Journey to the Source

"What do you mean you're not the Warrior of Darkness?  Are you an Ascian spy?!" Thancred growled as he reached for the hilt of his gunblade from his back, his face contort in anger and confusion.  Alisaie also readied her rapier whilst Alphinaud, Ryne and the Exarch stared at Melanie in horror.  Y'shtola still glared at Melanie through her blank gaze and folded arms.

"No, I'm not an Ascian, that's why I asked the Exarch to summon you all here so I can explain all this to you" Melanie spoke in a flustered tone, her arms raised in defense.  Thancred narrowed his eyes still clutching onto the hilt of his weapon.  "Believe me when I say I'm no threat to you" she continued, looking at Thancred with pleading eyes.

"For you to have occupied our friend makes you every much a threat" Alphinaud chimed in.  "But pray do tell whatever it is that you could not speak to us yourself and let us decide whether you pose as a threat or not."

Melanie closed her eyes let out another sigh.  "This is not how I planned to tell them.  What am I thinking, I didn't even plan this out at all."  She then looked up at them all and began.

It all started 3 years ago in my time, which for you is, I don't know how long ago.  The time when the Warrior of Light first set foot upon Thanalan soil.  Up until that point nobody knew of her existance, where she was born or where she travelled from.  That's because she wasn't born.  She was a creation that I designed.

"Wait, what?" Thancred laughed.  "Do you seriously expect us to believe that?"

"Tell me then Thancred, or any of you, if you know of where the Warrior of Light's homeland is, or how nobody not even the M tribe knew of a M'leineya Leoh until her arrival at Uld'ah.  The M tribe has only 1 male breeder, were you to ask him of a M'leoh Tia or M'leoh Nuhn he would tell you no such tribe member exists."

The Exarch began to ponder for a moment and then addressed the Scions.  "It's true that in all of the textbooks that cover the Warrior of Light's exploits there is no mention of our friend's birthplace nor anyone who knew her before her registration at Uld'ah.  Normally all of Uld'ah's records detail a place of origin for its new citizens but for our friend there was none.  It was as if she just appeared."

"You're honestly not buying into what she is saying?" Thancred scoffed with a sarcastic expression on his face, his hands held out in question.

"For the moment, I think it's best we listen to what else she has to reveal to us" the Exarch replied.  He then looked back to Melanie.  "Go on" he gestured.

You see, where I'm from is a very different world than yours.  There is no magic or dungeons with monsters.  We have much more of a stable and technologically developed infrastructure where many of our major cities resemble Amaurot.  Most of us rely on technology for almost everything from working to travelling and even for personal entertainment.  One form of entertainment is a video game where we create a digital character to represent ourselves and fight monsters in an imaginary fantasy world.  3 years ago I picked up a game called Final Fantasy 14.  It was a video game based in a world... called Eorzea, and the character I created was M'leineya Leoh.

"Hold on" Y'shtola chuckled.  "Am I getting this right that you're implying we're all part of an imaginary world?" she said in a slightly sarcastic tone.

"Not exactly" Melanie replied.  "From what Hydaelyn told me when she summoned me here was that your worlds already existed and when the game was created it also formed a bond between our worlds.  Somehow everything we did in the game on my world was affecting everything here."

For a moment the room was slient.  They all waited hoping for Melanie to tell them she was jesting, but when she said nothing more the reality that she was telling the truth sunk in and suddenly they all reacted at once.

"You mean to tell us that countless people went to war and died because of you?!" Thancred was now red with rage.

"I think I'm going to be sick" Alisaie said faintly, her skin paling as she thought about her friend Tesleen and so many others who suffered and died over the years.

"I spent 200 years sleeping in this tower, travelled 100 years back in time to a world that wasn't my own, watched countless people suffer and die, but for what?  Was it even necessary?" the Exarch gasped to himself.

"I was locked away in a small room in Eulmore since I was born having never known my own parents or received any visitors other than my captors, was that all for nothing?" Ryne wept.

Y'shtola raised her hand over eyes in shock.  "I sacrificed my own eyesight by throwing myself into the Lifestream, but that was being decided for me?"  She then looked back up at Melanie, her eyes glaring fiercely towards her.  "You dared to make me blind?!!"

Melanie quickly waved her hands in front of her in protest.  "No no, it wasn't like that!  We had no idea this was happening nor that your worlds really existed!  If we had known we wouldn't have done this to you."

"And what about you?" Alpinaud asked, his voice breaking slightly as he tried to hold back his anger and retain his composure.  "You were with us this whole time, yet it is only now that you bring this news to us.  How could you have held all of this back from us for all these years?"

