I'm not writing these as prose I'll mcfucking die! So you get bulletpoints.
- you are a shitty little catboy archer on a structure of (deeply familiar, considering you know Noah) crystal and gold (it's missing the red and black of his corruption, though). you are incredibly high up, on the roof maybe? there's open sky above, and a gigantic throne before you also formed of that crystal. there are a bunch of people in matching outfits scattered across the platform, deep in discussion. - you and the person beside you (whom you fucking idolize, they are just the absolute coolest) walk up to a dude with white hair and a smith's glove, cid. cid says he's just waiting for his engineer's to give the signal so they can OPEN A GATEWAY TO ANOTHER WORLD. - you, however, are distracted by the throne. there is some talk of a fallen empire, and an emperor whose ambitions brought it to ruin. - your eye hurts. badly. - you tell your companions of warriors who went against that emperor, comparing them to the friend at your side. you tell them that said emperor ripped a hole in reality using the tower, fueled by the power of the sun. this attempt caused a great earthquake, a Calamity and the tower was swallowed by the earth. - cid commends you on your knowledge! you respond by saying you can't really remember where you learned these things, though. - but you are all distracted-- cid's engineer's are ready. everyone steps away from the throne as the engineers and historians use the tower's power to tear a hole in reality, a gate to the World of Darkness. - only a few people can pass through the gate, as it is unstable. your SUPER COOL FRIEND is chosen, of course. - you pull them aside, first, however. saying there's something important the two of you must discuss.
and i'm not pulling up youtube for between-cutscene-dialogue so: - "G'raha Tia reveals his inner struggle. Though he has learned the hue of his eye marks him as close to Allag, he does not know why. However, he feels instinctively that he must accompany you beyond the rift. You gladly accept his offer of company, and ready yourself to pass through the voidgate to rescue your three lost comrades."
- you get the bonus feeling of fucked up disorientation that passing through the rift gives! how nice. the memory ends as you open your eyes to find yourself in, well. a world of darkness.
- this memory is starting out with warring senses of both accomplishment and loss. you are on the top of the tower again, with your comrades who all seem very stressed and relieved. - you watch your SUPER COOL FRIEND wake up. the researchers and engineers-- start to realize, that a few people are missing. you and your friend exchange a look, and you let them explain that Unei and Doga, two of the people you went to save... chose to stay in the World of Darkness. To fulfill their purpose. - this is honestly taken pretty calmly, but the concern of it now being impossible to seal the tower comes up. you say that, no, Unei and Doga entrusted you with their blood. you can now control the Crystal Tower. - Rammbroes is excited! and tells you to seal the tower. you decline, saying that your companions have had a long and exhausting battle, and that you yourself are tired. you are up to something, but no one seems to realize, and this excuse is accepted. - as the researchers and engineers walk away, you turn to your SUPER COOL FRIEND and tell them that no one else could have succeeded where they just did. you say that you wish you could have been of more use in the rift, but the reality is you were just a vessel for Unei and Doga's blood... - your friend gestures to you. - "Hm? Have I remembered what I wished to? ...Yes, something has come back to me. Gaining royal blood and witnessing true bravery has reminded me of my forebears' dearest wish." - then you tell them to go on ahead of you. that there's something small you need to take care of before you head back to camp. and once they're out of earshot... - "I could not have asked for a better comrade. If only I could have been a part of your adventures for longer, [COOL FRIEND]... Alas, fate dictates I have a different role to play. A wish hidden for millennia, and brought to light by the good people of NOAH... Now, finally, 'tis my time to see it realized."
more journal text: "You tell Cid and Rammbroes of what occurred in the World of Darkness. Suddenly, a researcher dashes up, and tells you in panicked tones that G'raha Tia is ordering researchers out of the Crystal Tower."
