cried harder.

“Thank goodness, he’s finally awake!” Alphinaud’s voice. A sound of running feet, crunching in the snow. He looked up to see everyone, the Scions, Maxima, Lucia, his fellow Warriors of Light, all rushing to gather around him.

Rheika reached him first and she knelt down next to him, ruffling his hair. “Welcome back, Old Man”

He could only smile and nod as he bent forward to whisper loving soothing sounds to Gwen.

When she finally calmed down a couple of minutes later, he raised his head to address the others. “Is everyone all right? Please tell me that lunatic didn’t kill someone with my body.”

Everyone shook their heads, but it was G’raha who verbalized it first. “Everyone is perfectly fine. I hope the same can be said of you”

Aleister mumured something into Gwen’s ear, and she immediately began to stand, assisting him to do the same. Nothing felt particularly sore or in any pain, really. He examined himself, stretching a couple of limbs. It all felt well enough.

“Everything in working order?” asked Alisaie.

“Seems like it, but I doubt I’m going to be doing anything before Gwen can scan the heck out of me, so if something IS wrong, we’ll all know soon enough.”

“You’re damn right about that, mister” Gwen said from his side, still clinging to his arm.

Fearless stepped forward. “We…think we pieced together what happened. Fandaniel teleported you away in the chaos of the temperings, then….removed you from your body so Zenos could steal it and threaten us with….a voidsent. I’m not sure I get that last part tho.”

Aleister clenched his head as the memories came unbidden

redandblackandglintingsteelandredsosomuchredtoomanyhandsnotmyhandsbloodanddeathandPAIN

“Aleister??”

Gwen’s voice pulled him out of it. Her voice always could, even before.

Dahkar was at his other side, holding him up against the sudden dizziness that was threating to debilitate him. “Easy, old man. I gotcha. You think you’ll be all right, now?”

Aleister had to sigh. “No. Not right now. That bastard used me to kill for him. Maybe one day, but I don’t know if I’ll be entirely all right for a long time.”

“Given recent events, I would be surprised if you were.” Y’shtola piped up. Her face was grim, Aleister looked to her and knew from her countenance. She blamed herself for saying nothing. She had seen his aether was wrong but realized far too late what it meant. She forced a smile for him. “Under normal circumstances, I would suggest a hearty meal and some rest to start your recovery process, but these are anything but, if Fandaniel’s boasts are to be believed.”

Franks snarled at the mention of the Ascian.

“Loathe as I am to suggest this, pray focus on your anger. It may help you clear away the cobwebs. Once you feel ready enough, we can discuss our assault on the Tower of Babil”+

“No.”

“….what?”

“I said no. I’m not going with you.”

The whole of the Scions turned to him in shock.

“Come on, Old Man, what’re you talking about? We need you.” Dahkar’s voice was concerned.

“No, you don’t. Not for this. The amount of warriors here is more than sufficient to put an end to that tower. What we are sorely lacking in now is information. Information I can gather.”

He looked down to the snow. “The fact is….I am not at a hundred percent right now, mentally. If I go in there with you….I can’t guarantee my usual degree of skill. So, Rheika? Take Gwen with you in my stead. Yes, she doesn’t have the Blessing, but she’s been fighting for nearly as long as I have, and you’ve all seen how quickly she’s taken to those nouliths. She’s more than capable of standing with you all.”

Alphinaud’s face was still shocked. “But…what will you be doing? What avenues do you plan to pursue?”

“You all saw what he used to attack G’raha, Alisaie, and Gwen with. Plus, he had a new weapon. Some kind of scythe. It looked odd, Partially magitek for certain, but it felt like it had some of the void imbued into it. We need more information for when the fight inevitably comes. I’m going to find it. So I’m heading to Ul’dah, right into the Thaumaturge guild archives, and with any luck, we’ll learn exactly what he’s capable of. And then we can plan on how to deny him whatever advantages it gives him”

Alphinaud sputtered “But….but this is hardly the time for research! We could-“

“Stop, Alphinaud”. Gwen waved him off, then moved to take Aleister’s face in her hands. He grasped them in return. “You need this, don’t you. To process what happened.”

He quietly nodded.

“Okay” she replied, kissing him softly. Then she turned to the others. “This is happening, full stop. When we come back from that tower, we’ll join back up with him, and I don’t doubt for a second the information he’ll come back with will be exactly what we need to end this miserable scum. Anyone want to complain, you can tell it to me, not him. Am I clear?” Her eyes met each of the Scions and the others in turn

Alphinaud looked like he wanted to say more, but he wisely shut his mouth. The other Scions looked uncertain, but none said a word. Dahkar and Rheika smirked and nodded. Fearless still looked worried, but she nodded as well.

“Good. Now get going, love”

Aleister smiled at her, forever grateful that this amazing woman stood by him every day. Thenreached out with his aether senses, finding the Ul’dahn aethereyte far from there, and began the familiar steps of the teleport spell.

Zenos would rue the day he’d used his body for a pawn. He swore it.

#Final Fantasy XIV #oldmanfranks #Aleister Franks #Gwenefyr Franks #Rheika Aliapoh #Fearless Willow #Dahkar Darkspear #I may cover this in a future prompt but this is where Aleister goes and becomes a Reaper #He pretty much takes care of Orcus while the other WoLs deal with Babil

[thebmatt]

A thoughts occurred to me that's quite tragic given the Old Man and Gwyn's prior history... have they discussed how long Viera live for compared to Hyur's?

First of all, THANK YOU for the ask!

They have discussed it, neither one of them are ones to shy away from difficult topics. Frankly neither one of them knows what will happen. Though they are physically a hyur and a Viera in the prime of their lives, they are mentally FAR older and lived a nearly complete life together before the Scourge killed them and they were raised into undeath. Tack on that the years they spent as Forsaken, and then add a strange body transformation/revitalization via cross-universal travel?

There's too many variables they just don't know enough about. Will their new bodies live the normal duration they would for their current species in Etheriys? Will their minds eventually break down, having already exceeded their original form's normal lifespans? The agent of the organization that guards the multiverse with whom they have previously spoken could likely tell them, but they have no way to reach him.

They've decided that there's not much point trying to plan for it when there are too many variables at play and are just taking full advantage of their second chance together now that the star is relatively at peace.

#character asks #oldmanfranks #aleister franks #gwenefyr franks

[thebmatt]

FFXIV Write 2022 Prompt #26 – Break a Leg

The crapton of medication I’ve given myself to mitigate symptoms is working for the moment, so I was able to finish this one, albeit without the level of polish I wanted. We shall see how the rest of the day unfolds. Thank you all for your good wishes!

“All right, Gwen, I think we’ve heard enough embarrassing stories at the Old Man’s expense, I think he’s gotta have at LEAST one about you, right?”

Aleister immediately grinned at Rheika’s question. Gwenefyr looked at him in fear. “Oh no. Honey, not the dog story??”

Aleister nodded, chuckling sinisterly. “Oh yes. The dog story.”

“Nooooooo….” she whined, covering her face in her hands.

Rheika, Dahkar, and Fearless all laughed at her reaction. tossing in encouragements.

“Oh this HAS to be good!”

“Yeah, tell it!”

Aleister nodded, then held up his hands. They all quieted. Gwen made another whining noise.

