- Major Patch 5.3 Spoilers of Shadowbringers MSQ -
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This wasn’t him. Katsum knew this and yet...to see him - or a face that looked like him - staring down at her with such anger and hatred, his sword posed to strike her down without another thought…
“What is the matter, Warrior?” She heard Elidibus’s sickening voice echo around her from where he hid in the shadows, “What causes your strength to waver so?”
He knew. Of course he knew. It was why he had her fighting him specifically, to push her, to anger her. Well, she would not play his games.
“Fury, guide my blade!” The shade of Lucia shouted as she wound up her swing and brought it down upon Katsum, the Miqo’te blocking it with her shield. There was no hesitation when she pushed away the sword, throwing the shade off balance and opening her guard for Katsum to lunge in and strike. As her sword pierced the shade, “Lucia” crumpled to the ground, her voice crying in agony as she stopped moving. Katsum faltered at the sound of it, only to be knocked off of her feet from behind. She rolled to her side just in time to dodge the blade of Raubahn as he stabbed the ground, the Bull of Ala Mhigo glaring at her and as he drew it again and thrust it down at her. With swiftness, she sat up to avoid the blade, its edge just grazing her hair, and struck out with her own blade to stab through the shade’s chest. “Raubahn” growled, pulling away from her staggering, only to hiss and suddenly charge at her with a cry of battle. Katsum struggled to stand, readying her blade as she shifted around her and sliced through him, the shade crumpling behind her with a rasp of pain.
“They aren’t real...they aren’t real...” Katsum clenched her eyes shut and chanted this quietly to herself, yet when she turned to look at the shade of Aymeric, her hand trembled, “Not real...not real...”
“You underestimate me,” Katsum was shocked, caught off guard by his response, allowing the shade to strike at her and land a blow on her arm. She winced at the pain, yet she did not strike back. He wound up another swing, spinning around to swing at her legs and she jumped back to avoid its range. He was fast though, and caught up to her, striking down at her where she had to lift her shield and hold back against his weight as he pushed down upon her. Then, he let go and she watched his foot fly out and kick her backwards, dropping her shield as she rolled across the tiled ground. She gasped at the pain in her shoulder, using her sword to prop herself up to stand again, turning to face Aymeric again.
“I won’t fight you,” She shook her head as she frowned sadly, speaking then to the air surrounding her, “You cannot make me fight him.”
Aymeric paused, as if something bid him to stop, and for a moment there was silence as neither of them moved.
“We shall see about that,” Elidibus mused from the shadows as Aymeric suddenly charged at her. Katsum barely had enough time to raise her sword to block him as he rammed her, struggling to hold her footing as she slid back. Something touched her shoe and she looked down to see her shield lying there, quickly picking it up and holding it out as the tip of Aymeric’s blade nearly pierced the flesh on her neck. She saw his blade come into view again as he sliced out at her and she rolled under it to get away. She turned back and widened her eyes as she threw out her blade to parry his, pushing against him as she struggled to stand and locked them in their struggle. A tear fell from her eye as she stared back into the hateful gaze of her beloved and cried, “I will not fight you...I cannot...”
He did not answer, only pressed against her harder to try and break her balance, yet she held fast.
“Very well, you have made your point,” Elidibus appeared from the shadows behind Aymeric, “I grow tired of this pointless struggle anyway. Let us move on.”
She thought that Aymeric would simply fade away, but Elidibus lifted a hand and an arrow of darkness shot out and struck Aymeric in the back.
“NO!!” Katsum dropped her blade and caught Aymeric as he fell, cradling him close to her as he stopped moving, “No, no, please!!” She frantically looked for a wound to stop the bleeding from, but there was none. She listened for heartbeat, a breath, any to show he was alive, but there was none. He lay motionless in her arms, and tears poured from her eyes as she leaned over his body and cried, “Don’t leave me...please...please don’t go...”
Her sadness slowly turned to anger as she turned her hate-filled eyes to Elidibus and shouted, “Why!?!”
She watched him blink in surprise, shock filling his eyes like he remembered something. Then that all too familiar pressure in her head began, and she shakenlying breathed and let the Echo take hold…
“Umbra! Noctem, please!” A blonde Elezen woman cried as she held out a hand between her and the dark-haired Elezen man she spoke to, pleading with him to no avail, “My love, please listen to me!”
“Bringer of fire...bringer of chaos...” The man growled as he glared at her, a dark, purple haze over his eyes that Katsum had seen only once before, yet she knew what it was, “I invoke the will of Zodiark...and cut you down!!!”
