Episode 24: Take Care

Three weeks have passed since Zakuro and Tuya ventured away from The Legacy. For three weeks Dorion and the others took time to take care of themselves and do some research. After reading Zakuro's letter...Dorion decided to step things up by diving into safety measures and tactical information for The Legacy. Dorion sent Tarno, Zena, and Jai out to research anything they could about The Red Veil.

Whenever The Legacy was not training, they were often scouring the large guild hall for things they could take on their journey to battle Eden. Ljrn was often found hanging around the clinic with Leric and gathering supplies that she could take on the go with her. Ljrn was growing use to the capabilities this group would get themselves involved in, so packing the right tools would be her best option. Like Ljrn Trunks wanted to gather the best supplies that he could. Trunks found himself deep into the abandoned workshop and found many tools, metals, and scraps that he could use to construct weapon and armor for the party. Trunks was often causing chaos himself on the battlefield but, with tools like this he would be able to bring his party a lot of success.


Ruby had found herself on more than one occasion at the bar but, was often found in the library reading books. Fairytail was stocked with not only tales of the far beyond but, many historical books on the umbral eras and the calamities that took place prior to the current one. Dorion told Ruby that Jayne’s mother was a historian while her father was a government official, so she had access to anything she wanted to. Even though there was not really a government to fall upon, Ruby had the access to learn about all the good and bad things they were involved with over the years. Dorion wondered if her having access to these things would be considered treason; but if the world is apocalyptic what rules would apply when the world begins to function once more?


On this evening, Jai and Zena came home with some information that they wanted to share with the others. Dorion felt that it was a good time for everyone to come together and talk and decide their next course of action. Trunks, Ljrn, Ruby, and Leric met in Dorion’s chamber to discuss their next course of action. Dorion explained to the group that he felt that after a few weeks of rest and relaxation, it was time for The Legacy to resume their journey to Crystal Tower and Face Eden head-on. The group agreed as most of them told Dorion of the items they have been gathering up in recent days. Leric seems to be listening to each item the group has decided to pack but, he suggests to Dorion that they do one more thing before heading off to go see Eden.

   Leric suggests to the group go on one final training mission before they head off to fight Eden. Dorion was not sure what Leric meant so he asked what Leric had instore for the group. Leric suggests to Dorion that the group meet with the man who trained both he and his brother and Dorion suddenly looked discouraged. The two men began to speak in a more hushed tone together in front of the others which brought concern to Trunks. As the men discussed their disagreement Leric hands, Dorion, a note, and he sits and reads it.

Upon reading the note, Dorion gets up and decides to share the information that was given to him. It was a letter from Shodai who was investigating The Red Veil in the Northern Regions. He explained how he found himself in a situation that rendered him compromised and that during his hiding, a man in all white came to his aide and noticed a certain piece of jewelry he wore. Tarno then learned that this man was someone who was in alliance with Dorion’s father and could see how things were turning out and wanted to aide Dorion and the others. Tarno was unsure of the man first but trusted him and sought out his help.


Trunks listened to Dorion’s words but felt unsure about having someone like that aide them, Trunks felt that the man was probably just as evil if he was alongside Eden. Leric quickly jumped into the discussion and explained to Trunks that the man they spoke of would never betray Dorion. Leric explains to The Legacy that both he and Jai were sired by this man and they have trained with him all of their lives. The man was a samurai and had a deep code of honor and when Death came to Eden, the man tried to stop Eden from following her, but he cast him away. The man watched from the shadows for years but, has not been in council with Eden for a long time.
Dorion vouches for the man as well letting the group know that he is old but wise and that they could learn a thing or two from him. Ljrn wonders if this is a safe option and not one of Death’s traps but, Ruby disagrees and explains that if she wanted to come after The Legacy, she would have done so by now. The group decides that they would know right away should things go south that they could defend themselves and add one more person to their list to take out the way. Leric reassures them once more that he himself could not see his Sire betraying the group.


Ruby suddenly seems eager and asks to know where the Sire’s location is and Leric explains that he has made camp in Northern Thanalan not too far from a path that would take them directly through to Mor Dhona. As the group gathers their things to leave Leric pulls Trunks aside and hands him an emerald pendant and tells him to hold onto it and keep it present in front of his sire. Trunks looks at Leric worried that Dorion would catch onto them but, Leric suggests that it's merely his way of letting his Sire know that he vouches for the group and Trunks. Slightly jealous by the sight Dorion leaves the room and goes to get Shiva as she has been with Zena.