“So this was….back in our home universe. I had just inherited a farm called Sunsong Ranch from this kid named Yoon. It was his grandfather’s, and he needed help running it, so I agreed to lend him my knowledge. He was a good kid, and…well I felt home in the village the Ranch was part of. Anyway, he got tapped to be part of the local government, which was gonna be a big job, so he gifted the Ranch to me. Not long after that happened….I ran into Gwen. It was….the first time we’d seen each other since….we were raised.”

The non-Hyurs at the table looked at each other in confusion.

“By ‘raised’ he means ‘into undeath'” added Gwen, who had crossed her arms on the table and buried her head in them.

The others made shocked noises, looking at them in a mix of sympathy and horror. They’d been told some stories of what the pair went through as undead, but it didn’t come up often. All of Gwen’s stories had been when they were still alive or had occurred since she had arrived in Etheriys.

“Anyway, after we got over the shock of seeing each other….dead…we spent some time catching up and decided that death hadn’t really killed our love. So I invited her to live with me at the Ranch. She accepted.”

“So one day, I’m over at the neighboring village of Halfhill, and she goes and checks on our crops. We kept a pile of hay nearby for when we had horses or other pack animals come by to pick up deliveries, and she saw it wiggling just a bit. She figured a marmot or some other critter was hiding in there and decided to shoo it out.”

“Of course that’s when the critter’s head popped out. Except it wasn’t a pest, it was Dog!”

“You had a DOG?” Fearless exclaimed.

Gwen groaned.

Aleister’s grin didn’t falter. “We did. He was a stray that Yoon and I rescued. We figured he’d go with Yoon whenever he moved out, but he stayed at the Ranch. He was a good boy.”

“Anyway, Gwen gets startled and loses her balance, falls right on her butt. And then Dog lept out of the hay, grabbed her leg right at the tibia, and took off, breaking it off right at the knee!”

“Oh Twelve, that’s horrible! How can you laugh at that? She must’ve been in immense pain!” said Fearless.

Aleister shrugged. “I mean, not really. She didn’t have any flesh left on that part of her leg, so nothing tore or anything. Far as Dog was concerned it was just like any other bone he’d taken and buried many times before”

Rheika gasped. “Oh Gods, don’t tell me he-“

“Yup. Took off to the other side of Halfhill and started digging. I only saw him because the other villagers were raising a commotion seeing him tear through town, half a leg-with the foot still attached, mind you-in his jaws. People had joked after we adopted him that he was gonna do that to me, and then it happened to Gwen just days after she moved in!”

The other three cracked up. Tears were coming down Rheika’s face.

Gwen lifted her head up, looking completely despondent. “The worst part was the awful puns the village came up with. I had gotten myself upright, hobbled into the village from the farm by leaning on my staff and hopping on a single leg, and everyone starts making puns about ‘Sunsong Ranch’s crops cost an arm and a leg’ or ‘Hey, don’t be afraid to haggle with Sunsong, they don’t have a leg to stand on!’ and other prime examples of what passed for humor there. “

Fearless finally regained control of herself. “I….oh Twelve, that was good, I assume they got your leg back on you?”

“Oh sure, Dog actually brought it back to me.”

“He did what?!”

“Oh yeah, Aleister just told him to ‘give it back’ and he trotted over to the spot, dug it back up, brought it right back and dropped it at my feet, tail wagging all the while.”

Everyone lost it again.

Rheika was the first to recover. “Wait, wait, that’s IT!”

Gwen looked perplexed “What’s it?”

“That’s why you got turned into a Viera! Cause of your hopping experience!”

Gwen groaned as a fresh wave of laughter took over the table.

#Final Fantasy XIV #FFXiv Write 2022 #oldmanfranks #Aleister Franks #Rheika Aliapoh #Dahkar Darkspear #Fearless Willow #Gwenefyr Franks #and yes this story is technically from their days in azeroth but it's cute

[thebmatt]

FFXIV Write 2022 Prompt #23 – Pitch

Wife: “More carbuncle cuteness!” Me: “Honey, I’ve done that twice already!” Wife: “Do you have a better idea for this one?” Me: “I.....do not”

It was the morning after their reuniting, and Aleister and Gwen were enjoying a very late breakfast together on the roof of the Rising Stones. The other Scions had wisely given them space, knowing that they would want to spend as much time catching up or otherwise just being together again.

Aleister had spent most of the evening and the following morning telling his wife of all the amazing things the world of Hydaelyn had to offer and all the amazing and world-changing adventures he’d been part of.

Well, most of it. They were both newly alive and also very eager to physically celebrate their love again.

He’d just finished cooking breakfast for them, Gwen expression no small amount of shock at his newfound cooking prowess, when he remembered something important.

He had someone else very important he needed to introduce her to.

“So…when you came through the portal…did you feel like you suddenly had a large amount of new concepts in your mind that you consciously couldn’t make sense of?”

She looked up from her plate. “You know, I did. I haven’t…really had time to process what that was. Did it happen to you too?”

Aleister nodded. “It did. I think…it was some kind of information exchange? I’m guessing you don’t really remember how to wield the Arcane anymore, do you?”

Gwen cocked her head. “I…oh wow. I didn’t even think about that. But I can’t even remember how to do that anymore. Like the very basic concept is there, but anything else? Gone. Wait, did that happen to you too? All of your knowledge of the Fel, gone?”

He nodded. “I think our crossing into this…universe had something to do with it. Kind of like how our forms changed. If something doesn’t exist in a universe you travel to…it changes it…replaces it with something that does. The fundamental forces are different here than they are in Azeroth. No ley-lines of Arcane energy, no spirits of the natural world, no plane of chaos and destruction. So in return, it gave us something else.”

Gwen pressed her fingers to her temples. “I think….I’m seeing concepts in my head? It’s like….having the experience without the direct knowledge? Not sure if that’s right..”

Aleister nodded. “It sounds very similar to my experience. We can sit down later with some books on various combat disciplines, talk through what you’re feeling and see if we can figure it out. My guess would be thaumaturgy, it’s the closest thing this world has to an Azeroth mage.”

Gwen looked to him and cocked an eyebrow. “And it gave you, what, engineering?”

He barked a laugh. “Hah, no, that’s something I’ve picked up since. No, what I got was a lifetime’s worth of Arcanima experience.”

“What’s ‘Arcanima’?”

“It’s a discipline of magic here that’s based on mathematics and geometry. They create various equations and geometric patterns that shape aether, that’s the fundamental energy of this world, into spellcraft.”

She laughed. “Honey, I love you, but you were never that great at math”

Aleister shrugged. “I am now.”

“How did…..hell, whatever force is behind this changing thing, how did it go from a magic born of chaos and disorder to one based on….well, mathematical order?”

He pulled out his grimoire (he had his actual paper one on him this time) and opened to some of the early pages. “I think it has more to do with the kind of spellcraft Arcanists create. This particular pattern, for example? A formerly-common effect known as ‘Miasma’. It creates a cloud of poisonous aether in the target’s lungs.”

Gwen covered her mouth with her hands, but her eyes conveyed her horror. “That’s….awful”

“It was effective, at the time. Block a ship’s lower decks off and gas the place. Tends to pacify pirate crews pretty quick. But it’s no longer in use. That was my doing, actually. Found out one of our enemies had used it in part to create a deadly toxin that was almost unleashed on all Eorzea. Convinced the guildmaster to ban its use. Some senior arcanists complained, until they saw the evidence. Only the most stubborn are holding out now. Anyway, that’s a tangent.”

