Chapter Text
Sometimes the rain brought people in, sometimes it kept them away. This was one of those nights where it sure seemed like folks didn’t want to bother getting wet. But Baderon knew, deep in his gut something was wrong despite how quiet it was. He’d been grilled earlier that day if he knew where Himi was, or Gatsby. He hadn’t, but the question had been asked in frantic disdain, though Jacke had failed to give a proper explanation at the time. He insisted he would later, but it was later and somehow, Baderon had heard naught. It was unusual for him to be left in the dark like this.
His eyes darted to the pair of Jackets coming in from the rain; they picked one of the many empty tables in the Wench, upping the patron count for the evening to a whopping five. They didn’t signal that they wanted anything, but they were whispering about something, and he wanted to know what. Baderon recognized them – which meant he knew their usual orders. He casually fixed their drinks, and slipped over to the table.
“Eight o’them sisters are dead, that shit gets out we’re gonna have a whole heap o’trouble-”
“Shhh! Ye daft arse!”
Baderon’s stomach twisted into a knot, but he pretended like he had heard naught. Smiling, he placed the tankards in front of the two men and made an off hand comment or two about the rain before shuffling off. Had he heard that right? Eight? Is that what the commotion had been about all day? No, that couldn’t be the whole story.
Another patron had slunk in while his back was turned, and was currently sitting at the bar. Baderon knew this face too – Riol. Baderon slipped behind the counter to grab Riol his usual. Sliding it carefully across the wood.
“I get th’ feelin’ ye ain’t got good news fer me.” Baderon frowned.
“Aye, I ain’t.” Riol took a swig, gods, he needed that drink. “Shit went real bad. Real bad. Gotta place I can talk yer ear off, eh?”
“Ayeah. Plenty o’empty rooms on account’o so many sprouts missin’.” Baderon motioned for Riol to follow, grabbing a key from Mytesyn before heading up into the Mizzenmast.
Baderon almost wished he’d brought some ale with him. The bed squeaked under his weight as he sat on the old mattress, lowering his head to collect his thoughts. He wasn’t sure what he expected to hear, but it certainly hadn’t been all that.
“Jacke an ‘Imi alrigh?”
“Physically? Aye they’re fine. Emotionally….eh...” Riol shrugged.
“Eight. Eight. That ain’t a thing that ‘appens to th’sisters. That just ain’t a thing.” He dragged a hand down his face. He needed to find Jacke. See him. He jumped to his feet, not giving a whit whether or not it was still raining. He thanked Riol for the information, and grabbing a cloak from behind the bar on the way out, setting out into the storm.
Van was of like mind, though instead of looking for Jacke, he was poking around the toll for Himi. He found her, up on one of the roofs, tucked away as she stared out at the Crystal Tower. There was no rain here like in Limsa, but on occasion a shooting star would streak across the sky. He wondered how many wishes Himi had made on them.
“You going to be alright, kid?” He nudged her with his foot. She scoffed, hugging her knees close to her chest.
“Maybe. Eventually. Doesn’t really matter how I feel, I’m going to have to pretend to be alright regardless.” She sighed. Van raised his eyebrows as he glanced up at the sky, knowing she wasn’t wrong. He mulled over what to say next, but she spoke again before he could think of anything. “That shouldn’t have happened.” She muttered.
“No, no. You can’t start saying that, it’ll haunt you.”
“No, but I mean it.” She turned her head to look at him, her sea-green eyes were so… distant. “I can’t put my finger on it, but that… wasn’t something that was supposed to happen. Or at least, not something that… usually, happens.” She turned to look back at the Crystal Tower. Van flicked an ear, looking between her and the glimmering structure in the distance.
“You can’t possibly know that.” He shook his head. “No one, save for parlor tricks, can see what the future holds. People can make… educated guesses. But no one knows how things will be, or should be.” These words felt weird in his mouth, a bit like jam and toast stuck to the roof.
“Yes but, if I wasn’t one of the Warriors of Light, or if there was only one… you or Tamru or Resin… that wouldn’t have happened. Cassian doesn’t care about any of you, he wouldn’t have been mucking about, making a mess of things.”
“Himi don’t you dare say you’re going to give yourself up to the Empire.” He gave her a stern look.
“I wasn’t! I’m not that fucking daft, thank you. But I should probably leave.”
