Annunu carefully stoked the fire in the safehouse tucked away in Coerthas' western highlands, shivering despite her heavy winter coat. Master Gogonji had yet to return from the Runestone, giving her a chance to make the house more hospitable for him - welcoming and warm. The previous fire they had laid was nothing but a few glowing embers when she had stumbled in from the snow and the cold; the snow was kicking up outside, filling the impenetrable dark with choking flakes. An considered it lucky she'd found the door again. She piled firewood high, using her limited thaumaturgical skills to set the fire ablaze rapidly, and carefully set a lit candle in the tiny, clouded window by the door. She doubted Master Gogonji needed the guidance - but there would be light leading him home.
She strayed from the fire to the kitchen to put on a kettle for tea. The Costa blend tempted her - enough that she greedily inhaled the scent from the box still on the counter - but she located among the many varieties taking up one entire shelf a blend for relaxation and rest. It had been a long day of travel, important conversations, the odd disagreement, and even the rousing of another soul fragment within Master Gogonji's mind. They both needed rest. And for the first time, An had the opportunity to stop and digest the past few days' events.
She felt at the hollow of her throat with gentle fingertips, exploring the pale, smooth skin. She still felt like she was wearing Rosewater's hateful choker, the beautiful yet constrictive jewelry with its brilliant crystal front and center. After his escape, Rosewater had activated it at last. Everyone - An included - had assumed the collar was explosive. She knew if it had been, she'd be dead now, and possibly Master Gogonji too. But the choker's crystal was a modified piece of an aetheryte, and the mechanism around it served not to explode but to summon her against her will to Rosewater's side.
The memory was a mere two suns old, but it felt like an age ago that it had happened. He had attacked her, raving, accusing her of treachery, demanding to know where Master Gogonji was. The activation of the collar had superheated the crystal, and it burned hot against her neck; Rosewater grabbed it, only for the crystal to shatter from heat and pressure, leaving him holding the burnt ends of the choker. An had managed to cut his leg in an effort to hamstring him to keep him from Master Gogonji, but Rosewater had a range of tricks befitting his station as a spymaster, and had blwon her off her feet with a concussive grenade. He drove a knife into her back as she lay stunned from the blast and wrenched the postcard showing Master Gogonji's location from her hand. Perhaps thinking her dead or close enough to it, he had yanked his knife free and gone after Master Gogonji without a backwards glance.
An had been wearing thick leather armor, and his strike had been imprecise; he'd gotten mostly shoulder. Still, she suspected his hubris in thinking her defeated was more due to madness than rationality. An downed a potion hastily from her pack simply to stop the bleeding and went in pursuit of Rosewater.
The scene in Upper La Noscea had been frightening when she arrived. Rosewater, clearly insane from his downfall and their manipulations, was in pitched battle with Master Gogonji, who had pressed him to the very edge of a cliff looming over Fool's Falls. With all of her strength, An had flung one of her poisoned knives end over end, which buried itself into Rosewater's sword arm; with that last threat eliminated, Master Gogonji had made quick work of him, blasting him off of the precipice so that his body plunged into the pools beneath the Falls. Between his heavy Sultansworn armor and the pound of the Falls above, his body would be trapped in the depths for all time. A fitting end for the master spy An had coerced into disgrace and treason.
An stifled a yawn as the house warmed grudgingly around her, unwilling to shed her coat just yet - there was still enough of a chill in the air in the kitchen, though she imagined the immediate surroundings of the fireplace were warm. The gentle herbal smell of chamomile beckoned from the teapot, and she helped herself to a cup, leaving the rest on the stove to keep it warm. She shuffled back to the fireplace, sinking down onto her pillow positioned in front of the flames to sit and enjoy her tea as she waited.
Master Gogonji had spirited her away to the hot springs at Bronze Lake after the fight's conclusion, healing her wounds with his arts, and An had recounted how she had manipulated Rosewater and the Garlean spy network in Ul'dah to the detriment of both. The three million gil she had wrenched from Goerthe at the Gilded Knuckle she had already used to pay the fine levied on her by the magistrate for her role in Khamja, lifting that stain from her reputation. With Rosewater's downfall, the last obstacle was now gone. In celebration, she and Master Gogonji had enjoyed sake together at the hot springs, and purple drops. To help her lie low during whatever fallout emerged from Rosewater's treason, Master Gogonji had offered her the safety and security of this Coerthas hideout, and early this sun they had made the journey out from Falcon's Nest.
