Life After Death (Closed OOC Welcome))

[Askier]

The miqo'te calling himself Jin'a awoke the next day to a excited commotion coming from outside. Slowly, the male pulled a long sleeve shirt over his stiff and scared torso and limped outside.

 

Jin'a blinkwd hard against the noon time sun as his dilated pupils shrunk. Before him was a wagon with a lavishly dressed hyur descending from the back, the staff of the vineyard welcoming their employer home excitedly. Jin'a yawned and returned to the tiny shed that housed his bed and a single dresser.

 

Jin'a re-emerged a bell later, cleaned, shaven, and dressed in coat once again, his boots crunching dust and gravel beneath him as he strolled out into the vine fields once more, ambling towards the dead coeurl's remains. 

 

By the time he arrived, the beast's corpse was already loaded onto a wagon and being driven away. The miqo'te was about to turn and truck back through the muck of last nights rain when a voice cried out.

 

Jin'a flapped his ears several times as he turned and watched as the white silk wearing form.of his employer danced across the mud strewn field, seemingly unconcerned that his white shoes were now caked in mud.

 

"Jin'a, another fine bit of work while I was gone. I had my reservations about leaving you here but seems to have been sound advice." The hyur employeeing Jin'a was a kind enough hyur well into his sixties with white hair almost as pure as his suit's hue. Jin'a grinned sheepishly and shrugged.

 

"Just doing my job sir, nothing more." The miqo'te calling himself Jin'a answered.

 

"True true but you do it well. Saved me who knows how much time and Gil handling these brutes and keeping them from my work chocobo's. And the rodents, why they practically disappeared. Like magic."

 

More like technology. Jin'a thought. Aloud he said:

 

"Again sir just earning my keep. How was the ball?" Jin'a added the last part in a hope to steer the conversation elsewhere.

 

"Wonderful. Ul'duh was a delight, a marvel. Next time I travel you must join me on a trip to there , Jin'a."

 

"I don't know." Jin'a said slowly, again wishing to shift the conversation away from certain topics. "A city in the desert full of  bunch of business people? Sounds like the sort of place I wouldn't belong." Jin'a turned and looked at the rolling hills and the hyur studied the miqo'te in silence for a long time.

 

"Jin'a. I don't care who you were before you came here. But do I need to know is your history going to cause me any problems down the line?"

 

Jin'a jerked his head around and gazed wide eyed at the hyur in white. Jin'a's mouth went dry and he stammered.

 

"You think you're the first person with a shady last I've hired here in all my years?" The vineyard owner said with a dry chuckle as he patted Jin'a on the left shoulder, noting the metal clang that arose when his rings hit. "You aren't. And you won't be the last. But when I saw how fast you turned down going to Ul'dah a few days ago, I got to thinking. I don't want or need details but do I need to be concerned about old enemies or bounty hunters kicking down the gates to my establishment some day?"

 

Jin'a gazed in stunned silence and all he could muster up in reply was a weak:

 

"I don't know."

 

The hyur in white chuckled loudly and nodded as he patted Jin'a's shoulder again.

 

"Jin'a, least you were honest there. I'll accept that. Just keep working for me as efficiently as you have been and I will have no reason to dig into your past. Fair enough?"

 

Jin'a raised an eyebrow and chuckled as he nodded in understanding.

 

"More than fair, sir."

 

"Good!" The man in white replied. "Now then come along. I picked up a bottle of whiskey per yer request and figure best give it to you."

 

Jin'a nodded and the two men slowly made their way back to the buildings.

[Askier]

Jin'a was lying on he bed in the small.room, gazing up at the ceiling. Jin'a has his hands behind his head and he was talking idly to the small, fuzzy creature playing happily on the floor.

 

"Oh sure, you love it here. Think that I'm just the best pet owner. Truth is, I'm a pretty big ass."

 

Jin'a reached over to a glass of water resting on the nightstand and took a sip. The animal made a happy sound and the miqo'te chuckled.

 

"How am I an ass? Well let's see, I am a traitor to my homeland, murderer, liar, drunk, sleazeball, been unfaithful few times in love, cast aside friendships like they were garbage, had a massive ego, self righteous, oh and I once didn't tip a good waiter. All in all, my continued existence is proof that the Twelve are assholes to the good people in this world."

 

The furry creature made a cute reply nose as it chased something around. Jin'a placed the glass back on the dresser.

 

"Well I suppose you are right. I mean I'm less of a dick now than I was. To bad it took dwelling in insanity, burning bridges with friends, having my significant other miles away, and engaging in a slew of activities that make my stomach knot in shame and regret to get to this point. I mean, hells, here I am voluntarily living in borderline poverty, sending money to Ashwynn, talking to a creature that doesn't understand a word I say and pretending it does. How the might have fallen, no?"

 

The cute animal turned its big eyes at Jin'a, who smiled and got up from the bed finally and took his coat from the peg on the wall and put it on.

 

"Try not to get into trouble while I'm gone, okay?  Hells know I've had enough of that to last me a life time.". Jin'a beamed a stupid grin.as he stepped outside and locked the door behind. It was late twilight and the rolling hills covered in vines stretched before him. He patted the firearm at his side and slowly began the long watch and the peace of mind it gave him.

 

Serenity through simplicity.

[Askier]

In the shadowed places of Eorzea, all manner of foul things can be found if you have the desire and unwholesome desire to find such things. Male and female, old and young, all slain or driven mad by these festering cesspits of wretchedness. And here now, in one of those dens of sinister intent was a creature not alive yet not entirely dead. It walked on the edge of the barrier that divided this world from the eternity of what was beyond.

