@Steelcarbuncle

Conflux, Pt. 4

“So if we don’t find a way out of this…we go back to our homes, yeah?”

The Commander shook her head.  “No, I don’t think that’s how it works.”  She looked around the small cavern, then turned to look at the dark tree in the center. “This dimension will just continue to shrink until it completely collapses in itself.”

“And if we’re inside, we just…disappear.” Anafenza stated this as a matter of fact, to which the Commander nodded in confirmation.  She swallowed the lump in her throat.  “Ok…how do we get out then?”

The woman shook her head. “Maybe it’s as easy as just finding a portal of some sort…somewhere that connects directly to our dimensions. Otherwise?  I…really don’t know.”

Stormy was standing closer to the tree.  She reached out to it, fascinated by the clouds of dark fog roiling off of it.  “What is this?”  She turned to the other women, then looked at Ana.  “You said you recognized it?  It represented your soul?”

Anafenza nodded.  “I…have seen it before in dreams, yes.  I had taken to interpreting it as my life force, my soul.  The vines…are the curse I bear, choking out my life, taking control.”

They gathered around it, looking at the massive trunk that reached to the top of the cavern, branches spreading outward just before hitting the ceiling.  “How poetic,” the Commander commented, pulling her scanning device out again.  She waved it around the tree, frowning.  “I…am not picking up anything except…an energy that my tricorder can’t identify. I can successfully scan the rocks in the cavern and the two of you but this…it’s as if it’s not even there.” She snapped the device shut again before reaching a hand out to feel the tree.  Stormy did likewise, though Ana stayed away from it, as scared as she was of it.  “It’s cold,” the woman commented, feeling the solid surface of the tree beneath her hand.

Stormy pulled away and turned again to Anafenza, crossing her arms over her chest.  “Something still isn’t adding up.”

The other women looked at her curiously, waiting for her to continue.

She motioned to the Commander.  “Both of us are ‘Jessica St. Peter.’  We look nearly the same, we have nearly similar histories, abilities, quirks, personalities.  But why are we all here?  If this pocket dimension was formed because we all have something in common, then why, specifically, are you here, Anafenza?”

Anafenza winced, and shied away from the girl’s withering gaze.  “I…I don’t know.  I knew a woman who called herself Jessika at one point…Jessika Saphir.  Her real name was Jessielle though, I think.”

The other two Jessicas looked at one another and nodded.  “It’s a start.”  Stormy turned back and pressed more.  “Why did she use a false name, do you know?  Were you close to her?”

Anafenza bit her lip and shook her head.  “I…don’t know all the details.  I know her family had been accused of…heretical activities in her home city of Ishgard, and they fled to avoid being killed.  Her house – Vingesang – doesn’t even exist anymore because of it.”

“Vingesang?”  The Commander looked puzzled.  “That’s…an odd name.”

“Familiar sounding, yeah,” Stormy commented.  “French?”

“It sounds like it, yeah,” the other woman confirmed with a nod.

Anafenza just shrugged. “It is an Ishgardian Elezen name.”

“Another race on your world?”

Anafenza nodded.  “Tall, long-limbed, pointy ears.  Very regal.”

Stormy smirked, before looking at the Commander again.  “My French is not that great; my JD has been trying to teach me but, sadly, I haven’t picked up too much.  Do you know what it means?”

The Commander shook her head, but instead pulled out her tricorder, tapping a few buttons, and then repeated the word, “Vingesang.”  She held out the device’s screen for Stormy and Ana to see.  “Vine of Blood…Bloodvine?”

Stormy recoiled, her eyes wide, and stared at Anafenza.  “You have got to be kidding me…Bloodvine?!”

For as surprised as Stormy was, Ana was equally confused.  “You…know this word?”

Stormy nodded slowly. “It was…the name of the boarding school my…my girlfriends went to, in the Isles.  The Bloodvine Academy.”

The Commander laughed, smiling bright.  “There’s one connection, then.  Bloodvine, and this other Jessika.  But that doesn’t explain why you’re here, Anafenza.  Were you two lovers?”

Anafenza shook her head. “No…I hardly knew her.  I…I mean…”  She fidgeted, fretting over telling these women the real reason why a third Jessika wasn’t here with them.  “It wasn’t my fault!  My mind was taken over, I couldn’t stop myself!”

The Commander nodded slowly, her eyes showing she was putting the dots together.  Stormy, however was having a harder time.  “What did you do, Ana?”

