The Tirealian Scribe [Finished]

[Daros]

Daros had felt presence of Darkness many times in his life, his home having been based within the Darkness’ Domain of Luniel. He had even worked directly beside the Darkness Core, the very center of the Darkness Domain. Yet despite this, the Darkness he had felt when the wave of abyssal power swept across Luniel was far greater than anything he had thought possible. He felt it pressing on him from all sides, smothering him with the black shroud before he would lose consciousness.



The pressure was the last thing he would remember before he found himself waking up once more, this time with the lack of such an extreme amount of Darkness pressing on him. He could still feel the Darkness around him, but it was more like a passive Darkness, one that had already settled in. This made him wonder where he was, as there was no location in Luniel that felt like this, none that he knew of anyways.



He felt weakened from the Darkness, its sudden appearance giving him no time to prepare himself for its grasp. Despite this, he didn’t feel any different, save for the slight headache. He was rather sore, every muscle feeling as though it was just pushed through the longest day of training.



His attention was drawn to the sound of a few voices, the presence of others around him. He realized as he noticed these voices that he was leaned against something, what felt like brick pushing against his back. He would slowly lift his head and open his eyes to find himself in what looked like some kind of Market, a few people walking around the few shops that appeared to have items for sale.



Looking around, he noticed that the street itself was in a rather extreme state of disrepair. Building were in ruins, and the ground was cracked and filled with debris. It looked as though no one had lived here for years, those currently on the street having just recently showed up or were too lazy to take care of the town.



Daros would try to stand, finding his legs rather weak as shaking as they took on his weight. He took it slow, first sitting forward onto his knees before placing one foot on the ground. He placed a hand on the wall and used it as support while he stood on his second foot. Slowly and shakily he would find himself on his feet, standing against the wall as he looked around to better take in the surrounding area.



*This… this isn’t Luniel. Even the bandits take care of their camps. And the Darkness here… it feels… wrong. Just where am I? And what happened to home?*



These thoughts crossed his mind as he started to walk, finding his strength ever-so-slowly coming back to him, just enough so that he could stand away from the wall without falling. He started to make his way up the street, trying to find something that could help identify whatever this place was, or maybe a friendly passerby who might be able to tell him.

[Era]

She sat atop the remnants of a single-story roof, humming a happy tune. Her feet swayed gently, one after the other. It was nice to sit outside and gaze up at the fragmented moon. The air was crisp and slightly cool: something of a refreshing feeling after working so long.

Her humming had stopped when she noticed someone approaching, and after taking in his demeanor, it was obvious he was a new refugee. "Oh, hello there!" she began politely. "Would you like a place to rest? I'm from the infirmary. Here I thought we'd gotten all the survivors. But it seems we have another." Her gentle voice was light in the otherwise heavy atmosphere.

Era wasn't even in her twenties yet, but she had a demeanor that indicated her belief deep down: the courage that radiated faith in the strength of what Light they had left.

[Daros]

As strength slowly returned to Daros’ body, he would stand away from the wall and begin to walk more towards the center of the street. Now that he was able to stand properly he had a better look around the area. While he could confirm that this was indeed a Market Place, it was also obvious that it was one that matched the look of the streets. Most buildings had shops within them, but it appeared that most were keeping the goods off the streets.



His attention was taken away from his surroundings by the sound of a woman’s voice cutting through the bustle of the street. He would turn to see the one who had called out sitting on top of one of the buildings near him. While she seemed to be a bit out of place compared to the others on the street, a little more cheerful and unique compared to the rest. But out of everything in her appearance, the orange hair, the pale skin, there was one thing that stood out to Daros the most.



Except for the head members of the Council, every Tirealian had some shade of violet eyes. The woman who had just spoken to him however had light blue eyes, a shade he personally knew was not one of the colors passed down by the council.



*She’s not a Tirealian. Then, this really isn’t Luniel. What happened to me?*



He would clear his throat once before he spoke, making sure he was able to use his voice before he replied to the woman who had offered him a place to rest.



“A place to rest? Yea.. that’d be nice. Least ‘till I get my strength back anyways.”



His words were caught off when he realized she had said something about survivors. This was odd to him, as he had no knowledge of what had even happened to him or how he got here. He figured it was something he could ask at a later date, probably whenever he got settled in wherever this infirmary was.

