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[Eyes on the No-Eyed Man - The Scales Part Seven]
Aya had her eye on some particular jewelry. Twice already she had visited the Goldsmiths to lay eyes upon them: a pair of golden loops, inlaid with series of tiny diamonds. She could imagine the gasps as they twinkled upon her ears in the light of an early evening ball. A gasp she expressed almost silently as she laid eyes upon them once more.Â
The marketplace for jewelry she could actually afford was the Sapphire Exchange, or any of the number of smaller bazaars that operated periodically within the city walls. There merchants and traders, sometimes operating booths with no more than a single display box of baubles, sold their cheaper, often used wares. She loved most especially the body jewelry, the like of which one could find nowhere else in Eorzea: it was just the sort she and her sister dancers in Ishgard had longed for in dreams and fantasies in those wonderful years before her flight from the Tower City.
Her cheeks puffed out with the pressure of held breath. Blue eyes sat firmly affixed upon the earrings. They were of the sort of quality, and inlaid with valuable gems one could only find among the products of carefully groomed professionals in the Gold Smith's guild. They were still there, the dream held on with a firm fixation. She knew one of these visits they would be gone, and that no visit would reveal a price she could in fact afford. She made barely a sound in their presence; the disappointed whimper welling within her chest countered by the sort of pointless hope human dreams are made of.
Turning back toward the outside world, she pulled her cap on tight over her braided pony-tail. The suns rays were already becoming unbearably radiant in the desert's early spring, but a chill-bearing breeze still swept in from the north necessitating the trappings of the winter season.Â
As she turned down Onyx Lane, met by the welcome rays of natural daylight in the early evening, the sun hanging higher in the sky than it had in weeks past, her thoughts were interrupted by the sudden sight of a large crowd gathered in the square of Milvaneth Sanctum. For a moment she wondered what a crowd was doing in such an unlikely spot, at such an unlikely hour. She took a few hesitant steps down the lane, her mind unconsciously considering all of the alternative routes she could take, before the reason dawned on her: the rumors of the mystery man's public appearances had made their way around. The crowd was gathered to hear what he would have to say.
Her eyes opened slightly at the realization, and her pace increased. Misgivings aside, it was an opportunity she couldn't let slip by. The mystery man was none other than the Man-in-Black, also-known-as the No-Eyed-Man. Just the shadowy figure she had been inquiring about, and conspiring to find. His public appearances had been a topic of public conversation for some time, more-and-more he seemed intent to stoke public fears about the threat of Dravanian influence. Maybe she could catch him in person.
Carefully she squeezed herself through the crowd. Her demeanor had changed since she had exited from the confines of Onyx Lane into the open square it abutted. Gone was the look of anticipation and excitement, replaced instead by that of a disgruntled young woman just trying to squeeze her way through an unwelcome crowd. On a better day she may have slid through with little trouble other than that of wandering hands, but today she took her time despite outward appearances.
What had been dull agitation rose slowly to a din of impatience. The star was late. One voice, in clear Ishgardian tones, called out lamenting his late appearance. Aya glanced back. She was far taller than she seemed, striding upon the three inch heels of her dress boots she stood over six feet, taller than most of the crowd, and spotting the even taller Elezen owner of that voice was no trouble: Lady Evangeline Primrose she called herself. A regular at the Quick Sand, and an all-around trouble maker. An Ishgardian refugee; one who left the city chasing dreams of being a political rabblerouser. The two had shared conversation and even tea at one time, and although they would appear similar to an outsider, Aya allowed herself no comparison. Â
For a moment Aya became worried: crowds were never her thing. She knew what happened to unhappy crowds of refugees. She knew what happened to the crowds of agitated commoners in Ishgard. She knew what had happened to the crowds of Ala Mhigans in his very city not so long ago. She had been the subject of crowds herself on more than one occasion, and never did anything good seem to come of them. What if the crowd became unruly? Worse, a riot? She wanted nothing to do with that - she pushed a little harder, trying to work her way through to the alley ahead, leading as it did toward Pearl Lane and the welcoming route home.Â
Her focus was interrupted by a loud bang, and a flash of smoke. A figure leaped from a tall height above, directly into the square. One could have thought the man a giant, but in reality he was of no more than average height. Clad all-over in black leather, adorned with vastly more buckles than could have ever been practical. His long white hair was haggard, loosely tied back in the style of a I-have-more-important-things-to-do adventurer. He drew his hand over his lower face, revealing only his eyes: one covered in a leather eye path, its strap winding its way around his head, a heavy scar over the other, though his eye had seemed to escape the worse-of-wear: its steel-blue gaze fell piercing. It was him: the No-Eyed-Man.
"You called?" he pronounced with a barely concealed laugh - the sort of a man who had just achieved exactly the entrance he desired. He lowered his head to a humble bow. Lifting his head once more, his hand dropped to reveal an amused smile. He addressed the agitated crowd, "Ah! I see there are some who have already heard the good word!"Â
"Truly!" he pronounced as he moved his hand to his hip, drawing himself up as if to give a speech. "Truly, I am glad that so many citizens recognize what those assigned to defend them have not!"
Aya stopped. She stared, transfixed for a moment. Something...
Evangeline's high, penetrating voice cut through the crowd's din, "What threat could you possibly mean?"
The No-Eyed-Man was not perturbed. His right hand rose, index finger lifted with a flourish as he took a casual step, "What Threat?" he repeated the question, addressing his crowd as if a lecture hall. "A fair question. 'Tis a subtle one, easily overlooked until the realm least expects it. So concerned are we with the meddlings of Monetarists and the schemes of the Sultanate that we fail to recognize something more dangerous. Something that may well have been in your own stalls. I speak, of course, of the Dravanian threat. Of the seeding of the city with the means to replenish their own ranks!"
