FFXIVwrite Day 5: Preservation

The villagers all had the same thing to say:

“I’m sorry, I don’t know anyone named Nekhii.”

“Nekhii? Never heard of her.”

“A woman with scales? I’m sure I would have noticed her.”

Carmein had to find a wall to lean against where she could hyperventilate in private. “No,” she moaned, “if nobody remembers her, that can only mean—”

“It can mean a lot of things,” Alisaie cut in. “I know you said she’d be more likely to live out here in the outskirts, but what if she doesn’t? What if she’s in the city?”

“There might be any number of reasons for her not to venture out of the tower,” G’raha added gently. “You know Nekhii better than any of us, but, well…”

He didn’t have to finish. Carmein understood: Thirty years was a long time. Anything could have happened. And not necessarily the worst-case scenario Carmein’s mind insisted on tormenting her with.

“Besides, she would never wear one of those regulators,” Alisaie added. “Even if she had died, Twelve forfend, people would still remember her.”

“…right. Of course, you’re right,” Carmein breathed. Her entire party had been disgusted to learn what the regulators did. Nekhii, with her ability to see souls, would have been that much more horrified.

“Carmein! Everyone!” Wuk Lamat’s voice echoed off the stone ground and walls as she came running. “I think I found someone!”

Carmein jerked to attention. “Someone who knows Nekhii?”

The Vow of Resolve was accompanied by a lanky Elezen man — no, here they were called Eldites. “Begging your pardon.” He bowed slightly. “I live in Solution Nine, and I know of a woman who… somewhat fits the description of who you’re looking for. Though she wears a cloak everywhere she goes, I’m certain I’ve seen scales on her face, horns protruding from the side of her head, and a tail beneath said cloak.”

“That does sound like Nekhii!” Wuk Lamat said with a grin.

“Oh, thank you!” Carmein said. “Can you tell us where to find her?”

“I’m not acquainted with her, but I’ve seen her going in and out of a bar called the Neon Stein. If you’d like, I can show you the way.”

“Queen Sphene already said she would give us a tour, didn’t she?” Alphinaud remarked. “Not that we don’t appreciate the offer.”

“Of course, of course.” The man nodded. “I hope you can find your friend.”

G’raha reached up to squeeze Carmein’s shoulder. “As do we all.”

The Neon Stein was a cozy place, though some might call it cramped. Carmein and G’raha took a table together while the others waited outside. They held hands and spoke in worried whispers. To anyone observing, they would look like a couple rather than two good friends fretting for their mutual lover.

After about an hour, Carmein began to feel silly. “There’s no guarantee she’ll come here today,” she pointed out. “Perhaps we should just speak to the bartender and—”

Her linkpearl interrupted her. “I believe I see a woman resembling the description we were given,” came Erenville’s clipped voice. “Though I am not certain she is Nekhii.”

“…no?” Carmein said. “Why not?”

“Her gait is different,” he replied. “Her horns are covered by the hood of her cloak, but I believe their shape is different as well.”

Carmein’s heart sank.

“Still, there shouldn’t be any other Au Ra in this city,” G’raha pointed out. “Let us not give up hope just yet.”

“She is about to enter the Neon Stein,” said Erenville. “Good luck.”

Carmein glanced over at the entrance. A woman entered, her figure completely obscured by a full-length cloak. A tail did seem to bulge the cloak out behind her, and horns at the sides of her head. Though, yes, they did look to be larger than Nekhii’s horns. There could be any number of explanations, though. She could be wearing something over them.

Carmein stood and moved toward her. “Excuse me—”

The woman glanced over and Carmein’s heart practically dropped into her gut.

It wasn’t Nekhii.

“…can I help you?” the woman asked. “You’re looking at me like your dog just died.”

“Erm, begging your pardon,” G’raha spoke up. He tugged on Carmein’s arm and moved closer so they could speak more quietly. “We’ve just arrived from outside the dome. We’re searching for a dear friend of ours, a woman named Nekhii. Do you perhaps know her?”

The woman’s eyes went wide. Her eyes flicked from G’raha to Carmein and back again. After a long moment she said, “Come with me.” And she speed-walked toward a door in the back corner of the room.

“Nergui,” greeted the man standing guard there, who Carmein had taken for a bouncer. “And who are our guests?”

“G’raha Tia and Carmein Reed,” the woman replied. “We can trust them.”

Carmein’s hair stood on end. “How did you know—”

Nergui held up a hand to silence her. “We’ll talk inside.”

Nothing could have prepared Carmein for “inside”. She’d been expecting a kitchen, but it looked like a high-tech research lab. “Fury take me, what is this?”

