#Uncoiling of Bahamut

[toadeyes-miqote]

FFxiv Write 2023 Master list

Had not done continuous chapters in years. Took on this challenge to use some of the notes, partially done fics, scene descriptions in my notebooks. Had to go short story and summary/narrative (?) format due to lack of of a coherent chapter transition point and there being other little scenes in between those as well -_-'

If anything I cleared out a good chunk of my notes. Though some like Mor Dhona Days(ARR, EW 6.0 and 6.1) and Road to recovery stuff(EW between 6.0 and 6.1) still have bits and pieces coming out of the woodwork -_-'

Prompt #1: Envoy - An unused piece of Post EW timeline that involves traveling through Orthard with Hylnyan, Thancred, G'raha and Estinien Prompt #2: Bark - Post EW timeline, A parody dealing with Tomestone farming for mounts and a mount story Prompt #3: Extra Credit - Feathers. Post EW timeline but HW Vanu tribal quest related Prompt #4: Off the Hook - Taking Inventory 2 got transcribed. Hylnyan and Thancred's relationship Prompt #5: Barbarous - Timeline in mid EW, someone remembers Hylnyan all the way from end ARR as one of eight

Prompt #6: Ring - ShB 5.3 onwards Hylnyan from the POV of a dungeon support NPC's POV. Consider to be after Shed prompt Prompt #7: Noisome - EW dungeon run thing and a Miqo'te hunter Prompt #8: Shed - ShB post 5.3. My take on his mindset I guess Prompt #9: Fair - Mid HW between Awakening in Ul'dah and Into the Aery. short story for a thing that happened in Gpose Prompt #10: Extra Credit - Envoy. Post ARR, Taking Inventory 4 got transcribed. A very short window of happiness for Thancred. A Mor Dhona days short

Prompt #11: Once Bitten, Twice Shy - The start of EW end 6.0 Dreamless Sleep series. No she's not as okay as you think she is, that last solo duty took much out of her. Prompt #12: Dowdy - ShB clearly someone expected things to be fanicer with Hylnyan's sense of fashion. What?! Do you not know how puny she is compared to her enemies? Prompt #13: Check - Pre 6.5 EW short. Being delivery Miqo'te, feat Ryne Prompt #14: Clear - Mid EW, Hylnyan's decoy team and the fellow collaborators who knew since mid-late HW Prompt #15: Portentous - Post ARR Thancred and Cid short that finally got transcribed. A Mor Dhona days short

Prompt #16: Jerk - EW end 6.0 that is after Dreamless Sleep series, the Mor Dhona part of Road to reovery. Something ridculous about Housing and the people looking out for Hylnyan since the Bloody Banquet. A Mor Dhona days short. My personal fave. the notes were tame, this one came out silly. The noodle incident is what it is. Prompt #17: Resting this day Prompt #18: A Fish Out of Water - ARR Pray return to NG+ Prompt #19: Weal - EW end 6.0 Dreamless Sleep series, think about her companions who had to closed in around her, some of them been through this once in ShB Prompt #20: Hamper -EW end 6.0 Dreamless Sleep series, Aetherial Sea Team was suppose to get a short story to replace an earlier one that was scraped

Prompt #21: Grave - EW end 6.0 Dreamless Sleep series Prompt #22: Fulsome - ShB musing, Light corruption mindset. That which could have been. Prompt #23: Suit - Post EW timeline but SB Anata tribal quest related Prompt #24: Resting this day Prompt #25: Call it a Day - Post EW Pandemonium timeline, A parody dealing with Tomestone farming. Pandemonium boss spoiler

Prompt #26: Last - 6.4 timeline picking up ShB 5.5 stuff. Literally leveling WHM to clear the quest chain before touching 6.5 MSQ. Prompt #27: Sole - FFXIV short musing about Hylnyan Prompt #28: Blunt - EW end 6.0 Dreamless Sleep series news about the injured Hylnyan travels Prompt #29: Contravention - EW spoiler guest in Binding coil with special guest stars Gudako and Co from FGO and a certain missing Catdude who's story never got told because I'm not ready to play through the time line that he got thrown into. Prompt #30: Amity - EW end 6.0 Closing off the Dreamless Sleep series

[angelrider13]

Hey. Hey @sparklecryptid, I was thinking things about your OCs and my OCs and various other OCs and then I thought what if and SI was reborn as one of the Astrals?

And then I accidentally started a fic. (This may also interest @charlottedabookworm, @luxroyalty, @hamelin-born, @theperidotshade, @theotherguysride

A girl named for the sea drowns in it and then wakes up with scales for skin and saltwater in her veins with Etro standing over her naming her Tidemother. The sea is her and she is the sea, wild and ferocious and free. There are five others and this is familiar to her, this is a story she knows, but this is long before any of the characters are born, before the conflict has even arisen. Humanity is in its infancy - young and new and naive. Her fellow Astrals are the same as her, newly created seeing the world with new eyes. They are given domains and choose others as their own.