"It was only yesterday that Hydaelyn brought me here and told me everything, although what she said was very brief and she didn't even give me the chance to refuse.  Even then had I known beforehand there was nothing I could've done.  My interactions were limited to controlling this character remotely from my world completely oblivious to what was really happening here and following a story that was already narrated for me."

"Like a puppet" Thancred said folding his arms, his anger cooling down although by his facial expression he was still unimpressed.  "All this time we thought you were the selfless hero for jumping head first into danger and putting your life ahead of others, but in reality you were never in danger by hiding safely on your own world whilst manipulating our friend into one dangerous situation after the next for your personal entertainment."

"I..I'm sorry, it sounds very bad when you put it that way and you have every right to be angry at me" Melanie tried her hardest not to sob.

"I never really thought Hydaelyn could be capable of summoning peoples' souls from other worlds, especially since it was brought to our attention that she herself is a primal" Y'shtola said a little amused at the thought.  "Seems she is not just any mere primal, that is if one is to believe anything Emet-Selch revealed to us."

"So why couldn't Hydaelyn have just brought you here instead of occupying her body?" Alphinaud asked.

"She said the Warrior of Light cannot exist without the one who created her."

Alphinaud lowered his head and raised a finger to his chin as he pondered for a moment.  "That explains why our friend collapsed yesterday."  Alphinaud lowered his hand and looked up to the rest of the room who were now all focused on him.  "At the time she collapsed everyone, including myself, felt a change within us, something the locals are referring to as The Awakening.  If the awakening was the result of the bond between our worlds being severed then suffice to say so too would the bond between our friend and the one controlling her become severed."

The Exarch motioned towards Alphinaud.  "From what you described it almost sounds like you're saying our friend solely relied on her creator to order her around, almost as if she was a vessel without a will of her own or maybe even a soul."  He then raised a finger to his chin and pondered for a moment.  "I know of one person who might be able to enlighten us on the subject and confirm if this is the case, but I'm afraid reaching her is nigh to impossible as she is not want for visitors.  Let's say my last attempt at requesting an audience her almost singed my tail and my dignity."  He then faced Melanie.  "And I dare say that without the Warrior of Darkness as she was we still won't have a chance at that."

Melanie averted his gaze, her stomach turning and her face redenning in shame.  "Even if I've never used magic nor know if I ever can I also don't know how to fight."

"Then we no longer have a Warrior of Darkness" Y'shtola added, her arms flailed around her helplessly as she started to mope around the room.

"Then what are we to do?" Alisaie asked facing the Exarch.  "If this was all Hydaelyn's doing she wouldn't put us in such a difficult position as to leave us without her own chosen warrior."

"Not unless this is all part of her plan.  Let's not forget that our friend here is known as a primal slayer.  If Hydaelyn is indeed a primal herself then perhaps she fears that she too could be expelled" Thancred said.

"We don't know that for certain" Y'shtola spoke from over her shoulder.  "There is still much we don't know about Hydaelyn and Zodiark but I'm not about to believe that Hydaelyn is some kind of malevolant entity."

Melanie closed her eyes tightly as Hydaelyn's words began to echo in her mind "thou must become the Warrior of Light, for there are none other who can save us."  For years she had lived in comfort sheltered from worries and labour.  To admit now what she had to do would mean turning her life around and leaving her old life behind which scared her.  Yet she could not stand to see her friends suffer, even more so if their suffering was by her own hands.  "Hydaelyn said that I must become the Warrior of Light.  That's what I have to do."

"But how?  If your aether has become anything like mine then even should you learn to wield a sword you would still not come close to being the same hero of legend." Thancred interrupted.

"As I recall your inability to manipulate aether was down to traversing the Lifestream" the Exarch piped in.  "But since hers hasn't been distorted the same way then perhaps there is yet a more simpler explanation to why she couldn't use teleportation."  He then turned to Melanie.

"Tell me, when you placed your hand upon the device did you feel an energy flowing through you?"  Melanie nodded in response.  "And what about afterwards?"

"I saw a bright light and then I appeared beside the large aetheryte outside" Melanie replied.

"I think I know what happened" the Exarch said confidentally.  "Whilst you were touching the device did you try to meditate on travelling to the Oculus?"

Melanie raised her eyebrows.  "No, I guess I didn't" she said in a surprised tone.

"That will be why you were sent back to the aetheryte outside then.  Without having a destination in mind where you want to go your body will simply return to the location with which it resonates the greatest, in this case the aetheryte outside."

