#hounds-thoughts

Livia was no stranger to unrelenting, bitter cold. She was no stranger to the freezing cold, bone-chilling, snow that would cover everything in the area in fulms upon fulms of disgusting, cold, wet white powder. As a child, she was naive at actually enjoyed throwing herself into the snow, but as an adult, there wasn’t much she enjoyed about the cold... or maybe it was just years of bitterness gained as a soldier who had fought in countless wars. Either way, Livia let out an annoyed growl upon feeling the air chill. She let out an exasperated sigh upon seeing the snow begin to fall.

Lovely. Even in some otherworldly, supposed paradise, she couldn’t escape the bitter cold. Thankfully, this crass, pathetic excuse for a replica of her armor she’d been given at least seemed to perfectly emulate its insulation capabilities. She wouldn’t freeze to death, at the least. 

She refused to acknowledge the screeching, savage children as they threw balls of snow at each other, built pointless, hideous sculptures out of that same snow, and were just overall getting on her nerves. (No, she wasn’t bitter about the fact she never truly got to enjoy such activities, how dare you imply that!) But Lord Gaius had told her she needed to be nicer... so she decided her idea of being nicer was just another grumble and to leave.

She continued to walk along, leveling glares at any playing child she saw, as if they could see her face. They didn’t even seem to acknowledge her, and she was fine with that...

Until she saw a familiar sight. A massive, frozen-over body of water (she wasn’t sure exactly what type it was, nor did she care at the moment), with an area fenced off, and a small little booth nearby. She knew exactly what that fenced-off area was...

An area for ice skating. One of the few things that could make her happy no matter what.... though she’d never admit to liking something so... free-spirited. She saw that the area was empty...

She checked once, twice, thrice... And let herself smile. 

She strode with confidence over to the area, and found her way into what she could only assume was a changing room, with freely-available equipment...

Livia cringed at the sight of some of the available outfits. Thankfully, not all of them looked like they belonged on some filthy savage, and she chose a simplistic, dark blue one-piece for herself, ensuring that her trademark armor was hidden away. She then proceeded to check once again, twice again, thrice again... the coast was clear. 

She then took to the ice, and began to dance on the frozen surface. Though it had been some years, the motions were coming back to her very quickly. Gliding with skill and finesse, jumping and spinning, landing with ease... it was all quite familiar to the Garlean. In this moment, she was not a Tribunus, not a soldier, not someone whose hands were thoroughly sullied with blood... she just... was.

She groaned as she began to stir. Her head throbbed, and felt as if solid lead had been tied around it. She blinked several times, and finally, the heavy fog began to clear. A few more precious seconds, and it finally did indeed clear. She took a deep, shaky breath, as she pulled herself up into a sitting position. She looked down at her hands.

Wait, wasn’t she supposed to be dead? Yes, she explicitly remembered the brutal assault on Castrum Meridianum conducted by those savages of the Eorzean Alliance. And, very clearly, did she remember standing valiantly against the small group of adventurers that decided to attack her, but even with the White Devil, she...

She failed. 

She had failed. 

She had failed. 

She began to curl in on herself, and break down. She had failed on every level! She’d lost the captives, she’d failed to stop the savages from continuing onwards... she’d failed her Lord Gaius! She had failed-

“As much as I would love to let you sit there and have your existential crisis for all eternity, the island awaits you, Lady Livia.” 

Livia blinked, and rocketed up, taking her favored stance. A strange figure was in some sort of transport, looking right at her. He chuckled.

“At ease, Lady Livia. I mean you no harm.” 

She narrowed her gaze at him, and refused to relax.

“And what reason do I have to believe you? How do I know that this isn’t some sort of trap?” She demanded.

“If the stars wanted you dead, they wouldn’t have brought you here. And besides, what do you have to lose at this point? As far as everyone who remains in your home world is concerned, you are dead. Not to mention that I do vaguely remember something about a man named Gaius...” 

Livia’s breath caught in her throat. Gaius... it couldn’t be... was it... her Lord Gaius?! He was alive?! He was here?! But how could she face him-

“Come now, let me take you to the home that the stars have assigned you. Perhaps being here will do more good for you than you might think, Lady Livia.” 

The man was right, as much as it pained her to admit it. Oh, she would never do so out loud. Internally was already painful enough for the prideful Garlean woman. All that aside, she reluctantly got in the back seat, and allowed herself to be driven to where she’d evidently been assigned a place of residence. 

...Well, she supposed it could be worse. At least it was standing. And actually, in fairly good order. Beggars couldn’t be choosers, and she still had no idea of anything. Where was this place? Why had she been brought here? Who were these “stars” the mystery driver kept on mentioning? She had no answers, and it infuriated her to no end. 

Heading inside, she quickly discerned that the chambers must be on the second level, and she, above all else, was exhausted. She forced herself upstairs, and found four bedrooms, one of which clearly showed signs of an occupant. Great, so she was going to be forced to share. Just delightful. She could only hope that her room-mate wasn’t a filthy savage. Or a pervert. Or both. 

She picked an unused bedroom, walked in, closed the door, and made double-sure that it was locked. Once she was sure it was, she made sure all windows were closed and curtained off, and then, she carefully got out of her armor... and only then did she realize it was not her original armor, but a weakened version. She hissed. These stars had likely stripped her of her original armor (thus denying her many of her skills), and forced this pathetic excuse for a replica on her instead.