sunset_horizons | Even If You Take Me On...

What did a man who lived for his duty do when his duty was done? How did someone live when the reasons for their life had been taken from him? Was there a point to life when the light of one's world was gone?

All he knew was he couldn't stay. Some part of him, something deeper than he could have ever imagined, had died along with Noct. To return into the castle to find their prince, their king, slumped down in his throne as if only sleeping, to carry the cold, lifeless body of his friend out into the brilliance of the light he had returned to the world... it had broken what was left. His duty was over. He had been named Noct's Shield, his protector, his guardian and friend. Gone.

So what did a man who had lost nearly everything do? He had made sure his other friends were safe. They had found their places in the new world, both so badly needed to handle the crisis that was still happening. Ignis, with Prompto at his side, held a rare knowledge of Lucis' inner workings that suffered with so many of its core dead. He could work to remake their home. He needed Prompto, who had never quite been as sunny as he had been before the darkness, and together, he was sure they could handle anything that came their way.

But it didn't solve the loss of duty within him. It had never been to the country he'd served, after all. So one day, one not very special day, he left. A note to tell them of his plan, that he would be in touch, but he couldn't stay. Not when things were spiraling further and further into darkness and the nights held only terrors that had nothing to do with the banished daemons.

There was somewhere he hadn't forgotten about, of a woman unlike any he had seen before, with elegant scales and horns and a tail and who spoke of her country and home and the differences and similarities. He'd spoke then of wanting to see it. It seemed the time.

He stepped off the boat with effort, tying it off at the dock. This had been another step in a long journey to find this place, moving from port to port with only verbal directions most of the time, trying to find the homeland of Eorzea. He looked around, squinting beyond the sunglasses tucked on his nose, but was deeply surprised at the reaction he seemed to be getting. What in the Hells...?

He... didn't quite know yet the level of technology of his world compared to this one.

Undeterred, though, he pulled his pack up and over his shoulder, shifting to arrange the weight along with the pair of weaponry that were there already. No one in this land carried a greatsword and a shield together, but there they both were, held by specially designed sheathes because he no longer had magic of his own. He thought, perhaps, that it was the weapons that upset the local folk, but he wasn't about to leave them behind.

So he faked a smile and moved out to try to find someone to help him.

Koko would get a communication over her linkpearl rather out of the blue one afternoon. The familiar voice of one of the lesser scions asking her politely if perhaps she could come to Vesper Bay, that there was a strange disturbance occurring there. A stranger had arrived and was making inquiries around the port... all tied to her name.

She had been startled by the sudden communication, nearly dropping her mythrite needle when the linkpearl went off. Listening carefully as she finished sewing the nana bear's left paw onto the rest of it as she responded, "Arenvald? No, you did not disturb me. Is aught amiss, my friend?"

If the communication hadn't surprised her before, his request to return to Vesper Bay had been. Had something happened with the shipments, or was it another-?

Judging by his words, it was definitely the latter. Handing the newly-finished plush to her son, she patted him on his head and promised she would return shortly before exiting the small cottage with greatsword in hand. "No, I'm not far. I shall be there anon."

Ending the communication, she whistled as she swung her blade onto her back. Her draught chocobo came running from the side of the house, kneeling slightly as she hopped on and led him out of the residential district. If her gut wasn't mistaken, she knew exactly who this person making inquiries was - and he'd likely appreciate a ride over walking.

It wasn't long before she rode into Vesper Bay proper, slowing her approach as she entered the gate. She took a cursory look about the small hamlet, though it wasn't long before someone approached her and pointed towards the stand not far from the entrance to the Waking Sands. Blinking, she dismounted, gently guiding the large bird by its reins before letting go as she neared the stranger to these lands. Ifrit's fiery piss, she knew that uniform anywhere...!

"Gladio?" she inquired, much to the surprise of almost everyone who heard her call out his name. The Warrior of Light knew this outlandish man????

It had been a long time since they'd seen each other last. Things had changed. The physical had changed. His hair was longer, pulled back from his face. There was a new scar to cross the original she had seen and a far more terrible one visible on his chest. Age had come to his face, more than just years but some terrible physical weight. Others might not see it, only this Hume built as big as a Roegadyn, but she could where they couldn't.