Bahamut is light and order. But he is also war and destruction and pride. Shiva is ice and snow and all things cold. But she is also death and duty. Titan is the earth and the stone. But he is also sacrifice and strength and suffering. Ifrit is fire and heat and flame. But he is also passion and hate and love. Ramuh is lightning and storms on the horizon. But he is also justice and truth.

She is Leviathan. She is the sea, the water, both the waves on the surface and the depths far below. She is fickle and free, kind and cruel, fierce and calm. She is change and tragedy and hope all rolled into one.

Time passes and humanity grows and learns and evolves and Leviathan remembers, does not let herself forget the story from before, keeps a wary eye on her siblings and the world at large. The Astrals, for all their distance, are revered as Gods, though that is not, nor was it ever, their purpose. They were not made to be worshiped by humans, but to be guardians of Eos. Ifrit has always felt things deeply and strongly and he loves the humans so. He speaks to them, answers their prayers.

She is not so forward, though she does not keep her distance like the others. Humans are a resilient race - she knows, she remembers - but they are also as fickle as her tides. She will not solve their problems, will not step in and fix things for them. If they are hungry, she will teach them to fish. Many call her cold for it, think her distant like the others, because her kindness is not like Ifrit’s.

(There is a story of a man who falls into a river. The water is deep and swift and the man is a strong swimmer, but not that strong - he cannot escape the current. He prays to the Tidemother to save him. A rock appears, disrupting the flow of water, but he pays it no mind. The Tidemother will save him. A log floats by, but he ignores it. If he prays hard enough, the Tidemother will protect him. A long branch overhangs the river. He doesn’t reach for it. He prays and prays and prays. He drowns.

“You didn’t save me!” he shouts at Leviathan in the Beyond, “I prayed to you and you didn’t answer!”

She is unmoved. “I answered you three times,” she says coolly, “I sent you a rock, a log, a branch. You ignored all of them. You must save yourself, boy, or you remain unsaved.”)

Eventually, Ifrit learns the lesson that she already knew. Humanity will always push for more. Ifrit gives and gives and gives and when he can give nothing else, humanity turns away from him. They take his teachings and his knowledge and make it there own. They learn from it, grow with it, change it figure out how to make it the more that Ifrit himself failed to give.

Ifrit has always felt strongly and this act that he sees as a betrayal turns all his love to hate. In his anger, he awakens a darkness they were meant to guard the world against. Humanity crumbles under the weight their war and the growing darkness. Bahamut grows desperate to restore order presents a Prophecy and a Crystal to a bloodline long blessed by Eos’s light and Etro’s grace. It is only after the fact that Leviathan realizes the Crystal is Eos’s heart, that it was something Bahamut was never meant to take. Ramuh is horrified when she confronts him for he remembers where the others have forgotten. But there are laws in place, laws older than they are, that they cannot break. Bahamut has declared a Prophecy and the Crystal cannot be returned until its completion.

Leviathan rages in her seas when she realizes that Bahamut’s Chosen King is the boy who played on her shores. Who offered her flowers and fruits and stones from deep within landlocked fields and caves that her waters did not reach. Who played in her waves and explored her tide pools and spoke to the creatures who called her waters home. She rages because she remembers. She knows what happens to this boy who is now a man, who is strong enough to save himself and others, who she claimed as her own long ago.

She rages when he falls from Bahamut’s grace, when the Draconian orders the Astrals to sleep. She uncoils, towering over him.

“I am the sea!” she screams at him, Ramuh’s ire fueling the tempest in her heart and her waves, “You do not command me!”

She sinks into her waves, into her domain, where Bahamut has no power, and pulls at the bond with her Chosen (he was hers first, always hers) and feels his grief and anger and horror. She rages because there is nothing she can do but grant him the safety of her waters.

So the other Astrals sleep and the Accursed wanders and the Tidemother waits.

[xorvintaal]

Chapter 1 Excerpt

Rounding the corner, they found their master sitting cross legged on a maroon carpet, surrounded by children. In his hands, he held several cards, each with detailed illustrations of dragons. A small drake the size of a thumb, clinging on to a berry like its life depended on it. Of a wyvern, with spiny plates running down its back and breathing fire. Each of the children’s eyes were focused entirely on the Guildmaster, their expressions elated and excited. Laying beside Glaadian - the wall opened up behind them baring the room to the sky - was a gold dragon. Ahvaaxerell. He wore a pair of half-moon spectacles over his milky silver eyes, whiskers like that of a catfish dropping down below its chin as he curved his massive tail around the group of younglings, keeping them close together and paying attention.

Neither of them seemed to acknowledge their entrance.

