Amid the cheering and congratulatory roars, Savayna would hear Grant. He brought up a good point. And she was just about to do that before she caught something rather peculiar: one of the remains of the machines that she had demolished had a familiar symbol. It was a shield with a golden lining and a royal blue center. Over it, a sword of black and chrome overlapped with eagle wings, and a crown down the blade at the middle. Near the bottom of the blade, a ribbon covered a portion of it, with the words “The Brotherhood” right in the center.
Savayna would sigh rather deeply, leaning close to Grant, and said, “We don’t need to. I know what’s happening.” Savayna said, tightening up her hand into a fist.
In the next moment, Savayna paced away from Grant, away from the crowd, and walked several of those paces opposite of the entrance. No words -she simply walked, bearing no mind to what Grant was probably thinking. She knew what she was doing. She couldn’t be here for more than one reason.
Jaakuna’s head was throbbing. Worse than that, he knew it wasn’t going to get any better. This was true for two reasons. First of all, Lorenzo wanted the rest of the tour. And two, Reia wouldn’t be along for the ride on account that she wanted to rest, which in turn would leave Jaakuna alone with Lorenzo. Was this what Nadeline feared about her father? If so, then color me a sympathiser. I had no idea it was this bad for you.
With an exaggerated groan, Jaakuna approached the duo. “Very well.” Jaakuna said. He gave Reia a smile, then said, “Iris, if you would, please lead Empress Reia to the female dorms. Make sure she is given the best one available. I think the one with the bathroom should suffice. And please alert her when we arrive in Archadia.” Jaakuna said.
“Understood, Master Jaakuna.” Iris said.
A moment would pass. In that time, something akin to a hologram would appear. It was blue all around but with different shades. Hair was dark blue like navy, skin was cornflower blue, eyes had a bright, almost crystal blue shine to them. To the naked eye, her attire was nothing more than a one-piece suit that covered major parts of the breasts, shoulders, and just six inches below the waist. However, if one looked closely, there was more to it than that. There was an ever-flowing stream of computer data that made up its entirety. This data also formed faded navy pantyhose that went from mid-thigh to her feet, as well as on the arms from mid-bicep to her fingernails. There are odd, almost lifelike patterns along her thighs and calves.
“Empress Reia,” Iris’s voice came from the lifelike hologram, “if you would, please follow me.” Iris would gesture REia out the door, leaving Jaakuna and Lorenzo to their lonesome.
Before Lorenzo would have any chance of questioning what just happened, Jaakuna would force his frozen body out the door, and in the opposite direction of where Iris led Reia. In that direction, Jaakuna would be heading straight towards what Jaakuna liked to refer to Main Operations. It was a section of the ship that was dead center of the entire Ifrit. Unlike the engine room, main operations housed an even larger magicite core. While the engine has an impressive one for sure, the center of the Ifrit houses one twice as dense but nowhere nearly as large - it doesn’t need to. It’s a rotating, pulsating mass of pure magickal stone that sends out these pulses of magick every hour to enforce the Ifrit with its nearly-indestructible shield.
Walking into it, Jaakuna gleamed with pride. Surely Lorenzo was in awe. Jaakuna wasn’t surprised. Due to the spacious room where the core was hoisted at the ceiling, the crystal-like core of the Ifrit glowing with green Mist. But it wasn’t harmful Mist. This specific mist, while heavy on the magickal presence, gave a feeling of warmth and calmness, the only kind that was possible in a controlled environment.
The room itself, core aside, surrounded it. Several wires ran along the floors, tangling and crossed with each other, coiling to the contraption that held the core in place. Little, floating machines that were half machine, half magicite floated around, doing maintenance on the core, the wires, the coils, the cannons, and everything that required mechanical assistance.
“Ain’t she a beaut!” Jaakuna looked at the core with swelled-up pride. “This was the hardest part. It took me months just to find the right kind of magicite to use. Took a lot of bribing to get what I needed.” Jaakuna said, bragging about the accomplishment, “yessir, she can produce over seven dozen rounds of pure, magickal, photonic energy in three seconds, appearing as one singular beam of magick. On top of that, the little cannons you see have enough juice in them to shoot three times as much in just 50% of the time. Not as accurate, but boy do they make aerial battles a whole lot easier. And don’t even get me started on our shields,” Jaakuna once again looked up, “powered by this baby, the Ifrit is not only capable of withstanding most frontal assaults, but with the added bonus of having an extremely-powered shield, it can double as a battering ram. Though,” Jaakuna paused, “more than ten direct hits from a distance less than half of a mile, and the shields temporarily disable for about twenty seconds. Safe to say we don’t want to be within firing range of an enemy ship when that happens.” Jaakuna laughed nervously.
