Chapter Text
It was always something.
Reina, of course, was no stranger to the occasional odd job and request; it was how she’d made a name for herself long before anyone had ever spoken the title ‘Warrior of Light’ into the air. Yes, Reina was used to such things, but so soon after her return from the literal end of the universe to fend off yet another world-ending tragedy… well, she had been hoping for some sort of break.
Naturally, of course, this was too much to ask for.
She had been made to stop in Old Sharlayan at the behest of G’raha and Krile, having been asked to drop off a book they’d requested from her mother’s shop in Ul’dah. A job that could have easily been done by quite literally anyone else, which had led her to believe they simply wanted an excuse to pester her about what exactly was going on between her and Yuri… which they had done… at length.
When she had finally been released from the interrogation, her curious companions had given her she was flagged down by a blue-haired Lalafellen woman who had claimed she was a researcher working under Professor Claudien, a researcher who studied the Aetherial Sea.
Reina was a woman of many traits and unfortunately for the Turali woman one of those primary qualities of hers was the unexplainable need to help everyone who even bothered to bat a lash in her direction and so when the woman had explained that the Professor required her assistance with something, to the shock and surprise of no one, Reina was dragged off on the heels of her new acquaintance with a reluctant smile on her face.
Some of her apprehension, however, was somewhat eased when she finally met with the Professor. The problem he needed her assistance with was, shockingly, an issue only Reina herself could assist him with.
Claudien, whilst down in the Aitiascope, had come across a memory crystal, not unlike the crystal of Azem Reina herself held. The man had handed it to her, and upon her contact with it, she had heard a faint voice.
“If anyone...message...come...Pandæmonium... Please...faces...grave threat...star...in danger!” The familiar cadence of an Ancient’s voice echoed around the inside of Reina’s head, and her face twisted up in an expression that was not quite displeasure, though it was clear she wasn’t exactly happy either.
Reina sighed and shook her head to clear it, reaching forward to set the crystal down in the small box Claudien had plucked it out of before giving it to her.
“That expression does not bode well… what did you see?” Claudien spoke up, his hands wringing over his stomach, the familiar glint of hunger for knowledge shining in his eyes.
Reina might have only known the Professor for less than an hour, but she knew many like him; you see one scholar foam at the mouth for information… you’ve seen them all.
She gave the Hyur a gentle smile, “It was… a voice, I see, I only heard it internally since you are asking.” She sighs and lifts a hand, brushing her bangs out of her eyes. It really always was something; just when she had assumed she was done with the influence of the Ancients and Ascians, they came right back again to haunt her.
“From the sound of it, I assume the voice is requesting help, sort of a ‘message in a bottle’ situation we have here. There were some breaks in which I could not hear, but it sounded like someone was asking anyone who received the message to come to a place called ‘Pandaemonium’, something something faces, something something great danger to the star,” she said her voice dripping with sarcasm as she finished her statement with jazz-hands wiggling her fingers next to her face.
The researchers looked at her with horrified expressions, and Reina coughed into her hand, looking off to the side, right, yes… new people! Put on the face! She looks back at them and tries to muster a smile, though she felt like she was just gritting her teeth in their direction, which… wouldn’t help, so she simply dropped her expression, shaking her head again.
The Professor took advantage of her silence, making an awkward coughing noise of his own before he began to speak, “Pandaemonium… If my knowledge of the ancient tongue serves me, it means ‘all demons’, which is not a name that inspires optimism, all things considered.”
Reina nods her agreement and rubs at her brow, “All things considered… not the worst thing I’ve ever heard.”
The Professor tilts his head from side to side and ultimately seems to decide not to comment on what she had said, turning to Nemjiji, the lalafell she’d met originally, and Ruissenaud, an elezen who also worked under him, “If another star-shattering cataclysm is in fact bearing down upon us, I would have the aforementioned examples of crystallized memory to hand. Nemjiji, Ruissenaud─I entrust their procurement to you. If there are more memories to be extracted from this crystal, we will find them.”
Reina watches as the man gives out his orders, studying his demeanor as it changes from that all too familiar anxious and hungry scholar to a leader. She nearly snorted, covering her mouth with a hand. Sharlayans never ceased to entertain her.
Claudien turned again, now addressing Reina herself, “As for you, Miss Cra’neo-”
Reina raised her hand to cut him off, “Ah- Reina is fine, please, if I hear Miss Cra’neo, I look over my shoulder for my mother.”
