Restricted Reading
Walking the same path as they'd taken to reach the Studium several hours ago, Y'shtola and Ascilia took a sharp left turn. There they followed the path to yet another ostentatious edifice. But where the Studium was a place of learning, this one—Noumenon—was one of the world's greatest repositories of knowledge. And though Ascilia had been here on several occasions by now, every time she passed through its massive doors and gazed upon the thousand, thousand tomes held fast upon its many shelves, she couldn't help but feel in awe.
"... To think the means I so tirelessly sought may actually exist but a few yalms away from where you found me napping," said Y'shtola, her voice little higher than a whisper. "If I had known of Alzadaal III and Vrtra's exploits sooner, I could well have saved myself days of research. Even a children's book might have pointed me in the right direction."
"It really does feel a touch like a hero's journey," Ascilia mused, matching her friend's hushed tones. "The heroine, uncovering a hidden clue, must return to where she began her adventure... but a children's book? That seems a bit hyperbolic..."
"To achieve the impossible, one must needs be flexible of mind and look beyond conventional wisdom," Y'shtola replied, glancing back over her shoulder with a bemused grin. "A lesson I'd already learned, but clearly hadn't taken to heart."
"True enough wisdom, I suppose," she whispered back, shrugging her shoulders. "So, where is this... 'Index Page'?"
Wordlessly, Y'shtola offered her hand. And as Ascilia took it within her own, her Archon friend guided her across the center catwalk. "We're looking for a mammet. I should be able to tell it apart from a Lalafell by its aether, but if you spot it first, do let me know."
"A mammet..."
Glancing about, Ascilia spotted several such automatons. Each was dressed in bright red clothes, and wore upon their bulbous mechanical heads a white wig. With no other discerning features among them, it seemed to her that deductive reasoning had served its purpose and so they'd have to question them one at a time. But then her gaze fell upon one in particular, standing aside from a suspicious looking wall jutting out from between the bookshelves.
"... Why don't we try that one over there?" she asked, pointing towards the mammet.
Looking over to where Ascilia directed her, Y'shtola narrowed her eyes. "... Hm. That would be the entrance to the restricted archives. For efficiency's sake, I suppose that makes sense..."
As the pair approached the aforementioned wall, the mammet she'd identified sprung to life, craning its head to look upon them. "Archon Y'shtola and Guest identified," it declared, its pale white eyes lighting up. "Follow me, if you would. Watch your step, and please note that the use of naked flames is discouraged."
The suspicious looking wall before them rumbled to life. As it slid open Ascilia half-expected it to reveal a hidden stairwell or lift. But instead the room beyond was empty of anything save for a device not unlike an aetheryte. The lower half of the device resembled a brazier, while a smooth transparent crystal filled with a pale blue light rested atop it.
"I've seen devices like these before," she said aloud, taking a moment to examine the crystalline lantern. "Way stones, the Ronkans called them. Or so claimed the history books one of my successors was fond of."
"... One of your successors?" Y'shtola asked, following after her into the hidden room. "Which... Oracle would that have been?"
"Second to last," Ascilia replied, closing her eyes. Memories of the girls she'd shadowed over her hundred year odyssey resurfaced like pearlescent foam upon the sea. Their lives, their dreams, their struggles—and their deaths. "... She lived a longer life than most, and where many of her predecessors sought to fight the Sin Eater hordes directly, she believed the Oracle should serve in a supportive role instead."
One by one, the disparate girls who called themselves 'Minfilia' disappeared from her mind, until only she remained. Had this Minfilia lived on the Source, she no doubt would have fit right in with the trappings of Sharlayan. An erudite young scholar born to a land where knowledge never slept. Taken to Eulmore on her twelfth nameday, she'd balked at the training the aging General Ran'jit forced upon her. Day in and day out they'd argued with one another on the efficacy of trying to make a fighter out of her, when her talents clearly laid elsewhere.
