#arhya writes

(Written for @sea-wolf-coast-to-coast 's FFXIVWrite)

"Ama! Ama!" A red headed miqo'te toddled across the sands, chased by his mother.

"Aaaaand scoop!" The toddler giggled as his mother scooped him up, spinning him as he kicked his feet happily.

"A!" The toddler pointed towards the hill he'd been slowly making his way up and his mother obediently carried him, making her way towards the child's goal.

"There you are, Velore, is this what you wanted to see?"

Velore gasped happily, eyes sparkling as he looked out over the edge of the cliff.

The hill sloped away sharply, dirt and rocks giving way to greener shrub grasses and brush, down towards the beaches and the glittering green waters of the sound, stretching away to deep blue to where it met the horizon.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" His mother asked the stunned toddler. The child looked up at her, eyes as wide as dinner plates before looking back out over the water and pointing emphatically. "You want to go there?" His mother laughed "Not today, love, but one day. One day you'll cross that horizon...."

~~~

Waves splashed across the bow of the sailing vessel, the salt spraying across the smiling face of the red haired miqo'te as she looked over the waves.

"See it yet, A'rhya?" her mother asked, leaning against the railing of the fo'c'sle and looking out.

*'Not yet, but soon,'* she signed in return, eyes flicking across the horizon as she watched.

"Its quite a change, but hopefully it'll be the last for a while. Once we find somewhere to live we can finally stop living out of trunks."

*'It will be nice to find some stability,'* A'rhya signed slowly, hands half hidden from her mother as she thought back over the past months and the constant refugee villages.

*LAND HO!*

A'rhya's ears perked straight up at the hrothgar's gruff voice, eyes straining to find..... there!

Just visible as a bump over the water, the towers of Limsa Lominsa rose over the horizon, already imagined in A'rhya's minds eye. The pirate haven turned mercantile city state from the adventure stories of her teenage years. The throngs of merchants, ruffians, and adventurers crowding the towers and bridges. She smiled, imagining herself fighting pirates with her spell book in one hand, a floppy hat over her ears.

"Well my eyes arent good enough to spot it, but hopefully its not too much longer now then," her mother said, turning from the expanse to head back below deck.

*'A new home... Not much longer now,'* Arhya signed to herself as her eyes fixed on the slowly growing dot on the horizon.

~~~

A'rhya shifted the scarf over her mouth to better shield herself from the bite of the wind as she looked out into the snowy expanse before her.

"Well, its certainly a change, isnt it?" The white-haired girl beside her said, rubbing her hands together

*'Warm sands for icy snow. Not my favorite, but it will do,'* A'rhya signed back, her fingers fumbling over her words through the thick gloves.

She and Alisae looked over the rampart of the castle that was Ishgard, watching as a seemingly endless grey snowstorm swallowed the horizon over western Coerthas.

"Bloody idiot of a brother, getting us into this mess.. He needs to think his plans through better," Alisae sighed, cutting herself off. "They're ready at the manor, I think. Lord Fortemps wanted to speak to us."

A'rhya nodded as her companion turned, trudging back over the snowy cobblestones to the manor. A'rhya gave one last look towards the grey and stormy horizon before turning to follow

~~~

A'rhya sheathed her rapier, clipping her focus to her belt as she stepped onto the walls of Porta Praetoria.

The captured Garlean stronghold sat behind her as she gazed over the expanse of the lochs up to where the Ala Mhigo Palace sat at the horizon, the glimmering palace from her childhood almost mocking her, just as opulent under Garlean control as it had been before the Mad King was overthrown.

Soon it would be free of their grasp, the new center of government for a free Ala Mhigo. She turned her gaze down to where alliance soldiers were hard at work fortifying the newly captured staging point, readying themselves to rebuff any Garlean counterattack. She took a last gaze over the horizon before turning to head down the steps to assist in any way she could...

~~~

The air even smelled different here, A'rhya realized as she sat at the edge of the balcony. Even something as little as that being different surprised her as she gazed out over the strange new world she found herself in.

A purple canopy of trees spread out towards the horizon ahead of her as she gazed out over Lakeland. The landscape felt achingly familiar to her, the rolling hills reminding her so nearly of the Shroud back in her home world. She sighed, remembering simpler times, before Scions, and reflections, and Warriors of Darkness..