- your friends come running up to the front door of the tower, but you're waiting for them, and tell them not to pass the threshhold. - rammbroes tries to talk you down, asks you to come out so you can discuss this together, asks for a hint of your plan. - you apologize with a smile, and tell him you can't. - Rammbroes comes straight out of bargaining into anger, but you simply tell him that Unei and Doga fulfilled their destiny, and you must as well. - you explain that after the fall of the tower, an allagan princess used technology to give her blood and memories to one of G'raha's ancestors, the man she trusted the most. - the tower was a beacon of hope for humanity, you say, and you are to see it become one again. - Cid argues that its power is too dangerous for Eorzea right now. it's too great a power that they understand too little to use correctly. - you agree. you say that they could wait for someone, someday, to reach the same heights as the allagan empire, but by then the royal bloodline would be fully lost to time, and with it the means to actually use the tower. - but you can put the tower into a deep sleep, along with yourself. you will wait for man to be worthy of this power, and when you are awoken, guide them. - "The future is where my destiny awaits." - You look to your friend. "But yours lies outside of these doors. Go. Create a future where hope reigns, and the tragedies of the past are but memories. No one but you can accomplish such things." - cid relents, but promises to make strides towards that brighter future as well. his engineers biggs and wedge as well. rammbroes relents. - you tell your cool friend that doubtless their heroism will be the star by which you chart your course when you awaken. then you say you're in the mood for a nap, and that you eagerly await the bright future they will build for you. - and you close the door as you walk away, powering down the tower bit by bit.
This memory starts with a soft hum. You know, instinctively, that the hum is of the tower beginning to wake, as you are. You blink your eyes open, starting to stretch, only to feel a pull on your scalp and a sea of red. ...Ah, your hair grew even as you slumbered. You take more care in sitting up, pulling your (frankly impressive but faaaar too long for comfort) hair over your shoulder. You need to be as presentable as possible for your guests. Granted, it will likely take them a while to arrive, but it isn't as though you have any reason to be impatient now, though excitement is humming through you at the same frequency of the tower's power.
How long has it been, you wonder? How long will it take them to pass through the Tower itself? You briefly wonder if you should test their mettle by fighting them, but... No. You are no ancient king, here to judge them. You are a guide. It will be good enough, knowing the obstacles they had to pass to even reach you. So you wait as patiently as you can for them to explore the tower and reach you, perched upon the Emperor's Throne, hilariously dwarfed by it.
They do, finally reach you, and you meet them with as dramatic a welcome as you can. Of course you do, you have no idea what amount of time has passed. You're internally pleased, to find the symbol of the Ironworks on some of their clothes, and that their leader is named Biggs. This pleasure is only slightly tempered when he says he's the eighteenth president of the Ironworks. It's already been so very long. The last of that pleasure drops straight out from under you when you're told the year, with The Eighth Umbral Era tacked on. It's been 200 years. You're in a new age.
There was a Calamity, since you went to sleep. All their progress was lost, and the world is a teeming mess of fighting and suffering. Not only is this not your bright future, this is far worse than anything you've seen before, worse than anything you've heard of even in your study of history. You didn't know you could feel numb and cold to this degree before, but you promise to aid them in learning about the Tower. You are still their guide. They accept you as one of their own, easily, give you access to all of their resources so you can find out what happened. And tell you that they plan to change the past, through the power of technology. You align yourself with their causes immediately, and throw yourself into the work with a frantic desperation.
this memory is basically just, g'raha reading a fuckload of books and files while ON THE RUN in a BURNING HELLSCAPE WORLD
vital things to know are: - files on Alexander, a time-travelling robot primal - files on Omega, an interdimensional deathmatch pit AND time-travelling robot...thing... - memoirs of Count Edmont de Fortemps, aka tales of the Dragonsong War, aka the warrior of light ending a war by making elves and dragons stop fucking kill each other and hold hands already - i could not begin to tell you who narrates stormblood, but, stormblood shit - "the war between the Eorzean Alliance and the Empire turned in the Alliance's favor, and they began pushing the Empire further and further back. Faced with defeat, the Empire unleashed the Black Rose in desperation. The weapon proved much deadlier than even the Empire had expected, not only decimating Eorzea but spreading to the imperial provinces as well. With nearly all known nations on the Three Great Continents devastated by the Black Rose, the land descended into chaos—an Eighth Umbral Calamity. Among the casualties of the Calamity were the Warrior of Light and the other Scions." thx final fantasy wiki - what knowledge of the ascians and shards could be imparted - whoa, warriors of darkness, what? from the First? a world fully awash with light? yikes yikes yikes
All is as ready as it can be. All except you. Chosen as you have been for your unique position, your connection to the past and your control over the tower... even you cannot survive the infinite chaos of the rift. Not un-aided. And simply being within the tower's walls will not be enough to protect you.
