Everheart: Chapter 19

"Holy shit, did it work?!"

Good morning to you, too...

"If any of you youngsters profane in this place one more time..."

"Kraio..."

"Sorry, sorry!"

It felt to Ginal as though she had been sleeping for days.  Her eyelids were so heavy that opening them was a feat of willpower, only to be met by light far too bright for her taste, and her body was stiff and sore.  However, much to her pleasure, she no longer found herself as two separate beings locked in a struggle for control, but rather...just herself.

I've never been so glad to be only myself.

She found Selah next to her, offering a groggy smile and squeezing her hand.

"Welcome back, Kitten."

"Thanks...I feel like I've been trampled by a herd of chocobo."

There was something else, Ginal realized, and the realization startled her.

"Your eyes!"

A hand was offered to Ginal, belonging to Timothy.  "Gods be good, it's the both of you."

Ginal stared, shock and wonder plain as day in her expression.  She leaned forward, as Selah did the same, and they searched each others eyes.

"Selah, your eyes, they--they glow like magiced sapphires!"

"And yours like enchanted emeralds."

"Well, that's...odd, but really pretty." Kraio remarked.  "Guess you can use your eyes as candles during sexy time, now!"

The old priest, Timothy, Selah and Ginal all looked upon Kraio in disbelief.

"Kraio..."

"What?" 

Accepting Timothy's offered help and rising to her feet, Ginal's perceptions finally caught up with her surroundings.  Her ears flattened as her eyes sparkled with wonderment.  The chandeliers, the fountains and waterfalls.  The grand, sprawling architecture, the stained glass and the regal carpeting.

"Oh...gods, this place is beautiful.  Where are we?"

"You're inside the Ivory Chapel, within the Sanctum of the Twelve." the old priest answered.

I would give anything to be bonded in this place...

Shaking herself from her reverie, Ginal looked to Kraio and Timothy, giving a tired, but heartfelt smile.

"I take it you did something to allow Selah to help me.  Thank you, so much."

"What are friends for?" Kraio remarked.

Selah came up behind her lover, kissing her ears and gently rubbing her shoulders, eliciting a contented purr from the miqo'te.

Such a simple thing...gods, I missed this.

"Hey...is there a place we can be alone for a minute?" Ginal inquired.

Kraio chuckled, "Hey, I don't think gramps here would like you two doing...what you do, in the chapel."

"No, no..." Ginal laughed as her ears fluttered.  "It's just...we need to talk, while there's time."

"Indeed." Selah agreed.

"Very well.  Kraio, let us go check on the others." Timothy suggested.

"If you'll follow me, young ladies." the old priest gestured ahead.  "We are still working to repair and renovate, but we have a waiting room ready to use."



Ornate, wall mounted vases of gold and white porcelain.  Sconces of shining brass, or even gold itself.  Fountains pouring water from the walls, and luxurious, thickly cushioned couches.  There would have even been rays of brilliant sunlight pouring through the round-edged window that covered the entire back wall, if the sun hadn't already set.

Truly, this Sanctum never ceases to take your breath away, does it?  Maybe Ginal and I really can host a ceremony here...assuming we could ever afford such a thing.

"Gods be good." Ginal drawled.  "I want a room like this in our own home."

"I"ll get right on it, dearest."

The hyur took a seat on one of the sofas, and pat the spot next to her for Ginal to join her.  "But, seriously, Kitten...What were those memories?  Have...have we lived before?"

The miqo'te chewed on her lip as she thought.  Selah could tell she didn't have an answer she was comfortable with, and couldn't blame her.

"When I was...pregnant, before..."  Discomfort and unease crept over Selah as she spoke the words.  It needed to be said, though, so force herself on she did.  "It wasn't just being Geoffrey's child that felt wrong.  It was...I had this overwhelming feeling, that...it just felt wrong to be pregnant.  And, hells, I don't know...just wrong."

Ginal listened, and the hyur knew by the particular twitching of her ears that she wanted to speak up, but wasn't sure what to say.  Selah smiled and gave her beloved's hand a reassuring squeeze.

"I wonder...  If I was pregnant in another life, with a child I wanted...then losing that child might be what's made me feel this way?"

"It makes sense...as much sense as any of these dreams." Ginal commented.

"And that night, in Hyrstmill...and all the times we've been looking to that same cluster of stars.  It really does feel like we've been looking for each other all our lives, doesn't it?"

With a heavy, shuddering breath, tears began to well in Ginal's eyes.  She lay her head on Selah's chest, her ears folded down.  "I always knew someone important was looking at those stars.  Someone I needed to find.  And even from the first day we met, I knew that I had met you before."

Selah nodded, "I felt the same way.  No matter how new and exciting things may be, there's always this comforting familiarity to everything between us."

