Part 1

Arcane fire wreathed the blackened, wrought head of the aetheric focus. A deep violet glow began to emanate from the crystal within the stylized shooting star. Thought became action, became a manipulation of aetheric potential. Action became reality and a tremendous explosion rocked the desert as a bright pulse of intense, white-hot aetherial power condensed and expanded outward.

The miqo'te opened her eyes to witness the destruction she had wrought. Fully half a dozen figures lay motionless upon the ground, their features and garments blackened beyond recognition. The sand beneath their bodies had glassed, melting beneath the intensely energetic aetherial manifestation. The cool evening air battled the residual heat, rising in distorted waves from the blast radius.

Aeriyn Ashley blinked and glanced at the staff in her right hand. Thanalan hadn't changed much since she had left, two years previous. The bandits were still fools who would attack anyone not wearing rags. The miqo'te slung her staff across her shoulders and made her way back to the old Allagan road.

She wasn't far from the city now--Ul'dah loomed in the distance, a shining beacon of wealth, intrigue... and more misery than either. Aeriyn had left the city of her rebirth three years after the Calamity. It still looked exactly the same, though perhaps there were more shanty towns cropping up around the city walls.

"This is not a homecoming," she muttered, seemingly to no one at all.

"It's not," a soft, lyrical voice agreed. "It's more important than that."

"Rinah," Aeriyn said, the miqo'te's ears flattening slightly. "You followed me here?"

A soft, golden glow emanated from behind and Aeriyn's violet eyes narrowed as a tiny winged form floated into her vision. The newcomer was perhaps only slightly taller than the length of Aeriyn's forearm. The fairy's body practically glowed with aether, leaving slowly-fading motes of golden light wherever she went, her vividly-colored wings fluttering rapidly.

"Had to," Rinah said, flitting across to land lightly on Aeriyn's left shoulder. "We're in this together, you and I."

"You should have stayed in Limsa. It's not safe for you here," Aeriyn objected.

"It's not safe for you here, either," Rinah pointed out. "This is very likely to be dangerous for you, Aeri. You have a much better chance of surviving if I'm with you."

"Even if it kills you? You've been cut off from the flow of aether. If you die--"

"I know," Rinah cut her off. "It doesn't change anything. If you die, I'll never be able to find out what happened to me. I have a good reason to risk it."

"I'm not completely convinced I can help you," Aeriyn said. "I'm not an evoker."

"You've practiced. You've been studying the processes I've shown you. There are better arcanists, Aeri, but I trust you far more than I trust them. You know how it feels to be cut off, adrift. You saved my life, such as it is, and I'm going to protect yours."

---

The Quicksand hadn't changed, either. Aeriyn walked into the dimly-lit tavern, careful not to let her wariness show too obviously. With a great deal of effort, she managed to keep the fur of her tail from fluffing out in agitation.

Ul'dah held memories. Many memories, most of which were not pleasant. Just being back in the city where she had begun on her current life's path felt strange, as if she had gone back in time and was viewing her own past. The subtle tug of those memories--her own, not the memories of others--led her to the counter where the proprieteress of the tavern, Momodi, now stood.

"I never expected to see you again," the lalafellin lady said, keeping her usually-boisterous tone below the level the tavern's dull roar of conversation. "Had enough of salt spray and fish guts? Or was it the stench of unwashed bodies of pirates?"

"A temporary visit, nothing more," Aeriyn said in the same quiet voice. "I'm here for research purposes."

"Aren't you always?"

"I need authorization papers for passage through Highbridge to the Burning Wall," Aeriyn went on, keeping her voice low so that she would not be overheard. "It needs to be good enough that the Blades won't ask any questions."

"That's going to cost you," Momodi said. Aeriyn didn't bother to reply with words; instead, she reached into her satchel and withdrew a bulging sack. This she dropped on the counter in front of Momodi. The lalafell's eyes widened at the sight and the weighty thunk and jingle.

"Enough?"

"Where in the seven hells did you get--"

"That isn't important," Aeriyn cut her off. "Just get me the papers as quick as you can."

"Tomorrow morning is the soonest I can manage," the lalafell said. "I'll get a room set up for the night. Food and drink are on the house."

"Thank you, Momodi. I'll be back in a few bells for the evening meal."

"Going to pay your respects, are you?" Momodi asked, her expression turning more serious.

"I would be a very poor little sister if I did not," Aeriyn said, her lips curving into a sad smile. The miqo'te mage turned around without another word and walked out of the tavern, picking her way through the knots of patrons with an ease that spoke of long years lived in crowded cities. 

The heavy wooden doors opened easily--Momodi took very good care of the Quicksand, after all--and Aeriyn once again stood under the Eorzean sky. The cool, dry Thanalan air was a respite from the smoke-choked tavern interior. Aeriyn took a deep breath and slowly let it out.

There was a sudden movement within her satchel, closely followed by a high-pitched and extremely annoyed vocalization. Aeriyn smiled despite the situation and opened the top carefully, allowing Rinah to emerge from within the bag. The small fairy's long hair had become disheveled while in her hiding place and the expression on her tiny face was one of utter relief.

"I never appreciated fresh air so much," Rinah said. "We're still in the city? Shouldn't I stay in the bag until we leave Ul'dah?"

"It's not necessary," Aeriyn assured her. "Ul'dahns rarely care much for any unusual sight unless that sight is a considerable amount of gil. The Ossuary here has also jaded much of the population to open displays of magical power. I doubt anyone here would recognize you for what you are."

"What did Momodi mean about paying your respects?"

"You'll see soon enough. We're going to take a short walk outside the city."