Ivalice was getting worse the more time Zodiark remained loose. Turbulences of mist were happening all over. All three major countries of Ivalice have reported these disturbances. Airships that woudl otherwise have near-perfect flights either were rendered in stasis for several minutes or had completely lost control and went down, resulting in dozens of deaths world-wide. They were reported going down near The Phon Coast, and the Dalmasca Wester and Estersands. In these reports, the last moments of every airship crash had video files saved. In them, they showed the figure of a black mass passing through the ship as it malfunctioned.
These reports have been happening for days. And yet no one was able to do anything. The worst of it all was it could only get worse from here on out. Deaths upon deaths piling up and only a black mass of mist was the closest anyone has gotten. What was even worse, this black mass was last seen hovering over Stigma.
Somewhere in Stigma, deep in the shadows, a figure comes out, oozing black, gooey mist. It walks appearing to be in a heavy-duty armor black like night and with red emblems of a snake looking up at the sky at darkness, through the halls of Stigma's Palace. It does not need to keep to the shadows for it no longer needs to. Years of feeding off of the evil energies that have gathered in every crevice of Stigma allowed it to become strong. These walls have experienced argument after argument, and now, after so many weeks of being in slumber, The Creature is ready.
But first, something must be done.
The Creature turned a right into the room of one Andre Inabi. He lay unconscious, most likely sleeping. In the room were guards who guard — correction, guarded — the Lord Inabi. They no longer were as they have since then succombed to an instant death thanks to the floating mist that had entered their systems as soon as The Creature had entered Andre's room. Not far off, The Creature noticed someone running their fingers through Andre's mane. "The energies tell The Creature that he was in a coma, but had awoken just hours prior. Apparently the good will of one Jaakuna Hinoko, combined with Emiri Inabi's special ability," The Creature said to the person. "The energies also tell The Creature that the Scion Who Controls the Wheels of Time has been silenced. His magicks are no longer felt among the mist."
The Creature walked up closer to those sinister hands. The hands that belonged to a person that The Creature knew very well. It was a man that looked to be the age of Andre's daughter, maybe slightly younger. Hair like the abyss, but silky like spider web. Skin pure like the void and eyes empty like it too. Clothes were of no importance as they were as average as anything else in Stigma. But the way his eyes looked at Andre. It was not that of concern. It was a sinister, vile feeling.
"Keiran, you know what you must do now." The Creature said, gooey, sticky hand on Keiran's shoulder, "The Dark One is nearing the final stages of his plan. And to achieve that, he needs The Scion of Time. He has instructed me with the following order.."
And so The Creature would tell Keiran what he must do. Show yourself to Emiri once more. Tell her that you found the one responsible for her mother's death. you have found where Lola is hiding out at. Tell her she's hiding in one of the oil refineries in the Sandsea. Tell her that she's injured, and that if you strike now, surely Lola will fall.
"Do you understand?"
Savayna would sigh rather deeply, leaning close to Grant, and said, “We don’t need to. I know what’s happening.” Savayna said, tightening up her hand into a fist.
In the next moment, Savayna paced away from Grant, away from the crowd, and walked several of those paces opposite of the entrance. No words -she simply walked, bearing no mind to what Grant was probably thinking. She knew what she was doing. She couldn’t be here for more than one reason.
Jaakuna’s head was throbbing. Worse than that, he knew it wasn’t going to get any better. This was true for two reasons. First of all, Lorenzo wanted the rest of the tour. And two, Reia wouldn’t be along for the ride on account that she wanted to rest, which in turn would leave Jaakuna alone with Lorenzo. Was this what Nadeline feared about her father? If so, then color me a sympathiser. I had no idea it was this bad for you.
With an exaggerated groan, Jaakuna approached the duo. “Very well.” Jaakuna said. He gave Reia a smile, then said, “Iris, if you would, please lead Empress Reia to the female dorms. Make sure she is given the best one available. I think the one with the bathroom should suffice. And please alert her when we arrive in Archadia.” Jaakuna said.
“Understood, Master Jaakuna.” Iris said.
A moment would pass. In that time, something akin to a hologram would appear. It was blue all around but with different shades. Hair was dark blue like navy, skin was cornflower blue, eyes had a bright, almost crystal blue shine to them. To the naked eye, her attire was nothing more than a one-piece suit that covered major parts of the breasts, shoulders, and just six inches below the waist. However, if one looked closely, there was more to it than that. There was an ever-flowing stream of computer data that made up its entirety. This data also formed faded navy pantyhose that went from mid-thigh to her feet, as well as on the arms from mid-bicep to her fingernails. There are odd, almost lifelike patterns along her thighs and calves.
“Empress Reia,” Iris’s voice came from the lifelike hologram, “if you would, please follow me.” Iris would gesture REia out the door, leaving Jaakuna and Lorenzo to their lonesome.
