"… Damnit, Kirious. You better not have forgotten I was still in here." Draenen grumbled as she leaned against the entrance to the Spire in Mea. She had been in there for hours; to get an accurate map the first time though, she and Kirious had arrived early and started surveying. When he heard that the others were on their way, he had left her to finish alone while he joined up with them. Which didn't bother Draenen, she had learned to identify and avoid the things that infested the strange landscape, and Kirious' impatience often set her teeth on edge.

They had planned on meeting back up as the Spire's entrance, giving them a chance to finalize the map and add any last minute details. Kirious had said to expect him back in three hours, at the most. Now, as far as Draenen could tell, six hours had passed and there was no sign of him. The entire place was quiet, even the creatures to move less and she was starting to feel like they were watching her.

"Eff this." She finally snarled as she clicked on the small, red pearl that she had worked into her choker. "Bastard, you have ten minutes to get your ass back here or you're gonna lose that pretty face of yours and I'm gonna triple my rate!"

Save for the hiss and pop of static, her only reply was silence.

"… Kirious?" Draenen frowned, waiting for him to acknowledge. Several minutes slid by slowly. "Hey, can you hear me? Is everything all right?" When she again received no reply, she looked around the landscape as an uncomfortable feeling moved down her spine. "… Seriously, if you can hear me, say something."

After another minute of static, she clicked off the pearl and turned to stare at the Spire.

"… I wasn't paid for that. I'm not a hero; I don't do heroic things." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "But, damn it, I can't leave if they're dead in there…"

Everything considered, the inside of the Spire was a huge let-down to Draenen. She had expected something more menacing, something more than just walls, sand, stairs, and a doorway with a sagging, gray web hanging from it.

And Kirious' backpack, laying on the ground.

Draenen frowned as she knelt down and picked it up. The straps were still intact and there wasn't any stains that looked like blood. "Well, it looks like you just put this down," She murmured out loud. "I don't think it's like you to leave your stuff like this… you were planning on coming back, weren't you?" Rummaging through it, she pulled out some papers and glanced through. "Reports? These are… oh…"

She rocked back to sit and started to read, wrinkling her nose occasionally as she struggled with his handwriting. She had to admit, he was a detailed observer. "… Teleported..? You just told me you saw…" She paused, looked at the sagging webs, then flipped a few more pages. "… Names… locations… Maybe I can find some of these? I'm not going to try to copy this alone…"

She neatly folded the papers, returned them to the backpack, and poked through it's contents again. Finding nothing particularly interesting, Draenen sighed as she stood up, swung Kirious' backpack over her shoulder, and checked to make sure her mapcase was securely in place. She looked around the Spire again, then clicked the red pearl back on.

"Hey, Jerk. Doubt you can hear me, but you better be alive when I find you. I paid you in advance, and you still owe me for my trips into this little slice of Paradise…"

The blond-haired Elvaan gestured at the neglected cup of tea. "All right, Thorns. Enough stalling; out with it."

"Hm? Oh…" Draenen grabbed her teacup and took an apologetic sip. "I need some advice."

"So you already said." The Elvaan smiled, then arched an eyebrow as a little Hume boy tried to worm his way into Draenen's lap. "Aderyn, be careful; you're going to knock over your Auntie's cup."

"It's okay. I've been teasing him." Draenen smiled as she put her teacup down and made room for her nephew. "Have you been a good boy, Aderyn? Have you been minding Auntie Tara?"

"Yes, Auntie Draen." The boy nodded, his dark curly hair bouncing.

"He's been a big help around the house recently," Taraiual smiled around her teacup as she took a sip. "He even helped me fix the old bookshelf yesterday."

"He did, huh? Well, I guess it's a good thing brought this." Draenen handed the boy a cloth-wrapped bundle.

"Oh!" Aderyn breathed as she unwrapped the package and pulled out a set of carved wooden chocobos. "'Bo's!" He hugged his aunt in excitement, then turned his attention to the largest toy. "This one is green. Is it Engel?"

"Yep. Looks just like him, huh?"

