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Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

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Unlike the other dinners at noble houses, Éliane ended up not running her mouth as much here, both in respect to Esben and his family and mostly because this was the first time she’d had a proper Skaelan feast since setting out on her journey. After speaking her bit, she’d made her interest in the food bare as she heaped copious servings of poultry, beef, and especially gravy onto her plate, enough to make a girl fat if she wasn’t as active as the pink-haired officer.

She still told a few stories, and was polite enough to not be chewing through her food while telling them. She was raised properly, after all. They did come mildly at the expense of Rudolf and Esben, though, including the time that Rudolf acted as a cushion for her in combat… and a half-finished, obviously made up story about Esben while schooling that ended up being interrupted by the timely arrival of desserts, pastries, and most importantly, the after-meal coffee.

Even in a Skaelan noble house, the dessert would never be up to her own standards, although Éliane was perfectly content with her caffeinated beverages.

The rest of the evening and night proceeded uneventfully, and the morning afterwards, she found herself in the courtyard together with the rest of the party after saying her own farewells to their host and Esben’s family. With the extra downtime, she’d found some time to clean up her uniform properly, and together with her refinished equipment, Éliane looked nearly fit for parade, with everything working properly for the first time in months.

She wasn’t the only one with new or refurbished kit, but Éliane had to raise her eyebrows when she noticed Lene with a new sword, and a familiar one at that. She chuckled in a good-natured manner. “Ooh, very romantic. Very Rudolf.” Pausing, she nodded at herself and then Lene, before continuing. “It’s a shame we weren’t able to speak much last night… the food was very good. I’m sure you’ll be worried about Esben and Rudolf both, now, but on my honor as dame commander, I intend to keep them both hale and whole if I have anything to say about it.”

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

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As much was Esben was cross about spending extra time here, Éliane was glad for the pit stop, if only just barely. Like everyone else, she was quite motivated to get to bottom of whatever was happening in Solitude—the stakes she had in it did not need to be said more. On the other hand, being able to work with the smith had given her a rare opportunity to get some real repairs and upgrades done under a real Skaelan professional’s eye.

Her gunblade received a much-needed look over, and more importantly, she was able to get the mini gun repaired. It had been a rushed job, but the man was able to actually machine new parts in time to be fitted for the pieces that had been too mangled in the drop for any field repairs. She even was able to swap her wind and fire materia for new ones—between her overuse of it and whatever Esben had done with them while she was unconscious or recovering, they sorely needed replacement for something that wasn’t so worn out.

She’d picked up a new one, too, although how she’d use it in the future was yet to be seen.

Her regular sword and rifle had seen less overall wear, and she didn’t bother to ask for those to be looked over. She was perfectly capable of looking over those herself, and between her small arsenal and the rest of the Kirins, the smith looked about ready to keel over by the end.

Thankfully, Éliane slept quite well. It was a shame there wasn’t good caffeine at this estate.

The rest of the next day passed mostly uneventfully for Éliane. Surprisingly, she did come across an acquaintance—Anders, an instructor that she knew in passing at the garden. Éliane was able to have a small chat with him, but as the night drew closer, she had to admit, even she was slightly apprehensive now about dinner at a lord’s mansion. For some strange, cursed reason, nonsense always seemed to happen in those cases! Never mind that Éliane tended to have a hand in making some of those incidents worse, she still knew something was going to happen.

And now, sitting unusually far away from Esben at the dinner table, she was witness to yet another… incident. Éliane’s head became a swivel as she looked back and forth between Rudolf, the newly introduced Lene, and then Esben, a vacant, confused look on her face.

In the end, she decided to roll with it that usual way that made it difficult to tell if she was being incredibly earnest or at Rudolf’s expense. She began clapping excitedly, ignoring the slight twinge that remained in her back as she smiled. “Wow! Congratulations, Rudi!”

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

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“Could be better,” Éliane admitted, which more or less summed up her feelings on things since her brush with death at the village. Rudolf’s observations had been spot on; the pink-haired woman had been uncharacteristically subdued since she’d woken up. It was understandable, really; between nearly dying and getting caught so off-guard at the appearance of Loki in the form of a random village leader, and most heavily the continued lack of information from Solitude combined with the lack of energy from her continued recovery… it was clear the Solitude native was clearly down.

She sat across from Rudolf, back once more in her signature officer’s uniform, although clearly in a posture that indicated that the woman was still on the mend. The healing, both magical and mundane had been successful, and she was well enough to fight again, but the sort of kinks from such a major injury would likely linger for some weeks yet, especially if the Kirins’ usual pace of combat continued.
Nonetheless, she still took a moment to briefly frown at the tea –not coffee nor caffeinated—placed in front of her, but she accepted the beverage nonetheless by accompanying it with a chocolate croissant from the table. Éliane hummed after biting in, a slight nod of approval. The food, at least, was familiar and comforting, although she would have words with whoever had selected the beverage.