When he heard his name, spoken by a voice he hadn't heard in such a long time but he still knew that accent, he looked up to her and her very large chocobo. She still looked beautiful, as elegant as he remembered.

"Told you I would come visit, someday," he called over to her through the crowd, as if this wasn't who knew how many years later and it had been an off-hand remark during their meeting over diner food and motorcycles. "Good to see you again, Koko." But the ready smile that he had for her back in his homeland didn't follow.

She could indeed, and it was that weight that worried her most. Handing the reins to Arenvald, she closed the distance. Age had not quite caught up with her as much as it had with Gladio - as time always seemed to flow differently between the stars - but there was likely something far different than he'd seen in her that he hadn't when she last visited Lucis. Many of the citizens wouldn't, either - all they saw was Eorzea's champion - but he likely would notice a sense of solemnity about her .

"It's good to see you, too." she said, polite smile tugging at her lips. She motioned for him to follow her into the Waking Sands. "Come; we can talk inside."

Away from prying eyes, and the gaze of the Syndicate's cronies.

Word was already spreading at the speed of gossip. The Warrior of Light had known the stranger with the stranger technology and impossible weaponry on his back. There were people who would want to know. People who would pay to know.

But Gladio only shifted his pack and nodded, following after her. There was nothing familiar left to him here (though the sight of a chocobo brought both a faint bubble of something like happiness along with painful memories). It felt like going into the old ruins around Eos, long before technology had spread across the planet and elevated it. He had no clue about how magic played such a different part in this world and that technology both more and less advanced than he knew was out there in all the wrong hands.

Once inside, he let out a breath, hand coming up to rub across his brow. "Didn't expect it would be this hot when I got here." That was almost a dry joke, looking around to see who might be listening as they went down a flight of stairs and through a set of (unknown to him) sealed doors. Thankfully, it was cooler inside, underground and in the stone.

He'd come impossibly far on a journey he wasn't sure if he would find its end. Something to distract him from everything that haunted behind him. Now that he found it... another goal had to be set.

"Well, most of Thanalan is a desert," she teased, holding the doors open to him as he stepped through. Instead of taking a left like she ordinarily would, however, she led him straight on into the Solar. Double the sealed doors meant that much of a reduced chance of them being overheard. She doubted Minfilia would mind, wherever she was now.

Moving the lone chair from behind the desk, she offered it to him. Doubtless he needed it far more than she did.

"I see you left a lasting impression on the townsfolk." She said, a small amount of her usual sass breaking through. "Though I see much happened after I was recalled to this realm."

"Don't I always leave a lasting impression? After all, you still remember me." That almost sounded like the old Gladio, almost. He put his bag on the desk, unaware of where he was but not inclined to be worried about it, but he did take the chair. He was exhausted, but it was just his constant state of being anymore.

He scrubbed a hand over his jaw, realizing he needed a clean up on his beard, and sighed. "It's been a long time. ...ten? Twelve years?" Everything felt like it had taken place in the span of weeks, not years. It had all gone by too fast, the good and the bad.

His eyes flicked back up to her. "I could say the same for you, too."

"A fair point," she conceded, sitting atop the desk herself. "Though I try to keep most of the faces of those I meet in mind." Especially now, when they were so few precious friends she could turn to and many more enemies who sought her demise. Still, the difference in years astonished her. "Twelve years...? It's been two at most here." She said, stunned by the comparison. So much time... Althyk preserve.

"Though sometimes it certainly feels like it..." Sighing, she rubbed the back of her neck. No longer was she wearing heavy plate, but the glamour of the outfit Tataru had made her. "Just been one war after the last."

Gladio, when they had seen each other last, had been in the formal uniform of the Lucis Crownsguard, but now he wore something very different. Leather pants and a vest, worn down with age and probably in dire need of replacement after his journey. Still, surprise crossed his face at hearing that. "Two- two years?" How could time have been so different...?

Still, he could hear the weariness in her voice, so Gladio reached out and gave a quick touch to her hand. "I know how that is." He wouldn't talk about it, it wasn't in him to talk about it yet, but he could empathize.

Something had changed for both of them.

"If... I've come at a bad time, Koko... I don't have to stay."