He nodded. "Will you take me riding again soon? I liked the beach." Aderyn's face shone with hope and excitement.

Draenen chuckled and rested her cheek against the side of the boy's head. "Sure. Not today, though. I've got something important to do first, but when I get back we can go."

"Go play in your room, Aderyn. Auntie and I need to talk."

"'Kay. Thank you for the 'bo's, Auntie." Aderyn kissed Draenen on the cheek before hopping down and running upstairs.

"… He's a good boy." Draenen murmured.

"He is." Tarauial agreed. "He's almost school-aged, you know."

"Already?"

"He's almost six, Thorns." She paused, then frowned. "Have you put thought into what you're going to do? I don't suggest enrolling him in a school here; some of the local boys have already started picking on him. And considering his race, I can't guarantee that the teachers will be fair to him."

Draenen rolled her eyes and sighed. "Bullies." She reached for her teacup. "Well, I guess I could hire a tutor for him."

"There's another option." Tarauial said, slowly. "Both his parents were mages, and your sister's talent supposedly passed through bloodlines. Maybe he should go to Windurst, be tested to see if he's got any talent himself."

"… You mean, stay with me?"

"Well, you could board him or see if you can get him fostered."

Draenen waved a hand. "No. If he goes to Windurst, he'll be staying with me." She finished off her tea. "I'll think about it. Right now isn't a good time, but maybe soon. Work has been… unpredictable. Which reminds me why I'm here."

"Right, right." Tarauial stood and collected the teacups.

"I was… hired by someone to make maps."

"Oh, that's not a bad job." Tarauial looked up as she re-poured tea. "Your sister did very well doing it. What's wrong?"

"He and some others have been scouting some… well, I don't know what it is." Draenen frowned as Tarauial handed her a fresh cup of tea. "You know the Crags, right? Like, at Holla and Mea? Where the gate crystals are?"

"Mhm." Tarauial returned to her seat and took a sip from her cup.

"Some of the crystals have shattered. If you get too close to them, you can fall into them. And inside, is this… place. Little islands floating in the darkness, and it's all gray and filled with these creatures."

Tarauial raised an eyebrow. "You sure you weren't drinking and had a strange dream, or maybe ate some uncooked woozyshrooms?"

"I'm serious, Tara."

"… Okay. Just checking. Continue, then."

Draenen put down her teacup and sat forward, biting at a fingernail. "Two nights ago, they went inside the one at Mea… and they haven't come back out."

"They got lost? You sure they didn't just use magic to get out?"

"I don't know." Draenen sighed. "If they did, though, it's more complicated than that. They had at least one mage with them; one way or another, if they got lost they should have been able to get out of there. I haven't been able to track any of them down, so I think they're still in there." She looked down. "… They… they might even be dead. I really don't know any of them, and normally I wouldn't really care, but that place really doesn't feel like somewhere where corpses should be left."

Tarauial put her cup down and leaned back. "… You're going back in there, but you don't want to go alone."

Draenen nodded.

"You know I can't go. Even if I didn't have Aderyn, I couldn't. My arm and leg didn't heal correctly; I can't fight."

"I know…" Draenen trailed off, then looked up with an uncomfortable expression on her face.

Tarauial nodded, understanding the look. "I'll ask my brother when he gets home. Which should be soon. You'll be staying for dinner?"

"Yeah. And, thanks."


–-


"This place is so… wrong." Romidant murmured as he followed Draenen towards the looming Spire.

"You think this is bad? I think the one at Holla was worse; it was filled with graveyards." She whispered back as she first checked her map, then diverted to avoid a pack of creatures. "… You haven't been picking up random things off the ground, have you?"

"Again, no. You've asked and warned me about that a half-dozen times now."

"… Sorry."

Romidant looked around. "This is really a disturbing place."

"Yeah…" Draenen took a deep breath as they entered the Spire. Looking around, she noted that nothing had changed except for the the web; it seemed to be sagging even more. "Here, hold this."