The crowd grew deathly quiet for a moment. It was just what they had expected to hear. The rumors were true; and the authorities were doing nothing about it.Â
Evangeline rose to the occasion once more, "But why, then, have you been gathering as many of the Drake Stones as possible?"
The No-Eyed-Man again showed no sign of hesitation, neither his manner nor speech perturbed in the slightest. He pressed his hand to chest chest, extending the other outward in an expression of utter humility. "I have done what I could. Fortune put the nature of the plot in my ears, and it was my own fortune I spent gathering the relics to ensure they did not find themselves in unworthy hands. I did what I could to ensure the most dangerous of them were placed in safe care. The Thaumaturges, learned scholars, the guilds, among others I have placed the true threats among those who might best understand them, contain them." He shook his head. "All have failed. The meddlings of our own authorities have brought these actions to naught."
Aya pushed harder through the crowd. She knew what it was she had recognized. She recognized the man. Not, exactly, she couldn't quite place him. But the mystery was lessened, or was it deepened? It was hard to say which, but one thing was certain: she did not care to see any more of the show.
Distracted, Aya could not quite make out Eva's works within the drowning crowd. Yet, the No-Eyed-Man's voice rang loud and clear, reverberating throughout the public square. "Calm? I have attempted calm in the past. To remove the threat of these artifacts quietly. However, I have found that a third party was gathering them in my stead. Snapping them up when I thought they were in better hands."
"And so I must speak to you, dear citizens of Ul'dah - should you find someone with a certain stone of an ugly hue - a little yellow in amber - then take it upon yourself to bring the authorities to them in all due haste!"
"For to do otherwise invites the presence of a dragon in our very streets!"
His intent was obvious. The crowd was growing louder: murmurings rising to grumblings. There was a shift in the crowd, surging toward the Ishgardian Elezen as she continued to raise her voice. The few words she could make out were startling: "...attacks by people turned to drakes.." "We found these stones you are looking for..." "Why are you doing it?"
Evangeline seemed to know everything Kiht had told Aya. And she seemed intent to blurt it out in the least auspicious of manners. Aya moved faster still, pushing against the tide and nearly fighting her way toward the alley.
The No-Eyed-Man's voice struck out louder yet, as he turned once more to address the crowd. Aya could not help but turn and look over her shoulder once more. Evangeline seemed to be protected by a fully clad and equipped Ishgardian Dragoon. There could be no mistaking it: was he a bodyguard?
"You see what they do? I knew only what you knew, good people - that the thaumaturge's guild saw a voidsent escape in recent suns. And here they claim it was the doing of the artifacts? Mayhaps. But it is in the nature of the beast to turn your wills against those who seek to do naught but good and aid those who would do naught but harm."
The murmurings of the crowd grew violent, the No-Eyed-Man held up a hand. "Now, now, no need to get violent with them, you understand. But you see how they sow dissent. I tell you, Ishgard will not brook us involving ourselves in their affairs, even when they are hard pressed! They use their dragoons as agitators, send their own in to stop us from solving the problem of these relics! And so I cannot act alone. I turn now to you, good people, and offer you this - for every relic you find, these yellow stones especially, it is in your best interests to take them! I do not act alone in this, not anymore. One patron aids me, you see, for I have convinced at least one man of the threat, and he is of sufficient wealth that he will amply reward any such artifact handed in to the appropriate locations. A list will appear around the city, in time. Trust no one to handle these artifacts but those who would accept them here! They could be in league with these agitators."
The crowd now was yelling, and shaking their fists. A wave of anti-Isghardian anger and frustration swept over them. A chill went down Aya's spine. Must. Get. Away. Now!Â
The crowd had no interest in her. She broke free. She turned around, back-peddling and slightly dazed.
Another voice struck out from the crowd, calm in tone and expression, "...Sir! You got me convinced. But still, one question ails me...why you didn't destroy the artifacts, instead of handing it to people? What stops you from breaking the darnable things? I admit. I'm someone investigating the issue. And I saw the horrors that it can bring to the world. Yet, as I recall! They are but a single stone! Why you didn't break it, when you had a ton of them?"
Aya watched as the No-Eyed-Man nodded, "A sensible question! But you see, I took the time to study the legends in great detail, the old sagas. These stones you speak of - they coalesce. Far enough away, they are hardly a threat to each other. But here, within the city? Why, when one is shattered, the others grow stronger still!"
"I daresay that I could shatter a dozen, but should there be a thirteenth? A risk I could not take."
"But I must be off. My patron is merely one among many, and the others are not to be trusted. Royalist, Monetarist - all answer to gil, and when that gil comes from Ishgard, they will answer to anything."
There were more murmurings, agitations. A thought occured to Aya as she glanced about, "Where are they Brass Blades? They never let a crowd this size go unwatched..."
"Very well. Disperse, good people! The drop points will be ready on the morrow! Good gil for a good turn, and for doing the city a good service! 'Ware an Ishgardian accent!"
Aya turned and walked quickly away, pulling her coat tighter around her. She did not hear the stones hitting pavement. She barely heard the surge of the crowd once more. She did not see the No-Eyed-Man steer it once more, just as he desired—but she already knew it was just what he could have done, and what he would have done.
[And an apology to Eva, since I apparently didn't get copies of everything she said, and most of the quotes are based upon memory
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