He shouted as he charged at her with a spear made from dark blue crystal, and she dodged to the side, holding out what looked like an astrolabe to shield herself. The man growled again and swung at her over and over, pushing her further and further back towards the railing of the walkway. The faceless ancients around them all watched in horror, none of them knowing what to do as they stood there.
The woman’s eyes filled with tears as she shook her head, “I will not fight you, my heart! If I must, I will let you harm me, but I will not harm you!”
Still, the man pressed forward, raising his spear to throw at her. She dropped her guard and closed her eyes to let him hit his mark, tears flowing freely as she waited.
“AURORA!!” A flash of light made her winced as she waited for the pain, yet when it did not come, she gasped and her eyes flew open.
“NO!!!” A deep gash punctured through Noctem’s chest, blood and aether already beginning to soak his clothing as he dropped his spear and staggered. Aurora rushed forward to catch him in her arms, laying his head in her lap as she cried, “My love, my moon and sky.” She held out her hand over his chest and focused her healing light upon it, yet no matter how much magic she used, his wound did not heal.
“Azem...Aurora...” She looked down at him to see the purple haze gone from his sea-colored eyes, his sad smile breaking her heart, “You set me free, my love. Thank you...”
“No, no, no! Noctem, please don’t! Please don’t leave me!” He reached out and placed a hand on her cheek, caressing her face as she held it there and sobbed.
“Oh, my sun and stars...I will never leave you...I will always be...right here...” His voice faded and his eyes closed, his hand slipping down to rest on her heart and she grabbed it tightly to hold it there as she watched him fall limp.
“No...Noctem, please…” He did not answer, and Aurora fell upon him as she cried, “Nooooo!”
The crowd around her murmured sadly, some of them crying tears of their own. Aurora sat up slowly as looked back behind where Noctem had been standing, seeing three very clear faces standing there: a very young Elidibus clutching the robes of a stern looking Lahabrea, and Emet-Selch, a faint cloud of purple magic still dancing around his fingers. At first, she opened her mouth to cry out for their help, yet when she saw the magic in Emet’s - Hades’s - hand, she stopped as the pieces fell in place. Suddenly, her jaw tightened and her eyes glared at them with hatred.
“You killed him...WHY!?” Her voice made nearly everyone jump and Elidibus hid further behind Lahabrea in fear.
Hades said nothing, but Lahabrea scoffed, “T’was his own fault that he wandered into my study when he did. I specifically said I was not to be disturbed, so when he opened the door, the darkness enthralled him.” The man shrugged and waved his hand as if to dismiss the matter, “I have killed no one. I am not guilty.”
Hades finally spoke, hissing out at him, “We have spoken on this. There is to be no communing with Him where others might be affected!”
Again, Lahabrea only shrugged, “It is still not my fault he is dead.”
“It is because he was going to kill Azem!”
“I curse the name of Zodiark…” A collective gasp echoed as everyone turned back to Aurora, yet she stared straight into Hades’s eyes with a fury unlike any he had ever seen from her, “I curse the convocation of the fourteen and all it now stands for! I relieve myself from its ranks and vow to be its undoing!”
“Aurora, please,” Hades took a step towards her, yet a flash of light appeared behind her and a talon struck out at him from the glowing phoenix that now floated above her.
“I am Azem, the wanderer, and from this day do I take my title from the Fourteen forever as it is mine alone to weild,” She lifted her husband’s lifeless body into her arms and stood, holding him close as her phoenix landed beside her to let her climb on its back, “The reign of Zodiark shall end, and there will be no need for anyone to sacrifice themselves EVER again...” She laid Noctem on the glowing bird’s feathers and sat behind him, the phoenix shrieking as it lifted into the air once more, the stars twinkling around it as she spoke only once more, “With mine shall it end. By my blood shall this world become as it should be.”
The crowd watched as the phoenix lifted into the skies and flew up into the stars, twinkling as it disappeared from sight, Azem and her Umbra along with it.
Katsum blinked as the Echo faded, suddenly remembering where she was and looking down at her empty arms to find Aymeric was gone. Her trance faded then, her mind settling as it finally believed her that the Aymeric had not been real afterall. She shakingly sighed and stood to her feet, wiping the tears from her face as she gathered her sword and shield again and looked up at Elidibus. He was staring at her, like he was still caught in a memory as she had been. Yet just before she could say anything, his shock faded into a blank expression and he hummed, “We’ve wasted enough time here. Let us move forward. Your journey is not yet finished after all.”
He turned and disappeared into the shadows again, leaving Katsum to stand there alone. The Miqo’te’s ears dropped as she turned and looked up at the city’s tallest buildings, thinking about the vision she saw.