He pointed to another pattern. “Ruin. There’s a series of these, but they all boil down to the base concept of wielding raw aether as a destructive blast.” A few pages turned. “Energy Drain. Siphons a portion of the target’s aether into our own, providing a bit of healing and some aether charges for other abilities. Any of this sounding kinda familiar?”

She nodded. “Different roots, but there are some fundamental similarities to your old warlock abilities.”

He smiled. “Exactly. And yes, like you said, the roots of the power are very different. Not fundamentally toxic and corrupting to their wielder being a particular plus. But that isn’t the biggest similarity.”

“Oh? What is?”

He flipped to an early page in his grimoire and removed the stylus from it’s holding place within the front cover. “Well….I have someone I’d like you to meet.”

He pressed the stylus to the array on the page.

The ink depicting the equations and diagrams illuminated in bright blue and gold. A similar colored circle appeared on the table between them, and out of it lept a glowing blue four-legged form.

Gwen clasped her hands over her mouth. Her excited inhale increased in pitch until he could no longer hear it.

“So uh….this is Snowball. She’s a Carbuncle, an aetheric companion all Arcanists learn to create and summon. We…enhance them with aspected aether for combat, but their original purpose is seeking out illegal substances in a ship’s cargo. And you didn’t hear a word I just said, did you?”

Gwen had not. She had not, in fact, moved at all.

Snowball sat, her tails swishing behind her, and cocked her head at Gwen. Mrrrrooow?

“Snowball, you need to be nice. This is Gwen. She’s my wife…which makes her your momma, I guess and-“

MROW!

Snowball immediately rushed forward, tails upgright in a position that indicated happiness, and lept into Gwen’s arms, rubbing all over her neck and chin.

Gwen caught her, of course, and immediately began stroking her fuzzy form. “Oh look at you, you’re just precious aren’t you? So soft! Awwww, you’re just a sweet cuddlebug, yes you are!”

“What the hell?”

Snowball didn’t bother to turn towards her summoner, opting to start purring as she enjoyed the attention lavished on her. Gwen, however, did look at her husband. “What?”

“She’s…she NEVER takes to anyone like that? Half the time she doesn’t even let ME pet her?”

“Well, didn’t you…I don’t know, write equations that determines her personality?”

“No! A Carbuncle’s personality independently develops! I mean it starts with a baseline determined by the summoner, but otherwise is shaped by their experiences. Her aloof sassy brat attitude is all her! Oh wait, yeah. Baseline me. Yeah no wonder she loves you. I developed her after I first got here and was missing you horribly. Thought you had died. Yeah, totally makes sense”

“Awww, love!” Gwen continued to give the purring carbuncle the good scitches, but she came over to kiss her husband. “You’re such a pretty blue, aren’t you? Honey, if she’s made of…aether, why is she so soft and fluffy?”

“Well, I mean, if you’re going with a cute appearance, might as well go all in on that, right?”

She laughed.

#Final Fantasy XIV #FFXiv Write 2022 #oldmanfranks #Aleister Franks #Gwenefyr Franks #Snowball the carbuncle #Gwenefyr is not at ALL based on my RL wife nope not even a little #Sadly I am allergic to most furry things so Snowball is NOT based on a family member

[thebmatt]

FFXIV Write 2022 Prompt #22 – Veracity

“So….to summarize, Godbert Manderville, a man who is on the Syndicate and thus extravagantly wealthy, was under the influence of this mind-controlling substance, and the villain ordered him to take you all out.”

“You’ve got it right so far, Gwen.”

“And he started off…by stripping off his clothing? In the same manner by how you access the Armory?”

“Yup”

“And then he beat the hells out of this Shigure, Gilgamesh, and…the Wolf Burglar….with a goldsmith’s hammer?”

“Still correct.”

“Which he somehow made grow to prodigious size and then….air juggled the three of them with it.”

“Interesting terminology, but I believe it’s appropriately descriptive, yes.”

“And then, because Akebono chose his words poorly….Godbert turned on him and his accomplice. Somehow, all five of them….ended up buried upside down in the earth to their waists?”

“I’m not sure Gilgamesh was all the way up to his waist, per se. He had rather strange body structure.”

“…..right. So then Godbert turned on you all….and his son rushed to meet him. He delivered three blows, before grabbing his waist and….leaping a hundred fulms into the air”

“At least”

“Of course. And in the course of doing so….that woke Godbert back up, and he flipped his own son over and….slammed him waist deep into the ground himself. Without actually going into said ground with him.”

“The ‘Reverse Manderville Meteor Strike’, I believe Hildy called it. Before he smashed into the ground, of course.”

“And SOMEHOW, you expect me to believe that no one DIED from any of this?”

“I’m reasonably certain that the whole family are in fact extradimensional reality warper entities. I have no other explanation for the weird shit that happens around them”

“Rheika, you’re the leader of this merry band of misfits, tell my husband to tell me the real story”

“I wish to the Twelve I could, Gwen, but he’s not lying to you. We were all there, and it happened exactly like that. Dahkar still refuses to admit any of it was real, and Fearless still hasn’t entirely gotten over her fear of frying pans from the last batshit insane adventure we had with Hildy.”

#Final Fantasy XIV #FFXiv Write 2022 #oldmanfranks #Aleister Franks #Rheika Aliapoh #Gwenefyr Franks #background hildibrand and godbert #Dialogue Fic

[thebmatt]

FFXIV Write 2022 Prompt #16 – Deiform

I actually USED this word in a free day response last year, so I’m gonna follow up on it!

Gwenefyr was, for once, the last one getting home.

She walked in to see Aleister seated at their kitchen table, writing out some kind of scale chart. His Grimoire, the magitek one Cid had made for him, was also laid out on the table, and he seemed to be consulting some information within.

Snowball was happily chasing down a toy she’d coerced the Ironworks engineers to develop for their precocious little ball of aetheric energy. It rolled in random directions and at variable speeds depending on how close it sensed a carbuncle near to it. She watched him for a moment, then moved on to greeting her husband.

She bent down to kiss him on the cheek. “Hi honey. Whatcha working on?” She looked over his shoulder to review the chart he was so intently focused on.

He reached up to hug her. “Hey, darlin. Remember that story I told you about our final fight with Elidibus?”

She considered a moment. “Was that the one where Rheika’s crystal summoned a group of Warriors of light that had another…her in it? Which universe was that….85?”

Franks nodded. “Yup, that’s the one. They had their own version of Fearless too. No Dahk or me, although the latter one isn’t exactly surprising. At any rate, while the girls were talking with their counterparts, one of the others had to remind us that we still had Elidibus to deal with, or as he called him, a ‘Class 12 aetherial deiform entity'”

Gwenefyr laughed. “Well, that’s a bit of a mouthful. But lemme guess, you always wondered what the scale for that “Class” measurement was and now you’re trying to make one?”

He grinned at her. “You know me so well!”

She shook her head and sat down next to him. “So what did you come up with?”

He pushed the chart closer to where she could read it. “Well, I tried a few different measurements, but ultimately the only one I had enough data for was simple aether density. I have scans of more than a few primals to go off of, and that would track. Elidibus and Hades by far had the highest values. So from there I just wrote down the primals I have readings for and came up with a series of ranges that seem to logically progress. Class 11 includes stuff like Alexander and Bahamut, most of the Lunar primals are at 8, most of the other tribal primals we’ve fought are either in 5 or 6, and Snowball over there is like….a 2.”

mrrrrrroooooooow!