Romidant took Kirious' backpack and held it while Draenen rummaged through it. "What are you looking for?"

"His notes." Draenen said as she pulled out the bundle of reports. "I want to make sure I didn't miss or forget anything." She took a minute to re-read some pages, then folded them back up and returned them to the bag. "Okay, in theory there's going to be some sort of glowing portal on the other side of that… webby-thingy. Kind of like the ones we used to get back here. And it's probably guarded by a really big one of those things crawling around this place.

"… You any good in a fight?" Romidant frowned.

"I can hold my own, normally. I don't know about whatever's in here, though."

"Do you even have a plan?"

Draenen rolled her eyes. "No, I don't. Look, it can't be -that- hard, right? You and my sister used to fight together. You've told me stories about the messes you'd get into."

Romidant grumbled. "Yes, and we did well together. Because we had practiced together. You, though, haven't bothered to show up when I've invited you over to spar."

"… So, what? You just going to leave me now?" Draenen snatched Kirious' backpack and turned towards the web. "Fine, whatever. Go ahead, go home. I'm sure I can do this by myself."

"Thorns–"

"I meant it, Rom!" She turned, snarling. "Go! I don't need you! You're just a stupid, weak male! I can't understand why Tara keeps you around; even with a bad leg and arm, she's strong enough to do without you. She probably just does it out of pity!"

Romidant's face went cold. He stood still for a moment, then unslung his axe and headed for the web. "… One day, Draenen, you're going to have to overcome that mindset. Out of respect and affection for your sister, I'll stay to help you today. But after that, never again ask for my help until you grow up."

"… Whatever." Draenen snorted, then stalked after him and pushed ahead. Pulling a knife from her belt, she hacked and slashed at the drooping web until she made a space big enough to wiggle through. While Romidant stood up and shook clinging bits of web from his hair, Draenen slowly made her way down the stairs and into the room.

The creature lay along one side of the room, and seemed to be be going through some sort of state of decomposition. Long, spindly legs spread from odd angles from the corpse, some of the joints already disconnected, and the body itself was covered in dripping slime.

"… That is disgusting." Romidant muttered.

Draenen didn't answer, her attention on the faintly glowing circle in the middle of the room. She cautiously circled it, then kicked a stone into its center. When it disappeared, she frowned and knelt down. "… This is the portal." She looked around the room. "… They obviously killed the creature… They must've gone through. Think it leads to another level? Kirious made a note about a room with a big crystal in it."

Romidant just shrugged.

Draenen grumbled under her breath, then stood up. "Well, only one way to find out…"


––-



The first thing Draenen noticed was the pounding headache. The second was the sensation of lying on grass. The third was a very rancid smell, and the fourth was the sound of metal being struck. Groaning, she barely managed to crack open an eye when something not too much bigger than her and covered in armor dropped onto her back. And through the haze, she could hear ragged breathing.

"… Owwww…" She slurred, trying to clear her vision.

"… Thorns…" Whatever had landed on her back moaned, and Draenen realized it was Romidant. "… Move… gigas…"

"What?" She managed to get both eyes open, and found herself face-to-foot with something big, green, ugly, and stinky.

"Your friend's awake."

Draenen's head snapped up and she scrambled to her feet, scrubbing the sand from her eyes. "Where? How is he? Can I see him?"

The guard hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "This way."

The corridor ended in a large, wide room and Draenen stopped, her eyes widening. The guard, realizing that no-one was following him, stopped and turned to look at her, a questioning look on his face.

"What is it?"

"Aah, sorry." Draenen jogged the few steps to catch up. "Don't get mad, I can only guess how hard it was for you all to survive here for so long, but that first view of the room is… very impressive." When one of the man's eyebrows shot up, Draenen smiled. "The bridge, the tapestries with the crests, what appeared to be an alter at the far end, and the way the light comes through the opening in the ceiling. This place is much, much more than just a hole in the ground."

"… You main-landers are strange." The guard mumbled as he turned and continued on their way. Taking a corridor off to their left, they headed in a slight downward spiral until they reached a door. The guard knocked, then opened it up and jerked his head. "In there. Be brief, and when you're done I'll escort you back out."