 

The creature had had several names. Some it wore happily. Others forced upon it. It had once been forced to be one made of two. But that had changed. With the death of the voice, the bindings that made one of two had begun severing. Part had retained the female form, but the other part, the male part, had been expunged, excommunicated from the hallowed halls of undead flesh. And now, here, in this place, it clung to remain. By sheer force of determination and will it clung, resisting the call of beyond. It resisted for no higher reason then self preservation. It was not afraid of what lay beyond the veil, yet its base instincts did not want it to leave.

 

Here within this well of darkness and magic it festered, unknowingly drawing upon itself folds and tendrils over the passing of time. The one that was once part of two was making itself whole, defining itself once more on its own. No masters, no Voices, no split halves. Only itself in the darkness, binding to itself slowly a wretched form with onyx black eyes from which no light might escape. Sinister was this festering pool and its corrupted aether and here all other things that dwelt left as the one dwelt longer and longer.

 

In time it became a shimmering shadow of a shape, not truly there, as if a strong breeze might cast it away. But it endured and slowly drew more defined and stronger. It would be months before it was even partially restored. But it had nothing but time for time had bestowed upon the shattered remnaint an abundance of peaceful time.

 

How kind of time.

[Askier]

The air was cold, and each breath Askier took was a difficult task, as his veins tried to pump his warm blood to his frigid sinew and organs. 

 

Each step was long and labored as he plowed through the snow, his foot prints leaving deep impressions behind him as he gazed around with his golden eyes.  Rows and rows of tombstones stood around him under a ceiling of dark grey clouds.  Tombstones rolled out in rows for what seemed an eternity, each stone with a name inscribed upon its stone surface.

 

Through this solem eternity Askier walked, his steps uneven and taking him to a destination he did not know where but seemed unable to escape. His path was set, it seemed, and he either did not want to, or was unable to, deviate from the almost supernatural force compelling him to walk.

 

After an uncalculable time of walking through the neat, narrow rows, Askier stopped. 

 

Before him rested a headstone with an inscribed name that he knew all to well.  But, where the earth had been level before the stones for ever other grave marker he had passed, this ground was torn and tilled, with a large hole open before the Garlean.

 

Askier felt the hair on his back rise as he swallowed.  And then he turned.

 

Standing there was a figure dressed in a black robe, a black cowl draped over the head and face. Two, ghastly pale hands clutched a thin, silver rapier in their spidery fingers and the figure was leaning on the blade as if it were a cane.

 

Askier's lips curled in disgust as he stared at the figure.  He didn't need to see the face to know what this enitiy before him was.

 

"Get back in that hole." Askier ordered in a harsh whisper.

 

The hood lifted just enough for a chin and thin pair of lips to be seen as the head beneath the cowl moved.  The lips pulled back into a half smile and a set of yellow, pointed teeth flashed.

 

The figure then dashed forward and shoved Askier.  The snow caught Askier and he slipped backwards.  The Garlean tumbled into the hole before the grave, which suddenly had no bottom.  Askier continued to fall into deeper and deeper blackness.

 

And then there was light.

 

Askier's eyes flew open and he jerked up, sweat covering his brow.  He took a few panic breaths before he looked around and realized where he was.  In his room, at the vineyard, still very much alive.

 

The Garlean had been fighting a fever these past few days, but with that dream just now, it seemed the fever had passed. 

 

Askier rubbed his right hand over his face and heaved a sighed of relief.

 

"It was just a dream."  Askier replied, looking over at the window and the rain that was falling outside.  "Just a dream."

[Askier]

The shadow thing stood at the lip of the cave, the darkness of night stretching before it.  It had languished in the darkness for months, drawing itself a form not unlike its old one. Muscle and sinew, flesh and bone, all knitted together by the whisps of aether leaked from the void and used to alter the muck and water the soul had resided in, deep within the subterainian vault, to form a new vessel to house its soul.  Now the thing felt strong enough to leave its hole and walk among the living once more. 

 

The thing was humaniod in shape and covered in black robes and a black hood.  A silver sword, thin and polished, was clutched in its left hand and the figure leaned upon it like a cane.  A crow sat on the figure's right shoulder, the bird far larger than a normal crow, with eyes that glowed a dull red, like dying coals. 

 

The figure in black slowly limped forward, its feet sinking in the mud of the swamp.  Gridania smelt of rot in this place, and the sky overhead was blocked out by rows of tree limbs and leaves.  It was absolutly dark, but the figure in black saw just fine as it lifted its head just enough for its black eyes to see past the cowl, eyes blacker than the night around it. 

 

The figure moved slowly, the bird on its shoulder whispering in a cracking voice words that told the location of the person the figure sought.  After a few moments, the bird sprung into the air, a shower of molted feathers falling behind it.  The bird rose up into the black sky and emitted a shrill caw and then, in its crackling cawing, repeated a single word:

 

"Kkkkindness! Kkkkindness! Kkkkindness!"

 

The wind blew and the crow was lost in the darkness of the night as the thing in black continued its slow march north.

[Askier]

The woman had worked the vineyard for years; her toothless smile always ready to be given to anyone who came near. She always smiled but never told her name, her countless wrinkles creasing as she did so.

 

That was why Askier was surprised when he walked near her and looked at him. She looked so sad.  Askier had gone to open his mouth but she had simply raised her hand to silence him.

 

"Jin'a', I owe you an apology.  I did what I had no business to do."

 

Askier blinked and gave an uncomfortable chuckle and looked around before looking at her.

 

"Madam, to my knowledge, you have not wronged me in any-" Askier started.

 

"I read the tarrot for you, because I was curious what future awaited you sincer you have been so helpful.  I-" the woman siezed Askier's hand and shoved four cards into them and looked up at him.  "I am sorry, Jin'a.  I...I am sorry for your fate."

 

The woman turned, leaving the card in Askier's hand.  Askier looked around the vineyard anxiously, the entire situation odd.  All he had been doing was patroling the barns housing the wine barrels when he had run into her. 