Both of their heads simultaneously look up, then towards each other.

They slowly panned to look in their living area.

Snowball’s pale emerald form glared towards Aleister. Gwen marveled at just how expressive the carbuncle’s face was capable of being.

Wait, he was green. That mean he was aspected towards Garuda’s wind aether. How had he done that on his own-

Snowball flicked his tails. A small sphere of wind blasted towards their kitchen counter before becoming a miniature whirlwind….picking up a pitcher of water that had been sitting here.

“Snowball, do NOT-“

The pitcher suddenly catapulted into the air, spilling its contents all over Aleister and the chart he’d worked hard on. The ink immediately smudged, slowly spreading as the paper soaked up more of the water.

With another tail flick, Snowball created another miniature vortex to catch the pitcher, then gently placed it on the table, before leaping into the air and demanifesting. Seconds later, he-recoalesced into his typical blue-hued form, looking very proud of himself.

He had, either by dumb luck or more likely by careful aim, completely avoided getting any water on his summoner’s grimoire or his mama. The pitcher had been less than half full, at least.

Gwen had covered her mouth in shock. Aleister could only sit in stunned silence. Snowball lept onto the table, picked up the soaking remains of the chart with her mouth, and dragged it over to the kitchen’s waste receptacle.

Aleister blinked, then turned his head towards Gwen. “Maybe I’ll just ask Bror, if I ever see him again. Because clearly, I have neglected a factor or two.”

Gwen struggled not to laugh, but quickly lost that battle, doubling over in hysterics.

#Final Fantasy XIV #FFXiv Write 2022 #Aleister Franks #oldmanfranks #Gwenefyr Franks #Snowball the carbuncle #WARNING CLASS 12 AETHERIAL DEIFORM ENTITY PRESENT #and it's cute and fluffy

[thebmatt]

My personal headcanon is that after Zenos did what he did during In From the Cold to Aleister, he left the group for a while. He needed to mentally recover from the ordeal of having his body stolen and nearly used to murder his wife and friends, and the best way he could process that was to learn about Zenos' new abilities and how to counter them. So he left to go to Ul'dah to research at the Thaumaturge's Guild.

Instead, a chance encounter...led him to Drusilla.

While the rest of my team (accompanied by Gwen) cleared the Tower of Babil and defeated Anima, Aleister completed the RPR storyline. He rejoined them shortly before they headed to the moon...and he looked like this.

Naturally, the rest of the WoLs and the Scions have concerns, but he assures them he's fine, he's learned what Zenos is capable of now and the stronger he becomes in the art, the more he learns and the more prepared they'll be to end Zenos when the time comes.

Aleister does not stop being a Reaper for the rest of the MSQ, except for a brief moment on the moon when confronting Fandaniel and Zenos. He doesn't want the Prince to know what he's done just yet.

More under the cut

This next outfit is from Ktisis Hyperboreia, but since in my story only Rheika went there (as she's Azem in my canon), I'm going with something a little different. Here, Tataru doesn't make ALL the job outfits for everyone, only specific ones. For Aleister, as an example, she gives him the Reverence Armor, Lightbringer, and the Hero's Shield. She tells him that she's afraid he's forgotten himself, that he's been lost to the darkness of the Reaper's art. She forged this set to remind him that he is a hero, a shining beacon of light, to so many, including her.

He takes the armor graciously, but later that day, he begins crafting a set of armor of his own, one granted to him in the memories of the avatar. He builds this armor and scythe himself and wears it throughout the battle of the Aitiascope, against Hydaelyn, and for all of Ultima Thule...all the way until that final battle with Zenos. Where he refuses to give Zenos the all-out fight he truly wants: one-on-one, reaper vs reaper. No, instead, he sets it aside, taking up that armor and weapon that Tataru made for him, fighting purely defensively, working with his friends, his FAMILY, to end Zenos forever.

Now none of that is to say that he abandons the Reaper art altogether, after all, he's not one to discard a tool when it's still useful. But now he no longer has the need to delve into the void without abandon, to dress the part of the fearsome voidsent-augmented assassin.

So instead he does what he's done with every other fighting discipline he's mastered: take his considerable magitek engineering expertise and use it to augment his style.

So when he and Gwen go on a little field trip to visit their friends, and he comes out dressed as this, Gwen can only laugh happily, her husband might be a Reaper, but he's definitely himself again.

#Final Fantasy XIV #oldmanfranks #Aleister Franks #Gwenefyr Franks

[thebmatt]

FFXIV Write 2021 Prompt #20: Petrichor

Petrichor – a pleasant smell that frequently accompanies the first rain after a long period of warm, dry weather.

The seaside cave well shimmered, and a woman fell out.

She groaned in pain, clutching her head. She tried opening her eyes and almost immediately pressed them shut again, recoiling from what was not a particularly bright sunlight, but seemed blinding to her.

“What….what the hells was that…by the Titans why is it so loud??” she muttered, to no one in particular. The tide wasn’t particularly high, but the sound of waves crashing against the rocky shoreline provided a constant background noise.

She stumbled towards the entrance. It led to a rocky shoreline. She still wasn’t quite ready to open her eyes, but the pain her feet felt as she stepped on rocks to get to the path that led away from the cave opening led her know that somewhere her boots that she vaguely remembered wearing were apparently gone.

Finally, after what seemed like entirely too many steps, she felt grass under her feet instead of sand and rock. She fell to her knees, clutching her forehead. Her mind was swirling with concepts and ideas she knew she’d never known before but somehow felt like second nature to her, as though she’d spent years working with them. What was happening to her?

Her lips felt dry, and she wet them with her tongue. Wait, lips? Since when did she have lips? Ugh, had she just covered them in ichor? Wait…no her tongue tasted salt…salt on the air. But she’d been near oceans any number of times in the past decade or so, she’d never remembered tasting that since…her change. Everything had been cold and numb and lifeless, and she’d grown accustomed to it. Now she felt warm. Wait, no, she felt like she was burning, just a little. Was she on fire?

She forced her eyes open. No….that was just the sunlight beating down on her skin. Her arms and hands, they have living, feeling skin.

She looks at them in terror, breathing rapidly rising. The light is too bright again, and she shuts her eyes again. The sensations, there’s too many of them, too much all at once, she can’t-

“Madam, are you all right?”

It’s a voice, another woman’s. She focuses on it. She sounds genuinely concerned. She opens her eyes, trying to focus them on the direction the voice came from, and slowly but surely they focus on a woman in a black dress (robes?) trimmed in gray feathers or fur. She has brilliant silver eyes that almost perfectly match her hair and….wait, are those cat ears on her head?

She opened her mouth. A weak voice that she doesn’t immediately recognize emerged. “Please. I…I don’t know what’s happened to me.

The cat-eared woman reached into the pack she was carrying, pulling out what looks to be a light colored blanket the color of grass and trees. She wraps it around her. It feels soft and worn. As she takes the blanket and draws it in close, she realizes that same softness is all around her, and that she must have been naked. “Th…thank youi”

“Of course.” replied the other woman. “My name is Y’shtola. Can you tell me what befell you?”