"Aye, our days and years run longer than yours... though I'm still surprised as you are." For barely any time at all had passed for all the days she'd spent in Lucis, which had surprised her even then... Realizing just how much of a time gap existed was mind blowing. And here she thought she'd seen it all.

She looked down to the hand on hers, placing the other atop of his while shaking her head.

"You didn't, actually. In fact, I don't think there's been a better time for new arrivals or visitors in moons." Months, he likely knew the term as. Still, he could likely do with a drink. She knew she could. "As it were, I have been ordered to spend time off duty."

There was the pinch in his brow as he puzzled over 'moons', but he wasn't an unintelligent man and after a moment, had a fair guess on what she meant. So he nodded, but raised an eyebrow at the mention of her being ordered to do anything. "From the reaction of everyone down at the dock, I'm guessing new arrivals isn't all that common? That kid-" Oh, he totally meant a Lalafell but had no actual idea that wasn't a child, "-looked terrified of me. Better question is who would dare to tell you to spend time off duty?" Because he couldn't imagine someone with Koko's spirit, and general freedom comparatively, bowing to anyone's order.

"Kid? Ah- that would be a Lalafell, and they're often much older than they seem." She informed him, a small chuckle escaping her. Ah, she remembered when she was first corrected for that understandable but incorrect assumption. (Not to mention downright rude.) Thus she sought to spare him any embarrassment in that regard. "New arrivals are relatively common, what with this being the only port town save the Silver Bazaar, but I doubt they've seen anyone as built as you that wasn't at least half-Roegadyn. Nor do they own such flashy gear when they first arrive, since it's mainly refugees or adventurers like myself."

"A sister Scion did," she partly informed him, but then recalled - she hadn't said a word about her full ties to Eorzea's protectors. "Back then, I told you I was chosen as emissary from the Eorzean Alliance. Well, that is only part of the truth." She gestures to the room about her. "This place is known as the Waking Sands, former main headquarters of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn. An order started to combat the Primal threat, filling their ranks with those with the gift and knowledge to fully resist their corrupting influence."

She let that sink in a moment, since it was a lot to take in. Standing, she smiled faintly. "The Alliance had decided that one of their finest warriors and a member of the Scions as a neutral party. I was the one who fit both requirements, being both a second lieutenant and Warrior of Light." She paused, before her teasing grin seemed to break through. "Needless to say I don't get breaks often, so when I have an excuse..."

Wink.

He had no idea what a Roegadyn was, but still confused over the whole 'Lalafell' thing. It had to be a kid. It came up to like, his knee. ...Call anyone sized his thigh and under a Lalafell, then. He looked down at himself, a brow raised at 'flashy gear'. Was it really that flashy? He shrugged and decided maybe it was the bare chest and the tattoo that was the flashy part.

His brows went up as she described a great deal of things all at once, so he listened closely. The Scions of the Seventh Dawn. Odd name that meant a lot of nothing to him, but orders all usually had some kind of strange name. The Primal Threat ended up sounding something completely different than she meant it, as if was 'the biggest threat' and there were other threats to be worried about, only because he knew what she meant by a completely different name, though the whole 'corrupting influence' wasn't a thing.

However, that title struck a harsh cord with him, one he had to fight to prevent any sign of showing. The King of Light Still, he could tell it was a title and he wondered why.

At least the last bit he knew and the corner of his mouth lifted, but it was only a shadow of the flirting grins he had given her back in Eos. "Well, I'm glad I can be an excuse for you." But he brought up a hand, rubbing his neck, before gesturing. "Mind if I run you back over a few things, there? Like what is this primal threat you lot are trying to fight?"

Gods, Urianger could explain this much easier than she - he was even in the other room, likely throwing a small fit that this complete stranger was inside the Solar of all places - but she would try. Because he was an old friend by now, and one she knew she could trust. Though she noted that sudden reaction to the title she was best known by.

"The primals are the imagined gods of both man and beastman made manifest. Pale comparisons to the gods of Eos, but no less dangerous and far more taxing on the land when summoned." She paused in order to make sure he was keeping up, before continuing. "Instead of existing in the first place, they are born of the dreams of their followers and desperation. Which is what makes them all the worse. Though it has been quiet of late, outside of the ongoing conflict with the Empire."