You haven't told them your plans for becoming one with the tower. They cannot really realize exactly what you mean. That was your intention, of course. They may not be able to spare you whatever suffering is coming your way, they cannot afford to, but... You don't need to make their possibly last moments painful ones. You know that if you succeed, you will undo these brave, kind souls. They know it too. They demand it. But the least you can do is make yourself what they need you to be, on this fool's errand. If you succeed, they will live on in your memory. If you fail... you will live on in theirs, as much as you can, until the end.
You've already sent them out of the tower. You're communicating by antique linkpearls, at the moment, but you ask them to wait a few minutes, tell them you'll let them know when you're prepared. You hang up. Then you turn to the expanse of rough crystal before you. Coax it, in the way only you can, to form a spike and break off a chunk of itself. There isn't time to be hesitant about this, so you grit your teeth and slam that spike into your forearm, sharp end first. You withdraw it and do it again, and again, chiseling out a piece of your flesh so you can place the piece of crystal there instead, will it to expand and form to the shape of the injury as best it can. Filling in, becoming part of you, jagged edges widening the wound but holding and stopping the bleeding. It's messy. It isn't clean. But it's the best you can do with your left hand, the best you can do without help, and you won't hurt them like that. They don't need to see you like this.
It... takes you a few minutes to trust your voice enough to call them back, and tell them you're ready. You're in agony, but you believe you're focused enough to pull this off. There's a countdown, and you keep Biggs on the line as you draw on the power of the Tycoon they built, on the power of the tower, and hurl the whole thing into the rift along with yourself.
It's a new, different kind of agony. Your life is flashing before your eyes in spite of the void all around, and it's not just your life. There's so much else. But you cling to the tower, to the feeling of its power pulsing within your own body, keep from being separated from your anchor. And you push, and push. You need to go to the First. You need to make it in time. You have to go back, to when there were people, to prevent that world from becoming entirely barren, to prevent twin Calamities. You tell yourself, over and over again, as the rift licks at your sanity, until--
It's over, suddenly. The tower is on solid ground, gaining new power from an external light. You drag yourself down to the ground floor, out the door, and shy away from the sheer brightness of the light. It's near-blinding. There's not a proper sky at all, but almost a miasma of light shifting above. It seems you've made it to the First.
From below, too, light shines right into your eyes-- but you find that's not the fault of this Shard. That's your arm, reflecting the light at you. When you left, it was just a chunk of crystal buried into your arm. Now, it seems to have overtaken much of the arm itself-- a shining, translucent forearm with gold running through it is there instead, where flesh was, like a bracer with ragged edges. It doesn't hurt anymore, not really. It sinks in only then, how much time you must have spent in the rift. No wonder you felt you were going mad.
You're being tugged along by an elezen -- elven, you correct yourself -- stripling, as she excitedly chatters about logistics. She's always taken after her mother, you think to yourself with some amusement, but she hasn't hit her growth spurt yet, still smaller than you.
You aren't entirely sure how she toped you into accompanying her on this tour for the anxious Viera (Viis) you're being carted up to, but here you are. You bow to her politely, making her jump in confusion, which is only deepened when you confirm that yes, you are the fabled Crystal Exarchn and welcome her to the Crystarium.
Your young charge practically vibrates with excitement all through the introductions, then hooks her elbow with yours and drags the both of you off to the markets, chattering excitedly about architecture, now. Which is especially amusing, but you opt not to remind her that you made the great panes of crystal shielding them from the unrelenting light yourself.