“And go where, hmn?” He shook his head. “That might stop Imperials like Cassian but it’s not going to stop the Empire.” Van shoved his hands in his pockets. “It’s not going to stop the Beastmen from summoning Primals. It’s not going to stop people from breaking the code, or...” He glanced at stars as a million things ran through his mind. “Or the Ascians. It’s not going to stop people from dying.” He shrugged. “You could flee to the stars; but that won’t stop -…” He paused quirking his head to one side, just what the hell was he saying?
“Endsinger?” The moment she said it, she knew she shouldn’t have. Van tsked, bending his ears back.
“You said it not me.”
“And it’s not something I should have said. I shouldn’t know that. You shouldn’t know that.” Himi narrowed her eyes, transfixed on the tower. “Something is wrong. Like, severely wrong. Properly wrong.”
“Your accent changed, I’ll tell you that for free.”
“Yours changes all the time!”
“I’ve lived a lot of places!”
“I’ve lived a lot of lives.” Himi’s face fell. “Maybe too many.”
“Don’t you start.” He nudged her with his foot again. He wasn’t entirely sure if he was succeeding in making her feel better, but at least she wasn’t talking about running off any longer. She picked at her gloves, turning her attention back to the tower. Van, not knowing what to say, did the same. Neither noticed that they shared a shadow. Himi’s eyes glossed over for a second before she glanced about, bewildered.
“What were we talking about?”
“You were blaming yourself for what happened today and were getting ready to leave.”
“I mean I really should-”
“No, you really shouldn’t.”
“-Go see how Jacke’s doing.” She flattened her expression, gently whapping his leg.
“Oh! Well that’s fine, then. Mind you, if he doesn’t want to be found I don’t think even you’ll be able to. Unless you know him well. And, I can promise you, you don’t know him as well as you think you do.” Van wagged a finger, stepping back. “Doesn’t matter if you two had a slumber party the other night, that only adds a point or two.” He flashed a cheeky grin.
“What!?” Himi squeaked, jumping to her feet. She chased after Van as he exited the roof. “Who told you about that!? Was it Tamru!?” Her cheeks felt hot. Van chuckled, and shrugged.
“Maybe he did, maybe the Echo is to blame.”
“Van!”
“What? Just because you two are adults doesn’t change the fact you’re both younger than me, and that means I have every right to tease.” He skipped the last few steps. “But I won’t bring it up or tease you in front of the other Scions, I promise.” He turned to address her as she reached the bottom step.
“Pinky promise?” She reluctantly held her finger out.
“Pinky promise.” He didn’t hesitate to wrap his around hers. “Speaking of knowing him, and I know him better than you. I’m guessing he gave a mopey spiel the next day about having a dangerous job and being the thing monsters are scared of and he doesn’t want to...”
“Drag a Warrior of Light into the shadows, yeah.” Exasperated, she sighed and shook her head.
“I thought so.” Van rolled his eyes.
“If it’s all the same to you, though. I really don’t want to talk about it or think of my romantic life right now.” She picked at her gloves.
“Right. Sorry.” Van awkwardly cleared his throat.
Amusingly, Cassian had just said the same thing, as he flopped onto his bed. There may have been fighting in the Capitol, but that mattered little when your family was wealthy and powerful enough to have one of those estates tucked safely away in the mountains. The one who had asked the prying question of why Una hadn’t returned with him, was his youngest sister; Nonia. Her lips were pursed, souring the expression on her chubby cherub face. Normally, her silver hair would be wound in tight curls, but her hair had been brushed out for the night.
“What’s the hour?” He glanced at the chronometer on his bedside table. “You should have been in bed hours ago. Shoo.”
“Daddy’s going to be mad you came back empty-handed.”
“Oh no. Father being cross – Stop the presses, we’ve a breaking story!”
“You’re always telling Mum it’s true love and Una would follow you to the end of the world.”
Cassian rolled onto his back, staring up at the ceiling, hands folded on his stomach, eyes wide as he considered what the consequences would be for throwing his pillow at a six year old.
“It is true love, even if she doesn’t remember.”
“But wouldn’t true love mean she wouldn’t need to remember who you were, because she’d just fall in love with you again?” She tilted her head to one side, gripping her doll tightly. Cassian groaned, dragging his hands down his face.
“MOTHER.” He shouted. “NONIA’S OUT OF BED.”
“NONIA! IT IS WELL PAST YOUR BED-TIME! YOUR BUTT BETTER BE IN YOUR ROOM BY THE TIME I GET THERE, OR SO HELP ME...”
