Final Fantasy XIV: The Winter Calamity

"...what?"

"They are called Primals. And they also may be the culprit behind your memory loss."

The whiplash was severe today, no?

Thancred explained everything that had happened up until now. The parade was a ploy by the Goldsmith master's son, Niellefresne, to gain political clout. He and F'lhaminn distributed flowers to the crowd that would ideally ward off the beast during its rampage. However they failed to account for god knows what. 

Not only were there more than one Goobbue, but multiple people were killed. One of those people being Ascilia's father, Warburton.

Thancred believed that Warburton was actually a spy of some sort. He held information about the very forces that I used as a guise to hide my memory loss. It seemed that he wanted to warn the Alliance, however he came to Ul'dah. Instead of somewhere sensible or sending a voice note through link pearl, he physically came to Ul'dah. Thancred didn't confirm anything yet, but his hunch was that it had to do with those things.

The primals.

I had a massive headache. Massaging my temples and channeling Aether helped to soothe me.

"I-I- wait. How did you know of this?"

A question I had to ask. Of course he knew. If there was anyone in the world who could know, it had to be him.

"Apologies for the late introduction, Little Winter."

Thancred bowed, his face serious this time.

"I am Thancred Waters. Founding Archon within the Circle of Knowing. An organization founded by the sage, Louisoix Leveilleur. We are dedicated to the salvation of Eorzea."

Ah! I knew of them! So cool!

"I-I see...? Good for you, Thancred."

But I had to pretend otherwise.

"Don't give me that look! This is important!"

"E-Excuse me!"

Damn it. She came back.

"The famous songstress of Ul'dah! Hello my dear, how can we assist you?"

Thancred made a show of it, but his eyes were not smiling. The air took on a noticeable chill. He was exiled, she probably played a part. I on the other hand was channeling the Aether in rhythmic cycles. Please don't be a big deal.

"I need your help! It's Nielle, he's planning to revive Warburton!"

""What?!""

I said please... Damn it. Necromancy? Was that even possible? In XIV? Of course it is! We fight undead all the time no matter the expansion. It's one of the dev team's favorite enemy types.

"Little Winter-"

"Let's check the crypt first."

Not only because I saw Ascilia run down there, but also because if anywhere was going to tap into Necromancy, it was the corrupt version of the Thaumaturges' guild. They had to be involved somehow.

Thancred being the fastest of us ran first with me following not too far behind. F'lhaminn ran elsewhere, probably to get more help.

The crypt was almost as large as the Guild Hall. Large coffins lined the walls in rows. Next to one of those coffins lay an Elezen man in a red tunic. His round, wirey glasses stayed affixed to his face.

"Niellefresne?!"

Around him lay a thick and dark pool of blood. His blood. I was carefully eying the scene without realizing it. The Aether didn't just soothe my lust. It also soothed my fear.

"This wound...it's grievous! Who could have done this?!"

A good question. The crypt was open and the light was on. When did he come down here? When did the killer leave? 

Did they leave?

While Thancred continued to inspect the man that lay on death's door, I looked around the room. 

Suddenly, Niellefresne lifted his hand. It was shaking with ferocity. Without healing magic, I was no good in saving him. He would die down here. 

He pointed behind me, at the end of a coffin. I ran around and saw...

"Ascilia?"

She was shaking. She wasn't harmed, but her entire being was shaking. Her eyes, her body, it was like she was suffering from hypothermia, trying to warm up from the cold.

Obviously she wasn't who stabbed him. That wound was far too deep and savage to be done with the girl's small form. 

We met eyes, and she held out her hand. Within her palm lay a reddish crystal. Thancred and I met gazes and I reached out to take the crystal from her.

---

The guild master Mumuepo inspected a dagger with a red crystal in it's pommel. He tilted it, tapped it with a finger imbued with Aether. Then tilted it again.

"Lovely, lovely lovely!"

His voice was tainted with excitement.

"Hmph! With the power of this stone, the impossible can surely become possible!"

Behind the guild master stood Niellefresne and Ascilia. The cold Elezen man was impatiently tapping his foot, his arms crossed in an anxious act of annoyance.

"Then see to it. There's a good deal I would know from this man. I only hope that his secrets can still save us."

Niellefresne growled.

