#ffxiv2021

Eurynine sat against the back wall of his cell, staring down at the growing stubs of his fingers. Without the elixirs and alembics he drank on a regular basis and the enchanted brass armband, the stone was regenerating relatively quickly. Though he did not dare to look beneath the uniform he wore, he could feel the stone growing upward into his biceps as well. If it reached his heart and lungs, would they function normally? What if it grew up his neck and into his brain? What then? The thoughts chilled him to the bone, a fear that returned after every sweet dream. Curling his fingers, and staring into the flashing fire of opal that had once been bone, Eury thinks bitterly ‘It should have been a quick, clean death. A letter in the mail to the Vivid Union, to Aeluan, and the copy of the will in the desk. The instructions to send out the handful of letters there too. The request ‘If you can, make sure they stay happy.’ 

Abruptly, the drone of the anthem cuts out in a hiss of static and the gears of the locked door clank as they turn, a metallic crashing that bounces off the white walls and leaves him disoriented. The door swings open, revealing first the barrel of a gun, then a pretty older woman with hard eyes. She enters the room with her gun drawn on the ‘wight, followed by a male colleague. Behind them both comes the medicus, Salvos. As the woman growls a command to lay down and cross his arms behind his back, Eurynine sneaks glances at the researcher. Even for a middle-aged man, he looked… hollowed out. Beyond distracted, he seemed haunted. He looks Eurynine in the eye but once before the Elezen’s face is pressed into the ground with a boot, and the male guard binds his arms together. Then the guards haul him up and frogmarch him out of the room, carrying him when he stumbles. The whole thing happens quickly to his bewildered mind. He is lead out into what he realizes are staff quarters when blessed dark washes over his vision, but he cannot maintain a sense of where they’ve gone or how long it took. Eventually, he is lead into a room that looks distinctly furnished for meetings with high-ranking members of the empire. There, legs crossed and sitting back in a plush chair, was the Garlean man Eurynine knew was really Hybris. It was strange to see him in such a form, but somehow not surprising. ‘Perhaps I’m dreaming again.’ With a gesture, the man in the chair who was no man at all raises an elegant brow and asks “And the things he was apprehended with?”, and the male guard turns smartly to go, returning some time (how much? He can’t keep track anymore) with the equipment he’d been seized with.

Haltingly, Selvos asks “Are you certain, sir? This one? You’ve no means of ensuring his obedience and his peculiarities are a promising area of research into the effects of aether-baed magic on living flesh.” He looks like he wants to say more, perhaps warn Hybris of the nightmares -but who would believe him?

“Quite. Have him ready for departure immediately, I am needed in the capital.”

CW: Suggestive, FTB.  Slowly, Elise moved from the canvas, craning her neck towards the door. There's the telltale sign of Esen entering her home, shining and bright as always. Elise reached for the glasses, knowing Esen would either command her to put them on, or pout in some form that Elise wasn't wearing them. She can hear the footsteps tumble down the flight of stairs, and an eager greeting, followed by the warm embrace as her arms wrapped around Esen.

[Extra Credit] Ready As We’ll Ever Be

September 12th, 2021

Alphaeus lay in bed, restlessly curled against Alecalius’s side. Tomorrow was the day. It seemed too soon, but too far away. He laid his hand flat on Alec’s chest, watching the rise and fall of his husband’s breathing. Shadows stretched deep as he listened to the relative silence. 

Sighing, he rolled over onto his back, staring up at the bed’s canopy. It wasn’t that he was particularly nervous about the Mahjong itself. The game wasn’t a threat, he was confident enough with their little crew that they would surely get what they needed out of the tournament. 

No, what bothered him was what might happen. Would there be violence, or would it be peaceful? Weapons were forbidden in the den, but that wouldn’t hinder him too badly. But what of his companions? 

Alphaeus groaned and pressed his face against Alec’s side, the other man mumbling and rolling in his sleep. 

They’d talked about that, of course. Everyone in their circle knew the risks, and had pledged to assist the others should it come to violence. Even Rhys, as shy and generally quiet as he came across, had agreed on that point. 

Character Features: Aki'ya Morro ( @nekokeronyancer )

Content warnings for death, drowning, references to Celtic and Norse bog bodies, and necromancy.