Archive of Our Own ^beta

Autumn frowns and walks in a quick circle, the boots of her dragoon armor clicking sharply on the floor. She is standing beside the aetheryte in the Crystarium, but its completely empty.  Her ears are ringing, she was doing something...something important?  She blinks in confusion she must have been spacing out...but where is everyone?  She was just with the Scions...with G'Raha...no..he is the Exarch here...but that can't be right?  She starts to walk absently towards the Musica stalls, her foot steps echoing back at her.  

Autumn winces as she steps into the light.  She feels like something is trying to pry her apart, the light feels like its piercing her.   The sky is a sickly color...something is very wrong.  She turns back towards the Stalls and out of the unpleasant light.  There are no shouts of welcome, no one hawking their wares.  No sound at all.  Only the resounding click of her armored feet against the stone floor.  

The Wandering Stairs, Even the Pendants...empty. 

Where is everyone?

Panic is staring to crawl up the back of Autumn's throat as she ascends to the upper levels.  Here she begins to find signs of things abandoned in a rush.  The forge fire still burning, but precious tools abandoned on the ground...supplies scattered.  She glances over the balustrade and sees the chocobo pens empty buckets overturned and greens scattered. 

The Amaro Lurch....abandoned.  She looks out towards Lakeland, but sees nothing unusual.  If there was an attack, wouldn't there be bodies?   Of Course! The Crystal Tower!  

She spins around and runs to the other side of the balastrade, her eyes narrowing as looks towards the entrance to the Crystal Tower.  Autumn leaps over the railing, bounding down the buttresses to race across the courtyard.  As she approaches the great doors, she can see they are ajar.  Caution slows her feet, and drawing her spear she slowly pushes the door open. 

Carnage greets her. 

The shining walls are spattered with blood.  Bodies lay like broken dolls among the too-white remains of sineater chrysalis'.  Autumn's heart hammers in her chest, anger turning her vision red.  How could this have happened!...

A stray though niggles at the back of her mind that something isn't right, but she quickly pushes it aside.  There is no time for speculation!  There might still be survivors!

The Dragoon turns away from the carnage and continues on down the entry corridor to the great hall.

As she races up the great staircase, she is reminded of the first time she came to the tower.  Nero was with her then, and Doga and Unei...and G'Raha...he was so young then...

Why didn't the Exarch do anything?....

Autumn's thoughts stutter and her headlong rush slows...the Exarch is no longer here to protect the tower...Autumn shakes her head and starts running again.  She can't slow down....she has to save them...she has to save all of them or what is the point?!

There are familar faces among the fallen as Autumn nears Xander's throne room...Edith who always asked after Thancred...Glynard who ran the wandering stairs...Rosard...Szel from the Rookery...Silent tears fall down Autumn's face as she moves past them. 

Her heart plummets as she approaches the throne room, with it's doors wide open.  In the center, where the Crystal remains of the Exarch should be, is a vast Lightwarden chrysalis...with Lyna's torn body at its foot.

G’raha drags himself out of the water sputtering and coughing.  For a moment all he can do is lay on the sandy shore and breathe.  G'Raha manages to roll on his back.  The air is fridge and his breath plumes up into the emptiness above him.  He feels a moment of awe at the realization they’re inside some sort of huge cavern. Rammbroes had requested they clear some monsters from a newly discovered ruin, but that ended in utter failure.  The creatures inhabiting the runins were far greater in number than they realized and in an attempt to escape the cavern had collapsed beneath them.   Hazily he remembers the sensation of falling...It feels like they fell forever.

His breath leaves him in a rush as he realizes what or rather who is missing.

"Autumn!"  His voice is scarcely a rasp in the empty air.  G'Raha sits up and shakes the sand and water from his hair looking around for his missing companion.  His heart begins to race when he doesn’t see her anywhere....and turns fearfully out towards the water.

A tell-tale splotch of dark on the water has him jumping back in with a gasp.  Autumn's head is just barely above the surface, her hair spreading in the water is what caught his attention.  G’raha mutters fervent words of thanks as he struggles to pull his armored friend up onto the beach.  The underground lake is cold and dark.  In the distance a waterfall pours from somewhere above, they are lucky that the current seems to have pushed them to a shallow cove.  For a moment his crimson eyes trace the moving water into the distance.  A soft whimper brings him back to his senses and he begins the arduous task of hauling the Warrior of Light out of the water. 

As he pulls her clear of the water, it becomes obvious she is in a bad way.  Blood seeps between the cracks of her armor, her lips wet with it.  G’raha frantically begins tugging at the straps trying to free her.  Autumn, dazed and barely conssious, struggles weakly, but quickly slips back into unconsciousness.   G'Raha's mana is already flickering dregs, but he drains himself willingly in an attempt to stabilize his beloved.  Her breathing eases as flesh knits back together and internal bleeding stops. 