“There are all kinds of drakes that live in our world.” Glaadian reached up, touching his hand to Ahvaaxerell’s nose.  “Drakes are not the same as true blooded dragons. While they are ‘dragons’ in the sense of the word, they lack the arcane qualities that dragons possess that allow them to bind to a mortal Rider. There are countless kinds of drakes. Fruit drakes. Shadow drakes. Guardian drakes. Some are small and tame enough to be kept as pets.” He gave a whistle. Snoozing on a desk, a young drake reminiscent to a lizard more than a dragon looked up lazily, and crawled onto Glaadian’s lap. “And others are used in war. But there are only several kinds of dragons.”

Lysander cleared his throat.

Both the guildmaster and dragon’s gazes lifted to his, gold and silver respectively and Lysander felt his eyes avert to the side under the heavy watch of his masters.  “Ah, children,” Glaadian said, his voice sweet and low. Too sweet for low for comfort. Lysander felt a knot of uncertainty growing in his stomach.  “Here we have three boys, about to graduate and become fully realized Dragon Riders. Shall we have them join us for our lesson?”

Erolith groaned beside Lysander. “I’d rather avoid reading, sir.”

Glaadian’s eyes flashed dangerously. “Oh? Then perhaps a more practical lesson is in order. Would you prefer that?”

“Anything is better than reading a book.”

“I see. Well, what do you say, children?” Excited laughter bubbled up from the children. “A practical lesson it is. Watch and learn, younglings.”

The sound of steel sliding against leather was the only warning they had. Erolith drew his wooden sword off his back and maneuvered it in front of him, Glaadian’s blade cracking against his own. Glaadian growled, pressing forward against the young apprentice, whose legs wobbled under the weight of his master.  “Tell me, Erolith,” Glaadian grunted, his gloved hand clenching the pommel of his blade as he threw Erolith backwards, the elf stumbling back a few steps, ducking as the blunt edge of Glaadian’s blade came sweeping over his head. “What stance would you use against a foe more physically powerful than you?”

“Wide arm stance,” Erolith grunted, striking forward. His sword cracked so hard against Glaadian’s that he felt the vibrations rocking up through his wrist and felt a familiar ache beginning to take root.

Lysander and Kendrick dodged to the side as the two fighters began to bring their fight closer, Ahvaaxerell wisely taking up position in front of the screaming children, wrapping his tail around the younglings as they jumped up and down excitedly.

Erolith was a good fighter, among apprentices. But Glaadian, he was masterful. Erolith’s motions were choppy and filled with hesitation, while their silver haired mentor moved with the grace and fluidity of a mountain stream, easily sidestepping one of Erolith’s attacks before coming up behind him, cracking the blunt of his sword against Erolith’s back. “What is the only cure for a wyvern’s stinger?”

“Vulbox salve,” Erolith was recovered in an instant, swinging backwards blindly towards Glaadian, and his sword caught his master’s.  

“And what weaknesses would a rider of gold possess,” Glaadian lunged forward, feinting a strike before spinning around Erolith’s frame, knocking the pommel of his sword into the elf’s gut. Erolith gasped, doubling over, crimson bangs falling into his face as he grimaced.

“What does it matter,” Erolith hissed. “I’d never fight a fellow Rider of Bahamut.”

“Wrong. You are right now.”  

He pressed forward and Erolith stepped back, before giving a shout of surprise - his left foot dangled over the chasm that dropped down along the side of the mountain, blue skies above him. He made the mistake of looking away, just for a moment. Glaadian’s gloved hand grabbed his collar, keeping Erolith held unbalanced over the edge - Erolith’s pupils dilated in terror.  “Never drop your guard, boy. Even the hearts of Bahamut’s Riders can be corrupted.” He gave Erolith a shove, and he was gone, dropped over the edge, his panicked cry echoing across the mountainside.

Glaadian snapped his fingers. Ahvaaxerell was uncoiled around the children in a moment, his serpentine body disappearing as he shot out of the window, diving downwards. Lysander and Kendrick were stationary in shock, watching the open wall - before Ahvaaxerell emerged from the clouds, his great wings resplendent sails in the morning light, and clutched in his talons was Erolith, shaking like a leaf.  He was dropped in the middle of the room, immediately swallowed by up by a swarm of youth as they tugged on their favourite elder apprentice, asking if he was okay and if he was hurt and if he liked flying.  

“You’re right, Erolith,” Glaadian purred, crouching down beside Erolith, resting a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “I quite like these practical lessons.”

“Same here,” Kendrick cackled from beside Lysander, who gave a bright nod.

Erolith scowled at both of them, before muttering an apology under his breath. Glaadian stood, waving at the children. “Off with you. The drake handler wants you little ones down in the courtyard.”

[0bsidian5ire]

The One Who Commands the Gods: Chapter 1

Summary: Out of all the things you've done as a Summoner, fighting with a Garlean Legatus over what type of control one can have over eikons is certainly one of the weirder ones. Fortunately, the Allagans (and therefore you) have far more experience with eikons then he does. And then there's the fact that Bahamut and the rest of the eikons you know would really like Shinryu to stop copying them and do something original for once...