Her heart swelled as she recalled the girl's greatest achievement. Like each and every girl before her, this Minfilia had sought a permanent end to the threat of the Lightwardens. But where all prior had tried and failed to contain their corrupting Light, she had approached the matter from a different tact. When she was but thirteen summers old, she had successfully sealed the Lightwarden plaguing Kholusia within a gaol beneath Mt. Gulg. Though it still drew breath and its light still plagued the skies above, it had been cut off from the rest of its kin. Knowing that no mortal soul could never hope to contain its Light for long, she instead sought the means to banish it from the realm entirely.
To send it unto the Rift, where it would wither and die...
Just as her heart swelled at this Minfilia's achievement, so too did her heart sink upon reflecting the girl's inevitable fate. One day the Lightwarden of Kholusia disappeared from its prison. Eulmore quickly became a haven to sin eaters under the rule of the city's new mayor: A young man named Vauthry. Before long the Oracle was deemed a threat to his power and she fled the island nation back to her homeland. There she toiled for years to grant the Lakeland region some measure of peace, finally succeeding in sealing away the Lightwarden known as Philia at the tender age of nineteen. Soon after she made a breakthrough in her research of the Rift and, making contact with her mentor and foster father Ran'jit, she sought to free Norvrandt from the threat of the Lightwardens altogether.
They met alone on the outskirts of Sullen. Argued vehemently, as they always had. Nothing seemed amiss until all the world turned red, and the girl's consciousness faded in anguish.
Rumors abounded from that day on as to what happened to the Crystarium's own Minfilia. Some believed she had been struck down by sin eaters en route to her rendezvous with Ran'jit. Others felt she must have been kidnapped and executed by the nihilistic bandits plaguing Lakeland. Only Ascilia knew the truth. Only she had witnessed Ran'jit cradling the girl's broken corpse in his arms.
His hands still stained with her drying blood.
As Ascilia shared the girl's story, Y'shtola seemed utterly entranced. "A fascinating, if rather morbid tale. But you said this device was Ronkan, did you not?" Glancing down at the mammet as it waited patiently for them, she motioned to the way stone. "Would you happen to know where Sharlayan found the design for this contraption?"
"This is a short-range teleportation matrix, of which several designs over the course of history have been documented," the Index Page replied. "Please refrain from further expository acts and place your hand upon the crystal's surface. Otherwise we may be here all day."
With a heavy sigh, Ascilia dismissed her memories of the past. As she placed her hand upon the way stone alongside Y'shtola and the Index Page, the wall behind them shut tight and the light within the way stone's crystal engulfed the room. A single aetheric ring spread out from the base of the brazier, growing to surround the trio. Then, as the fully formed ring rose into the air, the trio disappeared in a quick flash of light. Seconds later they reappeared within what seemed to be an identical room, save for its orientation—the secret wall that was once behind them now seemed to be in front instead.
"Excellent," said the Index Page, moving over to this new secret wall. As if in expectancy of the mammet's will, the wall slid open, revealing a well lit corridor ending in a pair of large double doors. "Follow along, please."
As the trio strode down the empty corridor, their footfalls echoing throughout, Ascilia found her mind drifting back to her time on the First. How would the many girls she'd shadowed have reacted to a place such as Noumenon? Would they have whiled away their days in the comforts of academia, or sought adventure across the breadth of the star's seas? Had she intervened sooner, had she found a better way to deal with the Sin Eater hordes, had she swallowed her hopes and fears and taken center stage rather than hiding behind the comfort of her legacy...
Your failure was writ before She even called your name. You know this, and still you wonder what might have been. Do you not understand? Your life, your legacy—
Her eyes flared open as the double doors slammed shut behind her. She and Y'shtola stood within a large round chamber with a dome-shaped roof. Rows and rows of bookshelves lined every ilm of the outer wall, some of which could only be accessed by ornate stairways and catwalks lining the edges. In the center of the room were four towering columns, which too bore more than their fair share of tomes. And though the room was well lit by dozens of hanging lanterns, there were no windows to be seen anywhere. It was as if the whole chamber was buried deep beneath the ground.
"... I don't suppose I would get a proper answer if I asked where this is," she said aloud.
"We are in the Restricted Archives," the Index Page declared behind her. "Please refrain from excessive displays of magickal prowess or pyromania within these halls. Failure to comply will result in expulsion into the Northern Empty."