[Era]

She turned and carefully slid off some rubble. It was a bit of fancy foot work, and she almost twisted her ankle doing it, but all ended well. Once she'd made it onto the street level - which really wasn't that far down - her attentive gaze was back on Daros. Of course she could tell he wasn't at his peak: none of the refugees were upon arrival. But she didn't try to coddle him either. Perhaps he would need help, and if he did, she would be there to support him if he needed. Otherwise, she was more than happy to give him his space. Her hands tucked behind her back as she looked up at him. "Okay, I'll show you the way." It rolled off her chest like a happy chirp.

It wasn't too far down the street and they'd arrive at the infirmary. Nothing special, just an old building converted into a field medic's sort of space. Tattered cloths draped over places where doors were missing. Most of the light in the room was from candles or lanterns.

Several beds were arranged across the floors of bigger rooms. Smaller rooms held just one or two beds at most. Of course, most of the refugees were already back up to par and out of the infirmary, so many of the beds previously in use were currently empty. She turned back to him. "It's not much, but it's definitely better than the streets. Find a place and settle in. Since there aren't many people here right now you can take your pick! I'll go see what kind of food I can find for you." With that she headed down the hall and out of sight, leaving Daros to himself for a few minutes.

[Daros]

Daros nodded his thanks to the woman before him, turning briefly to look in the other direction just to see if the rest of the street was in the same condition. As expected, everything he saw now that he was able to properly look was indeed in ruins. It was all he could do to wonder just what happened to this town. Ruined and with what he could see as a low population, it looked almost as though a war had plagued the place.



He would turn back to the woman as she guided him to the infirmary. At least the people here were well enough to have one. If they didn’t, then things could have been a lot worse than what he was seeing.



The first thing he noticed was the lack of powered lighting, with the candles and lanterns being the only source of soft light in the building. It wasn’t too surprising, with the condition of the town being bad. It was still something that threw him off a little however, as he was so use to the lighting of Luniel.



He looked to the woman once more, nodding his thanks to her as she told him to find a bed. As she walked away he would walk off in the other direction from her, finding a slightly smaller room that was thankfully empty. He didn’t want to socialize with anyone, not until he got use to this new place anyways.



He pulled his jacket off and laid it on one of the beds, sitting next to it and rummaging through the pockets. As he pulled items out he would set them on the bed, keeping them in view. He wanted to make sure that he had everything he had grabbed.



“Compactors, all intact. Good. Might come in handy here… maybe. Toolkit… intact with compactor still functioning. Very good. Hoverbike… hmm… might wanna wait until I am outside again to see if this still works. Might break something in here.”



These items were now sprawled out on the bed, the compactors in a pile and the toolkit open and in its original size which took up half of the bed by itself. With these out of the way he would look to his wrist, where a wrist-mounted, watch-sized radar screen was visible. Currently deactivated, he would just check to see if the screen was broken in any way and would breath a sigh of relief when he saw that it wasn’t.



With these items checked and confirmed to be intact, he would reach to his sides and grab his bolt-guns Ruby and Pearl. He would check them one at a time, dry firing them a few times to make sure their inner mechanisms were still working before inspecting the external mechanics. Satisfied with their state, he laid them on the bed and would now grab the goggles from around his neck.



He lifted the goggles to fit on his face, adjusting them a little so they were comfortable. Happy that they weren’t broken, he decided to see how the magic in the area was. He reached his right hand up and flipped down the violet lens so that it was over top of the primary goggle lens. This would allow him to see magic traces around him, though it would seem that this place had none to be seen. While Luniel was covered in magic, this place seemed barren of any external magic traces.



*Perhaps everyone here just uses their own internal magics. It would explain the lack of power in the city’s structures.*



This thought prompted him to flip the purple lens up and reach up to the lens on the left side this time, flipping it down so that he would be able to see any working technologies within the city. Even more surprising than the lack of magic was the lack of technology. Luniel would light this lens up, covering his view with dozens of technological mechanisms within the walls of the cities’ structures. This place had nothing.