Originally posted here.

Chapter 1: To Kill an Eikon

There are times being a summoner is annoying. Over time, you've learned to not have the egis of well-known eikons summoned in major cities (The Warring Triad, nobody has a problem with). Ever since you preformed the austerities, you've heard the eikons in your head, and they often make more sense to you then normal people do (you're all beholden to other people's wishes, if simply because no one else could ever hope to do something). You'll never tell the Scions what you're actually doing when you enter the Dreadwrym Trance (except Urianger; he understands unsafe magics, and Ascians and using one against the other). And well... the less said about the first time you cast Teraflare in full view of everyone, the better (Alphinaud and Alisaie didn't speak to you for a week afterwards). So yes, being a summoner often lands you in awkward situations.

Standing in the Royal Menagerie before Zenos and the Omega-bound Shinryu is definitely one of those times. Bahamut roars within you and you know what it is to be curled up in that cage. Wings pressed tight against tail which curls around horns which scrape against claws which can't claw out! The Warring Triad rouse in response and for a moment you know what it is to be caged earth-wind-thunder-fire-ice. Stop it! you roar back, before Ifrit, Titian and Garuda can bring up the memory of Ultima Weapon. We'll get him out. You'll also send him on to the Lifestream and gain his aether, but by this time the eikons know not to argue with you. The fact that you have a tendency to address the very issues that caused them to be summoned in the first place helps immensely.

The only thing standing in your way is Zenos yae Galvus and you know he is weak. Or rather, Ifrit knows. Zenos may be an inferno, one that surprised you in its ferocity, but he's never been though a true inferno himself. It's obvious from the way he began melting into dross when your own tempered power (no, not that kind of Tempered) was finally a match for his. Now all that remains is to let that dross burn away.

You take your attention off of Shinryu to focus on Zenos. He's monologuing again, and obviously thinks he knows what you were doing. "...you are the true architect of our design. You who fought the very soul of vengeance to the edge and watched him fall; you who let slip the Allagan hound to drive this eikon into my arms!"

You nearly laugh. Between Bahamut, Sephirot, Sophia and Zurven you knew exactly what monster Nero was releasing. It wasn't like you could tell anyone what it was without some very long and damning explanations. That and there was no way to get into Shinryu's core like with Bahamut. You do hope Nero appreciates that the only thing you did to him afterwards was make off with his Red Baron; Bahamut really wanted (still wants) you to let him know what the full might of your Dreadwrym Trance feels like.

"...Forgive me, this... sensation is wholly unfamiliar to me." Zenos continues. "A question, then--and I should like very much for you to speak from the heart. If I were to stand aside, what would you do to this eikon?"

Now you really do laugh. "Kill it. Obviously." How else are you supposed to let its aether wash over you?

Zenos looks almost disappointed. "And here I thought you were different. Come now. You obviously have some power over the eikons; you wield their powers nearly as easily as you do your own." He eyes the Titian-Egi that looks like Sephirot-Egi hovering at your side. "How could you hope to bind them to you if they have been slain?"

"Oh please," you scoff. "Since when did killing an eikon and binding it to yourself have to be mutually exclusive?" For that matter, what surer way to gain an eikon's power then to pattern your own aether so closely after an eikon's aether that there is barely any difference between the two?

Zenos raises an eyebrow. "Then I suppose your never did master your abilities?"

You raise an eyebrow back. "What?" You're pretty sure that at this point you are inventing as many new techniques as you are learning them.

The look of disappointment is back. "I speak of the Echo, of course." Zenos looks you in the eye. "Does it merely render you immune to eikonic influence? or is it rather that your influence is far greater then theirs?"

Your jaw almost drops and you find you can't look away from him. All the eikons' presence in the Lifestream is riveted on you (not that it usually isn't anyway) and your internal response. You've never even thought of trying something like that. Why go though all that trouble of wrestling with the Echo when the Allagan summoning arts are so much more reliable and allow you to have plenty of influence as it is? Even if you did know how to have that much influence, you wouldn't use it in that way. You have too many nightmares of looking out of nurolinks, internment hulks and the Ultima Weapon to want that for someone else, even an eikon.

Zenos plows on. "When I read van Baelsar's reports, I immediately saw the boundless potential of the Echo. I saw how it could be instrumental in binding an eikon to one's will. Hence my research and the Resonant--and oh so much more!" You don't let on how much what he could be researching scares you. The eikons know though; they've seen you pour over Allagan research and know you don't see a difference between what Allag did and what you found in Castrum Abania. On and on Zenos goes. Apparently someone in Garlemald knows the danger the eikons really bring. From your experience, most don't.

Garuda's cackles bring you out of your musings. Madness! she shrieks. He calls for the reckoning! Will we indulge him!?

