#u'faeylyn khaine

[ashe-xiv]

She collapsed onto the bed, exhausted from the whirlwind stretch of suns that had occurred since being told of Valera’s existence; her mind reflexively turned to the Garlean measurement of megasecond, her better self debated between terming it as a sennight, as it had only been just over eleven days since.

There was so much that had occurred, she had little idea where to begin with writing it down. Perhaps it would be best to speak of the more important issues, than try to sort through everything as one long chain of events.

No longer the outlier amongst the books that surrounded her, for much of them were also old Dalmascan tomes, Ashla takes out the old, leatherbound tome from its hiding place in her pocket.

With a sigh, she tries to decide between the draining process of writing by hand, or the draining process of simply reconstructing the aether of the pages so that the ink merely appeared.

Her mind flickering back to earlier, what Leo had said to her, she sighs and pulls out the wrapped piece of graphite, beginning to write upon the page instead - a slight curse at the Dalmascan hero muttered as she begins.

It has been a very hectic sennight, with something happening nearly every eve and sun since joining Krystallos. Some were merely holiday festivities, while others were more intense.

The day after I had joined, one of the other members were attacked by a member of the Crimson Lord’s criminal syndicate; she slayed him upon the stairs, even as others stole away a false artefact. It was a pity such occurred, as just before discovering this, Valera, Lady U’faeylyn, and I had met a merchant-trader who specialised in wine - one who was willing to chase after Dalmascan wine.

To alleviate the stress of the woman who was attacked, and had to kill the man, I extended an offer of my abilities to clean up the mess, so to speak. I have never broken down so much aether, without using it in another form in that instant; I did not have to wonder overly long as what to do for it, as the auricite pendant designed as the Serpentarius decided to solve the problem for me - the aether found its way into the stone, nearly knocking me over.

The next night, a new hire whom I knew to be a bartender, but also is a chirurgeon and magitek specialist. He lamented after all had gone to bed that there was no body to inspect for clues...and in an effort to gain more information on our targets, I willingly reformed the body from the stored aether. Once he finished studying the body, I again dismantled it into aether, and the Serpentarius again collected the vast body of aether.

Were such not so strenuous, the following sun, another new hire arrived for his interview, along with his two associates - a pair of Xaela brothers. He is a braggart and likely a liar, and I trust him about as far as I could physically throw him. He had attended the company estate upon the same night that his two Xaelic friends did, trying to find them, and mistook me for a common servant - and tried to ply his way out of his error with honeyed words and fluttering eyelashes.

It failed, terribly, and to have to work closely with him to track down the Crimson Lord is something I don’t look forward to.

The following night, I ended up allowing the Lion’s maid to talk me into wearing a different costume than what I typically wear to All Saints Wake festivities, loaning me one of her own dresses and adornments. However, the tavern at which such was held was...quite a bit more akin to that which might be next to a brothel, than the taverns I have been to thusfar. While the staff was pleasant enough, and largely properly behaved towards me, there were...a number of people lacking in much clothing, and it seemed such was less than frowned upon, for the more part. Thankfully, Leo discovered from L'enah that I had left my linkpearl with her, as the earrings she loaned me did not have a socket for it - he arrived at the establishment before anything untoward happened, though he warned me that I likely had garnered more attention than I desired.

Thankfully, the following eve was mostly pleasant. I returned to the Uranami Onsen (( @uranami-onsen​ )) for their weekly open house, which was also a grand opening for their larger venue. The man at the bar was pleasant and polite, and gave a bit of conversation while I enjoyed my meal, largely about the Onsen’s attempt to have their opening festivities the previous week, only to be met with an issue with power.

For the first time, I actually used the onsen, and the time within the waters was mixed; a man named Xionn, who is a member of the Eorzean Alliance’s armies, took far more interest in myself than I was comfortable with - upon leaving, he even said he would like to cross paths again, so as to “pry more secrets from my lips”, as he phrased it...even after I informed him he failed at such all eve.

The woman who was present in our sento was pleasant. A Xaelic tailor who is also new in Eorzea. The conversation with her was far more pleasant than the Miqo’te soldier; it was refreshing to feel less alone here, being able to relate to someone else who has not been in the area long.

Tonight...

...what to say about tonight.

I managed to have a conversation with the boy who had followed the Xaelic brothers to the company. The one who had been experimented upon by the Garleans had taken a fascination with me on a prior eve, and his brother informed me that he knew little of the man’s condition, referring me to the boy whom I wish to have the least interaction with.