 

Askier saw he was alone and then looked at the cards. 

 

The first was "The Foo"l.  Askier looked at the card and rolled his eyes. His card, he guessed, knowing how the stupid cards supposedly worked.  He flipped to the next.

 

The Lovers.  Askier blinked.  He was certainly in love, yes. Nothing new here.  Next card.

 

The picture of a tower struck by lightning, the card of Madness and destruction. A card Askier new well.  A million options came to mind and Askier turned to the next card.

 

The name of the card at the bottom was "Death" and Askier trembled slightly.  But it wasn't the nature or meaning of the card that bothered him. It was the image upon the card.  The visage of death resting before him was that of a figure in black, leaning on a silver sword, just as in his dream.  A dozen crows circled the figure. 

 

Askier threw the cards from him and pulled out his firearm.  With a burning fury in his eyes, his weapon fired, the bullets tearaing the cards to ashes.  Askier watched the tattered remains fall to the earth and spat as he turned around and continued to make his rounds.

 

"Well that soured my day." Askier grunted in dismissal.

[Askier]

“I hate this place.” the elezen said with a bitter scowl as he drew the coat hung over his shoulders tighter. Before him crackled a fire, the heat it spewed with each crackle of wood hardly defeating the icy cold that hung clean and crisp on the air. Both of the elezen’s companions exhaled their breaths white clouds that mixed with the grey smoke.

 

Overhead the moon shone bright and clear through the leaves of the trees of Gridania, but nearby, taller and mightier, stood the mountains of Coerthas and their snowcapped peaks. The snow might be way up upon the , but apexes’ the cold hand blown down to this border region and cast aside the warmth.

 

“We’ll be out of here soon enough, Sticks.” said a shivering hyur to the elezen nicknamed Sticks. Sticks was tall and as thin as a stick, with sunken cheekbones and black hair. He seemed more like a tree than a living creature.

Sticks grumbled something as the third figure, a short Roe, tossed another log onto the fire and sparks shot up into the air like a thousand, wayward stars. The normal sounds of the forest were gone. No insects, no wind, no nighttime creatures. There was only still silence, save the three figures and their roaring fire.

 

The three merchants had parked their wagon near the side of the road and their single chocobo was asleep nearby, it’s body mass insulating it from the biting teeth of the cold air.

 

“Two days ain’t soon enough.” Sticks grumped as he crossed his arms over his chest and wondered how he was going to sleep that night. How in the world had he come to this? What bad cluck of fate had made him go from a successful merchant with his own wares being sold in the streets to hardly making ends meat as a low end, bottom of the barrel caravan driver? Sticks had lost count. He had been through so much, between the political upheaval currently in Ul’dah, to corruption among that city-state’s agencies, to the madness that seemed to occur there so regularly, it was just proof that life was chaos and any order people claimed existed where just a temporary illusion. All of his great life plans, reduced to freezing his ass off in the middle of the-

 

SNAP

 

A twig crunched under a foot and all three men jerked their heads towards the sound that had come behind Sticks. The three pairs of eyes peered intently into the shadowed, moon-lit columns of trees that stretched before them. Nothing moved. After a few moments they turned back to the fire.

 

“Wonder what that was.” Sticks muttered.

 

“Probably just a deer or something.” the hyur replied calmly. He was a seasoned traveler and held his bearing far better the urbanized elezen. “If I had my bow strung, I’d probably go get us some game and sk-“

 

“Where is the bird?” grunted the Roe as he suddenly rose to his feet. Sticks and the hyur jerked their heads and then sprung to their feet. The chocobo, so carefully tied, was gone, its rope lying on the ground. Sticks blinked in shock as the Roe stepped towards where the bird had been. The hyur was hastily stringing his bow and slinging his quiver onto his back. Something was amiss. Sticks couldn’t be sure what it was but, or how he knew, but the hairs on the back of his neck were straight up and down.

 

“Maybe it just ran off?” Sticks said weakly. “Could have-“

 

SNAP

 

Another stick broke behind them. Sticks and the hyur spun, their backs to where the chocobo had been. The hyur drew his bow string back, an arrow knocked and ready to fly. Sticks slid a pair of knives from his sides and held them tightly, one in each hand, as he peered around.

 

“River Rock, Sticks, you see anything?” the hyur said in a hushed whisper. Sticks shook his head and swallowed nervously.

 

“Rock, how about you?”

 

Silence greeted this question.

 

“Rock?” Sticks looked over his shoulder and exhaled nervously. The Roe was gone.

 

“Rock?” Sticks said in a trembling voice as the fire crackled beside him. “Rocks gone!”

 

Sticks turned his head and froze. He was alone. The hyur, who had just been beside him not a moment ago in the light of the flames, was also gone. Sticks stood alone. The knives in his hand shimmered as the light of the flames reflected off the polished steel as the elezen shook in fear.

 

Nothing moved around him. Only the rows of trees for as far as he could see. And his breath, white upon the air. For minutes nothing happened but the pulse continued to hammer in Sticks’ veins as he jerked his head around over and over, seeking his comrades, or for a clue to what had happened to them.

 

SNAP

 

Sticks whirled around and went still. Just a few feet away stood a figure, dressed all in black. Its face was indistinguishable and dark, as if the light from the fire was unable to pierce the shadows that dwelt upon the figure’s face. A black hood covered the head but a long, white tail swished to and fro slowly behind the figure.

 

“Who the hells are you!” Sticks exclaimed and then hurled both knives at the figure. They sliced through the air and then slammed into the figure points first. The figure in black didn’t react.