Slowly but surely the three of you make your way around the Crystarium, taking in the sights and sounds of people earnestly, cheerfully making the best of things even in a dying world. Everyone who spots you waves, some come up and chat and update you on their progress with various projects, some come up and ruffle the hair of your self-assigned tour guide. All in all, it's honestly quite impressive. You've clearly helped build and protect it, but it's not as though they're not putting in their share of the work.
She does brag about you making the aetheryte, once you all get that far, but that only serves to make you chuckle and hide a little more under your hood.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
CRYSTAL TOWER RAIDS - INTO THE WORLD OF DARKNESS
- you are a shitty little catboy archer on a structure of (deeply familiar, considering you know Noah) crystal and gold (it's missing the red and black of his corruption, though). you are incredibly high up, on the roof maybe? there's open sky above, and a gigantic throne before you also formed of that crystal. there are a bunch of people in matching outfits scattered across the platform, deep in discussion.
- you and the person beside you (whom you fucking idolize, they are just the absolute coolest) walk up to a dude with white hair and a smith's glove, cid. cid says he's just waiting for his engineer's to give the signal so they can OPEN A GATEWAY TO ANOTHER WORLD.
- you, however, are distracted by the throne. there is some talk of a fallen empire, and an emperor whose ambitions brought it to ruin.
- your eye hurts. badly.
- you tell your companions of warriors who went against that emperor, comparing them to the friend at your side. you tell them that said emperor ripped a hole in reality using the tower, fueled by the power of the sun. this attempt caused a great earthquake, a Calamity and the tower was swallowed by the earth.
- cid commends you on your knowledge! you respond by saying you can't really remember where you learned these things, though.
- but you are all distracted-- cid's engineer's are ready. everyone steps away from the throne as the engineers and historians use the tower's power to tear a hole in reality, a gate to the World of Darkness.
- only a few people can pass through the gate, as it is unstable. your SUPER COOL FRIEND is chosen, of course.
- you pull them aside, first, however. saying there's something important the two of you must discuss.
and i'm not pulling up youtube for between-cutscene-dialogue so:
- "G'raha Tia reveals his inner struggle. Though he has learned the hue of his eye marks him as close to Allag, he does not know why. However, he feels instinctively that he must accompany you beyond the rift. You gladly accept his offer of company, and ready yourself to pass through the voidgate to rescue your three lost comrades."
- you get the bonus feeling of fucked up disorientation that passing through the rift gives! how nice. the memory ends as you open your eyes to find yourself in, well. a world of darkness.
CRYSTAL TOWER RAIDS - SEALING THE TOWER
- you watch your SUPER COOL FRIEND wake up. the researchers and engineers-- start to realize, that a few people are missing. you and your friend exchange a look, and you let them explain that Unei and Doga, two of the people you went to save... chose to stay in the World of Darkness. To fulfill their purpose.
- this is honestly taken pretty calmly, but the concern of it now being impossible to seal the tower comes up. you say that, no, Unei and Doga entrusted you with their blood. you can now control the Crystal Tower.
- Rammbroes is excited! and tells you to seal the tower. you decline, saying that your companions have had a long and exhausting battle, and that you yourself are tired. you are up to something, but no one seems to realize, and this excuse is accepted.
- as the researchers and engineers walk away, you turn to your SUPER COOL FRIEND and tell them that no one else could have succeeded where they just did. you say that you wish you could have been of more use in the rift, but the reality is you were just a vessel for Unei and Doga's blood...
- your friend gestures to you.
- "Hm? Have I remembered what I wished to? ...Yes, something has come back to me. Gaining royal blood and witnessing true bravery has reminded me of my forebears' dearest wish."
- then you tell them to go on ahead of you. that there's something small you need to take care of before you head back to camp. and once they're out of earshot...
- "I could not have asked for a better comrade. If only I could have been a part of your adventures for longer, [COOL FRIEND]... Alas, fate dictates I have a different role to play. A wish hidden for millennia, and brought to light by the good people of NOAH... Now, finally, 'tis my time to see it realized."
more journal text:
"You tell Cid and Rammbroes of what occurred in the World of Darkness. Suddenly, a researcher dashes up, and tells you in panicked tones that G'raha Tia is ordering researchers out of the Crystal Tower."
