From the desk of the Warrior of Light

Initial impressions are simply: I have not played a game that made me this angry in a very long time (I think the last one being KH DDD).

Her offer was sweet, but Aymeric shook his head. “Were you to spend more time there, I am certain some of the Lords would begin to grumble over how the Brume was becoming a place for heretics… which brings up the unfortunately truth that some of the Lords view you as a heretic still. I assure you, it’s being worked on, but these things take… time.” And time– it felt like time was working against them. The fire that had spurred changed was slowly fading, and soon Aymeric would be left to encourage a revolution that no one had the desire to fight for.

“Standoffish is a fair way to describe him,” Aymeric said with a small laugh. Ever since the battle at Ghimlet Dark, the Speaker hadn’t even seen him. He could only hope his friend was doing well, and that he would find his way back to Ishgard - eventually.

The elezen gave a slight nod of his head as he stood, mentally acknowledging that further work was going to have to wait. “You must tell me all about this journey. Over a drink, perhaps?” One he would be providing.

Her face fell and her ears drooped. “Not that again,” she grumbled, disheartened. Moonflower thought people were finished calling one another heretics. “But, I understand.” She wouldn’t spend any more or less time in the Brume than she had before. If anyone wanted to complain, then she wouldn’t have any reason to feel guilty. 

“T’is true,” he said in agreement, though he was unable to hide the mirthful twinkle in his eye. If Aymeric saw it, if Aymeric could even guess what it meant, he said nothing - which was hardly a slight against the leader. G’raha wasn’t foolish enough to imagine that it had managed to slip past him. More likely he was choosing not to acknowledge it - a sign of a great leader.

“I was part of the team that help the exploration of the Crystal Tower.” There was no point in lying about that, and judging from Aymeric’s fairly blank expression - he had no idea what that was. Fair. “We still have much to learn but… what we have we already have ways in which that can help us now.”

The elezen shot him a curious look as he nodded and smiled. “I see,” he said, expression gentled. A slight look was aimed towards Moonflower - Ah. A subtle nod, clearly meant to tell her to relax, or that he gave her his approval. Either way, there was more happening than what was just being said. G’raha could hardly complain; he was doing the same thing, after all.

“In fact, I imagine the knowledge of the Allagans from the tower can provide an insight even for Ishgardians. Isn’t there a floating city of nothing but Allagan technology not far from here…?” Perhaps it was a slightly… impish comment, but G’raha could tell he had certainly caught Aymeric’s attention.

Moonflower watched the two interact, pleased her friends were getting along, when she saw Aymeric’s nod. She swallowed and tried to relax. It was safe here. It was safe with Aymeric. No one was going to try poisoning her or her friends tonight. Right? 

“Oh, you mean Azys Lla?” Moonflower asked absentmindedly, remembering the red and black lines, and floating orbs. “Unless you mean the Weeping City of Mhach, but I think that’s after the Allagans...” She tilted her head, thinking. It was hard to keep everything straight, sometimes. “No, I think I’d remember Allagan architecture there. Between the Crystal Tower and Azys Lla,” she told Aymeric, “you’d definitely be able to tell! It’s mostly glowing lines of light.”

Not at first. He wasn’t half as clever as she gave him credit for, and children found it easy to creep into the lair of the mysterious Exarch. But he had gotten better over time, had learned all the nooks and crannies of his home, and had found himself able to stop any tiny intruders from making themselves at home. All but the most determined, like Lyna had been.

He paused and frowned, looking away for a moment from her question. It wasn’t a topic he enjoyed talking about, but it also wasn’t something he really was trying to hide. But… it was just… uncomfortable, and there wasn’t much else he could say that he hadn’t already said, or that she couldn’t just gather on her own from putting two and two together.

“… there isn’t much else to tell. Sin eaters… wiped out whole villages. There was only so much I could do to fight them off without leaving the Crystarium vulnerable. The crops inside the Crystarium were grown there because there weren’t many other places that were safe enough for it. And we just… I had to decide what was more important, and protecting the most that I could…

“There wasn’t any way to save everyone. It’s a hard lesson I had to learn.”

“It’s one of the hardest,” she said, once she was certain he was finished. “For me, it never really sunk in... I learned it, but I never internalized it.” Not for years. Friends and allies had died, had suffered, but she didn’t think too hard on it. “But then we... we lost Minfilia... And, and I learned Ardbert, he...” Moonflower pressed a hand to her chest, and sighed. “I thought that by sending Minfilia back with him, his world would be saved, that he would be saved. I pitied him, despite he and his friends trying to kill us.” They’d even poisoned Alisaie.