Before Lorenzo would have any chance of questioning what just happened, Jaakuna would force his frozen body out the door, and in the opposite direction of where Iris led Reia. In that direction, Jaakuna would be heading straight towards what Jaakuna liked to refer to Main Operations. It was a section of the ship that was dead center of the entire Ifrit. Unlike the engine room, main operations housed an even larger magicite core. While the engine has an impressive one for sure, the center of the Ifrit houses one twice as dense but nowhere nearly as large - it doesn’t need to. It’s a rotating, pulsating mass of pure magickal stone that sends out these pulses of magick every hour to enforce the Ifrit with its nearly-indestructible shield.
Walking into it, Jaakuna gleamed with pride. Surely Lorenzo was in awe. Jaakuna wasn’t surprised. Due to the spacious room where the core was hoisted at the ceiling, the crystal-like core of the Ifrit glowing with green Mist. But it wasn’t harmful Mist. This specific mist, while heavy on the magickal presence, gave a feeling of warmth and calmness, the only kind that was possible in a controlled environment.
The room itself, core aside, surrounded it. Several wires ran along the floors, tangling and crossed with each other, coiling to the contraption that held the core in place. Little, floating machines that were half machine, half magicite floated around, doing maintenance on the core, the wires, the coils, the cannons, and everything that required mechanical assistance.
“Ain’t she a beaut!” Jaakuna looked at the core with swelled-up pride. “This was the hardest part. It took me months just to find the right kind of magicite to use. Took a lot of bribing to get what I needed.” Jaakuna said, bragging about the accomplishment, “yessir, she can produce over seven dozen rounds of pure, magickal, photonic energy in three seconds, appearing as one singular beam of magick. On top of that, the little cannons you see have enough juice in them to shoot three times as much in just 50% of the time. Not as accurate, but boy do they make aerial battles a whole lot easier. And don’t even get me started on our shields,” Jaakuna once again looked up, “powered by this baby, the Ifrit is not only capable of withstanding most frontal assaults, but with the added bonus of having an extremely-powered shield, it can double as a battering ram. Though,” Jaakuna paused, “more than ten direct hits from a distance less than half of a mile, and the shields temporarily disable for about twenty seconds. Safe to say we don’t want to be within firing range of an enemy ship when that happens.” Jaakuna laughed nervously.
Ivalice was getting worse the more time Zodiark remained loose. Turbulences of mist were happening all over. All three major countries of Ivalice have reported these disturbances. Airships that woudl otherwise have near-perfect flights either were rendered in stasis for several minutes or had completely lost control and went down, resulting in dozens of deaths world-wide. They were reported going down near The Phon Coast, and the Dalmasca Wester and Estersands. In these reports, the last moments of every airship crash had video files saved. In them, they showed the figure of a black mass passing through the ship as it malfunctioned.
These reports have been happening for days. And yet no one was able to do anything. The worst of it all was it could only get worse from here on out. Deaths upon deaths piling up and only a black mass of mist was the closest anyone has gotten. What was even worse, this black mass was last seen hovering over Stigma.
Somewhere in Stigma, deep in the shadows, a figure comes out, oozing black, gooey mist. It walks appearing to be in a heavy-duty armor black like night and with red emblems of a snake looking up at the sky at darkness, through the halls of Stigma's Palace. It does not need to keep to the shadows for it no longer needs to. Years of feeding off of the evil energies that have gathered in every crevice of Stigma allowed it to become strong. These walls have experienced argument after argument, and now, after so many weeks of being in slumber, The Creature is ready.
But first, something must be done.
The Creature turned a right into the room of one Andre Inabi. He lay unconscious, most likely sleeping. In the room were guards who guard — correction, guarded — the Lord Inabi. They no longer were as they have since then succombed to an instant death thanks to the floating mist that had entered their systems as soon as The Creature had entered Andre's room. Not far off, The Creature noticed someone running their fingers through Andre's mane. "The energies tell The Creature that he was in a coma, but had awoken just hours prior. Apparently the good will of one Jaakuna Hinoko, combined with Emiri Inabi's special ability," The Creature said to the person. "The energies also tell The Creature that the Scion Who Controls the Wheels of Time has been silenced. His magicks are no longer felt among the mist."
The Creature walked up closer to those sinister hands. The hands that belonged to a person that The Creature knew very well. It was a man that looked to be the age of Andre's daughter, maybe slightly younger. Hair like the abyss, but silky like spider web. Skin pure like the void and eyes empty like it too. Clothes were of no importance as they were as average as anything else in Stigma. But the way his eyes looked at Andre. It was not that of concern. It was a sinister, vile feeling.
"Keiran, you know what you must do now." The Creature said, gooey, sticky hand on Keiran's shoulder, "The Dark One is nearing the final stages of his plan. And to achieve that, he needs The Scion of Time. He has instructed me with the following order.."
And so The Creature would tell Keiran what he must do. Show yourself to Emiri once more. Tell her that you found the one responsible for her mother's death. you have found where Lola is hiding out at. Tell her she's hiding in one of the oil refineries in the Sandsea. Tell her that she's injured, and that if you strike now, surely Lola will fall.
"Do you understand?"