Outside of Fairytail the rest of The Legacy begin to pack up their things and load their supplies onto Azul’s carriage. Sitting on the carriage was the youngest Legacy member Shiva in a rather bold outfit. She explains how Zena helped her make it and how comfortable it felt. Ruby smiles and tells Shiva that she loves the look and the two of them sit together on the carriage to chat. Dorion on the other hand knew of his sister’s intentions and kept to himself while on the other hand, he knew that Trunks would have a response for it. Trunks finally made his way out of the Guildhall with new armor for Ljrn and saw what Shiva was wearing as well. Ljrn suggested that it did not cover much but Shiva pointed out that Zena added certain runes onto the gear that granted safety and power. Trunks carefully admitted that it suited her well and although it was light in gear her agility on the training field would be increased. Trunks suggested that Dorion put his sister on a leash for the gear she helped Shiva create Dorion chuckled and said he wanted no part in the matter.

   As they traveled down the road Dorion explains that although she is only 18 years of age, she had seen a lot so she has had to grow up pretty fast. She did not get to have a childhood like most kids do so there are times when she acts like she is still that age but, she can also be a deviant when it comes to things adults find fun. The group understands and begins to reflect on their younger years as well. Dorion and Trunks reflect on their lives while Ruby questions if Ljrn was a “hellraiser” in her younger years. Ljrn simply states that she does not remember which peaks Shiva’s curiosity.


Shiva struggles to remember her age as a lot of her memories of the past seem to come and go but, she remembers a little about her life in Mor Dhona and always wanting to travel to Ishgard whenever her parents went on business trips there. She remembered sometimes sneaking with them to see the snowy mountains but, the more she thought the fuzzier her visions got. Dorion said that maybe when everything was said and done, he and Jayne would help her get her memories back; Shiva liked the idea of that.

   After a few hours of travel, The Legacy found its way into lands that looked foreign. There was a small area that seemed to be an abandoned mine. Years ago, a smaller cult in Eorzea would hang here but since Eorzea’s current calamity it had become empty. As Dorion set Azul off to the side The Legacy finally came in contact with the man they were to meet here.


The man looked to be in his mid-thirties, with long white hair, eyes, and clothing. He had a scar above his eye, and he wore a mask that covered his mouth. He definitely had the look of an ancient samurai; it was just that he looked so young. Dorion lead the group by standing in front of them as they approached. As Dorion bowed he finally revealed the man’s name by calling him, Master Akane. Master Akane bowed before them and the group could see the deep stare, he gave them turned into a gentle smile. Master Akane told the group to call him Yue and it was an honor for him to be in the presence of them all. For many years he stood in the shadows hoping for a new Eorzea to turn to. Dorion asks Yue if he feels that they have what it takes to go against his father.


Yue walks around the field looking at each of them carefully as he tells them the tale of his world. Yue explains to the group that there was a time when he felt honored to serve alongside King Eden and help him create soldiers in order to keep any wrongdoers out of their lands. Upon their arrival to Eorzea, he saw the change and felt that his duties were no longer needed. From the sides, he would watch as people tried to stand against The Red Veil, but he saw them fail often. As he looked at each member of The Legacy, he asked for them to withdraw their weapons so he could sense their potential.


Trunks at first tried to use one of his old weapons but, Yue saw right past it. He got close to Trunks and noticed the emerald necklace on his neck. He whispered to Trunks that although he wore something that protected Leric, he should know that in his eyes he was not ready to accept that honor. He would have to earn it like everyone else. Yue turns to the group and says that he sensed their power to fight Eden and that they stand a great chance against him. However, Yue was the person who trained King Eden to fight, and he needed to know if they could fight against him then they could fight against Eden as well. Yue suggested to the group that they take this training seriously as it would determine how they would fight on the battlefield.

   Yue withdraws his sword and tells everyone to ready themselves and show him what they can do. The first person to step up to Yue is Ruby. Ruby calls upon the void and smiles. She quickly loads up a single spell and extends her staff, allowing an explosion of fire to erupt around Yue. Yue absorbs her attack and dodges her first attack the explosion catching him on his knees. He explains to her that it is a tactical maneuver that may prove useful against Eden. Ljrn rushes forward and turns her staff so that the pointed part is end forward, using it like a spear as she jabs it at Yue, using her magic to add an elemental burst to the attack. Surprisingly Ljrn catches Yue off guard and cuts him in the shoulder. Seeing the deep red blood dripping from his shoulder he smiles as they make eye contact. Yue can see that she is much older than the others and he lets her know that she will definitely be one of the essential fighters against King Eden.


Following Ljrn Trunks decides to test the field and head towards Yue. Trunks steps forward and tosses a small ball at Yue. As the ball flies towards Yue it burst leaving Yue surrounded by dust. As Yue tries to clear the dust an elemental bullet flies towards Yue striking him in the knee. Yue falls back for a bit but smiles at Trunks admiring his strength to push forward and he now can see why Leric favored him; he was beginning to earn Yue’s respect. Dorion stepped forward and withdrew his staff. As Dorion approached Yue, he skated off to the side only to cause Dorion to follow his lead and with one swift move Dorion slid underneath Yue and struck him with his staff as static electricity strikes him. They both exchange a glare at each other with their fangs bared at each other.