Neither were certain how long they sat, enjoying the ambiance of the fountains and the warm calm of cuddling.  Minutes, certainly, and maybe more.  

"Selah...I'm sorry.  I really fucked up here, and I'm sorry."

"I know you are.  It's oka--"

"I was on my way to find you, you know?  But then the Wailers came calling for help, and...  I felt like I couldn't just abandon my people when they needed me."

Funny.  An appeal to help my people is what kept me in Mor Dohna.

Selah shrugged, "Sometimes we all get sidetracked and forget what matters most.  But you're my love, and of course I forgive you."

She paused, her jaw clenched as she thought over how to continue, but realized Ginal was falling asleep.  Being a sentiment she concurred with, she closed her eyes, held Ginal close, and drifted off to the ambiance of her beloved's steady breathing.

Gentle knocking on the door roused Selah and Ginal.  The door opened partway, and Elysande peeked her head in, offering her friends a warm smile.

"Hey guys--gods bless!  Your eyes!"

Ginal smirked, "Yeah, we know.  We don't know what it's about, either."

"Seem to be a response to our souls' intimate joining." Selah offered.

Elysande seemed entranced for a half moment, then shook her head in disbelief.

"Well, anyway, the Wailers and their conjurors have turned back.  I convinced them that the massive aether outpouring outside was the 'demon' dieing.  Conjurors said the elementals confirmed it, whatever that means, and they left."

"Wonderful," Selah happily exhaled, "no more fighting for today."

Worry and remorse crossed Ginal's features as she shot to her feet.  "Oh gods, Ely, the others!  Are they okay?  Di--did I kill, any of them?

Please, gods, tell me I didn't kill anyone else.

A gentle wave of her hand and a reassuring smile were Elysande's reply.

"Battered and bruised, to be sure, but we're all accounted for.  Gods, girl, remind me not to piss you off!"

The miqo'te offered an apologetic, sheepish smile, prompting Elysande to enter the room.  The tall and more muscular hyur embraced her friend tight, laughing warmly.

"Gin, honey, we'll all be fine after some rest and potion treatments.  I know a good alchemist."  

In the days following, the lovers decided to make their way back home by bird, carriage, and ferry.  It was much needed time to think and rest, as well as an opportunity to examine some of the changes that had manifested as a result of recent events.

For one, the brilliant glow in their eyes seemed to be permanent, as it had not diminished even slightly during the trip home.  The looks people gave them ranged from amusing to annoying, and by the second day Ginal wasn't sure whether to be grateful for the attention, or fed up with it.

While stopped within the towering wooden walls of Quarrymill, and older, gray-haired elezen woman had stopped to peer into Ginal's eyes, and began to remark on them.

"Yes, I know, shining emeralds, thanks." she snapped.

"Dearest, she was only trying to pay a compliment." Selah chastised.  "But...I agree, this may be getting old quickly."

Ginal also discovered that her new found powers also seemed permanent.  Lobbing spheres of shimmering black and green energy, creating violently jutting spines of darkness that ripped boulders in half, even the manifestation of a sword from nothingness.



Dusk was upon them when they reached the makeshift outpost at Buscarron's Druthers.  A tavern nestled among a small clearing, with partial protection of a perimeter of small wooden walls, a small stable, and a handful of bored adventurers for guards.  It brought back pleasant memories, of a day months ago when things weren't so dire and complicated.  When the two had known they were falling in love, but had not the courage to stand their ground and speak up.  It was a fine moment in time to revisit, with loving kisses that complimented the malty-sweet beers from the tavern.

On a whim of curiosity, Ginal purchased a steel-forged sword from a traveling merchant setup outside the tavern, and focused her energies on it.  After a while, minutes or maybe longer, crackling green energy had covered the blade, and then it simply faded away.  With a moment's concentration, shimmering swirls of green and black formed in her hands, and the very same sword manifested.

"Well, that's useful." Selah remarked.  "I'm not sure if I should be envious or frightened."

"Both," Ginal grinned.  "I'm pretty damn awesome."

On another whim, Ginal found herself curious if it was more than glowing eyes she now shared with her beloved.  Selah needed a new weapon anyway, the road to The Goblet being as long as it was.

Unfortunately, they were short on traveling gil, and needed to conserve what was left.  Fortunately, Ginal had noticed the merchant making sideways glances at the two or them, and figured she knew a way to charm him out of a lance.

A playful pout and batting of the eyes, a compliment of the middle-aged man's pudgy physique buttered him up well enough, but sharing a heated kiss with Selah and giving a suggestive glance seemed to imply pending attention of which the man was desperate for.  Ginal knew she could have convinced the man to hand over his wallet at that point, and was tempted to ask.

