Wayfarer of Light
Falling. Spelvia's throne room floor shattered to pieces beneath Yunita's feet, and yet, not a pebble came from it. As though the room had been a mirror, and the whole surface shattered at once.
She fell, and fell, more and more shards passing her by. The central, grainy chamber of Quicksand Castle. The topmost branches of a giant tree, gazing out over a distant volcano. The blighted streets of Urbeth. Even Horne, its townspeople still no more than statues. As she stared into each and every trailing shard, a voice echoed in her ears.
"Yunita? What is this? Where are you?!"
That voice. That shrill, huffy voice she knew so well. "Lady Aire? I can't see you! If you're there, then please, hold fast to me!" Not a single other person in sight. And yet, she had but one gamble. Yunita outstretched her hand, fumbling about in the shattered void. "Here! I'm here, Aire! Please!"
Fingertips. Reaching, pushing through the refracted world. Those same black, arm-length gloves she knew so well. A lightness filled her chest, and she pushed. Pushed with all her might. Fighting against the void and whatever direction she was falling by now. She pushed, and reached, until her shoulder screamed of how it would come unsocketed if she continued. And yet, continue she did. That hand now a mere finger's length from hers, all it would take was one more good shove...
Then foliage draped her from below, and sunset's warm glow bathed her vision.
Yunita's hand hung there, reaching to the skies. Then, at last, she let it fall to her side. "What...?" She bolted upright and scrambled to her feet. Her eyes darted to every corner of the clearing, into the trees, even up into the branches. "Aire? Aire!" Back and forth, to every corner. "Brandt? Jusqua? Anyone...?" Not a sound but the rustling of the leaves. She fell to her knees, arms hanging limp at her side.
"I'm alone. Again."
At least she wasn't abandoned a third time. Just separated, and someone actually tried to stay with her. "Oh, Aire..." The only one of the group who hadn't once left her behind to fend for herself. The one who welcomed her with open arms when they found each other in Spelvia's dungeon basements. The one who had grown so much in her time since evacuating to Liberte in the face of their home being petrified. Her princess, and she her knight.
Well. If Aire managed to reach for her in the shattered void, surely she'd made it through somewhere, somehow, right? She scanned the area once more, now taking note of her pack having landed beside the pressed area of grass she arrived on. "Alright. What made the journey with me, then?" Digging through the item pouches revealed several hi-potions, an antidote, and a tuft of phoenix down. For weapons, it got much more sparse. "My steel sword from knighthood and a simple bow from Horne... Well, they're something. Wait, but what's..."
A glimmer beneath the necessities shone forth. Radiant and pure. Brushing the rest aside and taking hold of the handle, lifting it revealed a shining brass head with silver blades. One of a pair of weapons she and Aire found in their climb to Spelvia's surface, a shimmering axe. The other being a book of Ramuh, held in Aire's pack. Little mementos of their adventure. The only reason she hadn't been swinging this thing at the corrupted Rolan was because none of the Crowns they had were suited to this type of—
Wait.
Only now did she really take in what she was wearing. Her knighthood gear, shiny breastplate and all, rather than any of the uniforms bestowed upon them by the crystal. Sure enough, no Crown on her head either. What happened to the one she was wearing when they finally struck Rolan down?
"No, no!" She burrowed deep into her pack, flinging things out of her way, until she finally came across her crystal. Her crystal, dim and opaque compared to its warm azure light before. She tapped at it, focused, even rubbed it, and not a thing responded. "What's going on?! Even when we were apart, we could use new Crowns the others received from the crystal!" Still, she tried. Imagining the Crowns, their powers, their appearance, all the way down to her times using them. "Come on! White Mage? Fighter? Not even Bard?! Anything!"
At the end of it all, Yunita sighed. "Fine. No Crowns. No powers. No idea where I am. Just a forest, one that could be anywhere in the damned world." She tossed the darkened crystal back in her bag. It slipped beneath what remained of her essentials, down into a conspicuous lump of fabric beneath them. One she was sure she never had. With a furrowed brow, she nudged the rest aside, getting a grip on the coarse brown and black fabric.
"Wait... You?" A bit creased, but sure enough. That brown, rimmed travelling cap with a simple green feather in it. "What are you doing out of our crystals, little Crown?" The Wayfarer Crown. A simple, effective start that she and Brandt had made ample use of during their time in Guera, when it had been their only Crown. Who knew what he went with after he left her behind at the inn, but she for one switched to most anything else after plenty of new options came rolling in from the others.
Now, though? A thought occurred. If she still had her gem pouch, then... There we are. In the short time they had between Rolan's defeat and the world shattering, he'd dropped a few gems, including one none of them had seen a monster drop before, and she'd scooped them up to tend to the group's Crown upgrades later. And if this was the only Crown she had? Might as well get to it.
With each gem, each filled slot, she mused to herself. "Just what do you do at your full strength, hm? Running away wasn't exactly useful after our time in Guera. Brandt said you got some first aid benefits on your next set of jewels, though." With all the other gems in place, she palmed the new one. Translucent, iridescent, and sharpened to a fine geometric point. A diamond, if Aire's old jewelry collection were any reminder. And as she slipped it into the final slot on the front, like usual, all the gems glimmered, then faded into it.
Of all the ways to reflect the upgrade, she hardly expected the old hat to look even more worn. More well-used. More travelled. "Hm. Perhaps fitting, but still." With that, she turned it over, then slipped it on her head. The light washed over her form, soon replacing her old gear with sturdy brown travelling clothes. Ones she never expected to wear again.
"Alright. Now, the power..." She closed her eyes. Plumbed the depths of her heart and mind for the answer. And she raised her thumb and forefinger to her lips without a thought and whistled with more resonance and clarity than she'd ever managed.
"Is that all? Surely not." Teeth gently nibbling at her boot, followed by a yip. "Hm? Oh!" Behind her, now darting around her legs before plopping down for a seat, was a familiar fox. One without their usual adventurer. "You made it, too? But your friend, what about..."
The fox glanced away. It lowered itself to the ground, resting its head between its front legs. An answer in itself. She knelt at its side, running a hand along its back. "I'm missing someone dear, too. It's a wretched feeling. One I wouldn't wish on you or anyone." And yet, she smiled. "Would you like to search together, then?" The fox's ears perked, and it hopped right up to its paws. A few more bounces and yips, then it darted up and clamped down on Yunita's sleeve, dragging her and her pack along. "Alright, alright! I understand! We'll get going, then."
No matter where she was, though, monsters would be ever-present. And so, she slipped her pack off, reaching in for that shimmering axe missing its pair. Clutching her gift from Aire in her palm, she marched after the fox, the silly thing barely stopping to wait for her.
What rays of sunset remained were already fading from the canopy. Night would soon fall. The first of many such nights, in all likelihood. However many nights it took, she'd find one town. Then another. And another, all in search of what she needed most.
"Then... I suppose I'll find you, Aire. One way or another, in this strange new place."
--
Brain gremlins prodded me about something. Something that will likely be categorized Apocrypha since damn near no one has played this entry and it's more in the Bravely end of things, so I doubt it was ever on the table. Yunita deserves some damn credit, though, so I wrote it. More credit than she got in her game, that's for sure.