For Gladio, he had definitely not made the connection between these Primals and the Astrals of his world for on his world they are Gods. There was nothing imagined about the divine creatures that Noct had made a pact with, who, in Gladio's opinion, deserted him in his hour of need. Shiva... she had saved them all from Ifrit's wrath, but they would do no more to save humanity when it was in its darkest hour. It wasn't something he could forgive or forget lightly. The Gods cared nothing for humanity. Only Noct truly had, their Chosen One.

"I've never heard of anything like that," Gladio admitted, leaning forward, taking back his hand to brace his forearms on his knees. "People making some sort of... fake gods? How can dreams and desperation be so powerful as to do something like that?" His brows knitted together, but he didn't like the idea at all. "I'd guess these things came out pretty pissed, then?"

"They don't realize they're fake," she admitted. "Many based off of legends and those of ages long past. Thus they think they are summoning their souls from the realm beyond, but no one can truly do so."

"Yes. So pissed, I've only ever been able to reason with two - Ramuh and Shiva." Yet something about how she said the latter's name made it sound far more than just reasoning. She wouldn't even quite meet his gaze. "That is why I was called back so suddenly. Someone had called forth another god that would have slain any who would oppose his tyranny."

Now, seeing the state Gladio is in... she wishes she could have gone back. Alas time travel is not something she had mastered along with world hopping. "...I am sorry, to have been gone so long."

Blink. Gladio stared at Koko for a few seconds at how casually she said the name of two of their gods, but more so that he finally made the connection she was talking about. He held up a hand, brow knitting together. "...there's nothing you could have changed, so don't be sorry." In that his voice was tight, firm. There was something he wasn't saying, something big, but the steel in his voice suggested he wouldn't be talking about it at all. Why was he here, alone?

"Are you telling me... Shiva... and Ramuh... they were two of your primals?" His lips parted, trying to find more words, before his hand shifted and became a small 'no' gesture. "Those are the names of two of our Astrals. Gods." Another pause, then, flat out, "they aren't anything like you're describing."

They had helped. In part. Then deserted humanity all together.

It didn't stop her from feeling guilty, but all the same... she nodded, turning to face him fully.

"I fear this may be part of the differences in our worlds," she said, sighing. "Or it may be that they only share the same names. 'Cause the Ramuh of Eorzean lore is known as the guardian deity of the forest by the sylphs that call it home, and Shiva... the historical one was the one whose sacrifice ended the previous conflict between man and dragon."

"...wow." Gladio sat back slowly, trying to process this new information. "I wonder how it's possible... that in some ways, things couldn't be more similar and in others, the complete opposite." He rubbed the back of his neck, then shrugged a little before giving her a serious look.

"If you and these Scions need the help, you've got my blade. Once they let you off being babysitted for a while." That faint smirk again, almost a proper tease out of him.

At that, she actually laughed. "Stick around for a while, and you'll most likely get your mind blown even more." And she meant that in the most friendly way possible, considering how mindblown she'd been over a motorcycle the first time they'd met. A similar bike she had parked on her lawn and locked to the fence. She could have sworn she saw Wedge petting it once. Petting it.

"I'm sure they will agree with me, but before I introduce you to them..." She offered him her hand - rough and calloused from swinging that hulking blade on her back. "You must be exhausted from the trip here. Think you're up for a short chocobo ride? My house isn't far from here."

Finding a way to get that motorcycle to her sure had been a hell of a thing. The best way to send her home with something she'd really remember from being in Eos, as far as Gladio was concerned.

"Is it safe to leave that boat where it is, or is someone going to end up ripping it apart? Could of those ki-- uh, Lalafells were eyeing it up pretty hard." He took the hand, unafraid of the scales along her skin, and pulled himself up. The weight of the world still seemed on his shoulders, pulling them down.

"Huh. That infamous draught chocobo you told me about?"

"I'll ask Urianger to cast his protections on it. No one will be able to so much as touch it without permission. Much like the front door of this place." Of which she was 100% certain of, judging by her voice. Helping him to his feet, it's likely obvious of how much stronger she's gotten since the last time they met - though her petite frame gave naught away of her muscle mass.

...Whoa, he remembered after all this time? Color her impressed, and every bit as amused. "The one and only. I believe you got a peek of 'im as I arrived."

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Some Weeks After Arrival

Re: Some Weeks After Arrival

Re: Some Weeks After Arrival