The smirk on Selah's face as they strolled away with her steel and oak carved weapon only served to make Ginal giggle.

"You're mean, you know that?"

"You knew this already."

It was hard to explain to Selah how to concentrate on the lance.  When Ginal first discovered she could create a sword from aether, it was born from an instinctual need to defend herself.  Breaking that steel sword down and summoning it from the aether was almost like willing it to become a part of her, a literal extension of her being.

So Selah sat upon a stump, bathed in the pink and orange of sunset, and concentrated.  She, too, willed the weapon to become a part of herself.  And willed.

And willed.

Shimmering white and blue light enveloped the lance, and within moments, it had disipated into strands of aether.  Shocked and excited, Selah willed the weapon's return.  From her hands sprang forth the same crackling blue and white, which coalesced into the oaked- carved, steel-bladed lance.

"At least it will be very difficult disarm us."

"Oh, don't worry about that," Ginal smirked, "I bite."

"Mmhmm, and I may still have teeth marks on my back from the last time."

It was good to slip back into the playful banter.  You never know how much it means until you have to go without.



The road was quiet and welcoming, until the following midday.  They arrived at the grand achievement of masonry, the Highbridge, to find a particularly aggressive band of those rat-faced Qiqirn menacing the merchants and guards.  The commotion pulled Ginal from a lovely dream about wintertime indulgences of pumpkin flavored coffee and pecan pie, shared with a talking squirrel.

"What do you suppose they're looking for?" Selah inquired.  "These things rarely want anything substantial like territory."

"Don't know, don't care." Ginal replied.  She leaned up on the tips of her toes for a stretch that quickly became a kiss, her lips playfully meeting those of her beloved.  "They're in the way of getting home."

The two hopped down from the carriage and readied their weapons.  Exchanging a glance, they silently agreed to disarm the diminutive pests and send them fleeing, rather than kill them.  There had been too much bloodshed of late, from any living creatures.

"Wow." Ginal whispered.  "This place looks a lot more grand in the daylight."

It had been well into the night the last time they had come this way, and though Ginal could see the shapes and edges of things just fine in the dark, it lacked depth and color.  In the bright Thanalan sun, though, the Highbridge was a marvel.  The bridge itself must have easily been miles long as it spanned the great gorge that separated this part of the land, forged of gray-brown brick and mortar.  On this side of the gorge, the bridge merged into a great stairway that fed into an entire small settlement that had been built.  There were two or three rectangular buildings, and a tall windmill, all made of the same matching brick and mortar.

"Love, you're staring." Selah teased.  "I've got to take you out of the Shroud more often."

"You can take the girl out of the Shroud..."

The engagement itself was simple and straightforward.  Qiqirn could be aggressive, but rarely trained properly for battle, and these fools were no exception.  Judging from the way the over-sized rodents were dashing about frantically, it appeared they were simply looking for things to steal, or break what they couldn't.

It was good to fighting side by side again, instead of facing each other.  It felt natural, simple, and right.  They fought in tandem, a true union like they had never done.  Ginal would create an opening, and Selah would press it.  Selah would leap into a group to gain their attention, then back to Ginal's side, where the miqo'te would stand her ground with Selah at her back.

And through the encounter, they would brush past each other, exchanging winks or briefly caressing.  It was foreplay, a sensual dance that stirred them both to push for victory, and spoke of what was to come.  It had, after all, been nearly a month since they had made love, and even Selah was growing anxious.

"Ugly little pests." Ginal groaned, the blunt edge of her sword sweeping one qiqirn from its feet.

As if in response, Selah turned in time to witness one of the beasts at a distance toss a black orb, a sparking fuse on the top hissing as it landed.

"Bomb!" she shouted, pointing at the ground.  

While Selah leaped away, a small explosion consumed the immediate area, the roiling hot concussive force knocking Ginal over and winding her.  The hyur jumped back to her lover's side, worry plain on her face.

"Ginal!"

"Yeah...I'm fine." Ginal coughed.  

As Ginal shook off her disorientation, she realized her sandal had fallen off.  As she found herself wishing for its return, shimmering green and black aether surrounded her foot, and the sandal materialized.

"Whoa...that's neat."

Shortly after reading themselves to return to the fray, the rat-men squealed and chittered at each other, sounding their retreat.  Ginal was disappointed, but acknowledged that the ache creeping into her limbs and body would only hinder her.

Note to self: stop getting blown up.

Th couple embraced, Selah petting Ginal's ears to elicit a purr.  They stood in silence, willing the moment to stop indefinitely.  The hyur enjoyed her beloved's subtle musk, and the miqo'te's nostrils indulged in the piney-sweet scent of lavender lotion.

It was good to be back.