 

It simply stood there, the handles of the blades protruding out. Sticks gave an awkward chuckle before the figure lifted its head. Sticks’ couldn’t see any feature except the eyes, but those eyes were somehow blacker than the night around them. They did not reflect, they did not shimmer, they seemed more like two black holes that absorbed everything around them and let nothing escape. Two prisons that dwelt in a realm beyond understanding.

 

Sticks tried to look away from those hypnotizing eyes but found himself unable to do so, they were like pits he had fallen into and there was no bottom.

 

The hooded figure slowly limped forward, a clicking faintly audible as a cane helped move the figure, As the hooded figure drew closer, it extended a trembling handed, covered in taught skin over white bone and veins. When the trembling figures were about to touch Sticks, the elezen tried to pull back but couldn’t, he was lost in those eyes.

 

“What are you doing?” the elezen whimpered, his voice a defeated whisper as he realized, deep down, he was doomed.

 

The voice that spoke was not harsh or cruel. It was not energetic or excited. It was simple, and soft, like a gentle breeze over fields of wheat. There was no emotion in the words and its tone did not change as it spoke two words.

 

“A kindness.”

[Askier]

In the mountains of Coethas, a miqo’te priest pretending to be someone he was not was sitting by a table, a file sharpening the edge of an odd board that had two boot bindings screwed to one side. The blonde male was humming softly as worked. He had slipped out of Ul’dah the same time the rest of the Red Wings had made their departure as the claws of someone tried to squeeze the organization dry.

 

Jin’to had decided it was the perfect time to return to the mountains for some well-deserved relaxation. The priest looked at the window of his inn room and grinned. He felt a bit bad for leaving the Red Wings to their fate, but with the promise of fresh snow tomorrow and a nearby ridge to slide down, he was having a hard time feeling too bad. He would worry about it later. After all, he was just a place holder, not a full member of the Red Wings. He would leave the real danger to his fool of an older brother.

 

Jin’to sighed as he thought of Askier as he slipped the board over and began sharpening the other edge. His brother: the psychopath. The fact that Jin’to was even half related to the disturbed male bothered him. The list of reasons he didn’t like his older brother was numerous pages long. Twenty-three to be exact; Jin’to had actually written them out. But his sister-in-law, for some odd reason cared forAskier, and Jin’to had aided Askier for her sake, not Askier’s.

 

He just hoped Askier was finally fixing himself. Jin’to had already lost one brother.

 

The priest paused. He looked over at the crackling fire in the hearth and let the flames dance before him. His mind wandered as his body stilled. For a long time Jin’to did not move as he gazed into the embers. His left hand slipped to his pocket of his shirt and he pulled out a small stone with a carved symbol on it. The stone had been smoothed and polished by years of handling and it shone a dull grey. Jin’to let his lips curl into a sad smile as he swallowed.

 

It had been Jin’li’s first birthday present to him, when the young kit had still been full of life and happiness, before the cruel reality of their upbringing was thrust upon him. Jin’to wrapped his fingers upon the stone and breathed deeply as he closed his eyes.

 

“Did I fail you Jin’li?” Jin’to said softly. “Is your death all my fault?”

 

“This one finds your sentiment mildly touching.”

 

Jin’to bolted to his feet and leapt over the table as the voice spoke. He seized the candle stick and held it like club as he fixed his golden eyes where the sound had come from.

 

Standing in the door, leaning on a thin fencing sword as if it was a cane, draped in total black, stood the gaunt, sickly figure of Jin’li.

 

Jin’li’s flesh was pale white and his hair was as pure as the falling snow outside. The white tail swished slowly as the sickly, younger Epinoch limped into the room, the pure black eyes fixed on his older brother.

 

“Jin’li?!” Jin’to exclaimed, lowering the club, his eyes bugging in disbelief. “You, they said you were dead and cremated!” Could the Red Wings have lied to him? Jin’to’s mind was full of these ideas as he stood there dumbfounded.

 

“This one was dead.” Jin’li explained his voice utterly flat and without emotion as he paused in the room, the sword sticking in the floor. It was then that Jin’to saw the blood rolling off the blade and pooling on the floor. The fire behind Jin’to sputtered and the priest felt the hair on his neck starting to standing.

 

“But, then how are you here?” the priest said warily. “Did Nald’thal-“

 

“That name, Nald’thal,-” Jin’li said, looking at his brother from behind short hair, “Is an amusing title. You do not understand the reality of what is coming when the veil of this world is gone. Death, as this one has learned, is simply a state of mind, which is able to be overcome with the right powers and desire, Master Epinoch.”

 

“Master Epinoch?” Jin’to looked puzzled at the title. “I’m your brother Jin’li. There is no need for-”

 

“Manners are always needed, Master Epinoch.” Jin’li said, stepping forward, his black eyes gazing at Jin’to’s and suddenly Jin’to felt the violent urge to smash his brother in the head with the candle stick. The urge shocked him but there was something wrong here. Terribly terribly wrong. This was Jin’li but wasn’t. Jin’to didn’t know how he knew, or why, but the figure before him was wrong, it was a violation of the natural world. Almost as if it was a voidspawn.

Jin’to’s eyes widened. Was that it? Had his brother somehow manifested himself in the plane once more as some twisted abomination? Some construct of nightmares and energies best forgotten? Had not Alexei mentioned something about a cult altering the departed? Was Jin’li a victim of this cult? Was Jin’li some sick puppet? But hadn’t the cult been destroyed? If it had, who was puppeteering his brother? Or was it even his brother? Or was his brother some now free, dark entity? A million questions flooded Jin’to’s mind as he looked at the face that had once been his brother and spoke slowly.

 

“Jin’li, I am sorry I wasn’t there for you. I heard about what you did, to everyone. I…you are still my brother. I don’t know how you found me, but can’t we sit and talk?”

 

Jin’li gazed back with his black, empty eyes and no expression crossed the younger Epinoch’s face.

