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Y’shtola’s words rang in her ear – in one breath a warning and a plea: to act quickly to thwart Fandaniel’s plan, to head off the final days, to save the star. Though they had precious little time to spare, Delphi had never once experienced a terror that rivaled seeing her friends – her family – seconds away from being cut down by her own hand.
While she knew it was not her, not truly, and that the part of her that mattered had saved them, the sight yet haunted her. The residual horror that followed the realization that her body had played host to Zenos’ soul chilled her more than the biting Garlean wind ever could. Zenos’ desire for blood – for her blood – was etched onto her flesh as both a parting gift and a requiem for an opportunity long lost.
She knew all too well what he was after: the sweet embrace of death, gifted to him by her own hand – or else the favor returned to her in kind. She trembled, pushing aside the grim but all too real possibility that her comrades would become collateral damage in the impending fray even if, by the Twelve’s grace, they managed to fend off the final days.
Her strength failing her, she briefly locked eyes with Y’shtola, nodded, and all but whispered her own plea to the Scions. “My friends, pray, grant me a moment to regain my bearings. I fear my feet may not carry me as far as the capital in my current state.”
Without offering them the opportunity to reply, she turned at the exact moment the tears began to fall. She made her way slowly to the northern end of the camp and toward a shelter that was mercifully both empty and warmed by a low but steady fire that also served to warm the remainder of the stew that had fed the camp mere hours before.
She sat down and stared at the light of the oil lamp that glowed and flickered on the table. Lowering her head onto her folded hands, she took a moment to fall apart before she was forced to once again don the mantle of the Warrior of Light. As her shoulders heaved, she felt a gentle hand rest on her back. Startled, she bolted upright and turned to see Alisaie’s soft, yet slightly guarded, smile. She made no attempt to wipe away her tears. Instead, she leaned into her friend and sobbed freely, willing away the memory of what may have befallen her had she faltered for even an instant.
Alisaie took her hand off her back and moved to take Delphi’s hand in her own. She sat down in the chair to the left of the weary champion and allowed her friend to have her moment of weakness away from the prying eyes of the camp. When Delphi locked eyes with Alisaie after moments that felt like moons, Alisaie broke her silence to comfort her friend.
“Delphi, I have told you on more than one occasion that you have become the sister I never had…perhaps more specifically, the sister I would have always welcomed. Considering the brother that the Twelve saw fit to grant me, I’ll take all of the unfair advantage I can get against his wit…though if you tell him I said that I will without question deny it until my final hour.”
At this they both laughed despite themselves, full glad they still had some joy left within them to share.
“And so, when I say this, I want you to hear me, to know that I say this not simply as a comrade in arms, but as your family. I know you will not lay down arms and leave this fight to us or to anyone else. In truth I know that even if you wanted to, that this is no longer an option. But, please, do not suffer this burden on your own. And before worse comes to worst – Twelve forbid – do not leave things unsaid between yourself and those whom you cherish the most, and those who cherish you more than you know.”
Delphi tilted her head questioningly, furrowing her brow and trying to decipher the unsaid meaning behind Alisaie’s words. On the surface it was a simple message: your family is with you, and don’t do anything half as reckless or stupid as I may were I in your place. And yet, the way her voice lilted and lingered softly upon the word cherish, and the half smile that spread across her lips as she said it, spoke to something less direct, and – at least apparently in Alisaie’s opinion – somehow more pressing than even the impending journey to the Capital and foray into the Tower of Babil.
Alisaie’s attention turned to the pitcher and cups in the center of the table, and she casually filled both cups to the brim, handing one to Delphi with an amused smile. As Alisaie took her first sip of what mercifully turned out to be a delicious, mulled wine, she smirked ever so slightly and abruptly changed the subject.
“You know, It’s interesting: it never occurred to me just how sensitive a Miqo’te’s ears were until G’raha was the first among us to know that you…rather, Zenos in your body - sorry - was headed back toward Camp. I thought that when G’raha mentioned it in passing before the Ilsabard contingent departed he was being overly dramatic but indeed, he could literally hear ‘you’ coming a malm away.”
Delphi perked up at this and glanced sideways at Alisaie, hoping her expression didn’t reveal the way her heart had seemingly jumped out of her chest and skipped halfway across camp at learning this.
