The Warrior of Light held up the relic cup once again, the symbol of Azem shining brightly as it began to activate.
The scions' attempt to save the lightning-filled shard of the ninth had been a failure-- not just once, but twice. When they first arrived, they were optimistic that they could resolve the imbalance of aether, and negotiate with the remnant kingdom of Lindblum, as well as other nations on the ninth. Their actions proved ineffective, against the shadowy cultish force underlying the beliefs of the ninth's inhabitants.
And so, the Warrior of Light chose to activate the cup-shaped relic. It did not simply allow traversal in between shards-- it was also capable of time travel.
In the Warrior of Light's mind, time travel had already been used. First, to save the first and prevent an eighth calamity. Then, it had been used to investigate the cause of the final days-- a trip to ancient Elpis.
As such, it should not hurt to employ the function of time travel with the cup-like relic, to achieve a desired result. Cause and effect, the flow of time, should adjust and naturally 'correct' itself, so the Warrior of Light thought.
Already, the Warrior of Light had gone back in time after the first failure. Once again, the chain of events had spiralled out of the scions' control. Thus, the Warrior of Light was forced to activate the cup-shaped relic once again.
Yet before the magic could fully activate, a rift split open before the Warrior of Light. Out stepped another Warrior of Light. Completely similar in appearance-- it was as if the Warrior of Light was looking directly into a mirror.
"Cease your actions. You cannot continue activating the relic!" The second Warrior of Light drew their time mage rod.
"Who are you?!" The Warrior of Light questioned the second.
"This other you is true in flesh and blood. This is no illusion," Y'shtola muttered.
"I am indeed you," the second Warrior of Light replied. "From another timeline. Your actions have created multiple timelines. Reality is beginning to fracture."
"Don't be ridiculous," the Warrior of Light scoffed. "There may be multiple timelines created by my actions. It is of no consequence to each individual timeline."
"So you wish to believe," the second Warrior of Light pointed their time rod at the original. "Yet our existence is partially shared, and unexplained chaos is beginning to infiltrate our worlds."
The Warrior of Light dismissed this second Warrior of Light's words. Failure was not an option. The ninth shard must be saved. There cannot be another void-like reflection.
"Hold that doppelganger back," the Warrior of Light bid the accompanying scions. "We cannot allow the ninth to become like the thirteenth!"
The scions cooperated, surrounding this second Warrior of Light. The Warrior of Light continued to channel aether into the cup-shaped relic.
"And I thought my other self and companions would listen to reason…" the second Warrior of Light mumbled in dismay, unable to act due to the surrounding scions' watchful gazes. "Well. Suit yourself. Best of luck, Alpha me."
The magic of the cup-shaped relic activated. The stars shifted around the Warrior of Light and scions' heads as they were whisked back in time to 'save point'.
They had returned back to the point of their arrival on the ninth, standing before a victorian era Alexandrian city.
Before the Warrior of Light could exhale in relief, a gigantic rift was ripped open. A dragon's head with red eyes pierced through as its claws parted the opening wider to allow entry for the body.
The Warrior of Light was in disbelief. This dragon was none other than Midgardsormr himself! His serpentine form had remained curled over the Silvertear Lake for who-knows-how-long.
"Midgardsormr!" The Warrior of Light called out.
The immediate reply from the dragon was a rage-filled roar.
"The order of time has been disrupted," Midgardsormr's ancient voice echoed in the Warrior of Light's ears. "The incongruent elements must be removed." The dragon displayed no recognition of the Warrior of Light or any of the scions.
Midgardsormr turned his head towards G'raha Tia. He opened his mouth and inhaled. A force tugged at G'raha Tia. Midgardsormr was attempting to swallow G'raha Tia whole!
The other scions activated their capabilities, shielding G'raha Tia.
"We must leave," a perturbed Krile muttered. "Midgardsormr's soul's aetheric signature has transformed."
The Warrior of Light faintly recalled that Krile's echo allows her to recognize aetheric signatures, and thus trusted in her judgement.
"Perhaps Vrtra may have some answers," Estinien grumbled, troubled by the sudden change.
The Warrior of Light activated the cup-shaped relic, and they were whisked back to The Source. They immediately teleported by aetheryte to Radz-at-Han, to find the Vrtra was already awaiting their visit.
Without prompting, Vrtra answered their unsaid queries.
"An ancient force has awakened within my father," he stated. "He can no longer be said to be himself. We dragons are born with a connection to time itself. It is precisely why we live immortal lives."
"The Omicrons, of course, attempted to violate the natural order of time and age. It was inevitable that we would clash. This ancient force is said to be a guardian of time itself."
"We dragons are in some ways, similar to your ancients. Your ancients were born with a knack for creation magic. Us dragons are inexplicably connected to time. I do not understand much of it, but my sibling that rules Meracydia is seen as the next in line to my father. As such, you must seek your answers there."
Vrtra hurriedly provided this information, and it was soon evident as to why he was so impatient to pass on this information.
For the very next moment, a rift opened in the sky, and a red-eyed Midgardsormr broke back into The Source.
"Run! I will attempt to hold off my father!" Vrtra roared as he soared to clash against the ancient force controlling Midgardsormr.
Midgardsormr roared as well, and Vrtra's eyes seemed to lose focus for a second.
"On second thought, do not head to Merycydia!" Vrtra changed his suggestion as his eyes drifted between a haziness and focus. "My father's voice commands the brood!"
"Damnation," Thancred cursed.
"Come on Alphinaud. Think of something!" Alisaie shook her supposedly intelligent brother.
"I'm trying!" Alphinaud sputtered in a daze.
Meanwhile, Vrtra did his very best to hold off the far more powerful Midgardsormr up above in the air.
The citizens of Radz-at-Han ran about in fear, recalling the end of days monsters.