 

“Master Epinoch.” Jin’li replied, voice still expressionless. “This one came here for not pity or to ask forgiveness or to rebuild a broken family. This one came to learn where the Master Mergrey was.”

 

Jin’to gawked and then flushed red.

 

“You came to see him! Not me, the brother who raised you, helped you, was there for you to cry too! All you care about is that bombing bastard and not me?! Why the blazes didn’t you just go ask those friends of his and spare me the heart ache of knowing you are somehow alive after death!”

 

“This one did not mean to offend.” Jin’li said flatly as he watched his golden haired older brother shudder in rage and tears slip from the golden eyes. “This one simply knew you would talk and not try to kill. Please forgive this one for the unintended offense.”

 

Jin’li bowed politely. Jin’to lunged forward and slapped his brother across the face. The blow was loud. Jin’li’s head jerked to the side but he did not react or make a sound.

 

“Did the blow permit you a chance to feel at ease, Master Epinoch?” Jin’li asked as he turned his head back around.

 

“No!” Jin’to screamed. “How are you here? Are you even alive anymore? How did you come back rom the dead?! Why do you need to see Askier, huh? I…what happened to you!”

 

Jin’li looked at his brother calmly.

 

“You do not know where he is then?” Jin’li asked again.

 

“No!” Jin’to shouted in rage and frustration. This thing that looked like his brother, he hated it. It had dragged out buried emotions and then confused him. He knew in his heart of hearts it was wrong and evil, but the fact that it was like his baby brother, yet so unlike him…he couldn’t get that out of his mind. It bothered him. He wanted to reverse time, never have been here, never have seen the thing walking around with Jin’li’s face and that sword.

Jin’to paused and realized he suddenly hurt. He blinked and realized something was stuck through his chest. He began to shudder as a cold crept over his body. Jin’to looked down and saw Jin’li’s blade buried to the hilt in his chest.

 

Jin’to blinked again. He hadn’t even seen the sword move.

 

“Why…” Jin’to gasped, blood filling his punctured lung. Jin’li twisted the blade and looked at his brother.

 

“Because you do not know where Askier is and therefor were of no more use to this one. Please pardon the rudeness of the death you are experiencing, but know I love you brother. You were always so kind. That is why I am letting you experience a kind death.”

 

Jin’li held the sword still until the light of life left Jin’to’s eyes and the older miqo’te sagged to the floor in a heap. Jin’li slid his weapon clear of the body and turned.

 

It took several minutes for the sickly miqo’te to work his way down the stairs and to the front door of the inn and slipped outside. The winds howled and the air was biting cold. The flag atop the snow wall nearby waved in the wind violently.

 

But the harsh conditions did not bother the miqo’to. Leaving a trail of blood behind him from his sword, Jin’li continued to limp his way through the swirling snows towards the sea.

[Askier]

Atrium Crow stood at the edge of the dry docks near Limsa. The short, female miqo’te’s short hair blew around her face as her mismatched eyes watched the small boat sailing towards the shore, the shadow of the overcast night even darker around it. Atrium knew who was aboard that boat. The cursed other part she had been magically stitched to by “The Voice” to become an undead assassin. That black, wretched soul that had infected her.

 

She had once been a loyal follower of the cult and had given her life and body for the cult’s cause. But that had changed. She, when she and Jin’li had been made one person called Atrium Crow, she had felt the soul, the cold, heartless calculating thing and had almost become truly united and one. But it had been her half that had fallen in love with Oubliette. Her half that had fought against the power of "The Voice" and it had been her half that had finally torn the Jin’li half away and banished it from her soul and her body to travel into the realm of death. She was her own person again, even if she still called herself Atrium Crow. She had been traveling the world, marveling in its wonder now, free. But for some time she had sensed the soul of Jin’li slipping back into the world and somehow growing stronger. The stronger and more restored the soul of Jin’li became, the more aware she was of his intentions and location. Over the past few months it had been moving up to Coerthas and back and was now sailing across the sea. Atruim knew she had to meet him on the shore, to forever sever their conection that somehow still exhisted and send the soul to Nald’thal.

 

The boat she knew to be carrying Jin’li slipped though the waters and then up to the pier. There was a terrible splintering noise as the full sails drove the vessel aground.

 

Atrium watched as the vessel grounded to a halt. The shadows that hung over the ship seemed to be merging and out of them emerged the white haired, pale skinned albino, Jin’li Epinioch. The male limped slowly off the ship, a sword clutched in his hand but used as a cane. A massive raven, as large a big cat, sat upon the miqo’te’s shoulder and peered around before fixing Atrium with a blood red optic. The two undead figures faced one another down, but it was Jin’li whom moved first. Jin’li bowed deeply as the great raven flew from his shoulder, emitting a horrible caw that echoed around the deserted dry docks. Jin’li began speaking in his flat, emotionless voice.

 

“Master Crow, half of this one’s once whole. A pleasure and an honor you bestow upon this one by meeting this one here.”

 

Atrium snarled, recalling that stupid way of talking the Jin’li soul had forced them to talk like.

 

“Shut your damn mouth. I cut you out and sent you beyond. How are you even here?!” Atrium unslung the axe from her back and held it, metal glinting in the light from the torches that burned around the docks.

 

“This one has learned how to defeat death, just as you have. This one, however, knows how without needing "The Voice".” Jin’li lifted his head and took a step back aboard the vessel. Atrium scoffed and stepped forward, her hot headed tendencies coming out. Her mild, coy manners had left her since the Jin’li part was gone and she had been doing ‘things’ with Oubliette.

 

“Retreating already,spawn?” Atrium snorted. Her axe began burning with black flames as she used her energy to encase it. Jin’li blinked.