Draenen nodded as she entered the room. It was sparsely furnished; a bed, a few crates turned into a shelving unit, and a candle resting on a box beside the bed. And older Elvaan woman sat on a stool beside the bed, calmly mending a shirt. When she looked up and saw Draenen, she reached over and shook the bed's occupant.

"Young man, your friend is here."

The rest of his head bound in bandages, Romidant managed to crack one eye open. "… Heya."

"… H-hi…" Draenen stood at the foot of the bed, her head bowed slightly. "… How do you feel?"

He managed to chuckle. "Like something big and ugly tried to crack my skull open with a mace." When he saw Draenen flinch, he sighed. "Look, Thorns, it's okay."

"No, it's not. Because of me, you're hurt."

"It could've been worse." Romidant attempted to shrug, then groaned and put a hand to his ribs. After a moment, he gritted his teeth and continued. "The only thing you could've done better would've been to wake up earlier. How's that lump on the back of your head, anyways?"

She frowned, then touched the back of her head. She found a good-sized, swollen area and realized that she had dried blood caking her hair. "… When did that happen..?"

"I woke up a few moments before the gigas showed up. Your head was on a rock, and you were bleeding a bit; you must've hit it when we… got here." He carefully shifted himself in the bed. "I think that's the only thing that went wrong. You killed two and got the rest to leave us alone; that's a whole lot better than I was doing."

Draenen nodded, then looked back down. "… Hey, Rom? I'm… I'm sorry about what I said in the Spire."

"Don't worry about it. My sister warned me that you could get like that sometimes, I shouldn't have let it bother me so much."

"… You were right about what you said, though."

Romidant closed his eye. "Yeah, I was. But that's something only you can change…" He started to drift back off to sleep, and Draenen gave the old Elvaan a worried look.

"He's fine, he's in no danger." The woman smiled. "He's going to be like that for a while; it's best that you let him get some more rest."

Draenen started to nod, then frowned. "… In a minute. There's one last thing I need to ask him…" She moved to the side of the bed, and gently shook Romidant's shoulder. "… Hey, don't fall asleep just yet. I have something I want to ask you."

Romidant's eye slowly slid open. "… Hhrm..?"

"Do you remember when we were waiting out in the corridor? When we were waiting for the guards?" When he nodded, she took a deep breath. "Do… do you remember that Hume who came up behind us?"

Romidant's face went troubled, and he turned his head. "… Thorns, I'm tired…"

"Rom, please. You acted like you knew who he was."

He gritted his teeth, and then jerked his head in a slight nod.

"Who is he?"

"… Envy…" Romidant rolled on his side, turning his back on Draenen. "He looks like Envy. Thorns, be careful…"

"Why? Draenen pressed, earning a disapproving look from the old Elvaan.

"… Dangerous…" Romidant's mumbling trailed off as he fell back asleep.

When she tried to shake him awake again, the woman stopped her. "Look, miss. He needs sleep, and it's obvious he doesn't want to talk about it." She frowned. "What was that about a dangerous person? I should tell the guards…"

Draenen blinked, then shook her head. "… I think he might be mistaken. I've worked with Kirious a few times… he's a jerk, but he's a professional; I don't think he's someone to worry about." She looked up as the door opened, and the guard stuck his head in and scowled at her. "… Besides, we're obviously not very welcome here; I don't think you have to worry about any of us causing problems inside your Stronghold."

The old woman pursed her lips. "Don't think too unkindly of us, miss. We've been here for some twenty years, and we barely have enough to take care of our own. We're willing to take in your friend, but he's a strain on us that's going to make things very difficult here."

"… Thank you, for doing what you can for him…" Draenen murmured as she moved to join with the impatient guard. At the door, she paused and looked back. "… I'll do what I can to pay back. Coins probably aren't much use to you, so anything useful I find out there, I'll give to some guards for use here. Fair?"

The old woman smiled. "Fair, and appreciated."