Yes! Ravana answers back. He claims he knows the glory to be found in combat! Let us test him! The rest of the eikons you defeated join in his sentiment in the back of your mind.

It warms your heart to know that they are including you with them. What they really mean is that they'd rather you send them on to the Lifestream when you find them then face imprisonment again. And Zenos has only ever imprisoned people in his own perception of them.

Which is what he's doing to you right now. "...you understand this. You and I are one and the same. Together, we could while away the quiet hours, as a friend and confidant... if you will accept me."

You refuse him easily. "No, I've never understood where you're coming from." Violence has only ever been the means to an end for you. Whether that be freeing people (Eorzean, beastman, eikon, it doesn't matter) or winning the respect of your faithful egis.

Zenos laughs. "... and yet, in doing so, you prove me right. We are warriors. 'Twas plain from the first how it would end." He's right of course, but not for the reasons he thinks. "You live for these moments--when all hangs in the balance... when the difference between life and death is but a single stroke." He reminds you of Garuda before the Ultima Weapon caught her; so drunk on his own power that he can't see another outcome then the one he knows will happen. "I live for them too! This is who we are, my friend! This is all we are! Ala Mhigo and Doma and Garlemald be damned!" He lifts Ame-no-Habakiri up and slices though one of the vertices of the Omega-prison.

It splits in two and Shinryu uncoils himself from the confines. Aether streams from his jaws in an effort to temper you and Zenos, to no avail. "We tower above the gods!" Zenos shouts at you through the aether. "You by your gift, I by my might! And before the resonant the gods shall be made to kneel!" Red-black aether rolls off of Zenos and onto Shinryu. It curls around the eikon and burrows into him before rushing out in a huge shockwave that nearly knocks you over. When you look again, Zenos is nowhere to be seen and Shinryu has a huge crystal growth on his chest with Zenos inside of it. "An ending to mark a new beginning!" the eikon roars in Zenos' voice. Instead of the golden red it used to be, Shinryu's aether is a sickly green. It's one of the worst things you've seen happen to an eikon since you saw Ultima Weapon devour Ifrit, Titian and Garuda.

It's also one of the stupidest things Zenos could have done. I knew he was deserving of judgment before this, Rahmu thunders, but this is nothing but foolishness on his part. You have to agree. Zenos could have bested you before as a man and there are men, Garleans even, you have refused to kill before. But as an eikion? There is nothing you are better at fighting, no eikon you have not sent on to the Lifestream, no eikon who's power you have not earned the right to wield. If there was any doubt you would triumph in this last fight, it is gone now.

You run away from the palace, looking for some place that is large enough to bear the force of a eikon. The entire time you're talking to the eikons in your head and trying to remember what Shinryu's aether felt like when he tried to temper you. It's a weird aether, and you don't know what elements it is. The fact that Nidhogg's aether is mixed in with it is not helping. Louisoix interrupts, which is rare for him; he's never approved of what you did with the Dreadwrym Trance, much less that you have no qualms about summoning Demi-Bahamut. I take it none of us want to deal with Zenos on a permanent basis? Dealing with the Heavensward is taxing enough.

There's an instinctive recoil from everyone, even the Heavensward. The Heavensward are the ekions which still hate you the most.

Nay, we do not. Ysayle pauses in thought. Zenos is only in control of Shinryu. He is not bound to him as you, I and the Heavensward were were bound to our primals before they were sent on to the Lifestream. So long as Shinryu is sent on first, that should not change.

So avoid damaging that crystal growth then? you ask.

Yes, Louisoix says. I believe the reason why Shinryu's aether is so hard to pin down is because it is comprised of more aspects of aether then you are used to sensing in a primal. With that, the regenerating fire of the Phoenix burns down to mere coals.

Shinryu's tail crashes down on the walkway behind you, reminding you of what you need to finish. You turn to look if you can go back, only to find you are stranded on top of a pillar of marble far from the palace. Beside you is Sephirot-Egi. In front of you is Shinryu, wings unfurled, teeth bared and tail swishing behind him like a coeurl. It's good enough. Everyone ready? you ask as you pull out Lemegeton, the most complete collection of Allagan summoning rituals you have found.

Thou sayest Shinryu is modeled in our image! Bahamut roars. Only I am the true judge of that! We shalt test him! And you do.

It immediately becomes apparent that while Ilberd did know how to make an eikon, he had very little knowledge of magical theory. No sooner do you cast Tri-Disaster at Shinryu does Leviathan call out, Tidal Wave! You look behind you and run into the wall of water that sprang into existence. It pushes you toward Shinryu, and you finally get a feel for his aether.

He didn't, Zurven crackles.

He did, you shout back as you dodge around a puddle of water left on the floor. Ilberd really did make Shinryu aspected to all the major magical elements. At least it majorly simplifies things.