"I've got it!" Alphinaud's eyes brightened. "If the dragons' existence is similar to the ancients, we must seek the power of an ancient!"
All eyes turned to the Warrior of Light.
"We must search out your soul fragments!" Alphinaud said to the Warrior of Light.
"But would they join with me?" The Warrior of Light wasn't so sure about that. Ardbert wasn't exactly cooperative when they first met.
Still. It was their only chance.
The cup-shaped relic activated once again, and the party was sent to another shard.
As such, the Warrior of Light encountered many civilizations on vaious shards. Unfortunately, there was no time to fully explore said civilizations, due to the threat of a pursuing 'possessed' Midgardsormr.
The details of the journey through these shards are elusive due to the quickness of the process, but the Warrior of Light somehow managed to convince the various shards of Azem's souls to join with the body of The Source. Frankly, once they became aware of the seriousness of the situation, they agreed to sacrifice themselves, as befitting of a Warrior of Light.
WIth every returning soul shard, the Warrior of Light became stronger, along with the infusion of memories from these soul fragments. The Warrior of Light felt a great level of guilt-- these other soul fragments had their own lives upon these differing world shards. Unfortunately, the only method to deal with the pursuing 'possessed' Midgarsormr was to match him in power.
Against all odds, the Warrior of Light's soul was made whole again. The Warrior of Light no longer attempted to run from the pursuing Midgardsormr.
When the dragon appeared from another rift once again, the Warrior of Light did battle against the serpent fearlessly.
Yet Vrtra's judgement was proven incorrect. Though the Warrior of Light felt stronger than ever, and could now employ certain creation techniques for battle, the serpent's endlessly regenerating body proved unbreakable.
Seeing the Warrior of Light barely holding off Midgardsormr, G'raha Tia could not help but step forward in an attempt to provide assistance.
This was a costly mistake. Midgardsormr opened his mouth and G'raha Tia was promptly sucked into his mouth, to the scions' shock and dismay. Of course. G'raha Tia carried memories of two timelines. That must have attracted this 'possessed' dragon's attention.
The Warrior of Light had a sinking feeling. The Warrior of Light felt ashamed. To use time travel recklessly to avoid the calamitous results of the ninth was foolish after all. The Warrior of Light could only accept responsibility.
Strangely, that was when G'raha Tia's voice sounded from the depths of Midgardsormr's body.
"You must return to the beginning of time itself! When the timelines have yet to split and fracture!"
The Warrior of Light's eyes widened, enlightened by a newfound crazy idea. Of course. There, at the beginning of Etheirys, would be ample assistance to deal with the nagging problem of this 'Guardian of Time' Midgardsormr.
The Warrior of Light activated the cup-shaped relic once again.
"This is my responsibility. Live your lives well, my friends," the Warrior of Light bid farewell to the scions.
"No!" Alisaie yelled. "You promised that you would never do this a--"
But the Warrior of Light was already gone as the magic from the relic activated.
The cup-shaped relic was vibrating with power in the Warrior of Light's hand, seemingly struggling to carry the Warrior of Light back to an ancient past.
Eventually, it shattered into a thousand pieces and the magic carrying the Warrior of Light failed. The Warrior of Light was thrown into darkness, crashing into some… unseen figures who yelled on the sudden collision.
"What the--"
"Hmmm. How curious. What could this entity be?"
Snapping fingers sounded as a flame was lit.
The Warrior of Light's eyes widened as the flame illuminated the face of the one known as Emet-Selch. A much younger one, visually in his teens.
"This… 'entity' is none other than another one of us going through this troublesome trial!" Emet-Selch groaned. "Honestly, I do not know why I even agreed to partake in this trial."
"Come now," Hythlodaeus replied. "Understanding and contributing our talents through this trial will be beneficial to the governing of our world. And you, my friend, should be recognized."
Eventually, the Warrior of Light, a being from the future, would take on the mantle of Azem in this ancient world, journeying across the ancient lands of Etheirys.
Author's comments:
I know-- some ffxiv fans believe we should be done with the ancients and 'move on'. I personally think that it would be great to go on many 'proper' journeys with Emet and Hythlo.
Also, there is also much more lore left unexplained. Such as how the ancients came to be. How they built their societies. What about the other tribes on Etheirys, and their interactions with the ancients? How were the dragons born in relation to the Dragonstar?
The beginning of this concept draws from the fact that somehow, G'raha Tia did not disappear after the events of the First due to the creation of another timeline.
The Warrior of Light is also sometimes a little too 'perfect'.
As such I came up with the idea of having the WoL abuse time travel, creating many timelines that threaten reality. And I desired to explore the dragon's powers and influence more, and thought revealing midgardsormr as a dragon possessed by a primal force would be interesting.
So the concept is as follows:
Dragons are retconned to be guardians of time, and will be overtaken by a primal force to defend a proper timeline.The Warrior of Light attempts to use time travel repeatedly to resolve failures in the various shards.This awakens the ancient guardian of time 'force' within Midgardsormr.In an attempt to defeat Midgardsormr, the WoL completes their soul by visiting other shards and absorbing soul fragments.It was not enough. G'raha Tia, carrying the memories of two timelines, was especially glaring in the possessed Middy's eyes, and was thus swallowed.Thus the WoL has to return to the time of the ancients, to a point in time before the timelines bifurcate. Doing so prevents Midgardsormr from following.The cup-shaped relic breaks along the way, miring the WoL in this ancient past. So it is that the Warrior of Light realized that this was meant to be. Azem, was in fact, always the Warrior of Light from the past.The Warrior of Light will grow and experience the development of the ancients, while seeking help to resolve the problem of the split future timelines threatening reality.
What follows? The six calamities of the six major civilizations after the ancients.