It was now Shiva’s turn to attempt an attack on Yue and his eyes were already focused on her. Shiva tried to follow suit with Dorion but, Yue looked to Shiva and slammed her down into the ground. Yue called her attack slow and that if she were Selene then she would no better and to not try something so simple. As Yue knocked Shiva back and said that her eyes turned to horror. She suddenly got a vision from when she was Selene and she remembered Yue from the time he stood with Eden. A flashback from Snowcloak filled her mind and she looked at Yue with tears in her eyes. Ruby just smiled as she saw the man push Shiva away as if she were a little girl. Still, Ruby Yue probably thought she was simply a caster, so she decided to fix this error in judgment. Ruby charged with her staff held to the side like a mace and swung it upwards. At the last second, the staff turned into that familiar-looking sword Ruby became engulfed in armor darker than night. Yue turned his attention to Ruby and feels her charge head-on. As Ruby struck Yue he knew he needed to study her moves further so he could train her properly against Eden. The more he fought the further Yue became impressed with what The Legacy learned on their own.
   
Ljrn flew forward once more his time grabbing her staff and continuing her physical assault against him. This time she did not waste her magick and showed Yue that not only could she use magick but she could be physical as well. She ended up taking the harder side of the staff and struck Yue with it. Yue fell back...and he admired her power further. As strong as her hits were Yue demanded that she strike harder as it could help destroy Eden’s equilibrium.


As Yue fought against Ljrn, Trunks could see from the side that Shiva was still in a trance from what Yue said to her. Trunks dropped his weapon and rolled his eyes. He dropped his weapon and went to punch Yue for already rocking Shiva to her core. Yue knocks Trunks back and explains to him that if she is to stand against Eden that she needs to not be soft and to take what life has done to her already. Trying to defend Shiva and Trunks, Dorion rushes towards Yue to have the back of Yue’s hilt hit him in the chest. Yue reminds Dorion that Eden does still use his rapier and if Dorion didn’t smarten up he would be at the end of it.


Shaken up from Yue, Shiva tries to grab her staff and run towards him, Yue slipped behind her and got close to her ear once more. Yue reminds Shiva that he remembered the scent and the sweet taste of her blood on that cold day in Snowcloak. As Shiva looks on in horror, Yue points to her waist his hand now opening her old scar. Yue reminds her if she does not prove herself that he will reopen that wound so she remembers what it’s like to feel helpless again. As Yue says these things to Shiva tears fall down her streak as he raises his leg and strikes her in her old wound. Ruby doesn’t like that Yue calls Trunks weak or that he struck Shiva so she rushed forward and tried to strike him with fire. Seeing Ruby’s attack coming towards him, Yue throws a small white shard into the air. As he sliced the crystals, razor-like crystals strike Ruby stinging her skin; he reminds her that light can hurt her if she is not careful and acts out of haste. Listening to Yue’s words from earlier, Ljrn sweeps her staff over Yue’s head as she creates a faint orb of fire allowing water to stream around it and create steam. She then sent the blast of steam towards Yue; submerging his body into the steaming water. Yue raises his hand in agreement with her power. Yue points out to Ljrn that she is right where she needs to be but, she needs to tune into it more for it to fully work against Eden.


Finally regaining momentum from Yue’s strike Trunks points out that he is not weak because he has Dorion and Ruby by his side. He also reminds Yue to keep his hands off of his beloved Shiva. Trunks summons his robot to strike Yue down with a series of blows. Yue falls back struggling to get up but finally breaks free from the robot. Yue is impressed with Trunks and decides to tap further into his anger. Yue can see that the connection between Trunks and the ice mage was beyond a normal friendship. What Yue also understood was that Eden would use that against him. With Yue trying to get up from the robotic attack Dorion tears off his jacket and his wings explode from his back. Flying up with Yue, Dorion sends Yue flying into the brick wall behind them. Yue weakened by everyone’s attack looks for a loose end to try and breakthrough; he looks to see if Shiva finally was willing to fight.


Shiva tries to shake the thoughts from her mind as she aims an ice attack towards Yue. Yue gathers his strength and runs towards Shiva and digs his claws into her old scar. Shiva screams loudly in pain. Yue continues to watch Trunks because he wants to tap into the rage to see how far Trunks would go to save those he loves. Yue reminds Shiva that although he has not been Eden’s advisor, he was aware of what Eden attempted to do to her before. He reminds Shiva that if she does not wake up, she will become his slave and there is no telling what he will do to her if he gets his hands on her.  As Shiva screams in pain Ruby can see that Trunks is upset and jumps into view sending a blast of fire at Yue. Ljrn jams her staff into the ground, locking eyes with Yue and raising a hand as if to cast another spell, but instead, she moves her hand down sharply.  The water around the staff dives into the ground with a muted thump.  The tendril of water emerges from the ground near Shiva in the form of a tendril and dives straight into the re-opened wound, delivering her healing magic directly to it.