 

“Lady Crow, do be careful, the powers you have are very limited. I know your limits just as well as you do and using them aimlessly could cause you to-“

 

“I’ll only be a second to kill you and be rid of you again! You tried to crush me when we were bound together. Never again!” Atrium dashed forward and leapt at Jin’li. The sickly miqo’to tried to evade her blow but the burning axe slammed into his gut and sent Jin’li tumbling backwards and crashing against the mast of the ship. Atrium slowly strode forward, her axe in hand as she spat, her feet slipping slightly on the wet deck.

 

“You should have just gone on the Nald’thal’s domain!” Atruim shouted. “If you don’t want to go, I’ll send you myself so you might be judged for your grievous sins.”

 

Jin’li looked up at her, his hand clutching the black blood oozing out of the gash she had cut in him and her weapon. Jin’li saw the silver etched into the cutting edge of the blade and realized he should have known one dead abomination would know how to wound another. They had once been the same person once after all and had shared memories and ideas together. But that’s how he knew she would have attacked so recklessly and been so focused on him to ignore the raven.

 

Jin’li suddenly moved. His sword arm lurched forward and slammed the point of Jin’li’s sword into Atrium’s foot. Atruim screamed as the silver metal blade impaled her dead flesh and burned her.

 

Jin’li bowed his head to her as he picked himself and threw himself into the ocean with a crash of water.

 

The moonlight suddenly slipped through the clouds and glistened off the whale oil covered decks, whale oil Jin’li had spread across the deck for just this occasion. The raven flying above saw the reflection of the moon on the oil and dropped the torch it had taken from a mounting just as Atrium went to pull the sword from her foot. The torch fell and ignited the oil in an instant. The entire ship sprung into flames in the blink of an eye. The inferno engulfed Atrium and began charring her flesh. It all happened so fast she didn’t have a chance to escape. Her screams were agonized but did not last. The flames shot beneath the deck and stuck the black powder beneath. The ship exploded in a plume of fire that shot debris high into the air.

 

On the dock two trembling hands reached from the water and seized the peir. Jin'li pulled himself from the salty brine with a grunt, his movments awkward and clumsy but he moved as if the gash in his side did not affect him as more black blood oozed from the cut. Jin'li rose up and turned to stare at the flickering flames that danced across the surface of the water. The miqo'te bowed his head.

 

"Thank you for the duel, Lady Crow. It was an honor."

 

There was a caw and the Crow flapped down. The flames glinted off the silver sword that had flown into the air following the blast. Jin'li took the sword and begna slowly limping inland, the winds tussling his hair, brining with it the smell of vineyards.

 

“Death is freedom, Lady Crow. Consider yourself truly liberated at last.”

[Askier]

Ashwynn sat on the patio of the Limsian apartment she was renting. It was a small place, and far below her normal standards, but so much of her life seemed to be below standards these days. Even her choice in husbands she sometimes remarked.

 

She sipped her wine as her black robe danced in the wind.

 

This was far from how she thought life would turn out for her. From adopted daughter of one of the most powerful men within the Garlean military, to a refugee on the run living just above the squalor line.

 

Ashwynn spat and took a long sip of her red wine. She paused and turned her eyes back to the rising sun and the shimmering ocean before her.

 

"Disgusting." she muttered about her lot in life. Askier was one thread that seemed to keep her from crashing into the ocean of life that sought to overwhelm her. He was a conundrum alright, one she wanted to strangle. but one she loved dearly, even if she seemed icy at him at the moment. What woman wouldn't? Being forced to live several miles away?

 

Ashwynn sighed.

 

"He's trying." she muttered softly.

 

"Then he is failing." came a falt voice. A voice Ashwynn knew remarkably well.

Slowly, she turned her head and let her blue eyes set themselves on the sickly, frail figure of the miqo'te whom had once served her father fanatically.

 

"Jin'li."

 

Ashwynn's tone was far from jovial, or pleased. She had heard from her husband and his allies of this little beasts actions, his monstious murders, and how he had commited them all at the orders of her father.

 

"Lady Adonis, this one is pleased to see you again, alive for a short time longer." Jin'li bowed but Ashwynn replied by pulling a small gunblade from beneath her robe and aiming it at the male. She fired, the weapon slamming a bullet into Jin'li's stomach.

 

Jin'li staggered backwards several feet but did not make a sound of display emotion on his face. Blood , black, oozed out a few drops fell to the floor. Jin'li blined and then slowly began limping forward, the sword in his hand clicking as he went.

 

"I see your father gave you a gunblade similiar to the one he gave me." Jin'li remarked, studying the short, silver weapon in Ashwynn's hand. "That was very rude of you to shoot me."

 

Ashwynn made to squeeze the trigger again but Jin'li shocked her as he darted foward and knocked her pointed weapon aside with the sword hand and seized her throat with the other. Jin'li's grip was terrifyingly strong and cold as ice. Jin'li looked at her as Ashwynn clawed at his face, her mind desperatly trying to let oxygen enter her lungs once more.

 

"You are the brood of Master Adonis. That will not save you. This one shall use you to break another. Rejoice, Lady Adonis. The chain of love that binds you to Master Mergrey will drag you both into death together forever."

 

Jin'li squeezed harded, his face devoid of any emotion. It was the last thing Ashwynn Adonis saw before she blacked out.

[Askier]

The winds tugged at Askier’s red coat, whipping at it, and sending his long, brown hair dancing in all directions. The Garlean slowly trudged against the rising storm winds of a freak, afternoon tempest, the cold air rushing off the sea as distant clouds rose up to blot out the sun. Bolts of lightning shot down and Askier increased is pace, his golden eyes fixed on the collection of buildings that made up the nucleus of the vineyard.