“And had he not realized before any of us, seven hells before I of all people, that you were not…well, you – I shudder to think how things may have turned out. One way or another it goes without question that you saved our hides, but the fact that G’raha knows you so…deeply…bought us exactly the moments we needed to allow you to strike. The way he knows you Delphi, it’s truly a wonder.”
Now this was far less subtle. Gods help her but she was trying, at least. Delphi took a deep drink from her cup and set it down on the table before responding. Full glad was she that the cold meant her cheeks were perpetually stained a rosy pink, for otherwise the blush that spread across her face would betray the fire deep in her heart that she had long thought smothered by duty and fear.
“Truly, had G’raha not been here I know not what may have befallen us. It makes me sick to even consider. But surely our…connection…is naught more than a remnant of the arduous task of summoning me to the First across the rift. Similarly, he must surely have forged such a bond with all of the Scions who he called before me.”
Alisaie stared at Delphi with one eyebrow raised and her mouth pressed firmly into a slight frown.
“Come off it. The other day - and I swear to Thaliak that this is the truth - while he was nose deep in a stack of books near the Annex he greeted me as Alphinaud before raising his eyes to realize who I actually was. After I greeted him.”
“An easy mistake to make, no?” Delphi chided.
Alisaie sunk back in her chair and huffed in feigned annoyance as Delphi laughed brightly, forgetting for a moment that they had any care in the world outside of this brief respite.
Nevertheless, as it was wont to do, the weight of the world once again fell heavy on their shoulders, blanketing them with an oppressive silence that displaced the air in the shelter and closed in on them with a crushing urgency.
“If it is as you say,” Delphi began, lowering her voice, “then I admit it is something I have longed to hear since I first saw his mischievous smile beaming down at me in Saint Coinach’s Find. After watching the doors of Syrcus Tower close behind him, I was broken. I heard the sound of the Tower doors sealing in my dreams every night. The tears I shed for him. The perpetual ache in my chest. The emptiness. Those feelings lived within me and etched themselves onto my very aether, alongside a belief that I would never see him again in this life. That is, until I heard his voice and felt his presence again on the First.
“His glamour did nothing to hide the warmth and glow of his soul from me, though Gods help him it was an impressive attempt. And knowing we had been reunited, even if I also knew that as the Exarch he would never admit to me who he truly was…well, regardless, that small mercy of being with him again, even unacknowledged, was the first time I had felt pure joy in ages, Alisaie. He - not the tower, but he himself – has been my beacon of hope since we crossed its threshold together for the first time.
“But now, we face the final days – the end of every life in every shard – and just as I realized in the First, I do not have time to give in to feelings that will weaken us; that will weaken me. I must stay strong, for all our sakes.”
Delphi buried her face in her hands and took several deep, weary, shuddering breaths before continuing in a voice just above a whisper. “Truly, ‘tis enough that I may be part of this journey with him now and see this world through his eyes as his comrade. I accept that in absence of the luxury of time, this is the role I will play in his story, and nothing more.”
Alisaie leaned forward and once again took Delphi’s hand in hers. “What you are leaving unsaid, my dearest friend” Alisaie breathed “…is that you think one of you may not survive the battle for this star. More specifically, that you think that you will be the one who falls.”
Delphi gasped under her breath. Alisaie knew her far too well for her own good. But it was no use denying it. She lowered her eyes and nodded. “You have the right of it. If I am the one to fall, which is more like than not, then I do not wish to have him endure the same pain I felt when I believed I had lost him. He deserves a life filled with nothing but joy.”
Alisaie hummed quietly and leaned back in her chair.
“You have every reason to fear the worst. ‘Tis no small secret that your fate and that of our star seem to be inexorably linked. Now, having said that…” Alisaie leaned forward and flicked the Warrior of Light in the middle of her forehead with a light thwap “it is not up to you to decide his fate on his behalf. If this is the choice you make for yourself” she scolded, wagging a finger in the Warrior’s shocked face, “then I will not question you any further. But if this is the choice you make for him, then by the Twelve allow him the courtesy to tell you himself that you’re being a bloody fool. Honestly.”
Delphi choked on the last sip of her mulled wine, forgetting the dull pain in her forehead. For a moment she feared that her death would come not as the Warrior of Light, fighting for the fate of the star and its reflections, but instead at the harsh words and mild ire of a smart-mouthed Elezen barely old enough to drink the wine that brought her to such an untimely and embarrassing end.