Figures, she was in Sharlayan after all, she’d spent half of her first day here requesting that the various people she met not call her by her last name. Granted, it was a name she wore with pride, but Reina was never one for formality- it made her feel too far detached from the people she was speaking to.
“Apologies, Reina.” Claudien said, nodding his head once like he was reaffirming the knowledge to himself, “I know this is not a small ask of you, and I know you are… a busy woman…”
This indeed caused a snort to leave Reina’s nose, a small smile crossing her face, busy wasn’t even the half of it.
“If I could beg of you, seek out this person, the one who has delivered this dire warning. This crystal could have very well been made by one of the Ancients, and if that is the case, then discerning the nature of this Pandaemonium would require a trip far into the past… to the era before the sundering.”
That half-unpleasant expression crossed Reina’s face once more despite her effort to keep neutrality as the man spoke; she’d been afraid of this very request, the request to make a trip back into the past.
Reina’s hand lifted to pull on the fabric of her shirt, and she sighed, “Another trip to the past… I have a concern, if this event already happened, I risk tampering with it and causing issues for us in the present day-”
Nemjiji cut her off, “Yes! But! You might have already fixed this issue in the past, you see! Your assistance may have very well come to pass, and if you do not assist, we risk an even greater issue of whatever this problem is coming back to haunt us now… with the world in the state it is, recovering after the final days, we can no-”
“Nemjiji! Please,” the Professor cut in, glaring down at the woman who took a step back.
“Forgive my assistants' overenthusiastic insistence, Miss C- Reina… even so, her words hold merit. Just as there is a chance that making a trip into the past could very well cause issues, not going could hold just as many issues… which is where my request comes to light. For now, if you were amiable, you could simply go on a reconnaissance mission of sorts? Simply try to gather information and come back, then we can study what you have found and make a more educated decision from there.”
Reina’s foot began tapping on the tile beneath her feet, the leather of her boots scuffing against the marble, the sound echoing around her as she quite literally bit down on her tongue.
“I only know of one individual capable of the feat that is going to the past, the very hero who has once traversed time to prevent the world’s doom.” Claudein’s hands folded in front of himself again, and he began to wring them in an almost pleading motion, “I must confess… the tales of your adventure beggar belief, and their veracity had been subject to much debate amongst my peers. After today’s meeting… any prior doubt has been wiped from my mind, I do not know what it is, just I have a feeling, and I know you are the only person who can help us with this- So yes, I ask you, return to the past, find out what this Pandemonieum is, and if we need to be concerned by this message.”
This time, she could not keep the twisted expression off of her face, her displeasure glowingly clear- her inability to keep check of her emotions, something she’d have to wade through at a later date.
She knew what Caludein was doing, trying to pry into the sense of heroics she so clearly had from the many stories he’d heard about her… and a feeling? A feeling that all of the tales of her adventures were true? She nearly laughed in his face outright, of course, they were true- he and his researchers standing there alive and well proved-
Her line of thought stopped abruptly. Why was she getting so mad? She blinked hard and unclenched her teeth, which had begun to ache under the pressure of the forced smile she was trying to muster.
A moment of silence later, she took a deep breath, closing her eyes, “If you could… allow me a moment, I need to confer with someone before I make a decision on this- I will return shortly.” With those words, she turned on her heel and stalked outside, walking around to the side of the building.
She pressed her back to the wall and slid down it, curling up into herself, her forehead pressing to her knees. She did not know what was wrong with her, did not know why, for a moment there, she’d wanted to punch Claudien in the throat for begging for her help…
She uncurled, if only slightly, to reach one hand up to her ear, her fingertips brushing her linkpearl.
She was torn- in a way, she wished to call for Yuri, beg him to come to Sharlayan and sit with her to sort through her emotions in a way only he seemed to be able to assist her with, but… no, she did indeed need to speak to someone, and it was not him as much as she wished it to be.
She pressed her finger into the pearl, hearing the telltale chime of the communications device, reaching out to her desired target.
It took an agonizing moment before she heard shuffling on the other end of the line, and the familiar voice of her older brother reached her, “Reinabofena! To what do I owe this luxurious pleasure?”
Reina chuckled and straightened up slightly, lifting her head to rest it against the wall, keeping her knees pulled to her chest, “Hi Cherry-Berry, are you uh… busy right now? I could use some advice.”
She could hear Cherry gasp on the other end of the line, “My little sister? The vaulted Warrior of Light needs help from me? Her lowly older brother? I could weep! Who are we killing?”
