Other Chronicle: Character Shorts

Other Chronicle: Line In The Sand

The following is a delve into the mind of Dariya Lithos, which takes place throughout A Realm Reborn.

Coming To Ul'dah

To all of my children in whom Life flows abundant
To all of my children to whom Death hath passed his judgment
The soul yearns for honor, and the flesh the hereafter
Look to those who walked before to lead those who walk after

It happened to me as if it was always meant to. Like a moth to a flame, I came to Ul'dah with a reinvigorated sense of determination and a glisten in my eyes that one could say was unnatural. I gazed upon the golden city, jewels of an era forgotten gleaming in the sunlit sky and an almost unnatural sense of pride grew within my heart. I was alive. After everything, I was still here, still standing, and still fighting for a second chance at the future that was taken away from me by the Sixth Umbral Calamity. Those who weren't there to see it lived it like it was a faerie tale, as if it were a myth passed down from a generation to tell a tale that those still alive prayed stayed just that.

I lived through it.

From beginning to end, I watched as my life crumbled before my eyes with hope then but a fleeting memory of what once was before I lost everything. My grandmother had been corrupted by the likes of Cocobuki, told that a life lived through Hydaelyn-through being one of the mother crystal's chosen-meant those who came afterward were destined to live the same exact tale. My father wasn't so lucky. Neither were myself or my sister, but I didn't know any better. At least not back then. That bastard of a Thaumaturge took my family in his hands and ripped it to pieces, regardless of intention. And now...now I know why the surname of Lithos rings endlessly in Gridanian and Ul'dahn ears. Him.

It was all him.

The Scions Of The Seventh Dawn

Shining is the Land's light of justice
Ever flows the Land's well of purpose
Walk free, walk free, walk free, believe...

The Scions Of The Seventh Dawn were formed through a want to preserve the life of an entire realm. The same life that one man gave his all to defend, and the life that he left behind for those he had met to keep in his absence. Thancred, Y'shtola Urianger, Yda, Papalymo, and Minfilia were these exact people. Before now, they were simply people like you and I; living the lives of travelers and wanderers without a clear goal or end in their minds. Now, they were heralded as the saviors of Eorzea; thieves, mages, fighters and scholars all unifying together to keep the peace of their home. A peace tarnished by the likes of Primals, beings summoned from the worshipping beast tribes of Eorzea that wanted to see their god rule with an iron fist like none other. However, as we grew closer, and together grew stronger, the Primals of Eorzea became, dreadfully, the least of our worries. That lied with the Garlean Empire, who fought for their own selfish deeds and beliefs despite our wants for nothing but a happy ending. Though, with stories like these, I suppose they were never meant to end peacefully from the first. The Legatus of the XIV'th Legion, Gaius Van Baelsar, led his empire with an eye pointed towards the future and a Gunblade at the ready for whatever would come to stand in his way. The magnum opus of their reign, the Praetorium, coupled by the beast of Eikon blood that was the Ultima Weapon, were all led by the man who didn't want peace, no, but a man who wanted nothing more than to see the future of Eorzea be built off of his ideas.

His visions.

His dreams.

We couldn't let that happen. We wouldn't let that happen. And in the end, we didn't. For the first time in my life, watching the Praetorium go up in smoke as the XIV'th Legion fell before us, I felt euphoric. Enlightened. Hell, maybe even changed. I didn't know who i was still or what my purpose as Hydaelyn's blessed was, but with those behind me in the Scions Of The Seventh Dawn and fighting alongside those within the Praetorium-Cyprus, Stryker, Ravna, Cid-they all had their mission. And I had mine. A new hope. A new future. And in Eorzea, in the mother crystal's cradling arms that I had neglected for so, so long....I found it. I was home.

...

...

...

And in an instant, it was dashed.

Teledji Adeledji and the Crystal Braves

After our triumph, the Scions Of The Seventh Dawn were, as always, heralded as saviors and heroes and showered with the admiration of a thousand and one hearts. We lived for the love but fought for ourselves, and once we saw that Eorzea put us as its metaphorical backbone, we had no choice but to step up our game and cover new ground. Moving out of the Waking Sands into the Rising Stones of Mor Dhona, all of us agreed that our next step was to push onwards in defense of Ishgard. For over a thousand years, the northern City-state of Skysteel had been in a history making-and history destroying-war against Dravanian kind. Dragons, Wyrms, whatever you may know them as, were led on by the hellish beast at the forefront of this never ending struggle known as Nidhogg, and the Scions Of The Seventh Dawn took it amongst themselves to fight for them as we had always done so before. Before we could fight however, many and more issues arose within the mainland of Eorzea that seeked our attention. Refugees from Doma had sailed to Eorzea, looking to begin a new life away from the Garlean liberated continent of Hingashi. Within their ranks was a woman named Yugiri, who made it evident that she would stop at nothing to free her home, even if it meant that she could never go back to it herself.

Then....then the Crystal Braves came.

A group of blue cladded mercenaries who were vying for rehabilitation through the likes of Alphinaud Leveilleur, grandson of Louisoix and archon of the Scions with a mind to preserve Eorzea in his own right. Needless to say, It didn't last very long.

But then again, I suppose stories like these were never meant to end peacefully from the first.