With a beleaguered sigh, Ascilia shook her head. "I needn't have bothered asking, but duly noted. Any idea where to begin, Shtola?"
"Your guess is as good as mine," Y'shtola replied, giving her a faint smile. "'Tis a shame we did not bring Lily with us. She seems to have a knack for swiftly finding things, oft in the unlikeliest of places."
"She had business to attend to in Ul'dah, I'm afraid." Business she had been rather cagey about, Ascilia noted to herself. But it was not as if they could just summon her to their side—and even if they could, they'd like as not get expelled from the archives if they did. "Well, how does this sound? We'll start in the center and work our way out from there. You take the left half of the archives, and I'll take the right."
"Works for me," said Y'shtola, heading to the center columns. "First to find House Daemir's notes gets treated to dinner?"
"Hm hm, if you insist~" Ascilia teased, following after her. "I do hope you can afford dinner for three, dearest Shtola. On your mark, get set..."
***
From the cloudy skies above Thavnair, looking down upon Radz-at-Han and the outlying villages, a thousand tiny lives flickered as they hurried this way and that. Off the coast of Yedlihmad, craftsmen of all kinds worked tirelessly to put the finishing touches on a small fleet of trading vessels. And off the coast of Akyaali, the village's fishermen cast their nets into the open sea, hoping today's rainfall would lead to a better catch. Having received word that their services may be needed soon, the alchemists of the Great Work set to tidying up their workstations. The miners at the Giantsgall Grounds labored to fill orders bound for their neighbors across the sea.
'Twas akin to daily routine for a nation of hardworking souls. And no different was the work of those sequestered in Meghaduta—a team of physicians, alchemists, and servants whose duty these past four months was to attend to the needs of the former satrap, Ahewann bin Alzadaal.
There in Meghaduta, in the satrap's private chambers, did he rest. His right arm severed from elbow down, the stump rebandaged twice a day. His eyes gently shut, having not stirred once since the long night of the Final Days. Trapped indefinitely on the border between life and death. The only relief those who saw to the unceasing endeavor of caring for Ahewann's health was that, despite everything he had been through, not once had he shown even the slightest hint of turning. Their satrap would sooner die than despair.
It was a morbid thought, but it kept them all going, kept their flame of hope alive. Hope that one day their satrap would awaken and, working alongside Vrtra, guide them into a new era of prosperity.
***
Among the ranks of the voidsent, there exist entities with the power to call forth their brethren from beyond. The species known as "Atomos", however, is uniquely prodigious in this regard. From its distended maw, it can expel an endless procession of voidborn creatures─a talent which sorely tested the Radiant Host in its battles against these abominations. Surmising that the entity itself was acting as a voidgate, we endeavored to capture a small specimen and subsequently examine its physiological structure. Our findings revealed that the Atomos had absorbed a planar fissure into its own flesh, which it could expand at will into a functioning gate. Upon further analysis, we identified an aetherial wave pattern emitted during this process─a pattern we were able to emulate by passing crystal-stored aether through a specially designed prism.
We proceeded to embed said prism into an arcane simulacrum, thus completing what we have dubbed our "artificial Atomos."
Half a bell had passed by the time Ascilia and Y'shtola departed from Noumenon, Ascilia having won their impromptu bet. Though Y'shtola longed to linger further, 'twas best that they left then and there, lest they abuse the privilege afford to them by the Forum. And so after another brief foray into Sharlayan's markets they returned to the city's main aetheryte, teleporting across the star back to Radz-at-Han. As they arrived in the city's own aetheryte plaza, Ascilia took a moment to stretch her arms and assess the situation here. She could tell it was sometime after noon, as the sun was overhead and to the west. And with throngs of people streaming in and about the plaza and its adjacent streets, it seemed unlikely that they'd notice a familiar face. With that in mind she reached for her linkpearl and activated it.
"Lily, we've finished with our search and are back in Radz-at-Han," she began, hoping her beloved was listening. "Right now we're en route to the Great Work to meet with an alchemist friend of Y'shtola's—if you could join us there, that would be lovely." After waiting a minute for a response and receiving none, she lowered her head in thought. Perhaps she was still in Ul'dah, too far away to receive her message? But they had communicated with each other when she was still in Sharlayan. Then mayhap she was busying herself with some other activity. "... Shtola, is the Great Work particularly challenging to find?"