“Could be better with actual caffeine,” she decided to append.

She sat up straighter, giving Rudolf a look as she caught the cushion thrown her way as it became obvious they were about to have a guest. Éliane didn’t bother to affect any different disposition, simply sipping her unwanted tea next to Esben. Not immediately introducing herself, she shot Rudolf another look when he began praising the tea in front of the man.

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

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Elly was, in fact, still not awake, although she was now less in coma rather than just sound asleep in recovery. The knock on the door and the question went unanswered.

That said, the pink-haired Skaelan was clearly the type that wouldn't take offense at being stared at, as long as Miina didn't pull a Shinji.

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

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With the help of the Kirins, and a visible Skaelan presence in the form of her livery and command, the fight against the blightbeasts was quickly turning back in their favor. Of course, that’s when things obviously went to all hell. She had been put off by the militia captain’s idle talk during the battle. The pistol and his gunfire had been a help… but Esben hadn’t been the only one to notice that it had started only just now, although it didn’t rouse her suspicion until it was far too late.

Just as she began to move to address his strange words, she was suddenly yanked by what she belatedly realized was Selene, but it was still too late. With a thud she gasped, spitting out blood as she felt a round hit her in the back. It felt like a static shock run through her body, lancing with pain, with all the strength immediately fleeing her body.

Not a good sign…

Already falling from her chocobo, she caught a fleeting glimpse of a retreating Loki, the injury grave enough that darkness was already slipping in from the edges of her vision. Éliane would have never expected the traitor to turn up here, of all places. “F-fuck, she got me…” the pink-haired officer sputtered out. In what felt like a flash, Esben was already at her side. “Just… a flesh wound,” she managed to say, flashing him a wry smile. “Keep in… the fight…!” she ordered with the last of her strength, before unconsciousness finally claimed her and she fell limp in his arms.

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

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The border crossing was smooth sailing, as expected, but what the group found in the next village over was something that Éliane hardly expected: blightbeats. With no military or constabulary in sight and only ragtag militia, she was starting to get a picture of her country that was very different than the way she left it only a few months ago.

There was better time to think about it later, though, and like a good Skaellan, she immediately swung into action to help her fellow countrymen. She drew her officer’s sword, holding it in the air as she remained mounted alongside Esben. Although he had beaten her in creating a rallying cry, the pink-haired Skaellan officer’s very obvious officer’s garb made for some well needed morale boost for the previously faltering militia. The presence of an actual guard commander was the sort of thing that could flip morale on its head.

“Reinforcements have arrived! Maintain your ranks!” She spoke in her command voice, projecting herself over the battlefield as she made herself as visible as possible.

She kept the blade raised up high to remain as a beacon for the villagers, even while she drew her other sword –her gunblade—and began to work some much needed gunfire into the rampaging blightbeasts. There were few times where villagers would see gunfire as a source of hope, but here was one of them.

That none of them had a gun was criminal by itself.

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

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Given how abruptly and inconclusively the fight had ended, Éliane couldn’t help but to feel let down by the entire experience, especially with how little payoff there was for what she had expended. Those two flare rounds were really not cheap, and it was in the category of stuff that she usually reserved for emergencies. Nonetheless, her poor mood had faded by the time they made camp, content enough with a rich brew of coffee and some simple but quick flatbread that she had whipped up for everyone.

What followed was not the usual campfire banter and discussion.

Rudolf’s story had obviously been a tale of great personal import to him, and she could tell that just discussing this was a pain for him that cut to the bone. But for Éliane, Rudolf’s assessment of her had been completely right. While she never truly had the full picture, Éliane did have an inkling that there had been more to the man. However, from her perspective, given all his actions and his character, she still saw no more than the ally and important member of the party that he was—one that had saved her skin on more than one occasion—and not too long ago, either.

She found Galahad’s response resonating with hers, and she nodded, leaning forwards towards Rudolf from her sitting position by the fire. “Some of these details about the nature of your magic and your passenger still flies above my head, admittedly, but your… story hasn’t changed anything in my eyes. You are the man that I’ve known for this entire journey. You’ve saved me from likely death on more than one occasion. And in the end, you’re still working to the same goal as a valued member of this team as the rest of us.”

She didn’t comment on the general secrecy. As a Skaelan, she completely understood, even if it was never truly ideal. No doubt Esben, the proper SEED agent, had long completed the puzzle over this mystery in the secret of his own mind long before this, and given he had never acted, she felt assured by her own judgment.

