#d's journal

[mikotoazure]

“Flying Fairy” Available only today on theyetee.com!!!

[venatohru]

Did Ringabel ghostwrite this

[bravelyforce]

[mikotoazure]

“Ray of Hope”

Available only today on theyetee.com!!!

[bravely-default-archive]

Enigmatic writings, 6/16

"How many days have passed since I left his side?

A pillar of light has stood above the southern sea for some time now, just as he predicted."

[Image I.D: A black and white pencil sketch. Braev Lee, a grizzled templar with heavy armor and a beard, has a hand on Alternis Dim's shoulder. Braev Lee is significantly taller than Alternis. End I.D]

"That leaves little room to doubt his second prediction will hold true.

Within the coming days, the vestal and her friends will come here.

I only pray I have the strength to stop them as I was asked to..."

[Image I.D: A black and white pencil sketch. Edea, Tiz, and Agnes stand together. Edea is holding out a katana to the left, Tiz is crouched in the center with a sword and shield, and Agnes is standing to the right, looking into the distance, and holding a rod. End I.D]

"Thinking back, the vestal's followers have been with her since the start. Ever since Caldisla.

Agnes Oblige, vestal to the Wind Crystal...

I never imagined the young girl I met on that pier would bear such a fate."

"And Tiz Arrior.

For the boy I pulled from that canyon river to become a guard and ally to the vestal on her journey...

It seems on so many counts, I bear the fault for all of this."

"A long, harsh journey to erase the Great Chasm.

A vestal who crossed the putrid sea and stagnant air to arrive.

A boy whose home was swallowed.

In retrospect, they seem a natural pair. Inevitable, even."

"And Edea... I expect you, too, will join the vestal here.

You were ever a tomboy. Capricious. Pure and stubborn. Quick to tears... perfect.

I know not what it is you see in the vestal. What spark resonated within you. But I swear this now, I will keep you safe. At any cost."

"I always longed for a family...

[Image I.D: A black and white pencil sketch. A younger Braev Lee, Mahzer Lee, and Edea Lee. Braev is to the left, Mahzer is to the right, and Edea is being slightly lifted off the ground by her parents. They all look happy. End I.D.]

I will not see it destroyed!"

"The ship's siren has begun to sound, and the pilot's taking her up, just as planned.

The time is come, then. This may be the last entry I am able to write.

I'm removing Edea's picture from its frame and placing it within these pages. I want her by my side..."

[Image I.D: A black and white pencil sketch. The figure depicted is primarily a silhouette. Wings, arms, the shape of hair, and a skull perched on the head can be made out. End I.D]

[Image I.D: A blurred symbol. What appears to be a 3 with an enlarged "head" and a 6 inside. There are splatters behind it, either ink or blood. End I.D]

[bravely-default-archive]

Enigmatic writings, 4/24

"??/?? I'm alive... somehow.

When I woke, my body refused to respond. I think I was lying down. My eyelids felt as though they were glued shut.

A familiar voice grated in my ear..."

""Of course he'll recover. Just whom do you think you are addressing, mm? If I've orders to fix him, I'll see he's fixed... as much as I may enjoy his current state. He'll live, though I'll be sure he suffers for having humiliated me. Hyah heh heh..."

The days that followed were hell."

"His breath reeked as he spoke.

"Aww, does it hurt? Hyah hyah hyah... I just gave you the most painful drug I know. And here you can't move a muscle to stop me. Such a shame, isn't it? Ahh hyah hyah hyah!"

Some day I will carve this pig apart, so help me..."

"I awoke to familiar engine noise and the smell of oil, but sleep soon found me once more.

When I next woke, I was floating in some kind of liquid. I could feel it bitter in my mouth, stinging my nose and filling my lungs. I thought I was drowning and tried to struggle, but my body still refused to obey. I quickly slipped back into darkness."

"A cold, unpleasant voice woke me.

"A nasty bit of work, this... Torture, under the guise of treatment. It was wise to transport him here when we did. A few days more, and, well... Heh. Worry not, I'll have him back good as he was. You have my guarantee.""

"The voice next turned to me.

"And how are we feeling?"

My eyes opened, stung by the light and medicated fluid.

"Today is the twenty-fourth. You've been out a month and a week, but worry not. None of your correspondence seems especially pressing. ...See?""

"He held a slip of paper up to the tank. "Bring the orphan to the inn of origin," it read.