An sipped her tea, staring into the dancing flames, and at last eased off her coat to rest behind her on the pillow. She and Master Gogonji had had a long talk when they arrived here previously, ranging over issues as diverse as the situation with Rosewater to the remaining fragments in his mind. She had even inadvertently angered him by suggesting his younger brother Chachanji may not obey Master Gogonji's imperious order to cease all contact with the purple-haired fighter Virara. An suspected Chachanji and Virara were involved somehow, and in any case, they lived together as members of the same company, so a blanket ban on contact seemed illogical and impossible to enforce. Would Gogonji himself accept such an edict against seeing An?
But Master Gogonji had irrationally refused to even contemplate the idea of Chachanji's disobedience, and An had retreated in the face of his cold anger. She suspected Master Gogonji's little brother - forever a child in need of guidance and protection in his mind - was his most treasured person. But An feared Master Gogonji would take defiance of his order as a rejection, and would be deeply hurt - which would no doubt manifest in more of his ice-cold rage. An mentally resolved to be there for him when it inevitably occurred.
An finished her tea, but continued to cradle the teacup on her lap, staring blankly at the fire. This all felt so new to her, and yet, they had been drawn inexorably to this moment from the beginning. Some force had been pulling her toward Master Gogonji since the moment she had chosen, after the Thaliak pilgrimage half a cycle ago, to meet him again. It had been steady and gradual, but with an ever-increasing intensity that perhaps could not be ignored, could never have been ignored. Was it because she had felt he was lonely, deep down? That perhaps he needed her by his side? It almost didn't matter, she reflected drowsily. She had promised him on the eve of the Castrum assault that she would always be there to protect him, always be beside him. "Always?" he had asked, not in his then-typical suspicious way, or with skepticism and doubt, but as if needing to hear it again, needing to hear it affirmed, to believe in it. And so far, moons later, she had kept that promise. Even Rosewater hadn't managed to break them apart, nor the self-serving, warring fragments in Master Gogonji's mind.
When Gogonji returned home, the safehouse was warm and welcoming, with tea prepared on the stove, and An was curled up asleep on the two pillows left before the fire with her coat pulled loosely up over her. The candle still burned as well in the window, a single point of light in the snowy darkness.
****
The large Roegadyn Sultansworn, his tabard spotless, his armor as bright and scoured as if he were headed to the parade field, moved slowly through Rosewater's office, which looked as if a tornado had blown through it. Papers were discarded everywhere, chairs overturned, the telltale signs of a struggle. He had been there when they had tried to arrest Rosewater, had been one of the officers that had volunteered it in fact. Rosewater's deputy, Zazafili Rurufili waited by the door. He was a good enough knight, the Roe ruminated, but unimaginative, a little slow, a plodding work chocobo suited to drawing carts, not winning races. The head of Ul'dah's internal security service should not be plodding. The sultana's security was at stake. The Roe had the reputation of being the sultana's man, a Royalist, honorable, well thought of. He loosely held a file in one hand, dropped by Rosewater when he made his escape - papers describing the Roe knight's whereabouts, movements. How to track him, how to kill him.
"Lieutenant Rurufili."
"Y-yes, sir?"
"The Syndicate is unanimous that Captain Rosewater's duplicity and treachery must be hidden for the good of Ul'dah. The people must not lose trust in the institutions of government, especially given the man was treating with Garleans. Suppress all mention of these events in the press. Issue a statement that Rosewater has been dismissed and exiled for corruption and embezzlement of sultanate funds. The man must be halfway to Garlemald by now, but if he ever dares show his face back here again, the exile order will mean his immediate arrest and execution - and corruption will not alarm the people, as they expect little more from their officials."
"Understood, sir."
"You will remain on as deputy, and Her Resplendence has asked me to take the reins as the new chief. I plan to whip this organization back into shape. No more lazy, unmotivated knights wanting to ride a desk job to a cushy pension. We are Ul'dah's first line of defense, the light in the darkness, and we need experienced, dedicated knights for this kind of intelligence work."
Rurufili gulped slightly. "Y-yes, sir."