"If not himself."

Ascilia's head hung low in grief. Niellefresne spoke of her father like he was an object. It did not bring happiness to the little girl's ears at all. She hoped he failed.

"Hm hm. Indeed. I shall retrieve the necessary tomes."

Mumuepo handed the blade back to Niellefresne. The ritual required a certain finesse. He had to be careful in which tomes he brought down. The wrong Aether being channeled may warp the blade's power.

"Make ready your corpse."

Without glancing at the girl, he walked off.

Niellefresne inspected the blade. It was to be his salvation. He could fix everything as long as the man revived properly and spit out his secrets.

He glanced at the girl. Inside he felt a hollow sadness for her. He had committed a great evil. Brought horrors to her dreams and sank her nightmares further into darkness still. But his mouth spoke different words.

"Truth be told, I don't care if you forgive me or not, little girl."

Ascilia glared at her father's murderer in silence.

"If we succeed here today, it will matter not. Once I've asked my questions, I will return your father to you."

Ascilia was young, but not a fool. By now his body had probably started to decay. She didn't want whatever he was about to revive to come back and act like her father.

Ascilia marched away. The very thought of what was happening nearly brought her back to tears. She couldn't cry in front of this... b-bastard! She missed Winter.

Niellefresne disregarded the girl's attitude. It was a simple fact that trying to get women to think rationally was impossible. He was far beyond continuing to try. With a turn on his heel, Niellefresne opened the coffin to get the corpse ready for the ritual, but upon looking inside-

"What?! No...!"

He couldn't understand what he was seeing. Until it clicked. He didn't want to believe it, but was the proof not right in front of him? 

"This cannot be... It's impossible!"

SHIICK

A sword. Black as night and twice as long as the pitiful dagger.

CLANG - CRACK

An unfortunate angle. The gemstone within the dagger's pommel cracked as it slipped from Niellefresne's stunned grip.

Thump

Niellefresne fell over. Unmoving.

The murderer?

Step-Step-Step

They walked off with dark purpose. 

The witness?

Quivering, helpless, scared out of her senses, behind one of the coffins.

---

WHOOSH

I flew backwards across the room.

WH-BOOM

And slammed against the carefully constructed sandstone wall with enough force to knock the breath out of my lungs. But my mind kept spinning. The Echo. Oh god, that was the Echo!

"What in the HELLS was THAT!"

Thancred looked at me with surprise.

I shook my head.

No. I knew it wasn't me. She never spoke to me. I never heard her voice. She would have said something. The Mother Crystal was silent all this time. Even now, she remained silent. I still was not her chosen. But I knew I was not mistaken! That was it! Her gift! 

"Then..."

Thancred and I turned our eyes towards the girl.

No...

This poor girl who was just as stunned as we were.

Who the hell? Who the hell was this????

Thancred suddenly ran, no, sprinted towards the entrance. He was fast.

I pulled my aching body off the floor and sprinted after him. My mind was still spinning.

"Where are you going?!"

I just couldn't wrap my head around this guy! What the hell was going on?! What did he know?! What did I miss?!

---

We ran outside. I could hear thunder. But before we went into the crypt, the sky was absent of clouds. The Echo didn't use a large amount of time. Its effects were instant. So how the hell... 

As I stepped out into the open, I followed Thancred's gaze upwards.

"Little Winter..."

He didn't finish his sentence.

Clouds rolled in at an impossible pace. It was as if I was watching a time-lapse. They easily blotted out the sun. The wind grew strong enough to move me slightly. Thancred grabbed my arm and held me steady, but he wasn't in much better shape.

"THANCRED! WHAT'S HAPPENING?!"

He couldn't answer. His face was that of a stunned silence.

It wasn't just above us. All of Ul'dah was being blanketed in this dark cloud. Light was becoming scarce in the middle of the day. Lightning. A dark red point opened in the cloud making its surrounding spin and warp with a forbidden energy.

Damn it! I knew this wasn't the Calamity. I've seen that cutscene too many times. So what the hell was it?! Nothing was making sense! This THING didn't exist in 2.0 and onwards! What were these developers doing?!

The point exploded into a massive ball of flames that looked to be as big as the sun.

Whoooooooooooooooooooooooooom

Its force was something we could feel all the way from over here. And then,

"No way."