"I'm certain if you were to ask one of the Radiants for guidance, they would be happy to lend you a hand," Y'shtola replied, giving her an odd look before flashing a warm grin. "... But waiting a moment or two for a response couldn't hurt. We've made good time, after all, and I would be remiss to simply leave you behind."
"Thank you," said Ascilia, returning her gaze to the crowds of people milling about. Once more her finger went to her linkpearl, though she waited another minute before opening the channel once again. "Lily? It's me, Ascilia. If you can hear me, please respond." But again there was no response, and after five more minutes of waiting she let out a sigh. "Am I clinging too tightly to her?"
"That woman dove into the aetherial sea alone to bring you back into this world," Y'shtola chided her. "Were she to ever have a word of complaint about you, rest assured you'd be the first to know." Then, taking Ascilia's tense hand in her own, she motioned towards the southern end of the aetheryte plaza "Have faith in her. She'll no doubt get back to you before we even reach the Great Work—if she doesn't surprise us by getting there first."
"Let's hope you're right," Ascilia sighed again, shaking her worries aside. "Unto the Great Work then. After you, my friend."
The pair departed from the city of Radz-at-Han from the south, making their way past the Giantsgall Grounds and through the earthen-hued hills and violent-magenta valleys of the Perfumed Rise. Their path took them deep into one such valley, passing beneath an overhanging structure from which dangled several colorful tapestries. From there Ascilia could see an aetheryte, surrounded on all sides by a wood pier, towering over a small inlet. And as her gaze drifted in the direction Y'shtola guided her towards she caught side of an Arkasodara, dressed in an outfit matching the glistening walls of the valley, lying in the shade.
"Some things never change," Y'shtola began, grinning as she shook her head. "The first time Lily and Thancred set foot here, they found all the alchemists passed out from exhaustion."
"Truly?" asked Ascilia, somewhat incredulous at the thought. "Vrtra did not seem a paymaster prone to overworking his charges..."
"He is not," Y'shtola informed her as she kneeled down beside the sleeping Arkasodara. "But give these goodly fellows a whiff of their heart's desire, and they'll work tirelessly to see it to fruition. Isn't that right, Nidhana?"
With a loud yawn and a powerful stretching of their arms, the arkasodara slowly sat up and rubbed softly at their eyes. "... Y'shtola Rhul?" they asked, in a distinctly gentle feminine voice. "You wouldn't happen to have a fresh batch of dragon scales with you, would you?"
"I might in the near future~" Y'shtola teased the arkasodara. "Ascilia, this is Nidhana, one of the alchemists here at the Great Work."
"A pleasure to meet you, Nidhana," said Ascilia, bowing her head. "We're here to deliver something of vital importance and... ask a favor."
"A favor, you say? And with the possibility of dragon scales in the future..." As she rose to her feet, towering over the both of them, Nidhana raised a hand to scratch her chin under her trunk. "Perhaps you had best start from the top. What brings you to the Great Work, friends?"
"A most fascinating study, and a once in a lifetime opportunity," Y'shtola answered as she produced the notes they'd procured from Noumenon. "Why don't you have a look at this research log, and see what you make of it?"
Gingerly taking the notes into her leathery hands, Nidhana looked over them for a moment before gasping. "By the sisters! This is the mark of House Daemir! Wherever did you get your hands on this?"
"From Sharlayan's own repository for knowledge," Ascilia offered, gauging the look in the woman's eyes. Though prudence would suggest leaving out the specifics, the glint of wonder she spied suggested otherwise. "... I speak of Noumenon, of course. And more specifically the restricted archives."
"You did!?"" Nidhana exclaimed, her mouth agape as she glanced between the pair and the notes. "But... that means every word within is forbidden knowledge! A forbidden tome filled with forbidden knowledge, and you put it right into my unsuspecting hand!?"
"I'm afraid so," Ascilia nodded solemnly.
And then, from beneath the bulk of her trunk, Nidhana's mouth curled into a grin. "I can hardly wait to read it!"