Her voice is soothing, and the woman felt like she could be trusted. “Um…well, the last I remember, I was deep in the jungles of Stranglethorn, places that no civilization had touched in centuries, and I came across a cave. I was looking for…someone, and I tracked them to a cave. It was…deep. I have no idea how it got there, it certainly didn’t seem like a natural formation. A-anyway, I made it to the back and I sensed a strange magic, obscured in one of the walls. I placed a hand near it, to try and get some kind of a sense of what it might be….and it yanked me into the wall…through the wall, really. Then I saw…strange sights I can’t make sense of. I must have blacked out, because I woke up in another cave back over there.” She raised a single arm back in the direction of where she came. “And now….everything is so bright and loud and my thoughts aren’t making any sense, and everything feels…just feels weird. Wait…”

She opened her eyes again, looking at her arms. Smooth, slightly pale but still healthy skin covered them. Her eyes went wide, she immediately picked up the blanket wrapped around her front and looked underneath it. That same skin covered her entire body. There was no sign of decay or open wounds that had to be stitched shut. She looked fit and healthy (and had some gorgeous curves, she noted with a blush) “No…this can’t be….how….I’m ALIVE??”

Everything gets loud in her ears again, and only now does she realize it’s not the ocean, that is her breathing. Rapid and shallow and growing in intensity. She’s panicking.

Y’shtola is in front of her again. “Breathe deeply, my dear. In, and hold for a bit, that’s it. Now out, slowly. Good. A few more times, if you please.”

She complies with her instructions, and soon, she feels calmer. “I…I haven’t needed to do that in so long. Was it always that loud?”

Y’shtola smiles. “I suspect you’ll get used to it soon enough, if what I am guessing about you is at all accurate.”

The woman looks at her, fear in her eyes. Or maybe it’s hope. “Do…do you know what’s happened to me?”

“I have a hypothesis. But to confirm, I’ll need to ask you some things, if you’re up for that.”

“Please.”

Y’shtola nods and helps her sit, wrapping the blanket around her to both sit on and protect her modesty. before sitting next to her. She looks her up and down, a hand on her cheek. “First of all, would I be accurate in stating that you were a walking sentient corpse before you came through? A…what was the term…undead?”

The woman nods.

“Your people called themselves “the Forsaken”, right? Because though you’d regained free will, you believed the rest of the world would shun you for your state?”

“Yes. But I’ve never seen anyone with….forgive me if this is offensive, but ears like yours. So how do you know all of this? Where exactly am I?

Y’shtola smiled at her. “It is not. And there is a reason you haven’t. This may be hard for you to understand, but…you are no longer on your world. This world is known as Hydaelyn, though it has other descriptors as well. There is much about the Rift we do not understand, but for the one other instance of this that I have an example of, the person who came through had their own form altered as well. You…you may not look as you remember.”

Y’shtola looks above her eyes, to the…top of her head? The woman’s right arm reaches out to touch it. Her hair is soft, and she brings it to the front of her eyes. It’s graying, even has some blue in the highlights, but it’s a healthy color. It feels strong, not the putrid pile of straw she’d had for too many tears. Her arm keeps raising and she finds…something soft growing off the top of her head. Her other arm shoots up and finds a similar one on the same side. “What on….are those….are those RABBIT EARS?” Her arms shoot to the side of her head. Nothing, just more smooth skin.

She stood, quickly looking around. There was a stream, not far from where they were sitting that fed into the ocean, and she bolted for it. Once she made it there, she leaned over. The water’s reflection wasn’t perfect, but she was able to make out enough details. “Oh, Light…” She began tearing up, placing her hand over the lower half of her face before she quickly dropped it again.

Y’shtola came up behind her, draping the blanket over her again. “Apologies if this is unwanted, we are alone out here, but I did not wish for a stranger to behold your nude form if you did not want that.”

She sniffed, wiping a tear from her face. “No, I wouldn’t. Thank you. I’m sorry for running like that, I just…”

“I know this is all a shock, and to look so different must be-“

“No, you don’t understand.” the woman interrupted, emotion thick in her voice. “Ears aside…that face…is mine. It’s what I looked like so many years ago, before I died. Hells it’s even before the decades long passage of time of being human. I…I never thought I’d see this face again.” She sniffed.

Y’shtola looked a bit startled. “Ah…well I’m very happy for you. And the, ah, ears? I assume you didn’t have anything like them previously.”

She chuckled. “No, I didn’t. But honestly, they’re kind of cute. Is this something unique to this world? I saw…I saw your tail when I got up. Do people in this world have animal features? Wait, is that insensitive? I’m so sorry if it is.”

Y’shtola laughed. “No, not everyone. My people are called Miqo’te. We do have features that are also shared with feline creatures. Your….what you have become are known as Viera. They have rabbit-like ears.

“Miqo’te and Viera. Well, at least this world calls its peoples prettier names than where I came from. So, um, you mentioned another person came through this portal before me?”

“Ah, yes. I wasn’t here when this happened, you see. He only told me the story recently, within the past couple of days, actually. That’s why I was out here, I wanted to investigate this portal and see what I might learn of it, and maybe ward it so that no one discovered it from our side. His story was remarkably similar to yours, actually. He stumbled into it and fell through, emerging here in a body returned to life in prime health. Before that he was undead, himself, though he became a hyur instead of a viera. Hyurs, from what he said, are physically similar to a species called “humans” from your world. Azeroth, I believe that was the name, yes. Is that what you were before you…died?”

The woman grabbed Y’shtola’s shoulders. “The person who came through, he was a male Forsaken? How long ago? Do you know where he is?”

Y’shtola’s shock gave way to suspicion. “I know where he can be found, yes. But you said you were tracking someone. Do you mean him harm? Because he is a dear friend of mine, and I’ll not bring you to him if you do.”

She shook her head. “No…the person I was tracking is…he’s extremely important to me. Someone I thought I had lost, that might have been dead. But I uncovered evidence that he’d been seen to the south, and so I…”

Y’shtola cursed her lack of natural sight, because she suddenly had a feeling she knew who this woman was. Though she could sense the hope and trepidation this woman’s aether, she couldn’t behold simple physical details, and a glimpse of her own eyes would confirm it. But instead, she had to ask.

“My lady…what is your name?”

Startled, the woman blinks. “It’s…Gwenefyr. Gwenefyr Franks. The man I’m looking for is named Aleister Franks. He’s my…my husband. Is….is he the man you’re referring to.?”

Y’shtola inhaled sharply. “By the Twelve, it’s really you. He….yes, Gwenefyr Franks, he is. He…he thinks you’re dead!

Gwenefyr Franks laughed with joy. “I thought he was for the longest time! But he’s here! What has be been doing? Will you take me to him, please, Y’shtola?”

“Of course! Please come with me! I’ll….there’s a lot to cover of what he’s been up to. Even I don’t know the full tale, but…I’m part of an order that’s dedicated to saving this world, we use the term “star”, by the way, from forces that would see it annihilated. It’s called the Scions of the Seventh Dawn. Aleister…he’s a member as well. I’ll take you to our headquarters, our home, and if he’s not there, our administrator will know how to get in contact with him. I will see you two reunited by any-“

Thunder rumbled overhead. Clouds had gathered above the two, unnoticed as they spoke. Rain began pouring down.

“Well, we’d best get moving. This will slow us down some, but it shouldn’t take long to reach the nearest settlement, and from there we can-” Y’shtola realized that Gwenefyr hadn’t moved. “Gwenefyr? Are you all right?”

She had closed her eyes and was inhaling through her nose deeply

“Gwenefyr? Is aught amiss?”