"What does it mean?" he asked. "Is it code? I can't make sense of it."

It made little sense to me, too, but I felt relief at knowing the boy was alright."

""That wasn't your only inscrutable message."

I drifted in and out as he reads more, catching only snippets. "Earth Crystal... Grandship... Engine room...""

"Some days (weeks?) later, the liquid was drained from the tank, and I was left to stave off gravity with atrophied legs.

"Buck up. You'll be back to your old self given a week. I made well sure of that."

With that final dismissive comment, he turned and left."

"I was moved to a civilian hospital to recover.

I trained back up to full stamina in six days, mostly out of spite.

No trace remained of the burns I assume covered my body, and he'd reversed the effects of whatever that pig had injected me with while he was at it. It galls me to say, but the man does good work."

[bravely-default-archive]

Enigmatic writings, 3/19

"He begged me to bring him with me. In the end, I caved."

[Image I.D: Alternis Dim, a Dark Knight holds hands with a child. Both are facing away from the camera, and the child is looking up at him with admiration. End I.D]

"He pulled a lever in the rock or somesuch, and a tunnel into the magma caverns opened up.

I'd never felt such heat.

Between the steep, narrow path, this blasted heat, and having a brat in tow, my progress was miserably slow."

"During one of our short breaks, I was taken unawares by one of Edea's tirades.

Distracted or not, careful to watch my back or not, I had allowed the enemy to draw near without so much as realizing it. Absolutely mortifying."

""Let the boy go!""

[Image I.D: A black and white pencil sketch. Edea crouched, slightly. She's holding a sword high, and looks angry. End I.D]

"I wasn't about to risk combat with the brat at my side. Even I have my limits.

He was nearly passed out from exhaustion. I laid him behind the rocks and stepped forward.

I saw no other choice but to fight..."

"In the short while since I'd last seen them, the vestal, Tiz, and Edea's faces had grown older. Stronger.

Their teamwork isn't half bad, either. I busied myself with the vestal while thinking on how best to drive back Edea without harming her."

""Stay back! Don't come here!"

All I could do as I saw the boy stumbling closer was shout.

The caverns shook, and the ground beneath him gave way.

Tiz was the first to react."

""Hang in there. We'll get you up!"

"Let go... We'll both fall!"

"Agnes, leave me! Go!"

"Un... acceptable..."

"Mrgrgr! My grip... It's slipping!""

"I acted without thinking, clutching Edea to me and pulling her to safety."

"Magma roared past beneath me.

We stood there, wordless until we caught our breath.

"Thank you..." Edea began. "I suppose I owe you for that."

I reflexively jumped back."

"Edea stood there, Ise-no-Kami held drawn and ready. Some thanks...

Agnes shielded the boy while Tiz came to join Edea.

As the sound of her swing cut the air, the ground beneath me crumbled once more..."

"I saw the look of shock on Edea's face as if time were standing still.

I slowly fell toward the magma below, joined by a shower of falling rock.

My vision went red."

[bravely-default-archive]

Enigmatic writings, 3/17

"Someone please explain to me how I wound up defending this brat.

Ah, right. Because that fat scum and the weakling started eagerly talking about torturing the information out of him.

Disgusting..."

[Image I.D: Qada stands to the right of a child, who is sitting on the ground and crying. Qada is a fat man with many vials on his belt.]

"I'm not worried about this weakling Astrae. I could handle him with my eyes closed.

But the drugs that fat one cooks up-- the poisons, especially-- could ruin the child's body.

And so we stood there, staring each other down for a full half-hour..."

"It wasn't for another thirty minutes that old man battleaxe caught wind of the standoff and came to my rescue.

Fatty and I were both drenched in sweat by that point. Astrae and the brat had passed out."

"In the end, the child became my responsibility.

Astrae is still spewing complaints, but it sounds like fatty was chewed out hard for his hand in the latest stunt.

Seems the kid is grateful for having been spared, even by someone like me. He's started to open up a bit."

"He's eight years old, and lost both parents to the war. His grandfather took him in, until disease claimed him as well. Textbook orphan story.

He was rounded up with the other orphans and put to forced labor. Between ditching work and saying strange things, he drew the guards' attention, and that landed him here."

"My efforts have earned me an unruly roommate.

When he's asleep, he's no different than any other kid...

I thought to turn in for the night as well, but the words he mumbled in his sleep as I put out the light stopped me cold."