At first glance, having an eikon aspected to all the the major elements seems like a good idea. Theoretically, it can attack with all the elements and can absorb them all as well. Practically, it leaves a lot to be desired. Shinryu may be able to attack with all six elements, but each element has only one or two attacks each. It ends up making him much more predictable then he otherwise would be. The eikons with the most complete knowledge of their element are the ones with only one elemental aspect. There are still few things you remember being more terrifying then realizing the first six elemental eikons you fought did things with their elements you didn't think possible. The ones with two elemental aspects often blended them together in new ways, but when they used their elelments singularly, they didn't have that level of mastery. For better or worse, Shinryu has only been able to use one element at a time. He also only seems to use abilities the other eikons have used and only when his aether becomes dangerously over-aspected.

Or it might be Zenos' influence. Whatever the Resonance is, you highly doubt advanced magical theory is something it provides; the Echo doesn't after all.

Well, whoever is in control could certainly be more creative, you grumble at Bahamut. You're half-joking. The most terrifying use of elemental aether you've ever seen was at Bahamut's hand. Or rather, the most terrifying use of aether, period. Tiamat was no fool when she created an eikon in Bahamut's image and gave him only one elemental aspect, that of fire. Only instead of Ifrit's meager Forging Fire or Louisoix's regenerating Fire of Rebirth, Bahamut's fire is the Stellar Fire that fuels the sun. And Tiamat gave him the strength and creativity to take full advantage of it. That's when Shinryu takes a page out of Bahamut's book and combines the elements to cast a black Ahk Morn on you.

Thou art correct! Bahamut roars. Thou shalt show him what a true circle of death looks like!

With that, your aether fully attunes to his and for a few precious seconds, the biggest difference between your aether and the Dreadwrym's is the amount of it that can be used at once. Your power is greater, your spells more efficient, the efficiency of the geometries you can calculate infinitely amplified. You pour the strength of your trance into one of your favorite geometries, (x-π)2+(y-Φ)2=02, better known as Deathflare, and release it. Pure aether shoots up through Shinryu and briefly reduces all the aether in its path to nothing. He roars in true pain before flying away.

Globs of aether rain down in Shinryu's wake and crack open to reveal dragons as misshapen and warped as he is. There are many, too many for you to take care of on your own. "Sephirot, cast Ein Sof Ohr!" you make out. The egi does and wind and earth aether grow into a field of life energy. Energy that heals you and strangles the non-life out of the dragons. Again the globs of aether come down and again dragons come out of them. There's only one thing you know of that can take them all out now: Teraflare.

Sephirot-Egi places a shield of rock and wind around you and you dig down into that reservoir of aether most mages know better then to touch. It's the last limit you have, the difference between being being merely tired and aether starvation, but Teraflare costs more aether then you can cast all at once and you need it now. You take all that aether and bring it into the trance with you. Your aether explodes into the form of the Dreadwrym and if anyone was to see your aether now, you're sure they'd think you'd done the same thing with Bahamut as Ysayle did with Shiva.

For Teraflare is like Deathflare. It can only be cast when your aether is a perfect match for Bahamut's. Unlike Deathflare, it is no simple circle of death. Instead, Teraflare is you diffracting your aether a trillion times larger as if though a giant lens. The amount of the energy you end up producing is monstrous.

For mere moments, it is as if a monster does live within your skin. You are at Carteanaeu again, but you are flying up above it, your wings free for the first time in millennia. You take the store of aether you have and refract it through the geometry of (-(1012)-1) * (-1/Φ-1/π)=1012. Teraflare screams down around you and everything it hits is punctured though with a trillion laser-fast lines of aether. The dragons don't die so much as they disintegrate.

When you come back to yourself, the platform is clear of enemies and Shinryu is before you again. Aether streams from him and begins to coalesce into a star. Sephirot-Egi barely shields you in time before the sickly green aether of the Resonance coils around and fits itself against your aether's vibrations, locking you in place.

Fury fills you. You have seen what it is to be trapped though the eikon's memories, but not like this. Not in nothing but a twist of someone's aether. It's not even like what tempering is; that at least robs its victims of the knowledge they should want something else. Zenos wants you to know he's trapped you. You can feel his delight in the aether surrounding you. Instinctively, you take your fury and shove it against the aether surrounding you. You are not going to let him win here. Not with power not his own anyway. The aether of the Resonance vibrates out of phase with yours and you push again. The two different types of aether grind against each other and you bring all the aetherial force you can muster down onto the Resonance. It shears apart and leaves you gasping on the floor. But Shinryu is gone.

Where is he? you shout, hoping someone saw.

Bismark is the first to find him. In the clouds below you. He's coming up fast.

There's just enough time to get your bearings before Shinryu rams up through the walkway you're standing on. You manage to hold on to one of his scales as he flies up toward the mass of aether-clouds that now surround the star he created.