G'Raha's breath becomes ragged as his magic flickers, and he half swoons, collapsing beside her.  For a moment he fears it won't be enough.  He forces himself to take slow breaths letting his eyes rove around hoping to find some sort of shelter.

Less distracted he feels a familiar hum...its not quite the crystal tower, but very like it.  His red eyes turn upwards mayhaps they are underneath it?  Suddenly he can feel the tower's strength pulsing around him...reaching out to him like a song weaving into his consciousness.  All that power was once part of him...and it could be again.  G’raha Quickly squashes the thought in favor of the immediate need for shelter.  The little island they washed up on has a lone desiccated tree, long since dead, and a low brittle scrub covers the ground that is quickly giving away to a thin sand.

G’raha half carries half drags his companion to the lee of a rock outcrop that looks like it might once have been a building...it also looks partially melted.  The markings are definitively Allagan in design and G'Raha nearly laughs aloud.

"Well Rammbroes...I hope I get to show you all this...I think we've found the city that used to surround the tower."  G'Raha's voice echos strangely against the rock and this time he really does chuckle, his laughter verging on hysterical until a whimper from Autumn brings him back to his senses. 

"Hah...sorry my love."  He whispers tenderly caressing her ears and hair.  He takes a calming breath and then assess what they have.

His pack was mostly intact, only two of the 4 Ether jars were intact. He downs one immediately ignoring the taste as he continues to take stock.  Two potions of medium quality, a few antidotes.  His blankets in their waterproofed case, were a little damp but undamaged.  The food was waterlogged but salavable, if they ate it soon.  A number of aspected crystals, undamaged.  His notes in their waterproofed case, were thankfully safe but the rest of his writing implements were ruined.  His spare clothing was wet, but salavageable. 

His staff was gone. 

He suspected Tataru would give him quite the earful...if they managed to return.  NO! When they returned. 

Autumn's pack was ripped and most of the contents gone.  A spare set of her clothing, a tad worse for wear and a wrapped packet of red licorice twists.  G'Raha smiles at that, but the smile fades into a pinched look of determination.

Autumn, curled in his lap, begins to twitch and shiver.

"A fire." He says aloud. He carefully wraps the Warrior of light in they mildly damp blankets and curls her with the rock face at her back.

There is plenty of wood, old and dried out, to make a splendid fire. G'Raha sets it up quickly and gently moves Autumn where she can warm up but not roll into the fire. His luck holds and while collecting more kindling he finds a battered old pot and some good flat stones. Which which he quickly throws together some stew using the waterlogged rations.

Calmer, warmer and full of soup, G'Raha contemplates their situation...or at least he should, but he's well and truly spent. The firelight flickers and the hum of the tower is both familar and soothing. His eyes begin to droop and finally he gives up all pretense. He curls himself around Autumn and drifts off to sleep.

He feels the humm of the Crystal tower as he wakes, and for a long miserable moment he thinks everything has been a dream and he is still on the first...and then he registers the warm body pressed against him. 

Autumn...

She's trembling, thinking she is cold he hugs her tighter, but she struggles whimpering and saying his name.

"No nononono..G'Raha...no."

"Shhh my love, I'm here. Wake up. All is well."

She continues to struggle in his arms until with a gasp Autumn open her eyes. "G'Raha?" Her voice is tremulous and weak in comparison to her normal confident tone. G'Raha sits up so she can see him better as her eyes dart around.

"I'm here, I'm fine...we're fine."

"Oh..oh..." she sniffles her lower lip trembling angrily.  "I hate nightmares..." and her face screws up adorably as she tries not to cry. 

G'Raha lets out a sigh of relief and wets a handkerchief to wipe her face. 

Calmed down and assured that they are on the source, G'Raha feeds Autumn soup as he explains how they ended up somewhere beneath the crystal tower.  Autumn's ears are flat against her skull, but slowly relax as she listens to the sound of his voice.  Her tail eventually curls around G'Raha's.  Soon her eyes are drooping. 

"Here love. Let's sleep, and we can worry about everything else when we wake." G'Raha gathers her into his arms and pull the blankets back around them both. What ever nightmare she had must have ratteled her. He can feel Autumn's tale lashing in agitation as he snuggles against her. Eventually she settles and G'Raha's begins to drift.

"G'Raha...this is real right?"

"HUmm...yes. For better or worse..."

"Do you think anyone will find us here?"

"Ummm most likely not, but don't worry love. With a little effort I should be able to pull us both into the tower. I just thought you might want to rest up a bit first."

Abruptly G'Raha finds himself flipped on his back with Autumn straddling him.

"Ohhh--" She purrs, stroking a hand over his chest. "--I think I've had enough rest, don't you? We can sleep--"

Instead of answering G'Raha sagely pulls her back down into the blankets and into a hard kiss…