As she recovered, she opened her mouth to protest, but Alisaie beat her to the last word. “Ah, but the subject of our friendly debate approaches, and this is clearly my cue to exit. Delphi, pray do not forget how many times I’ve been completely and utterly right about everything since first we met.”
“How could I ever forget? Bye, Alphinaud.” Delphi smirked, earning herself a sharp poke in the ribs and a wink before Alisaie took her leave, waving and smiling at G’raha as she passed.
G’raha cleared his throat as he approached, announcing his presence lest he startle the Warrior or give her any impression he had been eaves dropping. He pulled out the chair that Alisaie had sat in moments before and turned to face Delphi with a concerned expression he was desperately trying to mask.
“My friend, how do you fare?”
Delphi shook her head and smiled sweetly. “Much better now that I’ve had a moment to compose myself. Thank you, G’raha.”
G’raha’s expression softened. “And full glad am I to hear it. Your strength never ceases to amaze me. To recover from an ordeal of this nature, I would doubtless require the rest of this life and the next. Truly…had anything happened to you, I know not how we would have found the will to carry on.” G’raha averted his gaze, finding himself unable to meet Delphi’s eye, and absentmindedly worried the leather of his bracer with his right hand.
Delphi contemplated his words. She could tell he was choosing them less carefully than usual, and there was a tremor in his voice that she couldn’t recall ever having heard before.
“G’raha, I feel I should be asking you the same question. How do you fare? The past few days have been…” she paused, at a loss for a word that bore the true weight of all that had passed.
“I believe the word you’re looking for,” mused G’raha “is…exhausting.”
Delphi chuckled wryly and nodded. “Indeed. To put it mildly.”
“Regardless, the fate of this star and the remaining shards is nothing to be taken lightly. We have been entrusted with this duty and that selfsame duty is one that none of us would soon forsake. For as long as you light our path, we shall follow, and together we shall secure the future. Our future.”
Delphi blushed and was certain that even her wind-kissed cheeks could not mask the color that slowly spread across her face at hearing him speak the words our future. The words hung lightly in the air and gave her some brief courage to speak in earnest.
“G’raha,” she began “I will forever be entranced by your way with words. Your time as Exarch has gifted us with much and more, but above all else this gift is one I cherish. I could listen to you speak for days on end and never tire.”
G’raha’s ears pinned, and he opened his eyes and mouth wide in shock. “I…truly you flatter me, my friend.” He shook his head and continued in a hushed voice: “But if hearing me speak would bring you any small measure of comfort, then who would I be to deny you of it, given all that you have done for us.”
“It would,” sighed Delphi, closing her eyes and smiling gently “for as long as you have breath to speak and words in your heart. So G’raha,” she paused, carefully contemplating her next request, “tell me. Tell me how it is that you knew my footfalls from those of any other person, and how you were the first and only of our comrades to truly know I was not in possession of my body when Zenos arrived at camp.”
His ears twitched and his tail thrashed restlessly in the air behind him. He was not prepared for this question, nor had this seemed like anything out of the ordinary…until he began to think on it from the perspective of anyone but himself. He shifted his gaze to the Warrior, her eyes still closed and her hands resting one on top of the other on the tabletop. He examined her expression, calm but somehow fragile, until her eyes opened and met his. He blushed despite himself, and glanced away, trying and failing to control both his ears and his heartbeat.
He recalled the words he spoke to himself in the Ocular after he summoned Delphi to the First. How many years have I waited for this moment? The question repeated itself in his mind even now, reminding him of how he wanted nothing more than to see her face each day, to hear her recount her many adventures to him as they journeyed across the Source and beyond. And, more than anything, how she was the person he had been waiting for since he was naught but a kit leaving Corvos headed for Sharlayan, embarking upon his first journey to a world unknown. A journey that eventually would lead him to the Scions…and to her. He had longed for adventure for as long as he could remember, and likewise for a companion with whom to share everything that selfsame adventure brought with it.
He then realized he had been lost in thought for long enough that it had become awkwardly silent. Despite this, Delphi regarded him with kindness in her eyes that he swore he must be imagining, but that nevertheless gave him the courage to continue. He nodded his head and fixed his gaze on her, breaking the silence.
