FRAGMENT OF HERA

do not underestimate the wrath of a scorned woman

Original Sundered Ascian set in the world of FINAL FANTASY XIV.

RULES | STORY | WHAT TO KNOW | DETAILS

Shit --

Ceres nearly dropped her purchases, and it took her all the willpower she could muster not to turn tail and flee in the other direction.

The man standing not three yalms across the Sapphire Avenue exchange was one that had etched itself into her memory: the Shadowhunter. The bastard who had unceremoniously killed her -- well. The last body she had possessed on the Source, at least.

Fortunately, he seemed distracted, as an Auri girl was showing him something from the stall they were in front of. Ceres turned away, as if studying the jewelery she had just purchased. She had liked it a moment ago, but now all she wanted to do was throw it to the ground and grind it into the road.

... But that would draw attention to her, and that was the opposite of what she wanted to do.

She tucked the jewelery into her satchel and forced herself to continue with her shopping trip as planned. While fleeing would have been her preferred option, it was one part pride and one part desire to go undetected that made her resist it.

She moved to another stall, although her eyes glazed over the wares being sold.

It's fine, she told herself. The face he saw wasn't the one I'm wearing now. And she hadn't exactly introduced herself by name, either. There was no reason for him to suspect an Ascian was across the --

A blur moved into her peripheral vision. It was that Auri girl that had been speaking to him.

PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE (Public Reptuation/Easy To Learn)

Ceres Heartfell is a Hyur who lives in Ul'Dah; she is often on the arm of a wealthy merchant attending an event or spending someone else's money.

She doesn't disclose much about where she came from prior to arriving in Ul'Dah.

Appearance-wise she is in her early thirties.

PRIVATE KNOWLEDGE (For fellow Ascians)

A former low-ranking Ascian who took orders from Nabriales who sort of slipped through the cracks after a poor run-in with the Shadowhunter (Gaius).

Her Ancient name was Hera, but she wasn't anyone important; she never even went to Amaurot. She was just an Ancient who did her job and lived her life accordingly.

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AGAIN, PLEASE TAKE NOTE OF MY NO 'GODMODDING' RULE. If your Muse immediately can tell Ceres is suspicious in our thread, I will drop it. If you want to figure her out eventually, that's fine, but it cannot be instant. There is no fun in playing a muse who can be 'defeated' within 3 posts.

Keeping it simple because most of these should be a no-brainer!

My name's Lanna. I'm 30+, she/her in PST timezone. This is a sideblog to my WOL @vierandancer. Like that blog, I am open to interactions with anyone but reserve my right to be choosy as far as inspiration and whether or not certain writing styles/muns/muses would gel with me. However I am not limited to mutuals with my main blog.

As the Pinned says, there will be spoilers abound for Ascian-related stuff and I'm not going to tag it! Outside of maybe a little bit of embellishment around the original black-masked Ascians/unspoken for Ascians, everything is pretty canon compliant.

Ceres is a villain. I do not condone what she does (most of the time). I also do not condone god-modding. She mostly aims to avoid fights, but she isn't a pushover, either. If we get into a conflict or fight of some kind, you need to talk with me OOC via tags or IMs to keep things fair to both Muses. I will drop a thread if someone just starts over-assuming actions or information. I won't waste my energy trying to explain basic etiquette to you.

Ceres hails from the Second reflection of the Source, a Sapiana (hyur) citizen of the oligarchy Empyrca (Ul'Dah) from a well-off family. One day, she returned home to discover her parents had engaged her to an older man while she wasn't present to defend herself, as their riches had been drained due to her father's gambling problems and her suitor promised to refill their coffers in exchange for a young bride.

Ceres refused and fled her home, only to realize the futility of it all as she wandered the streets of her city without anything to her name. She considered ending her life in protest of it all, not wanting to wallow in poverty or others' pity, but was suddenly approached a masked man introducing himself as Nabriales. He enticed her with the promise of never feeling helpless again, and upon her agreement, awoke the memories of her past life as the Ancient called Hera.

Hera had been an Ancient who lived in one of the many cities scattered across the Unsundered World, far from yet still obeying the laws of the Convocation of the Fourteen. She contributed to the world in her public service position, ensuring that communications to and from others went undisturbed. Ultimately, though, she lived a rather easygoing life in a beautiful utopia -- and, therefore, strongly supported the Convocation's desires to restore it to what it once was. And, upon seeing what she could have as opposed to the nothing she was now left with, how could Ceres do anything but join the Ascian's ranks?

Unfortunately, it turned out that she was made to be the lowest rank of Ascians: she had her past memories, the knowledge of the Ascians' grander scheme, and their nigh limitless powers -- but she was nowhere near as strong as anyone above her. She couldn't even get stronger if she tried; as someone who had not been part of the Convocation, there was no way for her to ever be more than what she was.

Also, Nabriales was a obnoxious prick whom she quickly came to despise, but had no choice but to obey him lest she be unmade. She did is bidding, manipulated others to help push the Second's chosen hero into dangerous situations and tilt the balance of the elements -- all the while being far more careful not to actually face the infamous Warrior Of Light.

And when Nabriales achieved his mission, tipping the scales so that endless fires ravaged the world, Ceres and her fellows were summoned back to the Void to await her next orders. Her soul was torn from the body she had been born into unexpectedly, and although new bodies could be made into her preferred image, it was still a horrible experience.

Nabriales did not care enough to keep track of the minor Ascian lackeys who did his bidding, and the Unsundered only made note of the collapse of the Second as a whole on the path to Zodiark's restoration. When Nabriales was defeated, Ceres was sent to the Source, only to meet her end at the hands of the Shadowhunter, Gaius van Baelsar.

Of course, it wasn't a permanent death -- she returned to the Void, frustrated with being treated as canon fodder. Before she could be sent on another mission, however, the Warrior of Light triumphed on the First and defeated the remaining Unsundered. With them out of the picture, the Ascians were in disarray -- and Fandaniel was far more interested in his Telophoroi cult than organizing the leftovers.

Ceres took the opportunity to take on the life of a noblewoman in Ul'Dah, which reminded her of the place she had been raised in as a girl. She purposely dropped off the radar, and intended to do so forever, until Zodiark was destroyed during the events of Endwalker. As powerless as she was, Ceres could feel something calling to her.

She ended up on the moon's surface and lingering over the chasm that contained his remains. Ceres was able to absorb a fraction of Zodiark's power -- perhaps a tenth of it at most. This didn't elevate her to the status of an Unsundered, but it did strengthen her enough to equate to someone roughly of Fandaniel's ability.

Pleased with this new revelation, Ceres returned to her home to contemplate what this meant. But the Warrior of Light dispelled that piece of Zodiark before she could take a second hit.