"You have my orders, Lieutenant. Time to climb out of this mess."
The lieutenant saluted and left; the Roe moved slowly to the fire laid on the hearth, still holding the file. "Well, well, Rosewater," he sighed, tossing the file into the flames. "You HAVE been a busy bee, haven't you? I trained you better than that."
She strayed from the fire to the kitchen to put on a kettle for tea. The Costa blend tempted her - enough that she greedily inhaled the scent from the box still on the counter - but she located among the many varieties taking up one entire shelf a blend for relaxation and rest. It had been a long day of travel, important conversations, the odd disagreement, and even the rousing of another soul fragment within Master Gogonji's mind. They both needed rest. And for the first time, An had the opportunity to stop and digest the past few days' events.
She felt at the hollow of her throat with gentle fingertips, exploring the pale, smooth skin. She still felt like she was wearing Rosewater's hateful choker, the beautiful yet constrictive jewelry with its brilliant crystal front and center. After his escape, Rosewater had activated it at last. Everyone - An included - had assumed the collar was explosive. She knew if it had been, she'd be dead now, and possibly Master Gogonji too. But the choker's crystal was a modified piece of an aetheryte, and the mechanism around it served not to explode but to summon her against her will to Rosewater's side.
The memory was a mere two suns old, but it felt like an age ago that it had happened. He had attacked her, raving, accusing her of treachery, demanding to know where Master Gogonji was. The activation of the collar had superheated the crystal, and it burned hot against her neck; Rosewater grabbed it, only for the crystal to shatter from heat and pressure, leaving him holding the burnt ends of the choker. An had managed to cut his leg in an effort to hamstring him to keep him from Master Gogonji, but Rosewater had a range of tricks befitting his station as a spymaster, and had blwon her off her feet with a concussive grenade. He drove a knife into her back as she lay stunned from the blast and wrenched the postcard showing Master Gogonji's location from her hand. Perhaps thinking her dead or close enough to it, he had yanked his knife free and gone after Master Gogonji without a backwards glance.
An had been wearing thick leather armor, and his strike had been imprecise; he'd gotten mostly shoulder. Still, she suspected his hubris in thinking her defeated was more due to madness than rationality. An downed a potion hastily from her pack simply to stop the bleeding and went in pursuit of Rosewater.
The scene in Upper La Noscea had been frightening when she arrived. Rosewater, clearly insane from his downfall and their manipulations, was in pitched battle with Master Gogonji, who had pressed him to the very edge of a cliff looming over Fool's Falls. With all of her strength, An had flung one of her poisoned knives end over end, which buried itself into Rosewater's sword arm; with that last threat eliminated, Master Gogonji had made quick work of him, blasting him off of the precipice so that his body plunged into the pools beneath the Falls. Between his heavy Sultansworn armor and the pound of the Falls above, his body would be trapped in the depths for all time. A fitting end for the master spy An had coerced into disgrace and treason.
An stifled a yawn as the house warmed grudgingly around her, unwilling to shed her coat just yet - there was still enough of a chill in the air in the kitchen, though she imagined the immediate surroundings of the fireplace were warm. The gentle herbal smell of chamomile beckoned from the teapot, and she helped herself to a cup, leaving the rest on the stove to keep it warm. She shuffled back to the fireplace, sinking down onto her pillow positioned in front of the flames to sit and enjoy her tea as she waited.
Master Gogonji had spirited her away to the hot springs at Bronze Lake after the fight's conclusion, healing her wounds with his arts, and An had recounted how she had manipulated Rosewater and the Garlean spy network in Ul'dah to the detriment of both. The three million gil she had wrenched from Goerthe at the Gilded Knuckle she had already used to pay the fine levied on her by the magistrate for her role in Khamja, lifting that stain from her reputation. With Rosewater's downfall, the last obstacle was now gone. In celebration, she and Master Gogonji had enjoyed sake together at the hot springs, and purple drops. To help her lie low during whatever fallout emerged from Rosewater's treason, Master Gogonji had offered her the safety and security of this Coerthas hideout, and early this sun they had made the journey out from Falcon's Nest.