As Nidhana pored over the research notes, muttering monosyllabic words of awe and amazement, Ascilia couldn't help but find the Arkasodara's excitement charming. If her skill as an alchemist was even half that of her enthusiasm—which seemed to have completely evaporated the fatigue in her beautiful dark eyes—then it seemed likely to her that they were in good, capable hands.
"... To think the Daemir were developing such marvelous techniques so long ago," Nidhana said at last, gently folding shut the research notes. "How many innovations have been lost over the centuries in the name of sheltering man from his own curiosity, I wonder..."
"Now that you've glanced over the notes," Y'shtola began, eyeing Nidhana expectantly, "what say you to helping us build a mock Atomos?"
"Work on a Daemir project that had even the redoubtable scholars of Sharlayan trembling in their sandals?" Though Nidhana posed her words as a question, her exuberant tone gave away to Ascilia its rhetorical nature. "I say yes! A thousand times yes! No alchemist of the Great Work could resist such an opportunity!"
"You are a woman after my own heart," Y'shtola beamed.
Glancing between them, noting the admiration sparkling in their eyes, Ascilia felt the urge to comment. "Perhaps a touch more than that, hm hm. Would you mind dinner for four tonight, Shtola? We could make it a double date."
At this Y'shtola gave her an odd, surprised look. But rather than outright deny her observation, she instead shrugged her shoulders. "I would not wish to presume overmuch. The alchemists of the Great Work are a busy people, after all, and our friend will no doubt have her work cut out for her."
"I often take my meals at my workstation here, and I wouldn't mind the extra company," Nidhana offered, motioning to one of the buildings behind the aetheryte. "But it would become quite crowded if three of you joined me for the night. And I can see the two of you, but who would my third guest be...?"
"Galbana Lily," said Y'shtola, glancing sidelong as Ascilia with a grin. "Her fate and Ascilia's have been entwined since the day she joined the Scions of the Seventh Dawn."
"I'm surprised this is the first I'm seeing of her, then. Perhaps you were indisposed? Regardless, any friend of the Scions is welcome here." After tucking away the notes, Nidhana waved for the pair to follow her into her workshop, only to stop after just a few shorts steps. "Oh! I suppose I should ask: what do you mean to do with this big-mouthed simulacrum once we've built it?"
"We could hardly ask you to join us on this endeavor without letting you know the reason why," Ascilia began to answer. Though she understood well the need for obfuscation, the thought of misleading her own allies had never sat right by her. "Beneath the waters of the Bounty, my companions and I discovered a sealed hollow—sorry, a portal to the void. We mean to open it ourselves."
"That is... alarming, to say the least," said Nidhana, an air of caution in her tone. "To what end, praytell?"
"Both Y'shtola and I have a personal reason for wishing to travel across the rift between worlds," she replied, gesturing to Y'shtola. "A friend on the other side, so to speak. But we also wish to reunite Vrtra with his sister, whom was lost to the Void in ages past."
"Ruins beneath the Bounty, a portal to another world, and our satrap's long lost sister? My, today is a day of revelations indeed." With a friendly smile Nidhana turned away from her workshop and looked out west, as if in search for the aforementioned ruins. "I will need to see this portal for myself, I think. Manipulating rift-spanning apertures is not the sort of thing you want to attempt without first taking into account every single factor."
"Then by all means, accompany us to the vault," Y'shtola offered. "Though I'd hoped to take a more expedient path, I'm not opposed to setting sail again with new friends in tow... once we've finished gathering the components I require."
"What were we missing, again?" asked Ascilia.
"We've purchased most of what we needed," Y'shtola reminded her. "Raw aquamarine and pure water crystals. All that's missing is astrally infused water."
"For such a liquid, you need go no further than the Font of Maya," Nidhana explained, turning once more and motioning to the east. "The ascetics of old once favored the place for their meditations, and the water which pools there now is known to enliven the flow of aether."
Y'shtola turned to look, not quite in the direction Nidhana had pointed, but rather towards her workshop. "That sounds perfect. Only, I'm afraid neither of us have been to the Font of Maya. Lily has, but something tells me you haven't seen her today."
"I have not," said Nidhana, scratching her chin. "Do you not have some means of contacting her?"