“I killed her,” Anafenza admitted flatly, and she winced to see Stormy pull away from her, eyes wide, electricity dancing across her fists.  “I was trying to kill someone else and…Jessika was in my way.  And I killed her for it.  This was…years ago.”  Ana wiped her eyes, feeling more tears come out of shame.

Stormy looked to the Commander, then back to Anafenza.  “Are you here to kill us too, then?”

“Jessiy!” The Commander chastised her, moving towards Anafenza.  “She’s just as confused as we are about all this…And she was being brainwashed to do it.”  Still she looked to the auri girl with a slight hesitation.  “You’re free now, right?”

Ana nodded, and the older woman moved closer to embrace her.  “Alright…so another connection, albeit tenuous.  But even then, you shouldn’t be here with us.  But you have to be the key to this; what else are you not telling us, Ana?”

Stormy took a deep, calming breath.  “Why is she the key?”

The Commander motioned with a nod of her head to the tree in the center of the cavern.  “I don’t recognize that, do you?  She did; it’s tied to her.  There is something that binds all three of us together, and it’s obviously not just our names or histories.  This third Jessica had a connection to us through ‘Bloodvine,’ what else could there be I wonder?  Anafenza has to be the key to this.”  She ran her hands softly through the auri’s hair, comforting and soothing.  “And I think, if we can begin to understand how we all fit together, we can understand how to leave this place before we die here together.”

The Star | Persona - What is your Major Arcana Social Link unto others?

The Arcana is the means by which all is revealed. Happiness, and joy are irreplaceable and will forever live in the heart of thee." The Star Arcana is also commonly associated with hope, self-confidence, faith, altruism, luck, generosity, peace and joy. You are filled with hopefulness and joy.

@little-purple-thundercloud, for your viewing pleasure, lol

Reblog this if you roleplay or are willing to roleplay on Discord

Jess had a great sword that she could summon (literally pull it from her aether, out of thin air) called Blood Thorn. This was tied to her family's bloodvine curse, and the blade was identical to other female members of her family (it was the same blade). Now that the curse has passed on to Ana...well...we'll see when she summons it what happens to it. Ze's daggers aren't named, though he has considered rather silly ideas like "Thunder" and "Lightning," to go with his Stormcrow persona.

Does your character have a named weapon?

I don’t mean just the in-game weapons, but does your character have a family weapon that has a name? Do they have a relic they found? Or did they name it themselves?

Another entry...

i still wish I hadn’t said anything to Lyta. Just let her bring the mangey maingey mangei dirty cat with her. And no, I didn’t know she was handling things in private because it was in private - every time we were in public it was like she just ignored what happened. i would have never known she was supporting me. Im thankful Anzu was there to back me up but also to keep us...more civil than anything else

i miss lyta. I need to ask her about thise these problems. the song. the scar. The dreams. Did that girl Jessika have them too? Hear the song too? And why, everytime I touch my sword (which has become even more awkward to control and use) the word “Bloodthorn” screams in my mind.

we think we found where the twins were being held. thank the twelve their they’re still alive...Master Zezewai is going to infiltrate another possible location alone, but I’m sure Lyta and Elrick are correct so I will be going with them, assuming Lyta doesn’t turn my words and intentions against me and force me to stay back with Myra. I just want to make sure they’re safe. I hope we can save them

Another night, another escape...

They’re married!  And I am genuinely, without a doubt, absolutely happy for them!  I knew it was coming even when i told him I loved him.  And it never bothered me.  I am very happy I went to celebrate.  They were adorable.  And I meant every word.  Every blessing.  They are perfect together, and I couldn’t be happier for them.

But Khala.  what he said bothered me more than it should have.  more than I think it should have.  “I don’t find every au ra attractive,” and I could feel him avoiding looking at me.  of course he meant me.  this after complimenting ayame on her beauty.  And anzu.

Ayame, Anzu, Suzume...all of them Raen.  All of them refined.   Cultured.  Learned.  Beautiful in their white scales and pale complexions.

is this what makes someone beautiful?  is this why I’m not?  Because I’m a dark-scaled, dark-skinned savage from the steppe?  Is this why no one consorts with me except out of pity?  I thought it just this accursed scar on my side, or my sins but

i am ugly.  mayhaps I shoudl just clothe myself and save everyone the suffering of looking upon me.

Conflux, Pt. 10

“A tavern…on the ship. I’m not sure the ships of Limsa have a dedicated area to drink.  Granted, pirates tend to just drink wherever…”

The Commander chuckled and took a sip of her drink.  “Do you always talk so much when you’re nervous?”

Stormy giggled, while Anafenza just tilted her head.  “I’m…I’m sorry?”