 

Askier approached the nearest barn, a roar of thunder filling the air. As Askier gripped the door handle and opened it, a crow shot out from inside, its mouth emitting a horrible cawing noise. Askier jumped but slipped inside, pulling the door shut behind him.

 

Rows and rows wine barrels rose around him and Askier rubbed his face and filled his nostrils with the smells of the aging red wine. The smell was vibrant and rich, and Askier was excited to try this new batch, which was only a few months away from being done fermenting. Pondering what the rich wine must taste like, he slowly walked over to a barrel and placed his hand against it.

 

How simple his existence was now. Routine, uneventful, and yet satisfying. He was happy in this serenity.

 

Askier’s reflection was interrupted as the door opened. A man dressed in white, the vineyard owner, entered and fixed Askier with a wide eyes stare. The man’s face was ashen and he swallowed before speaking.

 

“Jin’a…” the man said slowly, looking at Askier. “I…you have a visitor.”

Askier paused. His employers current appearance wasn’t missed, neither was the man’s apprehensive tone.

 

“Who?” Askier said slowly, his mind pondering the very long list of people who wanted him dead.

 

“I...I don’t know.” The man stammered. “He simply gave me a message. He told you that death has been kind.”

 

Askier’s reaction was automatic, as if he had just had a dead rat thrust at him. He lurched back and his eyes went wide. There was an instant of panic before he flushed as red as his coat and stormed forward, his metal hand seizing the hyur’s collar.

 

“You said, kind?” Askier screamed aloud, his eyes narrowed to slits. “You are sure?!”

 

The man I white tried to recoil but Askier’s grasp was too tight and all he could manage was an awkward nod. Askier hissed and gnashed his teeth as he released the man.

 

“Get your family and get the hell out of here!” Askier ordered as he went for the door. The Garlean paused in the door way and looked back at the man as he picked himself off the dusty ground. “And don’t stop running.” Askier flung his coat open and walked out.

 

Beneath his coat danced nearly countless grenades and explosives with extra rounds of ammunition for his gun arm. Askier walked, his right hand flicking off the safety to his metal arm as he rounded the barn and began walking towards the large, gravel covered area that was formed in a circle around a fountain between the buildings.

 

Askier blinked, and, despite his anger, was surprised. There must have been several hundred crows resting around the area, covering the fountain, the building tops, standing still on the ground.

 

But the surprise melted away once again into anger as a gust of wind tore at the figure wearing black, leaning on a sword for support, his black eyes locked with Askier’s golden orbs.

 

Askier closed the distance to his half-brother before he came to stop a couple dozen feet away. The approaching storm towered above them and there was a splattering of rain now, a few, random drops striking the ground between them.

 

Jin’li bowed his head to Askier.

 

“Master Mergrey, I-“

 

“Shut the hells up.” Askier snarled, his teeth flashing as he recalled how the wretched runt before him had held his sister in a prison for years on end to force him to build a bomb to destroy Ul’dah. “You should be dead.”

 

“So should you be.” Jin’li replied, lifting his head and leaning calmly on his sword. “It seems death is but an illusion for us both.”

 

“Not exactly.” Askier snarled. “I never died and had my body burned.” Askier lifted his gun arm and leveled it at Jin’li’s chest.

 

“Then you were never free.” Jin’li said, and Askier’s face recoiled in disgust as Jin’li smiled, the lips on the left side of Jin’li’s face pulling back to reveal yellow fangs. It was the only time Askier had ever seen the male display emotion of any type, and it was a wretched, false impression of joy and Askier wanted to destroy it. Askier went to fire his gun arm, but before he could, the crows covering the fountain rose into the air all at once and Askierfroze.

 

Tied to the fountain with thick coils of robe was Ashwynn, her eyes wide in terror and a metal collar around her neck, a type of collar Askier new all too well. An explosive one.

 

“Ashwynn!” Askier shouted in a panic, his mouth going dry. “You son of a bitch, let her go you runt!”

 

The white haired miqo’te looked from Ashwynn to Askier as his smile faded.

 

“Askier, help.” Ashwynn sobbed, knowing what the collar was capable of doing. Jin’li pulled out a small switch and held it in his free hand.

 

“I will, Ash just…what do you want you vermin! Havn’t you ruined my life enough?!” Askier raged, his face blood red. Jin’li’s smile faded and he lifted the button.

 

“Freedom for all.” Jin’li said calmly.

 

“This is not freedom!” Askier snarled.

 

“Chaos is freedom.” Jin’li answered. “Break the chains, all that bind, and you will be free. Do not and your love will drag you both into death and eternal service to that fate.”

 

“Insanity really does run in the family.” Askier howled above the roar of the rising wind. Jin’li blinked in confusion and slipped the switch into his pocket. “I’m goning to tear out your heart and eat it!”

 

“This one just pressed the button. You have one minute to press it again before the collar on her neck explodes.”

 

You…you.” Askier lifted his arm and began firing bullets from thebarrel at the base of the arm. “Die you runt bastard!”

 

The bullets flew forward but before they struck Jin’li, several crows sprang forward and exploded in a shower of blood and feathers as each took a bullet. With the death of the crows, the rest of the flock rose into the air around them and began swirling around, their caws mixing with the din of the thunder and lighting. Askier howled and ran forward. The murder of crows suddenly parted and Jin’li aimed his own gunblade at Askier.

 

The bomb maker threw himself aside into the swirling mass of birds to avoid the shot and the mass of crows closed again to prevent Askier a retaliatory shot.

 

Askier picked himself up and reach into his coat and heaved three grenades forward. They exploded and pounds of feathers and fettered gore splattered on the ground. Askier used the brief gap in the crow wall to take a shot at Jin’li. Another crow exploded as it took the bullet and Askier dashed forward as he reloaded, the Garlean pulling his goggles down over his eyes as he rushed through the mass.