“To answer your first question, I would know the sound of you approaching anywhere. I wish the answer were more complex, but the simple truth is that it became a…comfort for me, in the First. When my strength waned as we ventured ever further from the Tower, I would focus on the sound of your footsteps. The pace of your gait. It gave me a way to center my thoughts and…well, I fear I’ve already said too much...”
His words trailed off as he began to rub the back of his neck, his eyes darting anxiously as he struggled to focus on anything except her face. He found himself desperate to do anything that would prevent her from realizing how affected he was by such a simple question, while also fully aware that despite his best efforts, he would ever be betrayed by the fact that his ears and tail both seemed to have a mind of their own.
Delphi shook her head and interjected, her voice trembling as she struggled to understand how one person could be so incredibly endearing without even trying. “Never too much. G’raha, please know that you need not censor yourself for my benefit.”
She examined his face and the way the lamp light hit his eyes just so, making them glow and shimmer like fire crystals, and her very soul ached.
He took a sharp breath and continued with a nod, steeled by her unexpected affection and unwavering encouragement.
“To answer the second part of your query, I suspect, and have suspected for quite some time, that when I summoned you to the First our aether became…entangled. I had thought the effect would dissipate after returning to the Source, however, the soul vessel seemed to bring with it not only the memories and essence of the Exarch, but also the aetheric memory of this very entanglement. And I feel…well, at times, it is as though I am attuned to you. Not in the same way one attunes to an Aetheryte, of course, but in a way that allows me to sense your aether when I reach out to it. Understand that this requires us to be in relatively close proximity, say, no further than the Aetheryte plaza in Sharlayan and the Aetheryte shard at the Studium. However, the principle stands.”
“Indeed, you have spoken of this theory before, but not in such detail.” Her own tail now lashed in excitement. How she loved to hear knowledge and theories spill from him like a calming waterfall. She could never get enough of these talks and would spend her days learning all she could from him for as long as he would allow it. Alas, she knew that this was not the time for such indulgence; they had precious few bells remaining to them before duty called once again, and she found herself speaking before she could think better of it.
“I must confess, I can sense your aether in a similar way, and have been able to for some time,” she revealed in a meek voice, her eyes flicking toward G’raha to gauge his reaction.
At this revelation, he jolted upright, and this reaction combined with the stunned look on his face and the way his ears perked up just so, startled her and made her laugh despite herself. He looked away and huffed lightly, ears flattening and tail whipping anxiously.
“Forgive me, G’raha. You are worried I have told the others, yes?”
He hummed and replied after considering her question for a few moments. “I won’t deny the thought had briefly crossed my mind,” he admitted.
However, when he truly considered it, he knew she had not, and moreover that he need not hear the words for them to be true – and yet, they came regardless.
“You have nothing to worry about. Why would I share this secret with the others before I had even revealed it to you, hm?”
He pondered the implication of this for a brief moment, and more so on the fact that he and the Warrior now shared a secret between them. A jolt of levin danced up his spine and his skin felt as though it were alight at the mere realization.
“’Tis as you say, my friend. Our secrets are safe in the care of each other. However,” he continued, pausing to steady his racing thoughts, “I fear I have not truly answered your question.”
She inclined her head curiously, feeling that she would have been more than satisfied with the answer he just gave. Nonetheless, her desire for any and everything she could learn from him kept her silent, eager for him to continue.
“When I approached Zenos, believing it was you, I reached out to your aether. Forgive me, for I now realize this may seem somewhat…invasive. However, I wanted to ensure you had not been harmed, as you are not wont to admit to us when you require a healer’s aid and to instead take up the burden yourself. When I did so, I could not sense you, at least, not inside your own body. I was staring at your face, the face that I know so very well, but your eyes were hollow. And your aether…I could feel it, but not where it should have been. It was all wrong. I know now this is because you were on your way to us in the body of another – but at that time all I knew was that despite what my eyes told me, that was not you.” He exhaled and shook his head slowly. “I had thought that perhaps you had been possessed by Fandaniel, and my worst fear was that the Ascian would attempt to use you against us in the battle that lay ahead, fearing that that you were all but lost to us. However, when Fandaniel appeared beside ‘you’, that fear was thankfully assuaged.”
“Gods,” Delphi breathed. “Seven hells. How terrifying that must have been for you…for all of you. I am so deeply sorry…my weakness put all of your lives in danger. I shall never forgive myself for that.”
