The Covington Manor, East Shroud, 1572
Just like that, the Covington Manor was quiet once more, and everything returned to normal. Things were the same as they once were. It was as if Zularti's arrival and departure had changed nothing, and yet, at the same time, at least for Faye, it had changed everything. What once would have been contentment was now boredom. What once would have been peace was now loneliness. No longer was she roped into danger and misadventures. No longer did she spend the day keeping some pesky boy out of trouble and keeping him in line. The lack of his presence was a strange, nagging emptiness she'd never felt before.
She tried to convince herself that she enjoyed the silence and solitude, that she was thankful to be rid of all of Zularti's annoyances, but it was in vain. With nothing but the rare visits from her father, the infrequent nagging of her mother, and her own idle hobbies to distract her, she often found herself wondering where Zularti was, what he may be doing, if he was safe, if he was happy, if he was successful. Some part of her was envious of him. To leave everything behind, be independent and ambitious, it sounded more appealing the more she sat at home reflecting on it.
But such was not the life for her. She was born into a family of wealth and responsibility, roles to fulfill, and so she lingered. Perhaps it was for the best, for it would not be long before Dalamud grew larger and closer in the sky until eventually, it fell, and the Calamity struck. Safe in her family's home, with all their coin and resources, it scarcely affected Faye and her family directly. But as she volunteered her services to the Twin Adders, she saw the horrors the Calamity had wrought as she helped the people of the Shroud to rebuild and assisted in healing their wounded.
It was as soon as Gridania had found peace and prosperity once more that it would crumble for the Covington family, a personal tragedy awaiting Faye on the heels of the Calamity. For a moment, it was if Zularti had returned, thumping and heavy footsteps waking her up once more in the middle of the night. In fact, that was the first thing to come her mind, still foggy with sleep. 'What is Zularti doing now?' However, she wouldn't ponder that before long. More loud noises were to follow: men shouting, women shrieking, steel clashing with steel. Some of the voices she recognized, others she did not. And then a loud noise, the loudest she'd ever heard before, echoing down the halls. A gunshot?
The sound was enough to both send her flying from the bed to stumble onto her feet and render her deaf for a moment. She clambered around her room, struggling to find her bearings before she reached the door, flinging it open. The hall was dark, the only light from the moon and stars filtering in through the windows and the soft, blue glow from the mini-aetheryte down the hall. The noises seemed to be coming from downstairs, but the rushing footfalls and barking voices were glowing closer, accompanied by the sound of jostling metal. Faye's eyes widened and she slipped back into her room, pulling the door shut but leaving it cracked enough to peer through at the scene, her heart thudding violently in her chest.
A servant rounded the corner into her view, running down the hall in terror. He would not make it far, however. Flanking him were two armed men, their armor an unmistakable uniform, the telltale black and red of the Empire. One of the Imperial soldiers held a spear within his hands, thrusting it forward into the back of the fleeing servant. Faye saw the head of the spear poke through the front of the man's chest as he came to a halting stop, his eyes going wide and unseeing, a gurgling sound produced from his throat right before the Imperial withdrew his weapon with a disgusting, wet 'schlink' sound of metal sliding over flesh. The servant fell forward, completely limp, face-first onto the floor right in front of Faye's door with a dull thud, blood immediately beginning to pool upon the ground.
Faye could only watch in abject horror, her body cold and numb. It was at that point she realized she had been holding her breath the entire time, and she drew in a choked gasp. Perhaps that was enough to draw their attention, or perhaps she had screamed at some point and simply not realized it, but either way, the soldiers seemed aware of her presence. The nearest one lifted his boot and swung it forward to kick her door open, forcing Faye to skitter backwards with a surprised yelp lest the door catch her in the face. Her own cry was rendered quite unimpressive in comparison as a woman's sharp, bloodcurdling shriek rang out almost immediately after from the opposite wing of the second floor. She was certain the voice was her mother's.
She had no time to dwell on it, however. Both soldiers loomed over her, beneath his helmet, a wicked grin displayed on the lips of the one who had kicked in the door, the other Garlean apparently quite stoic about it all, his sword and shield still strapped to his back. "Look what we've got here. This must be the girl," the first soldier mused, and Faye narrowed her eyes at him in an icy stare, retreating a step backward.
The man readied his bloodied spear, and Faye's fingers tensed and sprawled apart, the aether beginning to shift in the air around her as she began to conjure the elements. Another pair of feet rushed toward them, stealing not just Faye's attention, but that of the two soldiers as they turned to look over their shoulders, surprise and bewilderment crossing their features. Nicholas barreled into sight, sword clutched in his hand and his sleeping clothes already bloodied. Neither of the Imperials had time to react before his sword cleaved into the right shoulder of the man who had clutched the spear, knocking him to the ground and sending the weapon falling from his hands.
"FAYE!" her father's voiced boomed. "Run!" Faye was frozen, gawking at him for a moment before she remember how to move, though his focus had quickly returned to the Garlean spearman as he reached for his weapon and clambered back to his. The other soldier had found enough time to draw his sword and shield, advancing a step toward Faye. She clenched her jaw, calling upon the power of elementals once more to do her bidding.
She sent a powerful gust of wind toward the man, and though he raised the shield to block it, it was enough to keep him occupied and send him skidding a few ilms backward out of her path. She dashed forward in a panic, ducking around him and slipping through the doorway out into the hall. She froze, glancing left and right frantically, the servant's corpse at her feet and his still-warm blood lapping at her toes. To the left would be the stairs, the smell of smoke and gunpowder wafting that direction and all the clatter from the first floor. And footsteps... more pairs of footsteps hurrying about the staircase, at least two sets.
To the right, a few more rooms and a dead end. As she found herself frantically glancing back and forth between the two directions, weighing her options as best as she could with her racing thoughts, she heard the struggle continue in her room, her father's voice ringing out over the clash of weapons, "The aetheryte!" That's right... perhaps the right wasn't such a dead end after all. She turned to the right, sprinting down the hall as fast as she could, wet feet causing to her slide and stagger a bit at first before bare heels padded soundly over the tile, her nightgown's skirt flying wildly around her calves.
She heard thumping footsteps behind her, growing nearer and louder. She spared a quick glance over her shoulder to see two new soldiers in close pursuit behind her, weapons already drawn. She stumbled as she turned to face forward once more but managed to regain her balance and right her footing before she tumbled, dashing for the aetheryte with renewed purpose. At last she reached it, resting both hands upon the crystal and squeezing her eyes shut in concentration. It was difficult to focus, adrenaline pumping her veins, fear clouding her mind, and the Garlean soldiers drawing ever closer. Just as it sounded as if the soldiers were right upon her, she felt the strange, tingling sensation of her form entering the aetherstream. She had escaped.
![[Image: NCtCate.png]](http://i.imgur.com/NCtCate.png)