A number of heads turned. An Eldite woman standing at a computer raised an eyebrow. “Welcome to Oblivion. Nergui, I trust your judgment…”

Nergui reached up and lowered her hood. Carmein’s breath caught in her throat. She heard G’raha let out a choked gasp.

The woman had bright red hair — the same shade as G’raha’s — and Miqo’te ears. Dark scales covered her cheeks, and two large horns protruded from the sides of her head, of a shape that Carmein had only ever seen before on Auri men.

“You’re—” G’raha breathed. “Seven hells, Nekhii was pregnant when the dome appeared—”

“Thirty years ago,” Nergui confirmed. “I was born here in Alexandria. She told me all about the Scions of the Seventh Dawn. Especially the two of you.” Her face remained stony, but she closed her eyes.

The Eldite woman gestured to a nearby table with chairs set around it. “You both look like you’re about to faint. Please, sit down.”

They sent a runner to fetch the others from outside the bar, and they all sat around the table. A man brought them some drinks in strange metal cans. Once Carmein managed to open hers, she found it was fizzy and sweet, almost too sweet. She didn’t complain.

Nergui sat across from them. Once the introductions were through she said, “I know this isn’t what you want to hear, but my mother is dead.”

At least she’d waited until none of them were drinking.

Carmein put her hand to the side of her head. “That… would explain why I can’t hear her.” She blinked rapidly to hold back tears. “But— she can’t— I know it’s been thirty years inside the dome, but—”

“So you’re the ones who came through Vanguard,” guessed the Eldite woman, Shale. “It wasn’t thirty years outside?”

“It was only a few days,” Krile said. “Gods… Carmein, Raha, I’m so sorry…”

“We don’t mean to be insensitive,” Shale said. “It’s been a while for us, so we’ve already done our grieving. Take the time you need.”

Carmein clenched her fist. “No, I want to know what happened.”

Nergui looked up at Shale. “I didn’t know most of it when it was happening. Can you…”

Shale nodded. “The main point of our little organization is to stand against Zoraal Ja’s reign of terror. Though we’re also against regulators as a rule, and those have been around for centuries. Some years ago, a woman named Cahciua recruited me, Geode, and Nekhii.”

Erenville choked on his drink. “Did you say Cahciua?”

“Do you know her?”

“She is my mother. Where is she?”

“We don’t know,” said Shale.

“She’s a bit of a recluse. She sometimes mans an Outrunner to come plot with us remotely,” Geode added, “but we’ve never seen her in person.”

Erenville’s brow furrowed in confusion, but he said nothing to that.

“Back to the point, though.” Shale looked back to Carmein and G’raha. “Some years ago, we received intelligence that Zoraal Ja was planning to launch an attack outside the dome. We tried to bomb a manufacturing plant to stop him, or at least slow him down.”

“But you failed,” Krile said gently. “We know that much.”

Shale nodded. “Nekhii had a close relationship with Sphene. She was acting as something of a double agent for us, so she thought she stood a chance of scouting the place without being caught.” She sighed. “She was caught. We never saw her again. A few days later, sentinels descended on our old hideout, confiscated our cache of bombs and other weapons, and arrested our members who happened to be there at the time.”

Carmein covered her mouth. “No…”

“Nekhii would never have given you up,” G’raha murmured. “So then… she was…”

“Not necessarily the way you’re thinking,” Nergui said. “After she died, nobody who wore a regulator remembered her. They must have made her wear one before they executed her. So… we think maybe they have a way to dig into people’s memories.”

“I don’t know if that’s better or worse than torture,” Alisaie muttered. She winced. “…sorry.”

“No, you’re right,” Carmein said. She rubbed her face with her hands, pinched the bridge of her nose, and took deep breaths to keep from bursting into tears. She could do that later. “We need to figure out where to go from here.”

A familiar voice called from the riverbank. “Carmein? Raha? It can’t be, is that you?”

Their heads snapped around. “Nekhii!” Carmein cried. She stood up, ready to just jump out of the gondola and swim to the bank.

G’raha grabbed Carmein’s hand. “Nekhii…” he breathed. “Wait for us at the dock, all right?”

Nekhii nodded. “Don’t do anything stupid, okay?” she chided Carmein.

Carmein flushed. “I wasn’t!”

That familiar giggle made Carmein’s heart ache. She sat back down, but could barely keep her butt on her seat.

Carmein was on her feet and out of the boat within seconds of the gondola docking. She pulled Nekhii into her arms and kissed her desperately. It was so sudden Nekhii had to wrap her arms around Carmein’s neck to keep herself from slipping. Her feet dangled in midair.

Nekhii laughed a little sadly. “You missed me that much?”