“No…I just…I really loved the smell of the earth just when it starts to rain. It always makes me think of renewal and growth. And that feels kind of fitting right now.”

Gwenefyr smiled and tried to dance in the rain, but quickly stopped when she realized that such an action was proving difficult when keeping the blanket covering her naked form.

“You, uh, you think we can find some clothing along the way, Y’shtola?”

Y’shtola smirked at her. “Don’t want to greet your husband in the altogether?”

“Not in front of anyone else!”

“Sensible, given the motley crew that makes up the Scions. Yes, I suspect we can find you some clothing along the way. I’ll even cover the cost for you, since I doubt you’re hiding money anywhere on you.”

Gwenefyr laughed. “Well, I’ll pay you back…somehow. “

“I accept payments in embarrassing tales about Aleister!”

“You have yourself a deal!”

#Final Fantasy XIV #FFXIV 2021 Writing Challenge #oldmanfranks #Old Lady Franks #Aleister Franks #Gwenefyr Franks #Y'shtola Rhul #Oh this reunion is gonna be so sweet

[thebmatt]

FFXIV Write 2021 Prompt #22: Fluster

Fluster – make someone agitated or confused.

Aetherytes were constantly busy. You learned pretty quick to move away from one as soon as you manifested next to one, lest someone suddenly appear next to you and knock you both down.

Old Man Franks, tired as he was, almost forgot this, and only barely missed being clipped by an arriving Roegadyn armed with an enormous spear on his back.

He quickly moved out of the plaza and cast a quick glance about, and then raised his hand to his ear, activating his linkpearl

Rheika’s voice answered him. “Heya Franks. You get to the Toll already?”

“Yeah, I’m here. I take it you’re not?”

“Not yet. Fearless isn’t answering her ‘pearl, so Dahk and I went to her place. Ranaa said she and Makoto went to the Sekiseigumi HQ, so we’re headed there. Turns out she left it at home. Again. Anyway, go on in and figure out what’s going on, we’ll be there as soon as we find her. “

“Copy that. Hopefully whatever this is can be resolved fast. I need to catch up on some sleep.”

“Did you stay up all night working on cross-world portals again?”

“I admit nothing, see you soon.” He disconnected the link before she could chastise him further and headed into the Seventh Heaven bar. A few of the regular patrons tossed greetings his way, which he returned as best he could in his sleep-deprived state,

The bouncer who guarded the door to the Rising Stones nodded at him and stepped aside. Franks strode in, turning to shut the door behind him quietly. Darn thing tended to slam, he’d been meaning to install something to slow it down. Maybe after some rest today.

“All right, Tataru, what is this emergency…about…” Midway through his sentence, he’d turned to face the room. Sitting at one of the table were Tataru, Y’shtola, and someone who shouldn’t be there. Someone who couldn’t possibly be there. Because she was dead.

Standing up at the table, hand over her mouth and tears streaming from beautiful sea-green eyes that he hadn’t witnessed in years, was a viera woman that happened to be the spitting living image of the woman he’d married so long ago.

She dropped her hand, looking for all the world as happy as the day they’d wed. “Hello, my love.”

Twelve forfend, it sounded like her too. “What the hells is this? No…you’re dead, this is some kind of trick!” He pointed a shaking finger. “You’re a godsdamned Ascian, you HAVE to be! How the hells did you make someone look like her??”

She ran to him. “Darling, no, it’s me, I swear it!” She moved in close, trying to embrace him, but he backed away, shock and anger on his face.

“Fandaniel, that you? Because you just crossed a fucking line, you piece of filth, and I’m going to make you regret it!”

The woman looks over to Y’shtola, panicking. “He…what’s happening, who does he think I am?”

Y’shtola has already moved next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and holding the other with her hand. “Aleister, I swear to you on my life, this is not a trick. Do you remember how Rheika unmasked Elidibus, by tricking him about the Amaro? It proved that an Ascian can’t access memories of their hosts, do you recall that?”

He had stopped backing away, but his eyes didn’t waver from the woman who looked like his wife. He nodded.

Y’shtola looked to her. “Tell him something that only you would know. Something you’d never reveal under even the gravest duress.”

Her eyes danced back and forth, considering, thinking. Finally, they widened and she smiled again. Closer and closer, she approached him, but now he didn’t move. Could….could it be?

She whispered in his ear and he cried out in joy. His world faded, and there was nothing more than the woman in front of him. He pulled her in, crushing against her. Her arms wrapped around his back and pulled in just as strong. So many sensations, so many memories flooded him, and he took all of them in. The scent of her, the feel of her living body preseed to him, the sound of her voice as she whispers her love between sobs. He could not reply, too overwhelmed to cry and breathe.

Tataru moved next to Y’shtola, unable to take her eyes off of the embracing pair. “It…it really is her.”

Y’shtola nods.

“But…how?”

“I think that story is best told to us from them. Once everyone has joined us. I think our resident Old Man may finally be ready to open up, since the loss that caused him so much pain is no longer lost at all.”

Finally, Franks was able to catch his breath and he pulled back to look at her. He kept her close, arms wrapped around her waist, as though he feared she might vanish into mist if he let go. For her part, she likewise kept her arms solidly behind his neck. “Gwen….I…I don’t understand. They…multiple people told me they saw you get taken by Sylvanas’ death squads. We…” He hiccuped. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he kept going. “We scattered when we heard you got taken…that’s, that’s how I ended up here.”

She smiled. “They were right. I was put in with dozens of others, taken to a camp somewhere in Hillsbrad, couldn’t tell you where exactly. We were lined up. Living prisoners had their names taken, checked off a list, then executed right then and there. Some were….were fed to the soldiers. Others to plaguehounds. But for whatever reason, they didn’t kill the Forsaken. Maybe she had sentimentality about us, or maybe she planned to do it later, but we were just shoved into a makeshift prison and left there. We got food occasionally, but no interaction otherwise. Just neverending boredom. Zenjulin and Beskar finally found the place and killed off the few remaining loyalists that still manned it, freeing us.”

She shuddered. “By that point, the Banshee had fucked off to…wherever it was she went. I don’t know. Zenjulin explained it, but I wasn’t listening very well. Or he was missing details, I don’t know. Anyway, he said that our allies were being brought back together to stop her and whatever else she’d brought with her, but that you were still missing. I told them I refused to do anything until I found you. They understood, and I started tracking your movement. Which was hard, because you’d concealed them well, but eventually I made it to Stranglethorn and discovered the cave, the one Y’shtola tells me you came to that same one and it brought you here.”

Franks looked over to Y’shtola, who smiled. “I went there to take some readings, and found her emerging out of the cave. Once I realized who she was, I brought her straight here and had Tataru contact you.”

“Thank you.”

She shook her head. “There is nothing to thank.”

Franks looked back to Gwen. “I… gods, Gwen, you look like the day I asked you to marry me. Even despite all the years, both living and dead, I recognized you right away. I…I actually hallucinated last night…I saw you. Worked for too long without sleeping again. You looked…almost exactly as you do now.” He chuckles. “You uh…you didn’t have these, though”.

He reached up to stroke the fur of her ears. She made a very happy noise at the touch. “Okay, those are definitely a little sensitive, good to know.” She cuddled up against his shoulder, enjoying the sensation.

Eventually he stopped and pulled back again, looking her over. Everything was the same, her long graying hair, two green eyes, one slightly darker than the other, on a heart-shaped face. Everything save the ears. He vaguely recalled the shape of her human ears, but they were no longer there.