An sipped her tea, staring into the dancing flames, and at last eased off her coat to rest behind her on the pillow. She and Master Gogonji had had a long talk when they arrived here previously, ranging over issues as diverse as the situation with Rosewater to the remaining fragments in his mind. She had even inadvertently angered him by suggesting his younger brother Chachanji may not obey Master Gogonji's imperious order to cease all contact with the purple-haired fighter Virara. An suspected Chachanji and Virara were involved somehow, and in any case, they lived together as members of the same company, so a blanket ban on contact seemed illogical and impossible to enforce. Would Gogonji himself accept such an edict against seeing An?
But Master Gogonji had irrationally refused to even contemplate the idea of Chachanji's disobedience, and An had retreated in the face of his cold anger. She suspected Master Gogonji's little brother - forever a child in need of guidance and protection in his mind - was his most treasured person. But An feared Master Gogonji would take defiance of his order as a rejection, and would be deeply hurt - which would no doubt manifest in more of his ice-cold rage. An mentally resolved to be there for him when it inevitably occurred.
An finished her tea, but continued to cradle the teacup on her lap, staring blankly at the fire. This all felt so new to her, and yet, they had been drawn inexorably to this moment from the beginning. Some force had been pulling her toward Master Gogonji since the moment she had chosen, after the Thaliak pilgrimage half a cycle ago, to meet him again. It had been steady and gradual, but with an ever-increasing intensity that perhaps could not be ignored, could never have been ignored. Was it because she had felt he was lonely, deep down? That perhaps he needed her by his side? It almost didn't matter, she reflected drowsily. She had promised him on the eve of the Castrum assault that she would always be there to protect him, always be beside him. "Always?" he had asked, not in his then-typical suspicious way, or with skepticism and doubt, but as if needing to hear it again, needing to hear it affirmed, to believe in it. And so far, moons later, she had kept that promise. Even Rosewater hadn't managed to break them apart, nor the self-serving, warring fragments in Master Gogonji's mind.
When Gogonji returned home, the safehouse was warm and welcoming, with tea prepared on the stove, and An was curled up asleep on the two pillows left before the fire with her coat pulled loosely up over her. The candle still burned as well in the window, a single point of light in the snowy darkness.
****
The large Roegadyn Sultansworn, his tabard spotless, his armor as bright and scoured as if he were headed to the parade field, moved slowly through Rosewater's office, which looked as if a tornado had blown through it. Papers were discarded everywhere, chairs overturned, the telltale signs of a struggle. He had been there when they had tried to arrest Rosewater, had been one of the officers that had volunteered it in fact. Rosewater's deputy, Zazafili Rurufili waited by the door. He was a good enough knight, the Roe ruminated, but unimaginative, a little slow, a plodding work chocobo suited to drawing carts, not winning races. The head of Ul'dah's internal security service should not be plodding. The sultana's security was at stake. The Roe had the reputation of being the sultana's man, a Royalist, honorable, well thought of. He loosely held a file in one hand, dropped by Rosewater when he made his escape - papers describing the Roe knight's whereabouts, movements. How to track him, how to kill him.
"Lieutenant Rurufili."
"Y-yes, sir?"
"The Syndicate is unanimous that Captain Rosewater's duplicity and treachery must be hidden for the good of Ul'dah. The people must not lose trust in the institutions of government, especially given the man was treating with Garleans. Suppress all mention of these events in the press. Issue a statement that Rosewater has been dismissed and exiled for corruption and embezzlement of sultanate funds. The man must be halfway to Garlemald by now, but if he ever dares show his face back here again, the exile order will mean his immediate arrest and execution - and corruption will not alarm the people, as they expect little more from their officials."
"Understood, sir."
"You will remain on as deputy, and Her Resplendence has asked me to take the reins as the new chief. I plan to whip this organization back into shape. No more lazy, unmotivated knights wanting to ride a desk job to a cushy pension. We are Ul'dah's first line of defense, the light in the darkness, and we need experienced, dedicated knights for this kind of intelligence work."
Rurufili gulped slightly. "Y-yes, sir."
"You have my orders, Lieutenant. Time to climb out of this mess."
The lieutenant saluted and left; the Roe moved slowly to the fire laid on the hearth, still holding the file. "Well, well, Rosewater," he sighed, tossing the file into the flames. "You HAVE been a busy bee, haven't you? I trained you better than that."
People have forgotten this truth. But you mustn't forget it. You become responsible forever for what you have tamed.
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