So that is the Resonance. Bahamut's fury stokes your own. Where Allag usest metal and lightning, he usest aether. I knowest how this ends, Channeler. Summon me! It will not come to pass, not again.

Before you can answer, Shinryu corkscrews over a platform in the aether-clouds. You lose your grip and fall to the platform and barely manage to dodge Shinryu's dive-bomb. Alright, let's see how he likes fighting against you. You've accumulated enough Dreadwrym aether now anyway; it would be waste not to use it. And you love using Dreadwyrm aether.

In theory, summoning Bahamut goes against everything the Scions stand for. There simply isn't any getting around the fact that you are calling on a power higher then yourself to strike down your enemies. Only instead of calling Bahamut out of the Lifestream, you call him out of your own aether and power him with the Dreadwyrm aether produced in the Trance and the aether of your egi. In practice (and the Allagans were all about practice), it's no different then any other magic that makes use of your own aether. The result is a short-lived version of the eikon you base your Trance on that can't consume aether. Instead of merely being the essence of Bahamut given form, it is Bahamut, if one with partial skills. There's a reason you call him Demi-Bahamut and not Bahamut-Egi after all.

Demi-Bahamut coalesces out of your aether and blasts Shinyu with Ahk Morn on your command. Enslaver! Defiler! Wyrmwave after Wyrmwave follows in time with your own attacks. Your memory willt fade into the aether beyond recall!

Fighting with Demi-Bahamut is nothing like fighting with an egi. There is too much personality and no fine-tuned control. Like all the eikons, Demi-Bahamut does what he wants even when it is filtered though the desires of the person who summoned him. Fortunately, the only thing you have ever wanted him for is the extra firepower and Bahamut never has a problem with providing that. He's got a lot of (justified) wrath to get out and being summoned for few moments each fight to rage against something is better then never being summoned at all.

It takes one more Ahk Morn for the aether that makes up Demi-Bahamut to be spent. The demi-eikon collapses back into Sephirot-Egi and Bahamut is back where he belongs. By this time, your aether has attuned to his again and the cycle of trancing into summoning starts all over again.

As the fight drags on, something becomes apparent. Shinryu is modeled after the strength Bahamut displayed when he broke out of Dalamud. You might have grown far stronger then you were when you faced down Bahamut, but you never actually faced him the way you're facing Shinryu now. Instead you faced Bahamut in the eikon's literal heart, his corona. This feels about the same. Shinryu is far weaker then Bahamut was and you've got a feeling you know why. You didn't happen to be about this strong when you first manifested, were you? you ask Bahamut.

Perhaps that is the case. I gorge on the sun's aether for eras! He does not have that chance.

It's as good a confirmation as you will get. Whatever the case, Shinryu is incorporating more of his body into the fight then he used to. You dodge around his claws several times and he even tries to flatten you with his tail. It turns out he really doesn't like getting hit there, especially when it's Demi-Bahamut that's doing the hitting. He also starts bringing out other attacks, but all of them are ones the eikons within you have used before and the eikons he's copying enjoy letting you know what attacks he's using.

Finally, aether starts leaking out of Shinryu. Cracks start appearing and you finally get the opportunity to aim Deathflare at the corona buried deep in the eikon's chest. The aether making up Shinryu shudders before all of it, including the crystal Zenos is in, explodes outward. You eagerly reach out and absorb all the aether you can for later before looking for Zenos. He is falling out of Shinryu's cloud. You decided to take the saner route back and form a Warring Laner construct out of Sephirot's aether. It has no combat capabilities, but it is capable of carrying you back down to the Royal Menagerie.

I was honestly expecting more, you tell the rest of the ekions on your flight down.

Our forms depend on the beings calling on us. Many of us are based on beings that actually existed and are expected to have the same capacities they did. Ilberd hadst no such being in mind and only wanted power in abundance. Bahamut laughs. He wouldst do better to create an eikon in thy image!

Yeah, Bahamut. You'd know all about that, wouldn't you? You shudder at the thought and hope nobody ever tries that. Given the types of people most of the eikons are based on though, it is very likely that someone will eventually make the attempt.

Zenos plows into the ground right as you land. Before you can finish it, Lyse and Alphinaud arrive on the scene. "Are you all right!?" Lyse asks you. "We all saw Teraflare and..."

You nod. "I'm fine. Tired, but fine. It's nothing a little sleep won't take care of." You hope so anyway. Aether exhaustion will drive you to sleep like nothing else will, but the nightmares often mean it isn't as long as it should be. Hopefully the memory of being chained in the Resonance won't be among them.

Alphinaud gives you that searching look he always gives you whenever anything to do with Bahamut comes up. Lyse's attention is already elsewhere. "Zenos!" she shouts, fists clenched and teeth bared.

Zenos struggles to his feet and laughs in her face. "The hunter has indeed become the hunted. And yet... there is only joy. Transcendent joy that I have never known. How invigorating, how... pure, this feeling."