"Oh, it makes so much sense now" Melanie.  "Damn I feel so stupid for not realising I needed to have a destination in mind."

"It's not just that simple.  There is also some training required to ensure you don't keep accidentally teleporting to your home point.  Without knowing how to meditate on your aether to direct it to a different destination you'll always end up returning to your home point instead.  I know of someone back on the Source who can help you with this as well as help you relearn how to use magic."

"That's all fair and well" Y'shtola added as she stopped moping around the room "but there is still the matter of how she'll become the Warrior of Light."  She then stepped up to Melanie.  "You said you don't know how to fight.  From our point of view it took years of fighting one battle after another against all odds for her to become the hero we all knew, time we can now ill afford.  How do you propose to become the Warrior of Light before we all die of old age?"

Melanie clenched her fists tightly and swallowed hard.  She knew this was her last chance to take back what what she said, but she knew if she did she might never return back home to Earth and would have to spend the rest of her life living in shame and regret of doing nothing to help her friends.  "I have to try" she replied, her voice wavering slightly as she tried not to tremble in front of them.  Y'shtola closed her eyes and exhaled deeply through her nostrils.  "I dare say you have the gall, but whether you really are capable of becoming a fighter is yet to be seen."

"I don't see us having any other choice" the Exarch exclaimed.  He then looked at Melanie again.  "If you're ready and willing I can send you back to the Source."  Melanie nodded eagerly.  The Exarch smiled then removed a large golden staff that had been hiding in the folds of his cloak on his back.  "Let's make this easier for us all" he said, then he tapped the base of the staff on the floor whilst whispering an inaudible spell and everyone began to glow brightly.  Melanie looked at her hands in a panic to see them become transparent, then in a bright flash she was no longer at the bottom of the stairs but now standing in a round and dimly lit blue room.  The air was cooler from there being very little sunlight entering the room despite there being many small arched windows made of crystal and gold lining the entire perimeter of the room.  The walls and floor appeared to be made of dark blue crystal with a circular pattern in the middle of the floor of what looked like planets and stars etched in gold.   Behind her a large glowing portal pulsed above a small set of steps.  They were in what was known as The Ocular inside the tower.

Melanie was in absolute awe at how pretty the room looked in person.  The artwork that was put into the etchings on the gold panels were astounding.  She was so enthralled with the room decor that she barely noticed the Exarch beckoning her towards the portal.  "Ahem, if you may Leineya?" he coughed gently to catch her attention.  Melanie quickly ran up to him and stood by the portal.

"Pray tell us, is Leineya your real name or should we call you by another?" Alisaie interrupted them.  "Oh, my real name is Melanie.  The name I chose for my character was a play on my own name, but since I've been accustomed to being called Leineya you can still call me that.  Besides most people here know me by this name so it would be a bit confusing if I went by another."  "Ah, fair point" Alisaie replied.

Melanie turned back around to face the portal.  "I strongly advise that after your arrival to the Source you travel to Revenant's Toll and relay to Krile your situation.  Do not speak openly about everything you've revealed to us today to anyone else as I fear if word gets around the Empire wouldn't waste a moment using the opportunity to strike back against Eorzea and her allies.  Krile should be able to assist you in finding the right people who can help train you in manipulating aether and becoming a warrior."

Melanie nodded.  As she looked at the portal she felt a surge of adrenaline rush through her body making her tremble.  "I can't believe I'm really going to do this" she thought to herself.  She began to imagine herself as her character shooting fire and lightning balls at monsters and leaping at them with her sword drawn.  It was all too unreal and a little disturbing to imagine that she tried to shake the image from her head.  "I'm ready" she said outloud.  The Exarch backed away from the portal and watched as she readied herself.

"I'll be back before you know it, and I'll be the warrior you need" she said facing the Exarch one last time before stepping forward through the portal.

An Audience at the Tower

Seeing the sunlight reflecting from the walls of the Crystal Tower was still a beautiful sight to behold.  The countless layers of tall clear crystals spiraling around immeasurable blue crystal rocks shaped into uneven spires and reflecting soft blue light throughout the city, its tallest peeks sparkling brightly high in the sky as a beacon of hope for all to see for many malms across Lakeland and beyond.  The games' graphic limitations gave it no justice.  Its height was overwhelming to look at that Melanie struggled to even see the top section of the tower.  Somewhere up there the Crystal Exarch was residing and watching over all of Norvrandt.