She giggled. “I…I don’t know what changed me or why it gave me my youthful body with these ears, honestly. You, though, you look a little bit older than the day you asked me to marry you. Maybe…around our 10th anniversary, I’d guess? Bit more white though, not that I mind. That haircut’s definitely a lot better, someone’s been taking care of you on that front, I see.

She placed her hands on his arms, rubbing them appreciatively. She moves them to his chest and down to his abs, sculpted like they’d been in his younger days from long hard hours of farmwork. “And I see you’ve definitely been taking care of the rest of you. Been way too long since I’ve seen these muscles.” she purred.

Franks laughed nervously. “Well, um….you get a second chance like this, you tend to appreciate and take care of things you took for granted…before.” His hands slipped down to her hips.

Their eyes met, growing lidded. Slowly, he ran his hands up her sides, appreciating every ilm of her curves, ghosting the sides of her breasts. He pulled her close, and their lips met in a kiss they’d not been able to share in decades.

Memories of all of their favorite intimate moments with the other flooded their minds, and both had a realization that those moments could now not only be remembered, but now relived. The rest of the world had long been forgotten and their kisses and touches became more heated when the world suddenly reminded them that it was still there.

“Ahem”

The pair broke, looking in the direction of the voice. The other Warriors of Light and the senior members of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn had all entered and were staring at the pair in varying levels of confusio

Rheika spoke up. It had been her voice that broke into their moment, Franks realized. “I hate to interrupt your moment, I swear I do, but uh…didn’t we have some kind of emergency? Also, um, who is this? Not that you don’t deserve to kiss someone that gorgeous, but I feel like I’m missing part of the story here.”

Franks laughs. Both he and Gwenefyr have turned beet red having realized just how much of a crowd their reunion had attracted. “Ah, yes. Um, well, everyone…allow me to introduce you all to Gwenefyr Franks. My…not quite late wife, as it turns out”

She giggled at that. “Hi, everyone. Y’shtola’s told me a little about you all. I…think I recognize at least some of you from her stories.”

Franks looked over everyone. Thancred, Estinien, and Alisaie weren’t even masking their suspicion. Dahkar, Alphinaud, and Rheika wore expressions of shock. Fearless looked like she was going to explode with joy. Urianger just looed perplexed.

It was Thancred who stepped forward. “Franks….are you sure? I mean, we’ve seen the Asicans puppet dead bodies before..

He immediately shook his head. “No, no, I thought the same thing. But remember, Elidibus didn’t have access to Ardbert’s memories so Y’shtola asked her to tell me something only she would know. It…it’s definitely her.”

Gwen took his hand and looked to the gunbreaker. “Thancred, right?”

Thancred nodded.

“Y’shtola told me you’d probably be the hardest to convince. I don’t know what to say or do to prove to you that I’m not a…..Asican, was it? But I’ll do whatever it takes to prove it to you. To all of you. Because I’m not going anywhere.” She looked up to her husband. “Right?”

He looked right back to her, his eyes sad. “I…don’t think I can go back there again. Not if it means…going back to the way our forms were.Are you…okay with that? With leaving it all behind? I promise, this place is…it’s worth it.”

She nodded. “I don’t think I can either. Azeroth has taken enough from us. And the others…they told me they won’t be surprised if we don’t return to the fight. They’re prepared to keep working towards the dream, but they’ll have to do it without us. I’m not going anywhere without you, love. We have a second chance at actual life and I’m not going back to a world without it or without you.”

Alphinaud speaks up. “Apologies, but did you say Azeroth? I’ve not heard of such a place.”

Franks nods. “Yeah. That’s….that’s the other reason I’m pretty confident she’s not an Ascian. And it’s a story most of y’all long overdue for hearing. And now that I have…gods I can’t believe I have you back…ahem. Well, there’s just no point in hiding it anymore. Gather round…time I told the full story of where I….where we are actually from.”

#Final Fantasy XIV #FFXIV 2021 Writing Challenge #oldmanfranks #Aleister Franks #Gwenefyr Franks #Rheika Aliapoh #oh I am so happy I got to write this reunion. #I tried writing the time they were reunited in WoW and it just felt unnatural and weird. #This is so much better

[thebmatt]

FFXIV Write 2021 Prompt #29: Debonair

It was rather amazing how much life can change in just the span of a few days.

A mere four of them ago, Gwenefyr had been wandering through a jungle, dealing with predatory animal life and parasitic bugs that wanted to eat what was left of her flesh, trying desperately to catch any leads on her missing husband.

Now, she was in a giant casino in the middle of the desert with said husband, both of them actually alive again, on an actual proper date.

She couldn’t remember the last time they’d been able to do this. It was tough to feel romantic when you were literal walking corpses, and they couldn’t exactly get away to spend much time together very often. There was always something to fight or otherwise work on.

Now she had spent the evening being served an incredible meal that her husband had cooked, then been given this gorgeous evening dress (in her favorite color no less) that he had custom weaved for her, and then he’d taken her to this magnificent spectacle for an evening of drinks, games, and shows.

A few days had, quite literally, changed her whole world. She decided that no matter what came, she liked this world if for no other reason than the changes it had affected in the man she loved. She was worried that he’d be different after everything they’d been through, all the time apart, but he wasn’t. If anything, he was just…more. A second chance at life and he’d become an incredible chef (culinarian, she reminded herself), an expert in a truly mind-boggling number of crafting skills (her dress fit her perfectly, and he hadn’t even taken any measurements!), and a bonafide unquestionable hero to a staggering number of people.

Also goddamn he had gotten really really attractive. Rheika had told her just how much effort he put into keeping himself clean and healthy, and she both totally understood and was very appreciative of the results.

But more than that, he was happy. Happy in a way that she hadn’t seen him since….since before they’d died.

He’d left her side to get them both a fresh pair of drinks. She still had a few more minutes on her game of Monster Toss, but she’d soon finished it and he hadn’t returned.

Well, nothing for it but to go look for him. Shouldn’t be nearly as hard as tracking him across an entire continent!

He’d been wearing a very handsome navy blue suit (although apparently it was called void blue in this world), but in the lights of the Gold Saucer it didn’t stand out in a crowd very well, and while it wasn’t packed, there were a fairly large number of people here.

Ah hah! There he is!

She’d spent no small amount of their time together getting used to her husband having hair again, and even moreso that he actually kept it well-styled. And now she spotted that very same head across the room, surrounded by a small gathering of people. Must be people who recognized him as a Warrior of Light. Time to remind him who he’s supposed to be spending time with, the silly man

She made her way over to him, taking care to approach from the back so she wouldn’t be spotted.

Maybe she could get him to jump, just a little.

She smiled her coyest and placed a hand on his shoulder, guiding him to turn around. “Hey there, handsome. Get lost on your way to-oh my gods!”

The man she’d turned around was not her husband. His face was remarkably similar to his, but certain small facial features differed slightly. He also had a tattoo of six dots on his forehead and wore a set of rose-tinted pince-nez that her Aleister most certainly was not. She belatedly realized that she hadn’t even noticed his outfit, a white double-breasted coat and bowtie and….black shorts?

He laughed “Oh ho! Well, my dear lady, unless you are my darling Julyan in a spectacular viera costume, I fear you may have mistaken me for someone else!”