Crossing her arms under her chest, she nodded once more. “Assuming your health is assured for the future, I see no real problem as things are.”

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

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This jester was kind of cramping Éliane’s style. It wasn’t funny like a jester should be, and more importantly, it had committed the cardinal sin of snuffing out one of her pyrotechnics—in this case, the flare that had been so beautifully floating down from the sky.
Well, it wasn’t like Éliane didn’t have an abundance of options of producing light, violently or otherwise. The pink-haired Skaelan nimbly crested over the waves the demon put out, reloading her gunblade in between attacks.

“Right, right, more light, can’t argue with that. ‘Direct’ fire it is,” she agreed with Esben, slotting in another red shell into weapon before she clicked it back into a ready position—and a moment later, the retort of her gun slammed a brilliant glow right into the jester’s chest. Unlike one of her more volatile explosives, if it stuck, it continued to glow like an artificial sun, even if it wasn’t floating in the sky like its previous fellow.

Having closed the distance between herself and her enemy with each jump, the Skaelan finally slashed out, her blade joining with her fellow Kirins as she attacked the unfunny demon before firing point blank.

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

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Éliane’s concern over the events in Skael had been obvious long after leaving the hospitality of the Demets. The revelation from Kayliss that at least the previous Overseer –and her patron—Lord Silvain was the reassurance that she was able to latch on to. Although there were others in the Seven that hadn’t been in the capital, Silvain was an experienced political leader who could provide continuity of government should the worst have happened.

But in these ruins of Lunaris, even those thoughts weren’t so important anymore. In fact, the shadows, whispers, and the rather more obvious evil demonic jester manifesting right in front of Éliane was a far more tangible threat.

Just like Esben, it was one that she far more welcomed. Glad for the distraction, she immediately focused on the creature. “Explosives? I’ll do you one up!” Glancing at Galahad with a grin, she produced a uniquely red colored shell from her pouches and fed it into her gunblade, replacing a regular bullet. Raising the blade towards the heavens, she fired the bullet into the air. Unlike a regular bullet, it was slow, arcing into the sky before exploding into a brilliant flash. The flare remained in the air, slowly drifting downwards as it kept the entire battlefield illuminated to drown out the shadows in light. Together with Chisato’s own explosives, the field was thoroughly lit and would be for the next several minutes.

Bringing her gunblade back down to level, Éliane then took the opportunity to actually attack as her weapon barked out its remaining five normal rounds.

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

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Éliane had been excited to hear Wulfric expose Rudolf’s dirty laundry, but before he could barely start, things immediately changed.
The appearance of Kayliss at the Demets’ banquet had been unexpected, but it was the words that came from her mouth that sent a shock through Éliane’s system. The Skaelan officer had been aware of some degree of lockdown over the past two months. It had been concerning, and particularly annoying because it had meant that she had been cut off from communicating with her family as well as her allies and friends in the Household Guards, but such things weren’t atypical for Skael. In the aftermath of the coup attempt, Solitude had been placed on lockdown as well while the rest of the traitors were found and rounded up.

The fact that the city had become an intelligence void if what Kayliss was saying was correct… It sent chills down Éliane’s spine. She immediately thought of her parents at the bakery, and Therese. Suddenly, she didn’t feel so hungry anymore.

Her eyes flicked towards Esben for his reaction, setting down her fork with barely constrained tension as she listened to his words. She realized he was right; after the attack on Brightlam, given the distance involved, that gave that traitor of a woman enough time to make a beeline towards the capital. Whatever she had done didn’t bode well for Solitude or Overseer Baramoux. Being part of the elite force directly under him, and one that also acted as his protector, her team in the Household Guards was directly in the firing line of whatever attack had happened. With some luck, her family was fine—being a mundane bakery—and her father had been a trained city guard captain; he would know what to do to protect her mother and sister.

Her immediate urge was to fly to the capital, dammit, but she recognized that they needed to properly plan instead of attack guns blazing. But she was very tempted. Biting her tongue, she held back an outburst to demand to immediately leave for Solitude; no doubt that was the plan anyway.

Instead, her thoughts immediately turned to who they could trust or coordinate with, among the Seven or otherwise. “Lord Silvain,” Éliane finally said, breaking her silence –though no doubt the entire range of her facial expressions worn openly on her face the past few minutes entirely betrayed what she had been thinking of this mess. She of course was referring to the previous Overseer and one of the Seven, Silvester Silvain and the man that she had been in service under and her patron throughout these years. “Was he in the capital? We must coordinate.”