Silent tears fell down her cheeks and she gripped her cloak in her lap, trying and failing to steady her emotions and calm her ragged breathing.
“What?” G’raha rose up out of his seat instinctively and all but leapt to her side. He kneeled beside her, and, placing his hands on her shoulders, turned her gently toward him. “Even now, this is your first thought? Delphi, my friend, my inspiration…you are stronger than anything and anyone on this shard. I know this to be true down to my very aether – and I know, too, that you will deliver us from the final days. We will of course be by your side, but you…you will be our shining beacon of hope leading us toward a new dawn.”
Delphi stared at his face, mere ilms away from her own, and looked into his eyes – those beautiful, earnest, crimson eyes – to search for any hint that he was merely placating her. And, despite her best efforts, she could find none.
The tears continued to fall, and she crossed her arm across her chest to place her hand on his. She struggled to find the right words to say, but they escaped her. So, instead, she reveled in the brief joy of feeling her hand on his, lacing her fingers in between his own. His heart soared and he gasped at her touch, which was unexpected but welcome, and achingly familiar.
Comforted by the feeling of his breath warming her skin in the biting cold, and sensing his aether gently mingling with her own, she felt at peace for the first time since they returned from the First and found an all too brief respite in Mor Dhona.
Finally, the words she had longed to say for longer than she had allowed herself to admit cascaded from her mouth in a flood that she was powerless to stop.
“You call me your beacon of hope, when mere moments ago I used the same words to describe you to Alisaie. In all my travels, there is not a soul I’ve met who I would rather have by my side through both the terrifying and mundane. No one I would entrust as fully with my life, and no one whose life I wish to protect more. Memories of my time with you have etched themselves onto my soul and have become a part of who I am, and you are as much a part of my story now as anyone has ever been or ever will be. Your name will stand proudly alongside mine own in this star’s history, and together the path we forge will be brilliant, and shall light the way forward for all life on this star.”
She smiled, looking into his eyes and gently leaned forward, to rest her forehead on his.
“Together with you. My wistful bard. My brilliant scholar. My brave Exarch. My friend. My companion. My Raha.”
Jolted by the sound of his familiar name, one that she had never spoken before today, second only to the realization that she had claimed him as hers in the same breath, his eyes shot open, and his ears perked up, fully betraying his shock.
Before he could process even a word more of everything he had just heard, he felt her lips meet his with a feather light kiss, and a calm washed over him like none he had ever known. He closed his eyes and moved his hands from her shoulders to rest lightly on the sides of her face, eagerly pulling her closer and attempting to say more with his kiss than he ever could with words.
Reluctantly, they parted and rested their foreheads together once more.
Moving his hands down to hold her own, his fingers dancing lightly across her arms on their journey, G’raha was the first to break the silence between them.
“If you would have me by your side, my Warrior, who am I to deny you this humble wish? I am ever at your service. And…” he paused, recalling the words he had spoken to her just before he summoned her across the rift, gently caressing her cheek and smiling more freely than he had in moons.
“…Always remember that the better path will always lead you here. To me. I have need of your strength, as do we all. But more than anything, I have need of your hand in mine as we travel wherever fate should take us. Together.”
At this, Delphi spilled tears that were, for the first time in as long as she could remember, tears of pure joy and relief. She reminded herself that she would, in fact, need to tell Alisaie that she had been completely and utterly right about everything after all, but resolved that she would do so at a more opportune moment to avoid her gloating more than was absolutely necessary.
“My Raha,” she beamed, “I will hold you to this promise, and I expect you to hold me to mine. We shall forge this path together. Provided your days of attempted self-sacrifice are behind you, that is.”
G’raha chuckled despite himself, standing and extending a hand to help Delphi rise to her feet as well. “You know me too well, my Warrior.” When he was finally able to peel his gaze away from her, he saw Alisaie and Thancred in an animated conversation next to the Aetheryte staring directly at them. Briefly wondering if a warning was in order or if they would deign to hold their tongues, he was answered with a wave and thumbs up from Alisaie that he took to mean they were safe…for the time being at least.
“Come, let us return to the group,” Delphi encouraged him. “The future is no longer where your destiny awaits, Raha. It is here with me, and it shall be nothing short of a tale for the ages. I promise you.”