 

“I’ll kill you, I’ll kill you, I’ll kill you!” Askier howled as he continued to throw grenades, slowly thinning out the mass of bireds. Fired danced on burning feathers as lighting flashed overhead.

 

“Your allies tried to before. As is evident, they failed.” Came Jin’li’s voice from behind. Askier spun and fired as Jin’li slowly slipped through the wall of flapping wings.

 

“Everything ends.” Askier snarled.

 

“Yes, but today is not this one’s end.” Jin’li spoke. Askier spun, but felt the barrel of Jin’li’s gun against his stomach as Jin’li emerged from the wall of birds. “It’s yours.”

 

Jin’li fired and Askier recoiled backwards, his blood splattering on the ground as he slammed down. Jin’li stepped forward, his silver gunblade aimed at Askier’s chest.

 

“Fuck you!” Askier howeled as he lifted theg un arm and fired. Jin’li’s body flew backwards as the round sent, a fountain of blood spraying from the wound as he slammed onto the ground.

 

The whirling vortex of crows suddenly rose into the tempest and was gone.

 

Askier felt the blood oozing from his side and groaned as he blinked, slowly shifting himself around and forward. He was in agonized pain, but his mind could only process on thought, one need, to press that button and save Ashwynn. He crawled up and limped over to the still body of Jin’li. Askier reached into the pocket and pressed the switch. Askier looked over at Ashwynn and felt his stomach turn. The collar was beeping suddenly.

 

“Askier!” Ashwynn screamed, knowing the sound. Askier sprinted forward. He had to disarm the collar, he…..

 

“Ashwynn noo!” Askier screamed as he heard the telltale beep that preceded the collar’s detonation.

 

“Askier…I-“ Ashwynn had tears rolling down her face but whatever she was going to say was cut off as the collar burst at the front of her throat. Blood splattered Askier as a hole seven inched wide was blasted into Ashwynn’s neck and severed chunks of her spinal column. The dead woman’s eyes were wide as her head listed forward and hung unnaturally while blood oozed down her chest.

 

“Ashwynn!” Askier screamed and feel to his knees before his dead wife. The Garlean reached out with trembling hands and held her feet in them, tears running out of his eyes as he looked up at the corpse that had moments before been alive.

 

“No.no.no.no.” Askier sobbed, his words repeated over and over like a spell, as if saying that word fast and often enough might resurrect her, might deny reality. It failed. The rain came with Askier’s tears. A torrential downpour that soaked the garlean in moments as he knelt there before his bride.

 

Askier didn’t hear the footsteps or the cocking of the gun. But he did feel the gunblade shoved to the back of his head.

 

“How does it feel, Master Mergrey, to have kill the Lady Adonis? This one never pressed the button. Had you just died or walked away, she could have lived. But this one knows you, knows your anger and this one broke you, just as this one broke Master Melkire.”

 

“Why?” Askier choked out, his tears lost in the rain as his own blood drained from his side and mixed with the puddle of water and blood from his dead wife. “Why?”

 

“To show you a kindness, to free you from your self-inflicted chains.

 

Askier looked up at his dead wife. He thought of his friends. Chains. Those he loved had never been chains. They had been the pillars that built him up, they had broken his chains. They had all helped him, loved him, aided him, they were his strength, not his confinement. They were just the opposite of what his mad little brother assumed. No, what his mad brother could never understand. Not anymore.

 

“Kanaria was right.” Askier choked out. “You are to be pitied. You won’t die because you are afraid. Because you are all alone. You’re a coward too weak to man up and do what you are supposed to. You are apathetic piece of shite.”

 

“Death is the final master, defying it is the ultimate rebellion.” Jin’li explained.

 

Askier lifted his head and began laughing wildly as he reached into his coat and seized a special grenade. He pulled it and fixed his eyes on his little brother. Jin’li’s crows shot down like a bullet from the clouds and started forming a wall between Askier and Jin’li as Askier pulled the pin of the grenade.

 

“Fuck you.”

 

There was a small flash of light and then an explosion. The wall of crows absorbed most of the blast but Jin’li was thrown backwards and went tumbling across the gravel, bouncing several times and skidding to a stop.

 

The rain fell on the white haired miqo’te as thunder roared. Black blood oozed around him. Jin’li’s black eyes saw beyond the veil of life and death. He saw the countless chains for Nald’thal flung forward and seize him, binding him, trying to drag him into the void where he belonged. Jin’li resisted his will and soul fighting back against the flow of death. He stood defiant.

 

“This one is not your slave.” Jin’li spoke flatly, his lips trembling as his body stirred. “This one will not bow to your will or any save this one’s own. This one..no.. I-“ Jin’li paused and his black eyes flung open. Jin’li felt the chains of death weakening. “I am Jin’li Epinoch! I am my own master! And I will enter your realm when I, not you, am ready! My will cannot be denied!” The chains slipped away and Jin’li was left on the living side of the veil once again.

 

Jin’li turned his head and gazed at the crater Askier’s grenade had made. He stared at it and slowly picked himself up to his feet, the massive crow flapping over to him and offering him the silver sword. Jin’li took it and limped forward, his feet splashing in puddles as he approached the metal arm that had once been part of Askier. Jin’li holstered his gunblade before he bent down and picked up the limb. Jin’li inspected it and then paused, sniffing it.

 

There was an extra smell there, of something other than just explosive powder, and extra residue. Jin’li blinked and nodded.

 

“How interesting. Rest easy, Master Mergrey and Lady Adonis. May you be chained in slavery together forever.”

 

Without another word, Jin’li turned and slowly began limping away, the thunder roaring across the land as he set his course towards Ul'dah.

 

(To be continued in "The Kindly Mr. Epinoch.")

[Askier]

The End