*It appears that any repairs needed for my stuff will be a little difficult to obtain, more than likely made from scratch.*



He would flip the blue lens back up and pull the goggles back down around his neck, closing his eyes and thinking about these things as he waited for his guide to return. It appeared as though he would have some serious adjusting to do in this place. Good thing the single magic spell he ever used was powered by his own magic.

[Era]

He was adjusting some strange looking goggles - probably not much different than something a mechanic from Al'Bhed might wear, she wagered. "Sorry it took awhile for me to return. I added a few ingredients to the soup to thicken it up." She was carrying a small tray with a bowl of soup and a glass of water half full.

She made her way to the bed Daros had unpacked on, leaving the tray near it. "If you have any injuries, they might have to wait to be dressed. Our bandages are still in the sterilization process." If Daros did have any serious injuries he must have been very good at hiding them, and anything minor could wait until the treated bandages dried. It wasn't the most hospitable, but it was what they had, in the ruins of Twilight Town, to work with.

There wasn't too much more that could be done right now, and Daros probably wanted to rest and recuperate. "Let me know if I can get you anything else."

[Daros]

Daros would look up as the woman returned, standing and nodding his thanks to her as he slowly took the tray from her. He figured that the soup was probably about the same as what he ate whenever he was deeper within the tunnels of the cities in Luniel. Rules stated only packed rations could be taken, to keep waste within such places to a minimum. The only real ration he had liked was a rather watery soup that was quick to consume. This looked to be about the same, and smelled as though it would be just as tasteless. 

"Thank ya. I appreciate ya bringin me here and givin me this. It feels like forever since I ate. Not sure how long the trip here took. Can't even remember it really."

He set the tray on the bed and carefully sat next to it so as not to spill any of the food or water. He would begin to eat and realize that the soup was indeed similar to the soup he always ate, if a little thicker from the woman's extra few ingredients. Taking a drink of water, he was glad to see that those in this place knew to make clean water at least. In terms of survival in such locations, that was a key factor.

Once he finished eating the soup he still had some water left in the glass, slowly drinking it some more before looking to the woman before him. He had many questions, some he felt she might not be able to answer. As he thought of which question he might ask first he wondered just how long he had been out. No matter how long it was, he felt strangely awake and ready to go.

"I have no wounds I am aware of, thank ya though. Maybe a few scratches from layin on the pavement outside. Nothin that will take more than time to heal. Can I ask you somethin... um... don't even know your name. Guess introductions would be nice before askin any questions, huh? I'm Daros. Daros Teel."

[Era]

"Daros" she let the name roll off her tongue, considering it for a long moment, filing it away in her memory as she took in his face. She wanted to pair the two together: not just the name, and not just the face.

Daros. Her mind repeated. It sounded strong. A nice, masculine sort of name. Not quite like anything she was familiar with. The the people on Spira...

Her gaze flicked away a moment, her mind trying to process memories she didn't realize she was having until just now. They were old, but also very new. They ran by in her mind's eye, and when they had passed and she could focus on the present again, her friendly gaze turned back to the survivor who stood before her, and she offered out her hand. "You have a nice name." With a gentle smile, and him permitting, she shook his hand. "I'm Era. And I'd be glad to answer any question you have." Of course, she understood that she didn't know everything, and hoped she didn't come off as a know-it-all.

[Daros]

Daros wasn't much of a people person. Sure he could hold a conversation when he wanted, and introduce himself without making things awkward, but in the end he tended to stay separate from most. That was why he missed the quick look on Era's face from her memories' flashing through her mind. In fact during that moment he was instead looking at the items on the bed, packing them back away and placing them in their respective pockets. His attention would return to her once she responded in kind, shaking her hand as well, reaching out just a tad slower than most might. 

"Well, can't say I ever had anyone say that 'bout my name. Then again, if what I am thinkin' bout is true, I can't be surprised. Era, huh? That's a name I'll remember. Never heard one like it. Simple too. I like it."

He packed up his tools last, clicking the button on the compactor once and watching as the toolkit was shrunk down in size before picking it up and placing it in his inside chest pocket. He left the shrunk-down hoverbike on the bed, figuring he would take it outside for a quick trip around the area once he was done here. He would look back to Era, getting right to the question he had been wanting to ask.