“Of course I did!” She set Nekhii back down so G’raha could have a turn holding her. “Even though you’re right here, I still can’t feel you…”

Nekhii stepped back from G’raha’s embrace and looked aside. “You mean the soulbond. That would be because I don’t have a soul. I’m… I’m not really real, you know. I’m just…”

Carmein and G’raha each reached out to take one of Nekhii’s hands.

“We know,” G’raha said softly. “But all the same, we’re so happy to see you again.”

Carmein couldn’t speak through the lump in her throat.

“So… you’ll disappear when we shut down this terminal,” Krile said, her eyes wide.

“I’m a little disappointed,” Nekhii laughed. “It’s been a while since the system last activated me. I was looking forward to seeing the sights.”

“You haven’t changed,” Cahciua said with a laugh. “Of course, you can’t, but still.”

“Another Endless told us that the system is programmed to facilitate chance meetings between people who knew each other in life,” G’raha said. “Once we arrived, I suppose that was all the excuse it needed to wake you up.”

“Well, I’m glad.” Nekhii smiled and nuzzled against Carmein’s. “It’s nice to be able to see you again one more time.”

Standing before the Hydro Terminal, Carmein offered her linkpearl to Nekhii. There was someone she had to talk to before they ended this.

“M-Mom?” Nergui stammered.

“It’s really you…” Nekhii stepped away from the others, turning to hide the tears that were threatening to spill. “Gods, I’ve missed you so much. They tell me you’re part of Oblivion now?”

[more here]

[they shut the terminal down but Nekhii remains. it’s dynamis I guess? IF THE SIDEQUEST NPCS CAN DO IT SO CAN I]

[after Sphene, Nekhii and Carmein have one last heart-to-heart before she fades]

Nekhii had never expected to open her eyes again. Standing before her at the Hydro Terminal were Carmein, G’raha, and… a Mamool Ja? He was a Boonewa, but she couldn’t place him, especially without her soul sight. Even if she knew him, the last time she’d seen him would have been more than 30 years ago.

“But… how?” She looked around. The scenery was lit up, but there were no other Endless active. “Why am I still…?”

“Thank the Twelve, Shale was right,” Carmein breathed. “She told us you were just dormant, not deleted.”

“What do you need me for?” Nekhii asked. “Is there something I know?”

“No, no! We found another way to keep you alive without having to use anyone’s life force!” Carmein gestured to the Boonewa man. “Do you remember Zereel Ja?”

Nekhii tilted her head thoughtfully. “…Zoraal Ja’s retainer?”

Zereel Ja scoffed. “That was Sareel Ja. I am Mamook’s autarch.”

Realization crossed Nekhii’s face. “Bakool Ja Ja’s father!”

G’raha smiled. “Precisely. Though, funnily enough, were it not for Sareel Ja, we would not have this method of bringing you home with us.”

Carmein explained — about the appearance of the rift in Yak T’el, the appearance of Alxaal, the adventures through the memories of Vanadiel, and the realization about what Alxaal, Prishe, and the other echoes truly were.

“…memories,” Nekhii repeated thoughtfully, “attached to electrope cores. Then you think…”

“I have spoken with Sareel Ja and I believe I understand the method he used,” Zereel Ja said. “Should this prove successful, the Dawnservants have offered him leniency.”

“I’m not worth all that…” she replied quietly. “What about the other Endless? Do they get to come back, too?”

Carmein bit her lip. “We haven’t asked them. I suppose it would be only fair…”

“You can’t just revive the dead like that! And we’re not even real, you know!” Nekhii turned her face upward. Doing so couldn’t hide the tears that welled up in her eyes when she was the shortest one present, but it could keep them from falling. “I’m not Nekhii, I’m just a— a program with her memories attached! You may as well hang up a portrait of Nekhii at the Rising Stones. That would be as real as I am.”

“If you’re not real, why are you crying?” Carmein challenged, but gently. She put her hand on Nekhii’s trembling shoulder. “A program doesn’t have feelings.”

“I don’t have feelings!” Nekhii put her hand on her heart. “I can’t feel your soul anymore…”

“We couldn’t feel each other’s souls when we first met, either. This is just… a return to that.”

“You seem real enough to us,” G’raha added. “We’ve met countless other lifeforms who were artificially created. Do you not recall the civilizations of Ultima Thule?”

“That’s— that’s different…” Nekhii sniffled. The tears finally began to slip down her cheeks.

Zereel Ja stepped backward. “…come and speak with me once you’ve made a decision.”

Carmein mouthed an apology to him as he walked off, then looked back down at Nekhii. “Don’t you want to come back with us?”

Nekhii just stood there for a moment. Then she stepped back and turned away. “I don’t want anything. I’m not a person.”

“That’s aurochs shite,” Carmein shot back.