Reina rolled her eyes, mentally pulling on one of his ears, “Hush- not that kind of advice, you should like mom.”
“Okay, well- you don’t have to go for my throat, yeesh!” he said, and she could hear him snort, “Seriously though, what’s up?”
A smile crossed her face at the ease of talking to someone so familiar, making her feel malms better in an instant, “Okay, so-” she began to explain, “I’m in Sharlayan today, I was visiting with Raha and Krile to drop off that book from mom’s library they’d requested.”
“Riiigghhhtttt.”
“I got flagged down by some researchers who had come across a memory crystal, clearly from an ancient- don’t tell me how I know, I just know… and there was a voice that spoke to me claiming there was danger to the star, something about a place or thing called Pandemonium which means ‘all demons’ or something and and-” she took a deep breath realizing she was rambling, “The voice asked for help… so they are asking me to go help and I am just, I’m worried about tampering with the past again…”
There was silence on the other end of the line for long enough that Reina began to think their call had dropped before her brother spoke again.
“Thal’s motherfucking balls, Reinita… didn’t you save the world like last week? I’m going to lock you in a time loop of your own just so you can take a damn nap.”
Reina barked out a sharp laugh and dragged her hand down her face, “Yeah- yeah, that’s what I’m saying… sadly, this is another one of those ‘Only you can stop forest fires' missives or like, whatever that one bear said in that storybook.”
Cherry chuckled, and she could hear him shifting around again before she heard the distinct noise of a book being pulled from a shelf, “Alright, so- basically this is a maybe this maybe that from what I’m hearing… maybe you go back and accidentally run into something you shouldn’t and it fucks us up… but just like last time- there is the equal possibility that you should indeed go back and assist with whatever this is to prevent said tradgedy from assailing us at this later date.” he said his words mirroring those of the researchers.
Reina nods to the open air, closing her eyes and imagining her brother giving her a little lecture with a book open, “Yes- but I don’t like these coinflip odds, it’s an if I fuck it up or I don’t to me and man- I don’t want to fuck it up, it just feels like the state of the world is getting to a point where I can actually just like… exist you know.”
“Yeah, yeah, I get that… maybe hm…” she hears him flip through a few pages in his book, “Alright, so, here's how I see it- I think you should go, but I would say don’t delve into anything immediately, you know? See if you can even get to the proper time where this is a relevant issue first, find out who or what Pandemonium is, and try to discern what the problem is, and then come home. I will come to Sharlayan and wait for you, and then you, me, and those researchers can have a proper sit-down and discuss how we can move forward with more information, yeah?”
Reina chewed on her bottom lip, “and mom won’t mind you coming out?” a stupid question, like her mother wouldn’t try and-
“Shit, Reina, when I tell her it’s to help you, she’s going to end up packing her own bag.”
Reina laughed, “Honestly, I don’t even know why I asked,” she chuckled again, finally moving to stand, “Alright- yeah… I’ll do that, okay uhm… I will contact Krile and tell her you, at the very least, are coming out and to prepare the room I typically use while I’m here with an additional bed. I’m going to go speak to the researchers, and then I’ll make my way to the First to try and see if the portal in the Crystal Tower will even let me through it another time.”
“You got it, I’ll… I’ll be there soon to help, okay?” he paused for a moment before speaking again, clearly shuffling on his feet, “I’m sorry I can’t come with you, I’m sorry this is another thing you have to do on your own.”
Reina’s eyes widened, and she felt her throat tighten slightly, “No, no- you… you coming here is more than enough, Cherry, I promise,” she said, though it did not really feel okay… she wished he could come too, she’d feel much better if just one more person was with her. Cherry knew better than most that what Reina hated and feared above all else… was being alone.
When Cherry spoke again, it was clear, even though her brother could not see her, that he was reading her tone. “If you say so…” he sighed again, and she could hear him closing the book before setting it down somewhere other than the shelf; it was like he was to bring it with him.
“I’ll be getting to it then, thanks, Cherry- I’ll see you soon.”
“You got this, love you.”
“Love you too,” she answered before disconnecting the call, lowering her hand from her ear. She takes a deep breath and cracks her knuckles, “Okay… Warrior of Light, vaulted hero of the star… what’s one more adventure? It won’t be that harrowing!” she reaffirmed to herself, turning on her heel to return to the researchers and tell them of her plan.
It won’t be that harrowing.
If only she could have heard the bell tolling.