With a beleaguered sigh, Ascilia leaned against the nearby canyon wall. "It's been two hours since I last spoke with her. She hadn't said where she was or what she was up to, but everything seemed to be normal on her end. Only, she hasn't responded to my calls since then..."
"Ascilia mentioned that we would be heading to the Great Work a while ago," Y'shtola added, glancing aside at the local aetheryte. "She ought to have been able to have arrived ahead of us—either she didn't hear, or she remains... unavailable, for one reason or another."
"I don't mind acting as your guide if you can't contact our friend," said Nidhana, turning and ambling away towards the nearby workshop. But before she could make it even halfway she suddenly stopped and began to shout. "But I should warn you! Aside from the gaja, the beasts roaming the open hills pale in ferocity to those skulking beneath the jungle canopy!"
"... I may have to take her up on the offer," Ascilia noted as Nidhana disappeared into the workshop. Reaching up to her ear, she activated her linkpearl, then cleared her throat. "Galbana Lily, can you hear me? Y'shtola and I are waiting for you at the Great Work. I'm about to head out for the jungle, and I could use your help."
A minute passed without so much as a response, and Ascilia was ready to give up. But as she spied Nidhana leaving her workshop, a purselike satchel wrapped around her chest and shoulder, her linkpearl suddenly crackled to life.
"I'll be with you in a moment," came the voice of her beloved, her tone softer and gentler than usual. "I'm not sure I'll be of any use, but—"
"You're one of the strongest people I know," Ascilia incredulously declared, cutting her off. "I've watched you defeat men thrice your size with your bare hands. What threat could a few wild beasts pose to you?"
There was a long pause before Lily spoke again, her voice growing even softer. "... You'll understand when I arrive, I think. Um, I don't think it'd be safe if we brought a bigger group—"
At this, Ascilia raised an eyebrow. "Lily, what are you... who is with you right now?"
"Sorry, sorry. Mihly and Ruby—"
Ascilia's linkpearl fell silent as Lily seemed to cut herself off. With a heavy sigh, she shook her head. "It seems like there's some complications, but Lily will be joining us after all."
"Wonderful to hear!" Nidhana exclaimed, reaching into her satchel and removing a strange contraption. By all appearances it was a handgonne, not unlike those used by Lominsan musketeers or Ishgardian machinists. But attached to the rear end was what appeared to be an alchemical flask, and emblazoned on the side of the chamber was an all too familiar insignia—the Garlean Empire's. "If Thavnair's own savior is coming with us, I suppose I won't be needing this. Still, when journeying into dangerous territory it is better to be armed and unharmed than otherwise."
"What an unusual device," said Y'shtola, eyeing it warily. "I've seen the like in Ishgard and Idyllshire, but what purpose does that attached concoction serve...?"
"This is a chemist's handgonne," Nidhana answered, slipping it back into her satchel. "A few months ago I was attending to business in Yedlihmad when I encountered it at a merchant's stall. The owner claimed to have purchased it from someone living near Palaka's Stand, who in turn found the device while hunting deep within the jungle." Raising a hand to her chin, she stroked it thoughtfully. "... It was rather foreboding at the time, come to think of it. But with Garlemald's collapse in the months prior and the end of the Final Days, I reasoned that whomever left it was likely long gone."
"A likely turn of events for such an unlikely occurrence," Ascilia admitted, though in truth Nidhana's conclusion didn't sit right with her. Before she could question her new friend any further, however, her linkpearl crackled to life once more.
"I'm at the aetheryte now," came the voice of Lily. "Mihleel wanted to see, um... your reaction. But she's never been out to the Great Work before."
"Why would she need to see my... reaction...?" Suppressing the urge to sigh, Ascilia merely shook her head. "Do you have something you want to show me...?"