“Tattle-tale!” Nonia stuck out her tongue and stomped her foot, before dashing back to her room. A minute or so later he could hear the muffled voice of their mother as she gently scolded Nonia. Cassian sighed, rolling onto his side, back to his still open bedroom door.
“Just a setback...I’ll come out on top, in the end.” He mumbled, shutting his eyes.
“ Azem! It’s so good to see you! I was wondering if you’d like to..with me, er, that is, I was wondering..uh…!” He stumbled over his words as Azem kept on walking. Emet-Selch sighed, shooting him a harsh stare.
“She is not interested, Sisyphus. If you continue to overstep your bounds I will do something about it, do I make myself clear?” He followed after her. Hythlodaeus passed by next – he said nothing, he just gave Sisyphus a disappointed stare.
“ But I...” Sisyphus squeaked as he watched them walk away. “But I’ve done everything right? Didn’t I?” He slumped his shoulders, walking in the opposite direction.
Van was right, of course. If Jacke didn’t want to be found, he wouldn’t be found, unless you knew him well enough to know where to look. Lucky for Baderon, he was one of those people. The rain still poured as he carefully scaled a slippery hill just outside the Zephyr gate. There were plenty of nooks and crannies that were perfect to tuck oneself in, while still having an excellent view of the city. Jacke knew every one of them – but so did Baderon.
Jacke barely acknowledged his father as a dry cloak was plopped on top of him. He wiggled just enough to put it on properly, though if asked he’d insist that he didn’t mind being wet. Baderon watched him slightly, then sighed, nudging him with a foot.
“Jacke. There ain’t a thing ye could’ve done if ye’d been there. ‘Cept maybe die. Then where would Limsa be, eh?” He was tempted to sit, despite how wet the ground and rocks were.
“Ye don’t know-”
“Aye, I do!” Baderon furrowed his brow. “I was reckless ‘nough in me youth t’know a thing’r two bout this sort o’ shite.” He locked eyes with Jacke as the young rogue glanced up. “I get it, lad. Ye weren’t just their guild leader. They were yer mates – yer family. Ye always looked out fer each other, takin’ out wot curs needin’ t’be culled an makin th’monsters piss themselves.” He knelt next to Jacke, planting a firm hand on his shoulder. “But there be monsters that need a lil’more than shadows t’beat. Which is why we got people like ‘Imi an th’ Warrior’s o’ Light. And ye know what ye did? Ye kept ‘er safe. All o’ye. An’ each an’ everyone o’them picked up a pair o’stabbers be knowin’ the risks. Navigator knows I...” Baderon swallowed hard as a lump formed in his throat. “Gods only know ‘ow many o’them venturer’s I’ve sent out ova th’years, t’never see again. ‘Ow many o’em be dead, I sometimes wonder. ‘Ow many o’them be dead cause I put thoughts in their ‘eads an encouraged ‘em to ‘elp others, be ‘eros.” He placed a hand on Jacke’s face, preventing him from looking away. “Look a’me, son. Gods know ‘ow awful I feel ye ‘ave to deal wit’ this. But ye didn’t do anythin’ wrong. Never forget th' friends ye’ve lost, but don’t loose sight o’ th’ones ye still got. Cause they all need ye. Limsa needs ye. An’ I bet all me gil Eorzea’s gonna be needin’ ye too.”
“Now that’s a taradiddle if I ever heard one.” Jacke rolled his eyes.
“I mean it!” Baderon laughed, pulling his hand away from Jacke’s face and slapping his back. “But fer now...” He pulled Jacke into a tight hug. “I know ye don’t want anyone else t’see ye all snotty. But fer just a minute, let yerself be a young cove wot’s lost ‘is mates an’ mourn yer loss.” He begged. Jacke clutched the back of his robes, lip wibbling as he tried to keep his composure. He buried his face into Baderon’s shoulder, finally letting himself grieve.
“It ain’t fair!” Jacke sobbed as Baderon gently rocked him. Jacke exclaimed a few other things, but his words were too muddled in between his sobs to be intelligible.
Standing in the rain, unnoticed to anyone who didn’t know to look or simply didn’t have the ability to perceive, was an Ascian. None other than the silly one always helping the Warriors of Light and Scions in chaotic ways. Her glyph shone brightly over her chipped black mask – her red one still in Urianger’s possession. She watched Jacke from afar, lowering her heard mournfully.
“You’re not the one who should’ve been there… I should have been there. I should have saved them. I could have saved them.” She exhaled slowly. “No more. No more deaths. Not a soul.” She turned and stepped into the darkness.