However, the water does not heal Shiva directly as Yue blocks the healing waters reminding Ljrn that in order for her to be able to heal as well she needs to tap into her magick further to be able to do all these jobs at a swift pace. Silently watching, Trunks feels every fiber of him beginning to quake. With his weapon raised in his hand Trunks flies into the air and anchors his weapon sending an elemental blast at the throat of Yue. Yue could feel a  wound open on his neck as he staggered and fell to his knees while he tried to catch his breath. With Yue down Dorion flew in and sent an attack of his own keeping Yue grounded. Yue struggled to get up. Finally breaking free of Dorion, Yue dove towards Shiva sending her back into the ground. Yue screams into Shiva’s face telling her to fight to feel the anger she held towards Eden and to avenge all who died to get her here. Shiva screamed back and struck him with her staff endlessly to get him off of her. Not only was she scared for her life but, scared that she could not break free of this darkness surrounding her. Ruby once more leaps backwards and shifts into her caster stance, with her, completed weapon held at the ready. This time around she begins to concentrate her aether into a much more powerful and focused blast on the man. This time Yue sees Ruby switching so frequently he decides to grab his light and holds his hand over a rune himself. White light shoots out of his sword and strikes Ruby in the chest making her dizzy and unfocused. Seeing Ruby switch so often concerned Yue and he reminded her that if she were to be strong against Eden to be more aware that Eden could find a pattern in her switching.


Trunks tries to calm himself and think with a rational mind. He knows full well if he goes any further into a rage, he will tip the scale into madness and become a true monster. He steps behind Ljrn trembling and places his hands upon her shoulders to steady himself. His blood trails from his eyes into his wings which become blood-red and starts to pull free scattering into the wind encircling Shiva as he feels the bond between them connect, he transfers his energy to her. Dorion tries to swing and fight Yue but Yue grabs Dorion's wings and pins him on the ground; Dorion was worried about what Yue would do to stop Trunks.  Feeling Trunks' energy Shiva rises to her feet and slams her staff into the ground. Ice surrounds her as sends the glacier towards Yue; Shiva snaps her finger sending the ice to cut Yue right on his waist. Yue smiles finally seeing Shiva rise up. Perhaps she not only needed to hear such words but to also know that she has someone who wishes to be by her side.

Ruby once more growls as she reached to one of the swords inside of her chest and rips it out. She pants roughly at the amount of pain going through her body but just tossed it to the side. She needs time to gather her energy to make the Yue pay for that attack. Yue sees that Ruby is struggling so he strikes again using the same attack once. Trunks flies again crashing into Yue slamming his head against the broken wall beside them giving Ruby the opening to charge her aether and gain vengeance. Ruby could only blink as she watches Trunks bring the man to her. Ruby brings back her staff, swings it around a few times, and then proceeds to slam it directly into the man's member. Dorion knew that Yue was in no condition to stand right now however, they needed this. What one swift kick Dorion sends Yue tumble into some old crumbling piece of the building.


Shiva watching in horror snaps forward and shoots an ice boulder towards Yue...however, due to Shiva's weakness from earlier...the boulder also falls upon Yue hitting him in the same location that Ruby curb-stomped him in before. As Shiva walks towards Yue her hips sway with a little more sass. She pulls one of the crystals off of her and outcomes an ice whip. With all the power within her, she swung her arm back allowing her new weapon to whip Yue along his spine. Following Shiva’s attack, both Ruby and Trunks combined their magick once more and struck Yue with a combined attack leaving the man to raise his arm that he could not take another hit.


As Yue gathered himself, he called upon Dorion and whispered something into his ear. Dorion went over to the building that Yue was hiding in and brought out a flask for Yue to consume. It would seem that the fight against The Legacy was well worth it. Yue regained his strength and rose to his feet before The Legacy bowing to them. Yue was proud to test their strengths to see if they had what it took to fight Eden. Yue said that he had never seen such warriors before and that it was time for them to head to the Crystal Tower. Yue felt that they should move their supplies and rest just a few nights more before heading to the Crystal Tower. Yue explained that he had found an abandoned marketplace building and it would serve them well until they head off into the tower. Dorion thanked Yue for his time and hoped that he would be by their side once more. Yue vowed that should they need him in the fight against Eden…he would be there with no hesitation.