"Where are we? I know we aren't in my home, cause I have traveled the world and never came across any place like this. Plus, I know you aren't one of my own people. Your eyes are different from ours. And as far as the books tell us, we never used designs in our buildings like what I see here."

He left what he said where it was, leaning back a little and keeping his eyes trained on Era as he waited for an answer. He didn't even think about how he had asked the question. Lack of people skills made him a very up front person when it came to questions. He could be very blunt and rather rude at times without meaning to, and wouldn't think about it until someone said something. 

With how things were, that was the absolute last of his worries. He didn't know where he was, how he got there, and he wanted answers. And so did what he did best and got right to it, asking the person who had helped him find a place to rest and hoping she might know the answer. For all he knew, no one knew where this was or how any of them got there. All he could do was hope they did. 

[Era]

The grandfather clock in the room had been broken. Its hands stood still, indicating the exact minute when the cataclysm had taken place.

Daros asked about where they were, and the question pulled Era's attention back onto the situation at hand.

Oh, ahh, yes!

The young woman scratched the back of her head. She probably should have explained where they were: after all, it was a common question from the survivors. She felt a little silly for forgetting to mention it sooner. 

"It's a place called Twilight Town. A sanctuary world." The next part was never easy. "And if you're here, it means you're one of the lucky ones. You survived, but your world is gone right now: just like mine." There was no way to tell people their home was currently inaccessible; at least no nice way. Still, she tried to say it gently. "If you went outside right now and looked up at the sky, you'd see a cosmos mostly devoid of stars. The Moogles think there's still hope: that we can get the worlds back." And honestly, she believed them."If we survivors all work together I know we'll find a way."

Those permafrost eyes seemed equally sincere and hopeful. "I'm sorry it's not better news. But I have faith that even now, the light will prevail." It wasn't much, and she honestly felt a little sheepish for having so much stock in the light, especially in the face of so much darkness. But what she said was authentic to her, and she felt that's how everyone should be. Daros himself seemed like an authentic guy; true to who he was. Maybe he'd understand. Maybe he'd be ready to find a way to get the worlds back. She already knew he would be an awfully good asset.

[Daros]

Daros listened to the words which Era spoke. What she said confirmed what he already suspected. He was no longer in his world, but instead in some kind of world which had already been afflicted with Darkness but had yet to fully disappear like other worlds. Multiple beings from multiple worlds were gathered here, each having lost there own world. This he was not surprised to have been confirmed.

What truly caught his attention was when she said his world was gone. Not just missing or the people just being whisked away by the Darkness. His world, Luniel, was just... gone. The Darkness had, from what this woman had just said, completely taken his world and maybe destroyed it.

He sat forward, closing his eyes as he rested his chin against the knuckles of a closed fist. With those questions answered, he now had a few new ones. They could wait, however. He had to set his priorities straight. And learn as much as he could about what was going on within this town.

“So then, from what ya just told me, we’re in some kinda sanctuary world called Twilight Town, the worlds are bein’ taken by Darkness, and the survivors are the best bet to fix things. That ‘bout sum it up?”

He sat back once more, pulling out the miniaturized hover bike from within its pocket. He felt like going for a ride, get a feel for the town’s layout. One thing that kept him calm during times of chaos or disorder was taking a ride.

“Guess I’ll have to dust off Ruby and Pearl. Would be nice if I had a Guildsman to team up with, but I can handle m’self well enough.”

He stood from the bed, making sure the pockets with his belongings were secure before looking back to Era.

“I thank ya for helpin’ me out. You’ve a kind heart. I’m not usually one to sit around like this, so I’m gonna take a ride around and see if I can get a grasp of the town. Maybe find a place to set up shop. You can join if ya want.”

[Era]

She listened to his concern, nodding when he needed affirmation. He had the gist of what she was trying to say. And, he took the news well enough. It seemed that he was more than ready to help out. Well, if he was well enough, she saw no harm in it. And maybe putting her hands to use helping him set up shop wouldn't be a bad idea.

"Oh, sure!" she mused. The few sickly patients that remained in the infirmary were easy to care for. And she could just pop back in later to check up on them. "I've got nowhere I need to be for a few hours. Let me just clean up and I'd be happy to help you set up shop." Hey, the town could probably use someone with an engineering type of background. Lord knew she was no good at that sort of thing!