- your friends come running up to the front door of the tower, but you're waiting for them, and tell them not to pass the threshhold.
- rammbroes tries to talk you down, asks you to come out so you can discuss this together, asks for a hint of your plan.
- you apologize with a smile, and tell him you can't.
- Rammbroes comes straight out of bargaining into anger, but you simply tell him that Unei and Doga fulfilled their destiny, and you must as well.
- you explain that after the fall of the tower, an allagan princess used technology to give her blood and memories to one of G'raha's ancestors, the man she trusted the most.
- the tower was a beacon of hope for humanity, you say, and you are to see it become one again.
- Cid argues that its power is too dangerous for Eorzea right now. it's too great a power that they understand too little to use correctly.
- you agree. you say that they could wait for someone, someday, to reach the same heights as the allagan empire, but by then the royal bloodline would be fully lost to time, and with it the means to actually use the tower.
- but you can put the tower into a deep sleep, along with yourself. you will wait for man to be worthy of this power, and when you are awoken, guide them.
- "The future is where my destiny awaits."
- You look to your friend. "But yours lies outside of these doors. Go. Create a future where hope reigns, and the tragedies of the past are but memories. No one but you can accomplish such things."
- cid relents, but promises to make strides towards that brighter future as well. his engineers biggs and wedge as well. rammbroes relents.
- you tell your cool friend that doubtless their heroism will be the star by which you chart your course when you awaken. then you say you're in the mood for a nap, and that you eagerly await the bright future they will build for you.
- and you close the door as you walk away, powering down the tower bit by bit.
WAKING UP
How long has it been, you wonder? How long will it take them to pass through the Tower itself? You briefly wonder if you should test their mettle by fighting them, but... No. You are no ancient king, here to judge them. You are a guide. It will be good enough, knowing the obstacles they had to pass to even reach you. So you wait as patiently as you can for them to explore the tower and reach you, perched upon the Emperor's Throne, hilariously dwarfed by it.
They do, finally reach you, and you meet them with as dramatic a welcome as you can. Of course you do, you have no idea what amount of time has passed. You're internally pleased, to find the symbol of the Ironworks on some of their clothes, and that their leader is named Biggs. This pleasure is only slightly tempered when he says he's the eighteenth president of the Ironworks. It's already been so very long. The last of that pleasure drops straight out from under you when you're told the year, with The Eighth Umbral Era tacked on. It's been 200 years. You're in a new age.
There was a Calamity, since you went to sleep. All their progress was lost, and the world is a teeming mess of fighting and suffering. Not only is this not your bright future, this is far worse than anything you've seen before, worse than anything you've heard of even in your study of history. You didn't know you could feel numb and cold to this degree before, but you promise to aid them in learning about the Tower. You are still their guide. They accept you as one of their own, easily, give you access to all of their resources so you can find out what happened. And tell you that they plan to change the past, through the power of technology. You align yourself with their causes immediately, and throw yourself into the work with a frantic desperation.
HEAVENSWARD AND STORMBLOOD MONTAGE!!!
vital things to know are:
- files on Alexander, a time-travelling robot primal
- files on Omega, an interdimensional
deathmatch pitAND time-travelling robot...thing...- memoirs of Count Edmont de Fortemps, aka tales of the Dragonsong War, aka the warrior of light ending a war by making elves and dragons stop fucking kill each other and hold hands already
- i could not begin to tell you who narrates stormblood, but, stormblood shit
- "the war between the Eorzean Alliance and the Empire turned in the Alliance's favor, and they began pushing the Empire further and further back. Faced with defeat, the Empire unleashed the Black Rose in desperation. The weapon proved much deadlier than even the Empire had expected, not only decimating Eorzea but spreading to the imperial provinces as well. With nearly all known nations on the Three Great Continents devastated by the Black Rose, the land descended into chaos—an Eighth Umbral Calamity. Among the casualties of the Calamity were the Warrior of Light and the other Scions." thx final fantasy wiki
- what knowledge of the ascians and shards could be imparted
- whoa, warriors of darkness, what? from the First? a world fully awash with light? yikes yikes yikes
THE ACTUAL JOURNEY - self-harm cw
You haven't told them your plans for becoming one with the tower. They cannot really realize exactly what you mean. That was your intention, of course. They may not be able to spare you whatever suffering is coming your way, they cannot afford to, but... You don't need to make their possibly last moments painful ones. You know that if you succeed, you will undo these brave, kind souls. They know it too. They demand it. But the least you can do is make yourself what they need you to be, on this fool's errand. If you succeed, they will live on in your memory. If you fail... you will live on in theirs, as much as you can, until the end.