It never occurred to Melanie how she was going to reach the Ocular until now.  Every visit to the Ocular in the game was a small cutscene with one of the gatekeepers outside the tower entrance who would escort her there.  From some of the various cutscenes she recalled there was a spiral stairway similar to the ones found in Syrcus Tower that led to the doorway into the Ocular.  This would mean at some point she would have to go down, but down from where?  The tower was as wide as the city itself and surrounded by a tall stone foundation that was already 70 feet tall.  A wide stone stairway led up to the lavishly decorated golden doorway that was far bigger than any living being, which meant that inside the tower was no exception.  To fully explore the tower itself would be like visiting all the major cities back on Earth, meaning this place was huge and without a guide she could easily get lost in there.  Not to mention that wherever the Ocular was it was very, very high up!

Melanie started to feel butterflies in her stomach as the realisation that she would be climbing this humungous tower, her fear of heights gripping at her chest as she began to scale the stone stairway.  Barely a few feet up and already her heart rate had increased and her breathing became shallow and rapid.  Her body began to fight against her, every limb felt heavier and stiffer by the second until she could no longer move.  Though she was only a few feet off the ground her anxiety was getting the best of her and she started to feel light headed.  "No, I cannot give up now!" she thought to herself angrily.  Gritting her teeth she clenched her hands tightly and looked up the remainder of the stairway.  There was still many steps to go before she would reach the entrance, but to turn back now would be to look downwards and face her fear head on and that would no doubts cause her even more panic.  Melanie closed her eyes and took in several deep breaths, focussing not on the issue at hand but at the varying sounds and scents around her.  From sweet aromas of varying fruits and fauna, to the sound of wild birds and the wind rustling through the leaves of nearby trees, Melanie began to focus on everything else around her and slowly she started to put one foot slowly ahead of the other.

Before long she had scaled the stairway and was now standing in front of the huge entrance leading into the crystal tower.  Melanie opened her eyes and was wowed by its scale.  The entrance itself was at least as tall as a skyscraper.  Why anyone would create something of such extraordinary scale baffled Melanie.  The amount of energy just to open the entrance doors must've been immense, not to mention the amount of time it must've taken to shape the doors and carve out with such detail the artwork etched on the doors.  To have assembled it must've taken an army of giants or golems or whatever else the ancient Allags must've had being slaved at their disposal.

As Melanie's mind carried herself away she failed to notice the gatekeepers looking at her confused and one of them coughed to catch her attention.  "Excuse me, I know you are well acquainted with the Exarch, but I must ask for you to move on unless you have business with him" he spoke to her in an assertive tone.  Melanie snapped out of her enchantment and started to feel a little sheepish.

"Oh, yes I'm supposed to meet with him today" she replied.

The gatekeeper proudly stuck out his chest.  "In that case I shall escort you to the Ocular" he responded with a big grin, the other gatekeeper's mouth bobbed like a fish and let out a sigh shaking his head as if he just lost in a gamble.

Placing the palm of his hand up against the surface of the door caused the etchings to light up as if an electrical current ran through them.  With a loud roar the doorway opened up, exposing the entrance to the Syrcus Tower.  The doors locked in place with a loud clang that echoed through the tower, the noise was so loud Melanie felt her bones shake.  The gatekeeper walked inside and beckoned Melanie forward.  The size of the interior was overwhelming causing Melanie's heart to pound fast and her head start to spin.  There were no windows however the unnatural glow of several crystal pillars and alien looking wall patterns gave enough light to dimly illuminate the interior of the lower level with a blue hue, revealing an unusual combination of what looked like ancient Aztec architecture combined with fururistic technology.

The gatekeeper walked ahead towards a large glowing cube spinning on its axis above a pyramid-shaped platform and placed his palm upon it.  He then beckoned Melanie to come forward.  Melanie looked nervously as she placed her own hand up against the cube.  The cube started to vibrate as if a current was flowing from it and through her body.  She could feel her body becoming more lighter and the world around her became brighter until there was nothing but light.  A few moments later her vision returned and she was at the aetheryte crystal outside the tower.

"Huh?  This isn't right..." Melanie thought to herself.  She looked back at the tower and groaned.  "Man!  Now I'm gonna have to climb those steps all over again."

It took a while for Melanie to climb back up to the tower entrance again.  Both gatekeepers were stationed outside once more, her escort looking at her with a frown.  "What happened?  You were supposed to teleport to the Oculus" he said quizzically.  "I...I don't know..." Melanie stammered.  "I placed my hand on the cube and next thing I was at the aetheryte."