I slipped into my common tongue. Stars. Shooting stars lit up the sky and flew endlessly, as if trying to coat the world in their light. This... Wasn't this the cutscene one would see when using the Echo? Falling stars?

The wind continued to pick up in severity. We couldn't stay out here.

"THANCRED! COME ON!"

I urged my brother to focus and he snapped out of his thoughts. Thancred swiftly moved, with me in hand, back towards the crypt. Finally isolated from the wind we both stayed silent. Looking down the stairs, we saw her. The poor girl Ascilia. She was kneeling, looking defeated within the deep pool of Niellefresne's quickly cooling corpse.

I was hesitant to get close, but Thancred had no problem.

He placed his hand on the corpse's neck.

"He's dead."

A certain conclusion. One I shared without getting near. One didn't need to be a genius to see that amount of blood.

"So this is the shadow that looms larger than Ul'dah."

He's speaking of Warburton's secret. And his hunch.

"However, this shadow looms over not Ul'dah alone, but all of Eorzea."

A mind-numbing conclusion. Oh god, why didn't I think of this? Even in 1.0, there had to be Trials. Boss Fights against the primals. They didn't appear just after the Calamity in gameplay. The shared story. They were here too. They were in 1.0. That was them, wasn't it. A vision of the echo everyone could see. Was that the reawakening of the Primal Threat?

"It's not safe here. Come, we must go."

Thancred held his hand out. The girl did not respond.

"Ascilia."

The girl snapped her head up towards me.

"It's okay. We'll take over from here. We'll get you somewhere safe. But first, I want you to promise something for me?"

Ascilia looked at me in silence. Her full attention hanging desperately onto my words. I felt something. I almost recognized this child. She overlapped with a woman in my mind. And so I said-

"I want you to be brave for me. Be the bravest girl on this star. Okay?"

I smiled at the girl. She nodded slowly and I guided her hand into Thancred's.

"Little Winter?"

"I'm staying here for a bit. F'lhaminn and possibly more could be coming soon. I need to explain what's going on."

Thancred nodded in understanding.

"I see. Very well, we shall meet back at the Quicksand. Quit the scene before the Syndicate arrives. Also, Little Winter-"

I met Thancred's eyes.

"There are those who shall be looking for her. Those who seek to possess her or harm her. From today onwards, the girl known as Ascilia has gone missing."

I grit my teeth. My heart constricted and beat slowly. 

"I understand."

After that, Thancred left with the girl in tow.

I knew that girl. She wasn't some random 1.0 NPC. She was the Antecedent of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn. The Maiden of Light. The Voice of the Star. And her true name was-

"Minfilia Warde."

But then, it begged the question...

"When am I?"

The question I thought had an answer to. I had found peace. I thought I could make a plan and stick to it. But that girl... The little girl without a bit of decorum or grace. That little girl who still had to be held through hardship. If that was Minfilia... 

Huff

This wasn't 1.0. Even in 1.0, Minfilia was in her early to mid 20s. Then everything I knew was... Wrong?

I already knew nothing of 1.0. But I could hold on. I could tolerate the wait for the Calamity. I wished for more time, but this long? 

I turned my head and met the cold dead eyes of Niellefresne's corpse. My question caught in my throat and I could feel my mind slowing to a crawl. My skin started prickling with an ancient and true fear.

It was as if he spoke into my mind.

"You've arrived early. Earlier than expected."

Winter.

**End of Volume 1 - Stranger of Eorzea**

---

*Hey, Author here. Hope you enjoyed Volume 1. Volume 2 is on chapter 19 as of me editing this and I have quite a while to go. Volume 1 was uploaded and edited all at once. I'm personally not a fan of having to stack chapters, so that's how I ended up releasing it.

Volume 2 is longer and more dense with content, (And smut. I don't know what came over me but there's quite a bit of it. 2-4 chapters of straight smut at one point.) so it didn't seem fair to hold it back from you for that long. I've set check points in my story's overall timeline and I'll break it up into either quarters or thirds for Volume 2. Volume 3 isn't even started yet so idk what I'll do for that release.

Anyways. Let me cook. If you liked this, expect more. If you didn't like this, expect more. Bye bye o/. See you next season or whatever.*