He was less than forthcoming, though he did relent that perhaps I should be concerned that not only the Xaela, but himself as well, may be a threat. They were both conditioned, mentally, and the chance that they have unknown instructions sleeping in their mind was not far fetched - especially after I explained to him how the Garleans would find such useful.

Not long after revealing - as minimally as possible - to this boy that I was formerly of the Imperial martial forces, Leo joined us. He was concerned, as he generally is, after we had been in the archive for longer than what made him comfortable. Before either of us could suggest leaving, the Xaela in question arrived, and I did my best to slip past him, once the boy had engaged him.

Valera left not long after, citing he’d return soon, and the other Xaela went into the archive. After a brief conversation with Mister Zanin, and the acquisition of some green tea, I felt that it would be wise to head into the archive and ensure nothing had been taken, or damaged.

The darker Xaela left almost as soon as I had arrived. His brother was rather unnerved by my appearance, though it seemed that the boy had calmed him well enough before leaving as well. However, once there was no one else to focus on, the Xaelic experiment focused on myself, solely.

I attempted to be polite to the Xaela, treating him as an equal and not a non-person, as most experiments from the Imperial laboratories are, although that seemed to only make him angry. Thankfully, Leo and Mister Zanin arrived, distracting him.

With his attention on the knight, I attempted to slip past him, however the half-skirt of my tunic brushed against his tail, causing the Xaela to startle and become somewhat hostile, despite the fact that I simply kept moving, until Leo and his axe was between us.

But as the Xaela looked around between the three of us, rather frantically, I realised that he likely felt trapped. And so I suggested to Leo that he step aside, so as to give the massive Au Ra a clearer path to the door, and he listened, as did Mister Zanin.

For reasons that likely stem from kinship, the Xaela became fascinated with the Raen, and Mister Zanin carefully held his attention and lead him out of the library.

In hindsight, I nearly wish they had not left, as things with Leo became...unsettling.

For most of the time he has known me, I have had my freckles hidden, my hair longer and blonde - nearly the perfect copy of the princess. It has played havoc upon his Zodiac-broken psyche, as has my general attitudes, leaving him questioning whether or not everything is real. As I had arrived in such an appearance, only to take a moment to change such after speaking to that boy, he was conflicted again.

As an attempt to calm his mind, I placed his hand over my heart, standing so close to him that I could smell the musky scent he generates, reminding him that delusions cannot fool all the sense. I let him hear me, see me, feel me, and likely he could smell me, as I could smell him; the only sense I did not press was that of taste, though often times smells can cause the mouth to recall the taste of whatever flavours it smells - so he may have even tasted the vanilla I tend to wear.

His reaction was...not what I expected. Eventually, he spooked himself, explaining that he was unused to being touched by me. I...didn’t realise that he meant specifically me, at first. After he rephrased it several times, I realised that Leo saw me in a manner I had not been aware of, previously. The few times that I have noticed someone looking at me as such, they have been rebuked, even unto calling down flame and fury upon them.

But I didn’t feel that defence - I didn’t feel like harming him, or even pushing him away.

I did, however. Again reminding Valera that I had little time for such endeavours, given that I had a Resistance to run, a war to win. I also informed him that I would likely make a terrible lover, given how much work I had to do for Dalmasca. He was...unrelenting in telling me that I needed to consider such things, as he feels I need to live for more than just our country.

To turn the situation upon him, I simply replied that such could not possibly be considered lest another Dalmascan were around enough, and likely not before the Kingdom was freed; given that he is the only other Dalmascan who is not constantly moving around, as much and more of our movement does, it left him in a place where he could not argue. He himself is much older than I am, and already engaged, so I felt that it would end the discussion.

Largely, it did, but even upon his leaving, I felt like there was much and more left undone.

Without finishing the entire thought, her left hand pauses over the written words, graphite dust vanishing as it is set into the parchment. Closing the tome, she sets it on the small table beside the bed, before curling up without bothering to change out of her clothing.

She manages to lay there for several minutes, before shifting several times; with a sigh, she gets up from the bed, collects the tome and the graphite, and tucks them away as she leaves the room. Ultimately, she leaves the estate, making her way back to the Solace to sleep - at least for one eve.

((Edit: Added in some screenshots that @leothesimperingmidlander took of the conversation in the archive; he didn’t get his post up today, so he told me to go ahead and add them if I wanted.))

#A Moonlit Original #ashe heiral #leo valera #u'faeylyn khaine #sid jamra #khaidu avangar #batu haragin