Rinah fluttered around Aeriyn's head for a moment, wondering if she should press the issue further. She decided it would not be a good idea to press the miqo'te and she simply alighted on Aeriyn's left shoulder. Tiny hands gripped the fabric of the plain, shabby robe Aeriyn wore over her mage's attire. While Rinah herself may resemble any number of conjured illusions to be considered uninteresting in Ul'dah, Aeriyn's highly-enchanted garments would draw far too much attention.

The fairy held on as Aeriyn walked slowly but purposefully out of the westernmost gate, past several small groups of people who chattered on about all manner of things. Rinah was not the least bit upset to leave the people behind as Aeriyn walked down the ancient carved stairways of the Eighty Sins of Sasermo.

Aeriyn's tail swished to and fro nervously as she turned left off the stairway down a well-worn cobblestone path. Rinah could tell that a great many armored boots had walked this path before. The miqo'te and her fairy companion traveled in complete silence, soaking up the sounds of the desert as they did so. Above the distant dull roar of Ul'dahn night life, Rinah could make out the calls and songs of all manner of animals and birds.

"This is our destination," Aeriyn said suddenly.

Rinah blinked, disentangling herself from focusing on the living desert around her and quickly realized she was surrounded by the dead. Aeriyn had taken them to a lichyard.

"Oh," Rinah said softly, understanding at last.

Upon the grave they stood before was etched a surname very familiar to the fairy, for it was the adoptive surname of the miqo'te who was her companion.

"She was my sister," Aeriyn explained to the fairy. "You know I have no memory of my life before the Calamity. My earliest remembrance was that of a monsoon in the Thanalan desert, a chance encounter with an Immortal Flames patrol ambushed by an amalj'aa warband. That was when I first met Ariene."

"How did she die?" Rinah wanted to know.

"She saw something she shouldn't have, and she would not let it go," Aeriyn said, feeling the weight of memory press down upon her heart. "Ul'dah is an extremely dangerous place to be an idealist."

"The same could be said for Limsa Lominsa," Rinah pointed out.

"It's different. There are shady deals happening every minute in Limsa, true, but the Ul'dahn underworld is far darker and much, much more powerful. The Syndicate opposes the Sultana's rule, the Flames are caught in the middle--dependent upon the merchants' coffers for their operation. It is not a situation that either side is fond of, but it is tolerated for the pursuit of stability and, of course, profit."

"Is it really that different?"

"You haven't lived the world as I have," Aeriyn reminded the fairy. "I freed you from the corrupted aetheryte shard less than half a year ago. The power structures that control Limsa Lominsa may seem more lawless on the surface, but the rigid hierarchy of this place exists to hide a deeper darkness. The balance of power in Ul'dah is more delicate."

Aeriyn reached into her satchel without another word and withdrew a small parcel. She unwrapped the twine holding it together and from within drew out a moonflower blossom in perfect suspended animation. The small token would retain its beauty, untouched by time, due to alchemical preservation. Reverently the miqo'te knelt before the grave of her adopted sister and set the blossom against the headstone.

"Dream sweetly, Arie," Aeriyn murmured, feeling her eyes start to sting as tears threatened to spill forth.

Rinah turned her gaze toward Aeriyn, a twinge of sympathy rippling through her diminuitive form.

"When Ariene died, everything began to unravel," Aeriyn went on, her voice ragged with emotion. "She was my strongest--no, my only true link to the Ashley family. Without Arie, I was no longer welcome within the estate. My name and reputation no longer held much weight."

"So you left for La Noscea," Rinah surmised.

"Yes," Aeriyn agreed. "It proved to be a very wise decision. I still had enough coin to make the journey and rebuild the fragments of my life. Had I not left when I did, I suspect I would be one of the many lost souls clinging to memories in the shanty towns surrounding the city."

"I'm sorry," Rinah said after a long moment.

"You aren't really sorry."

Rinah's tiny mouth hung open in shock, the aetherial glow emanating from her body shifting from soft gold to a dull, angry orange as the fairy's emotions flared with anger.

"I'm not really sorry, either," Aeriyn explained, favoring her companion with a sad smile. "Arie knew. She knew the Syndicate would silence her if she did not hold her tongue, yet she refused to be silent. My sister would never have compromised her principles, even if it meant her death."

"You don't have to understand a person's choices so long as you respect them," Rinah said, her sudden burst of anger cooling quickly.

"Just so," Aeriyn agreed. "I respect Arie's choices, even if they threw my own life into chaos. Of course, had Arie never stumbled upon the conspiracy, or if she had been frightened into silence, I would have had no cause to leave Thanalan. No reason to enlist in the Maelstrom. No reason to set foot within the ruins of Oschon's temple."

"And I would still be frozen within the aetheryte shard," Rinah observed. "Probably forever." The fairy shivered, revulsion and fear clearly etched upon her delicate features. Aeriyn understood Rinah's fear quite well, for the fairy had been fully conscious during her imprisonment, a terrible sentence that lasted for hundreds of years before Aeriyn freed her.

"It was a coincidence, a happenstance of fate," Aeriyn mused philosophically. "But it's not one that I regret. I miss Arie terribly, but I will not rail at the world for what happened. The world would not pay me any mind."

"I don't know what to say," Rinah managed after a long moment.

"You don't have to say anything," Aeriyn said soothingly. "We should get back to the Quicksand. Momodi will have prepared a room for the night by now and I'm starting to get hungry."

"Aeri, I..."

"What is it, Rinah?"

"I... just wanted to say thank you. For everything. I've never had a... a friend before. That I chose, consciously, and was not compelled to follow."

Aeriyn's smile widened and the melancholy slowly drained from her face. 

"Of course. That's what friends are for."