“You’re in an unknown place, drinking after your life was in danger, on the eve of your life either being in more danger or the threat of you being stranded.  It’s ok to be scared.”  She took another drink.  “We are too…”

Ana just shook her head. “I think I’m more just overwhelmed. I’d imagined other worlds, and I’ve heard stories but…this experience?  Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought I’d meet other aspects of myself.  Or, rather…” She paused, frowning and looking away. “You’re not me.”

The women looked at each other with concerned expressions.  Stormy finally reached forward, putting a hand softly on Ana’s back. “I…don’t think that’s true.”

“I’m not Jessika. Jessielle.  Whatever her name was, she was the missing aspect of you, not me.” Anafenza shook her head.  “I feel…guilty that I denied you the opportunity to meet her.”

The Commander shook her head.  “That may be…but you’re you.  And you still have that piece of her inside you that connects you to us.  You’re one of us now.”

Stormy smiled and nodded, then wrapped her arms around the smaller auri and hugged her tight.  “And we’re going to miss you a lot.  I wish we could have gotten to know each other better.” She let go of Anafenza with a small giggle.  “Without the threat of looming erasure from existence hanging over our heads.”

Anafenza and the Commander rolled their eyes.  Ana continued.  “I’m serious though…”

“It happened a long time ago,” the Commander countered.  “And you weren’t in control.  It’s sad, and I won’t lie, we both didn’t want to trust you initially.  But, what you did?  The connection you have to us, to your Jessika?  It helped save us.”

Anafenza took a drink. “I wish I knew how to control it all better.”  She shook her head.  “She was a warrior.  She could use these powers.  And then the two of you.”  She nodded to the Commander.  “Captain of a…a ship in space.  A leader, in the middle of a war, protecting your people.  And you,” she put her hands on top of Stormy’s wrapped around her and squeezed.  “You can make it rain wherever you please.  You’re a hero, protecting the innocent.”  She shook her head.  “I bake sweets and cook breakfasts.  The last time I tried to pick up a sword, I no longer felt as if it were an extension of me. I feel off balance…”

“What, that large sword you were holding in the cave?”

Anafenza glanced over her shoulder at the blue woman.  “I beg your pardon?”

“When you allowed more aether to flow out of you,” the Commander continued for Stormy.  “A large sword appeared from nowhere in your hands. We assumed it was part of this aether you store, connected to your Jess.”

Anafenza shook her head. “If I did…I didn’t do it by trying. This is news to me.”

The other two women glanced at each other in some confusion.  Finally, Stormy gave the auri girl another quick squeeze, and Ana felt her plant a kiss on the back of her head.  “Maybe it’s this ‘bloodvine’ power you received?  Maybe that’s why normal weapons don’t feel right anymore; because you have a weapon inside you now instead.”  She let Anafenza go so the woman could sit back up, before wrapping an arm around her shoulders and bringing her into a side embrace.  “I’m sure you could learn to use that to help…”

The Commander nodded. “I didn’t exactly earn my command in a traditional sense; I was selfish, trying to protect another ship that had my friends on it.  The rest of the command crew was dead – they’d been killed by, well…it’s hard to explain what they are.”  She blushed apologetically.  “Unless you can imagine zombie-like creatures that are part man, part machine?”

Ana shook her head.  “Not really…”

“The Borg.  It’s not too important; what matters is that, when another ship was in danger, a ship I knew had my two closest friends on it, I risked my ship and the survivors on board to defend my friends.” She shook her head.  “It was stupid, and it went against all sound judgement…but I was rewarded for rescuing that ship.  And I was given the Rafale.”  She sighed. “Sometimes, when we don’t expect to or maybe for the worst of reasons…we find that we have that strength, that power, inside us.  I’m sure you have the same, Anafenza of the Ejinn.”  She smiled encouragingly, raising her glass.  Stormy did the same, and Ana joined after a moment.  “To your future adventures, Ana.  We know you’ll do amazing things.”

Anafenza smiled, grateful. The women tapped their glasses together and then downed the drinks.  Stormy giggled as she put her glass down, then tugged on Anafenza’s hands.  “Let’s go dance, c’mon!”

The Commander watched as they left the quiet confines of the Captain’s “VIP section” of the ship’s bar, otherwise known as “Hurricane Hal’s”. As the doors opened to let them out, the bass and high notes of the electronic music blared in from the outside bar, and she watched the two women join the small gathering of crew on the floor of the Category 7 club.

Aha. My FFXIV sub ran out and my tire is still flat. ;-;

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