She covered her mouth, blushing furiously. “I’m so so sorry, sir! My husband went to get us more drinks and you and he have very similar hairstyles and I just assumed that…you were he!”

He struck a truly ridiculous set of flexing poses, she almost couldn’t help but laugh. “Aaaah, is that the way of it? Well, your husband must be a truly dashing, debonair gentleman if he could be mistaken for me! But I forget myself. My son would doubtless chastise me for dereliction of gentlemanly duties were he here!”

He bowed. “Godbert Manderville, at your service, milady. I take it you are enjoying yourself this evening?”

Gwen nodded, then gasped “Did….you say Manderville? As in Manderville Gold Saucer, Manderville”

Godbert laughed, loudly and deep from his belly. “Ho ho, indeed! This establishment is indeed my pride and joy! Full glad am I to here that you and your beloved are enjoying yourselves. And might I have your name, my dear?”

“Oh, yes, my apologies. I fear I’m going from one embarrassment to the next.” She gave a small curtsy. “My name is Gwenefyr Franks, Lord Godbert. Pleased to meet you!”

Godbert’s eyebrows shot up. She could almost see the look of recognition through his glasses. “Franks, indeed? And might you be related to a certain famous adventurer who bears that last name? Known for a strange moniker of ‘the Old Man’?”

She giggled. “Indeed, he’s the very husband I mistook you for, sir!”

“Haha! Now I understand entirely! You see, milady, Master Franks and I have chanced to meet many times over the past some few years. Indeed more than once he has aided my very son in his career as a consulting inspector. It has been commented on no too few times by others just how similar our appearances are!”

She nodded, a smile on her face as she looked closer at him. “I can believe it. The resemblance is more than a little uncanny!”

He flexed his ridiculous pose, drawing another giggle from her, then looked to her. “Ah, but he never once mentioned a wife to me? How is it that a man might have such a beauty for a partner and not sing of her to the heavens? “

She nodded. “Ah, well, that is a long story, Lord Godbert. The short version is that he believed I was dead, killed by the ruler of our homeland for perceived disloyalty. It was my death that caused him to come to Eorzea. But our ruler did not kill me, only imprisoned me. Some of our friends found me a great deal of time later and freed me, and I soon came here, looking for him. We were happily reunited in the headquarters of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn only four days, excuse me, suns ago.”

Godbert’s hands moved to his chest, over his heart. “Ah, now that is truly a magnificent tale. Love that even time and distance could not destroy! And that you would spend your newfound time together here, in my establishment? You both honor me, Lady Franks!” He extended his elbow to her. “Now then, let us see if we cannot reunite you!”

“Oh, you don’t have to do that, Lord Godbert, I think I can manage!”

“Nonsense, lady Franks! You are my honored guest this evening, it is both my duty and my pleasure!”

He leaned in and whispered conspiratorially “Plus, it will give me the chance to ask you a question I’ve always wondered about!”

She giggled and took the proffered arm. “Ask away, good sir!”

“Why does your husband insist on being called ‘Old Man’?”

“Ah. Well, in our homeland, we owned a farm, and the neighbor children were fond of playing in our crops. They gave him the moniker of ‘Old Man Franks’ after he developed a reputation as a mean old codger who always chased them off the property. Which, to be fair, he did have to do on a semi-regular basis. As to why he called himself that more recently…he told me that it was because hearing his true name, Aleister, was a bit painful, in that it reminded him of me. I called him his given name more than anyone else in his life, you understand.” He nodded. “Ah, I can absolutely understand that. But you are here, now! Does he still intend to use the moniker?”

“I don’t believe he’s being secretive about his name any longer, milord, but there’s more than a few people who have grown used to the moniker, so I doubt it’ll go away for good!”

He laughed as the pair continued their search for Gwen’s wayward husband. Eventually they found him surrounded by a fair number of Ala Mhigan admirers who knew him as one of the liberators of their homeland. Godbert gave them a card signifying that all of their food and drinks were to be provided on the house, and the pair resumed their date.

#Final Fantasy XIV #FFXIV 2021 Writing Challenge #oldmanfranks #Aleister Franks #Gwenefyr Franks #godbert manderville #ONE DAY MORE!

[thebmatt]

FFXIV Write 2021 Prompt #23: Soul

Soul – the spiritual or immaterial part of a human being or animal, regarded as immortal. -OR- the essence or embodiment of a specified quality.

“So, let me make sure I have all of this straight.The thing that marks you as a Warrior of Light is a combination of both the Echo and the Blessing of Light, correct? Because some people have the Echo but not the Blessing, like Krile or Arenvald. Hydaelyn has to show up to you in a vision and grant you a quest to obtain some elemental crystals and you obtain it when you complete that.

“Gwen, I know you’re trying to get used to how everything works in this new world, but do you really want to cover all of this now, when we’re naked and in bed together for the first time in actual decades?”

“Yes, And the sooner you answer my questions, the sooner we can fuck again. Deal?”

“In that case, everything you said was entirely correct.”

“Okay. And the Blessing just….makes you stronger, essentially, right? Like it gives you the strength to transcend normal limits.”

“That’s as best we understand it, yes. We’ve all grown quite strong on our own, the Blessing has protected us from the more…extreme threats.”

“But the Echo gives you a whole host of useful abilities, like being able to understand all languages or see visions of the past?”

“Among many other things, yes.”

“And the Echo comes from the fact that everyone on this world is a soul fragment of someone on this ancient world that the Ascians are trying to restore. They see a shower of meteors and it awakens a fragment of their old self, which is why not everyone has the same echo abilities, right? Am I missing anything, there?”

“No, that sums it up pretty well.”

“Then how in the hells do you have it, Aleister? We weren’t there, back then. For that matter, how are our souls whole and yet they’re the same as the people here who are supposedly fragments? Y’shtola basically said as much to me.”

“I’ve wondered that myself. I can only assume it has something to do with our forms being altered by coming to this world. Perhaps some marker added to our souls. “

“Huh. Suppose that makes sense. Don’t suppose there’s anyway to get it for me?”

“Not that I know of. The only beings I’ve seen able to generate an illusion of the meteor shower are Hydaelyn and the primal of Elidibus. If Hydaelyn found me worthy of receiving both, maybe she’ll do the same for you. She’s been quiet for a very long time, so I have no idea, though.”

“Damn. Because Fearless was telling me about this ability to learn multiple skills that it gives you and that seems really handy.”

“Oh it absolutely is. The Echo basically prevents skill degradation from lack of use. Anything you learn, it essentially saves in your brain. Even if you don’t use the skill for a time, you don’t forget it.”

“So that’s how you all have essentially mastered multiple forms of combat?”

“Indeed.”

“And those soul crystals you all have, they basically impart their techniques into your mind directly?”

“Essentially, yes, though the exact method varies from crystal to crystal.”

“So you’re telling me that you not only never lose any skill thanks to time not practicing it AND you get a headstart on mastering said skill because the soul crystal lets you get through all those awkward moments where your form is off and stuff like that?”

“Essentially, yes”

“That is so cheating and I absolutely love it.”

“I suppose it is, yes. Any other questions?

“Someone’s needy!”

“Decades, Gwen.

“Hmmm….I suppose you’re right. And I did promise…

“I love you.”

“I love you more.”

#Final Fantasy XIV #FFXIV 2021 Writing Challenge #Aleister Franks #Gwenefyr Franks #oldmanfranks #dialogue fic