But there was no response—not a verbal one, at least. Instead, a Vieran woman suddenly appeared in a flash of light on the docks surrounding the Great Work's aetheryte. She was dressed unusually warm for this time of the year, or so Ascilia mused, judging by the ornately patterned ruby red sari she was wearing along with a matching headscarf and veil covering the lower half of her head. Her long white hair was split down the middle, coming up over her shoulder in the form of a long braided ponytail, while her bangs gently framed her heart-shaped face. A singular golden adornment hung down from her hairline over her forehead, as if in imitation of a third eye. Her true eyes, brilliant blue in color, met with Ascilia's for a single moment before darting her gaze away, clutching her right wrist in a display of clear anxiety. Her right hand, in turn, was tightly clenched around some small object. If not for her well manicured nails, she might well have balled that hand up into a tight fist.
And if not for the advance notice, she might never have assumed this woman to be her beloved Lily.
"Ah, there she is," said Y'shtola, evidently oblivious to Lily's inexplicable change in attire. "While the three of you venture out into the jungle, I... is something the matter?"
"Good heavens," Nidhana breathed, her eyes flitting back and forth between Lily and Ascilia. "To think such a stunning display of beauty would unveil itself right here at the Great Work..."
At the sound of Nidhana's praise, Lily raised her head and tightened her grip on her wrist. "... Th-thank you...?" she uttered, barely louder than a whisper, before slowly approaching the trio. "Um... Uh-um..."
"Lily, what are you doing dressed up like that?" Ascilia asked, hoping she didn't come across as insensitive. There was almost certainly a purpose to all of this. "And what are you holding in your hand?"
As if a reflex had been triggered, Lily unclenched and clenched her hands, a small silvery object slipping out of her grasp in the process. With a quiet gasp she immediately scrambled to catch it, only for it to hit the dirt with a soft thud. For a moment it seemed as if tears were welling at the edges of her eyes as she carefully grasped the object between her thumb and forefinger. And as she stood up and held the object before her, Ascilia realized what it was.
A ring. A silver ring, with an amber cat's eye for a crown.
"... For you," Lily said meekly, presenting it to Ascilia. "Please take it, um... my w-wild... rose..."
Though she hadn't quite caught the significance of what was going on, at this display Y'shtola couldn't help but shake her head. "Of all the ways to go about this..."
Ascilia's eyes darted to the ring, then back to Lily. Stepping forward, she gingerly accepted the ring and inspected it closely. Though the design was incredibly simple, she couldn't deny the craftsmanship was beyond superb. The gem, too, was perfectly cut. Whomever had made this ring had to have been a true master goldsmith.
"I imagine this is all coming as a shock to you," Nidhana began, giving Ascilia and Lily a gentle pat on the shoulder. "But surely you were both prepared for a day like this, what with your fates being entwined."
"Mh... n-no..." Lily mumbled, lowering her head as Ascilia removed her left armored glove. "I-I, um... no..."
"I'm afraid I must share my beloved's sentiment," Ascilia replied, slipping the ring onto her fourth finger. "I don't even have a ring to give her."
"... That's okay," Lily mumbled again, her lips curling into a delighted smile. "I... commissioned three rings. That one, um, is just... for this..."
"Three rings?" Y'shtola asked, tapping the side of her cheek. "... Ah! if this ring is for her proposal, then the remaining two must be your wedding bands."
"Even so, I don't have a ring to give her," Ascilia insisted. Reaching down with her ungloved hand, she swiftly detached her dagger's sheathe from her belt. Then, holding it between both hands, she presented it to Lily. "Will this suffice until then, my beloved galbana lily?"
Nidhana cocked her head to the side as Lily gently took the dagger from Ascilia. "An... ordinary knife?"
"My ordinary knife," said Ascilia, smiling as Lily raised it to her veiled nose and sniffed the hilt. "Gifted to me on my eighteenth nameday by my brother, Thancred."
"Hm hm, heehee..." Lily began to giggle, before abruptly bursting into full laughter. All the anxiety and mousiness in her voice disappeared in an instant, replaced by the deep, rich velvety tones Ascilia knew to be hers. "Why is it that every time I get my hands on this, the hilt smells of perfume...?"
"Would you believe me if I said 'your reaction' is why?" Ascilia asked, chuckling along with her beloved. "So, what do you think?"
With a delighted sigh and a stifled laugh, Lily leaned down. Lifting her veil with a single finger, she kissed Ascilia's forehead, then her lips. "It's perfect, my beloved wild rose. Thank you for accepting me."