She turned and gazed up at the monument of softly glimmering blue crystal, a lone point of near normalcy in this strange land.

She thought back to the Exarch- yet another thing that seemed achingly familiar, but somehow Not- and his explanations of the world of the First, and all of the others beside it.

She slowly pushed herself to her feet to find the chocob- amaro roost. She was to leave for a place called Amh Arang to find Alisae soon and she could hardly wait to see a familiar face. She gave the unending harshness of the horizon a final look before turning to the mercifully dimmer interior of the Crystal Tower to head down from the balcony

~~~

A'rhya sank to her knees, holding her head as tears streaked her cheeks. She sobbed in the dark dirt of the strange floating island, gazing out over the abyss.

Before her stretched the strange kaleidoscope of colours of space, stretching out to the horizons in every direction. The only break the pale, glowing staircase stretching before her. Her eyes followed it up, the path her friends- her love had bought for her so dearly as it stretched to the planet hanging abover her.

She brushed tears fron her eyes and the dirt crunched under her feet as she stood slowly.

She gritted her teeth and put a foot on the glowing staircase and began to ascend. Her hands found her sword and her shield and drew them, ready as she walked onward to the end...

~~~

Waves splashed across the bow of the sailing vessel, the salt spraying across the soft smile of the red haired miqo'te as she looked over the waves.

"We're nearly there, love," Mersi said, smiling at her side.

*'Nearly,'* A'rhya signed back as best she could, hampered by the sling across her chest.

"Are you ready to see it?" Mersi asked her, resting her head against A'rhya's shoulder

A'rhya looked down at her love and kissed her on the head before looking down at the tiny white-haired miqo'te in her sling. She smiled fondly and looked back up to the horizon

(Endwalker Spoilers)

She'd been coming here more and more often, A'rhya had realized. Ever since the final days, she'd found some measure solace among the memories of the Ascian she'd found a strange sense of kinship with; in the nearly deserted city of Amaurot beneath the waves of the Tempest.

Some days she'd find herself wandering the streets, some deep and unconcious part of her seeming to know where she wanted to go, even if she hadnt explored the quarter yet.

Other days she would seek out the yet lingering shade of Hythalodaeus, and the two would share a meal in the park. Share memories; A'rhya's of their time together in Elpis, Hythalodaeus's of Azem and the rest of the Conclave.

But more and more often, she found herself atop the Akadaemia Anyder. Just gazing out over the empty city and remembering.

Today was one of those days. She had her legs tucked under herself, feeling the cool, rough stone of the building against her skin as she cradled her bag in her lap.

The quiet stretched on as she closed her eyes, remembering the faces of the ancients she had met, those she'd seen, those she'd only heard about. The minutes stretched out into an hour, two, before she finally shifted.

She slowly opened her bag, pulling out a small, cloth wrapped bundle from the top. Carefully she unwrapped it, the layers of deep purple velvet revealing, nestled at their heart, a tiny carved mask. The red-laquered mahogany was carved in as best detail as she could manage, the curves and lines forming the mask of Emet-Selch. Hades.

She stared at the mask for minutes before carefully rewrapping it and setting it to the side. She removed another bundle and unwrapped it. The mask of Elidibus, Themis, stared up at her. She set it aside and continued, more and more of them being placed upon the roof if the Akadaemia in a pattern even she herself wasnt sure of.

An hour later, she was nearly done. Hundreds of masks stared back at her as she paused to check her handiwork. Each was as living a recreation as she could manage. The names of each ancient she could find in Elpis, find record of in Amaurot, ask Hythalodaeus for, was carved into their mask. Yet more were unnamed. Just faces she'd glimpsed in the fight against Hades, or in the buildings of the empty city.

She brushed wetness from her eyes as she fished the final two bundles from her bag, already knowing which they were. She unwrapped them slowly and stared at them.

Venat and Hythalodaeus stared back out at her.

She wasnt sure how long she stood in silence, staring at their masks, but finally she shook herself from her reverie and placed them gently on the rooftop, next to Hades's.