You've already sent them out of the tower. You're communicating by antique linkpearls, at the moment, but you ask them to wait a few minutes, tell them you'll let them know when you're prepared. You hang up. Then you turn to the expanse of rough crystal before you. Coax it, in the way only you can, to form a spike and break off a chunk of itself. There isn't time to be hesitant about this, so you grit your teeth and slam that spike into your forearm, sharp end first. You withdraw it and do it again, and again, chiseling out a piece of your flesh so you can place the piece of crystal there instead, will it to expand and form to the shape of the injury as best it can. Filling in, becoming part of you, jagged edges widening the wound but holding and stopping the bleeding. It's messy. It isn't clean. But it's the best you can do with your left hand, the best you can do without help, and you won't hurt them like that. They don't need to see you like this.
It... takes you a few minutes to trust your voice enough to call them back, and tell them you're ready. You're in agony, but you believe you're focused enough to pull this off. There's a countdown, and you keep Biggs on the line as you draw on the power of the Tycoon they built, on the power of the tower, and hurl the whole thing into the rift along with yourself.
It's a new, different kind of agony. Your life is flashing before your eyes in spite of the void all around, and it's not just your life. There's so much else. But you cling to the tower, to the feeling of its power pulsing within your own body, keep from being separated from your anchor. And you push, and push. You need to go to the First. You need to make it in time. You have to go back, to when there were people, to prevent that world from becoming entirely barren, to prevent twin Calamities. You tell yourself, over and over again, as the rift licks at your sanity, until--
It's over, suddenly. The tower is on solid ground, gaining new power from an external light. You drag yourself down to the ground floor, out the door, and shy away from the sheer brightness of the light. It's near-blinding. There's not a proper sky at all, but almost a miasma of light shifting above. It seems you've made it to the First.
From below, too, light shines right into your eyes-- but you find that's not the fault of this Shard. That's your arm, reflecting the light at you. When you left, it was just a chunk of crystal buried into your arm. Now, it seems to have overtaken much of the arm itself-- a shining, translucent forearm with gold running through it is there instead, where flesh was, like a bracer with ragged edges. It doesn't hurt anymore, not really. It sinks in only then, how much time you must have spent in the rift. No wonder you felt you were going mad.
A TOUR OF THE CRYSTARIUM (but not the canon one)
You aren't entirely sure how she toped you into accompanying her on this tour for the anxious Viera (Viis) you're being carted up to, but here you are. You bow to her politely, making her jump in confusion, which is only deepened when you confirm that yes, you are the fabled Crystal Exarchn and welcome her to the Crystarium.
Your young charge practically vibrates with excitement all through the introductions, then hooks her elbow with yours and drags the both of you off to the markets, chattering excitedly about architecture, now. Which is especially amusing, but you opt not to remind her that you made the great panes of crystal shielding them from the unrelenting light yourself.
Slowly but surely the three of you make your way around the Crystarium, taking in the sights and sounds of people earnestly, cheerfully making the best of things even in a dying world. Everyone who spots you waves, some come up and chat and update you on their progress with various projects, some come up and ruffle the hair of your self-assigned tour guide. All in all, it's honestly quite impressive. You've clearly helped build and protect it, but it's not as though they're not putting in their share of the work.
She does brag about you making the aetheryte, once you all get that far, but that only serves to make you chuckle and hide a little more under your hood.