"My friend! We were not too late!" The Warrior of Light was covered in blood. A mess that I sincerely hoped precious little was theirs. The battle was near won, as far as I could tell. Thordan and his knights twelve were retreating. My eyes scanned the great bridge to the Archbishop's chambers.
No. Something was dreadfully wrong here. There were only eleven knights.
"Father! Please! Stop this madness!" Aymeric, dear Aymeric, pleaded with his father. However, we had come here knowing that Thordan would not see reason. He would never see reason.
Where was Zephirim? Where was the leader of the Knights Twelve? Why could I not see them? Why could I not?
"Madness? There is no madness, boy." Thordan did not turn, but he did stop for the longest moment. It was as if time itself had briefly stood still. As if reality itself wished for us to hear his words. To understand his feelings. The gushing wind ceased. The sky, for the briefest moments, seemed to stop.
"Nidhogg is fallen! There is no need for further deception! Now is the time to renounce the lies that led us down this path, to start anew!" Aymeric's words were falling on death ears. To us, it was obvious. Thordan's shoulders heaved as he scoffed, the elderly man sparing only the barest of glances over his shoulder.
"And tear down the very pillars of our society? Our history? Our values? Everything we have built over a thousand years?" Thordan's response was acidic, as he made a motion to the knight piloting the airship before us. "A fool to the last."
No. He hadn't motioned to the person before him at all. I caught it in the corner of my eye, and I realised who he had actually looked to over his shoulder.
Atop the great spires of the basilica, was a black figure, garbed in tarnished steel. I could see the red plume even from here. Zephirim had joined the fray, even if he had donned armour I did not recognise. This, it seemed, was the power of the Knights Twelve that Thordan had realised.
In his hand was a great spear of light. His target was obvious. The Warrior of Light was already rushing at Thordan. There was no time.
There was only one decision to make. If I must trade my life for theirs, then I shall do so in a heartbeat.
"Look out!" I let out a roar as I rushed forward. The knightly arts would not save me from this. I understood the moment I put myself in the way, the moment I raised my shield, that all steel would falter and my body was the only thing that could stop that lance.
Light crashed into steel. My shield groaned under the weight. My legs buckled. My arm faltered. To even hold it back for mere moments would be too much. This, unfortunately, would be how I, Hauchefant Greystone, would die.
I had few regrets. How funny was it that of them, my father had never changed my name.
"Hauchefant!"
The Warrior of Lights shout would be the last thing I heard, a desperate cry. I did not want that to be the last thing I heard. I would have to survive, if only for a little bit. I do not want that to be the last thing I hear.
"If it is your sincere wish, then do it. Mankind's Final Hope."
I blinked. My limbs gave in. I was moments from death. My shield shattered and I knew in an instant I would be pierced. Yet the world around me did not move.
Aether. Pure Aether. It streamed, swept and stormed around us. Invincible walls formed out of nothing. Pools of shadow cracked into existence. A bubble formed between the spear and myself. Stone cracked and screamed, and finally, I understood that I had been in the centre of a miracle.
And so the great basilica of Saint Thordan collapsed under itself, shattering apart under the weight of magic mixed with a miracle. I understood that I had been saved.
But at what cost?
-
You have taken control of the Warrior of Light.
Your name is…
[ ] Write in.
You are…
[ ] Male
[ ] Female
Your race is…
[ ] Hyur
[ ] Elezen
[ ] Miqo'te
[ ] Au Ra
[ ] Viera
Your jobs are (pick three)…
[ ] Paladin
[ ] Warrior
[ ] Dark Knight
[ ] Gunbreaker
[ ] Dragoon
[ ] Monk
[ ] Ninja
[ ] Black Mage
[ ] Red Mage
[ ] Bard
[ ] Samurai
[ ] Machinist
[ ] Summoner
[ ] Reaper
[ ] White Mage
You hailed from…
[ ] Ul'Dah
[ ] Hingashi
[ ] The Azem Steppe (Au Ra Only)
[ ] Garlemald Territories
[ ] Sharlaya
[ ] Thavnair
… You might be special, no, Mankind's Final Hope?
[ ] Write in any extra details.