The gatekeeper looked at her with a slanted eye.  "Okay, let's try it again then."  He placed his hand upon the door causing it to light up and open and together they walked inside again and approached the cube.  The gatekeeper readied to place his hand upon it when he looked up at Melanie.  "This time try not to teleport to the wrong place.

"Wait, how do I do that?"  Melanie asked him quickly.

The gatekeeper stared up at her looking a little angry.  "Are you jesting with me?  We've done this many times before.  Come, the Exarch is waiting."

"No seriously, I don't know how to...I've forgotten" Melanie stammered.  The gatekeeper removed his hand and stood upright.  "You're serious?"  Melanie looked away feeling foolish and helpless and could feel tears starting to well in her eyes.  The gatekeeper realised she wasn't jesting and let out a deep sigh.  "All right, we'll have to get you there the long way" he said shaking his head with a tone of regret in his voice.  He walked towards the nearby stairs and started to make his way up.  "Come on, the longer we tally the longer this'll take" he said looking back at Melanie over his shoulders.

Melanie went into a panic.  "Wait, you mean we have to use the stairs?!" she cried out.  "What else do you expect?  If we can't use the teleport then we have to go on foot" he turned towards her.  Melanie thought she was going to pass out on the spot as she tried to catch her breath.  "No, no I can't!" she wailed.  The gatekeeper was now starting to become annoyed with her.  "Why not?  Oh, don't tell me you've forgotten how to climb stairs too?" he bellowed.  "No it's not that" Melanie whimpered.  "I...I'm scared of heights."

The gatekeeper stopped for a few moments staring at her, then he flipped his head back and let out a loud laugh.  "Now that's a good one, the Warrior of Darkness afraid of heights!" he said loudly as he wiped a tear from his eyes.  "No really" Melanie began to slump helplessly.  The gatekeeper took a long look at Melanie realising she wasn't jesting and after taking a deep breath quickly regained his composure.  "Okay" he said in a calm voice.  "Just wait right there and I'll try to sort this out."

The gatekeeper raised a hand to his ear where a small pearl-like object was clipped and touched it.  "What is it?" a voice that sounded like the Exarch was heard from the pearl.  "Forgive me Exarch, but we seem to have a bit of a situation on the ground floor.  The Warrior of Darkness, well, it seems she's stuck" he spoke outloud.  "Stuck??  What do you mean?" the Exarch's voice responded with confusion.  "For some reason she's unable to use the teleport and she also claims to have a fear of heights so we can't even use the stairs" he replied.  The Exarch was heard stammering lost for words from the pearl.  "Well then, if she can't come up to us then I guess we'll have to come down to her.  Please have her wait below the stairs and we'll be down shortly" the Exarch replied.

The gatekeeper lowered his hand and looked down at Melanie who was looking very unhappy with herself.  "You heard what he said, we wait here" he said making his way back down the stairs towards her.  "Man what a mess" Melanie thought to herself.  "The Exarch is for sure gonna know something's up now and I still haven't thought how to explain everything.  There's no going back now."

Not a moment passed before several bright lights appeared beside the Allagan teleportation device and the Exarch and a number of the Scions materialized - Y'shtola, Thancred, Alphinaud, Alisaie - and Ryne who was more-or-less a honory Scion.  The Exarch stepped forward to the gatekeeper.  "Thank you for waiting, you may go now" he said to the gatekeeper.  As the gatekeeper bowed and began to make his way back to the entrance the Exarch followed him and leaned towards him and began to quietly whisper to him.  "Stay on your guard, don't leave the building but keep a watchful eye on our guest.  If something looks amiss I need you to call in for backup" he whispered to his ear.  The gatekeeper flashed a wide-eyed gaze at the Exarch and slowly nodded his head then stationed himself at the entrance whilst the Exarch returned to Melanie and the Scions.

"Now then, where do we start?" he said to Melanie in a slightly cheery voice.

"I think we start by knowing who you really are" Y'shtola spoke up above the Exarch in a very stern voice.  Everyones gaze turned towards Y'shtola in surprise, her clouded eyes staring right at Melanie as if staring through to her soul.  "It doesn't take a blind person to know you are not the Warrior of Darkness."

"What do you mean she's not the Warrior of Darkness?" Thancred gasped.  Y'shtola turned towards Thancred.  "Oh please, "fear of heights?"  Since when have you ever known our friend to have a fear of heights?"

"Oh crap!" Melanie thought she'd be the one to break the news to them, not be ratted out by Y'shtola.   "Y'shtola's right" she said as she straightened herself up.  "I am not the Warrior of Darkness."

All eyes turned on her and a deathly silence filled inside the tower.