Lyse looks at him in a mix of horror and disgust. "Is that what this was all about? All the meaningless death and destruction? So you could feel something?" It's obvious that she does not, can not, understand.

You can't understand either. The very reason why you take action is because you feel (and hear and think). The eikons are no different for all that their feelings originally came from someone else. It's one of the main reasons you can even begin to understand them.

Naturally, Zenos mistakes what Lyse is outraged about. "Meaningless? Men die that others may live. Those who survive are stronger for it." It's the only thing you might agree with him on. "Not that you could ever understand. To have stood upon this great stage of fools... to have played my part to perfection..." He is holding Ame-no-Habakiri now. "Oh, this... this moment... let it be enshrined in eternity." Zenos places the edge of the katana on his neck. "My heart... beating out of time... So clear, so vivid, so real... So real." He slices.

"Coward!" Alphinaud cries out.

Lyse rushes forward. "Stop!"

Mid-slice, so fast that only the Echo can see it, Zenos catches your eye. "Farewell, my first friend. My enemy." Blood pours from his neck and Zenos crumples. This time, for good.

Balance has been restored! Sophia pronounces and you feel the rest of the eikons sigh in relief as the world tilts at the death of one who seeks to control them by force.

You sigh in relief as well, even though you feel uncomfortable when faced with Zenos' last words. You know what it is to make friends, or at least allies, out of your enemies. At its heart, that is what Summoning is.

It it different, Titan rumbles over you, his protective inclinations coming to the forefront. He did not wish to know thy own interests. Not only do thy desire to know ours, but thee hast done something about them when it is profitable for the both of us. Titan's words are a bulwark against your nagging doubts the way a cave is against wind and rain.

It looks like Raubahn and Hein have done the same for Lyse. "...You're right. Thank you." She turns to all of you. She's smiling now. "Without you... Well...you know." You all snicker. The after-battle relief is starting to hit. "So let's do it together. For Ala Mhigo!" She leads you all over to the balcony to proclaim victory.

Behind Lyse, you lean against Sephirot-Egi and take a deep breath. Zenos won't be threatening you again and you've got another eikon's power to experiment with. It's been a good day.

Author's Notes: This entire thing was inspired when Zenos gives the WoL a choice about a primal and I looked at my Job and the choices presented and wondered why I couldn't pick both as the two choices aren't always mutually exclusive for Summoners. Somehow it ballooned into a lot of headcanon and theorycraft on Summoner... go figure, I'm a total nerd...

I couldn't find any lore behind Demi-Bahamut anywhere so I made something up. The idea behind a "demi-eikon" came from wondering if there was anything that would piss the Ascians off more then a summoning method that didn't put strain on Hydalen. Going by the lore book, one of the reasons the Allagans turned on the Summoners was that they thought the Summoners were being influenced by what they were summoning. I just took the idea and ran with it.

Yes, I really did come up with some math for Deathflare and Teraflare. π is the symbol for Pi, which is the key raito for calculating the circumference of a circle. Φ is the symbol for the Golden Ratio which has a lot of fun geometry applications. I figured both would be pretty important for a magic system that is based on math and geometry. The math for Deathflare is the normal circle formula, but it is a "dead" circle whose radius is zero. Teraflare's math is based on the Thin Lens formula.

Ch 2: To Bind an Eikon →

[agnesgoesadventuring-blog]

Don’t Shy from the Light // Neulore (Sarenrae) Of course I'll wait while you're hiding Of course I'll wait while you're deciding But don't shy from the light It'll never harm you Don't shy from the light It'll never harm you

Do You Realize // The Flaming Lips (The Raven Queen) Do You Realize - that you have the most beautiful face Do You Realize - we're floating in space - Do You Realize - that happiness makes you cry Do You Realize - that everyone you know someday will die

Rid of Me // PJ Harvey (Vesh) I'll tie your legs Keep you against my chest Oh you're not rid of me Yeah you're not rid of me I'll make you lick my injuries I'm gonna twist your head off, see 

The Wind // Feist (Melora) It brings hail from old water And a storm on its knees And flags from a revolution That brought us some peace And the trees for their hundred years Lean north like calligraphy And I'm shaped by my storming Like they're shaped by their storming

Sun Giant // Fleet Foxes (Pelor) What a life I lead when the sun breaks free As a giant torn from the clouds What a life indeed when that ancient seed Is a-buried, watered and plowed 

Survival // Muse (Kord) And I’ll light the fuse And I’ll never lose And I choose to survive Whatever it takes You won’t pull ahead I’ll keep up the pace And I’ll reveal my strength To the whole human race

Sinister Purpose // The Wave Pictures (Orcus) When the sky is gray And the moon is hate I'll be down to get you. Roots of earth will shake.

Raise the Knowledge // Gogol Bordello (Ioun) Revolution is internal Help yourself at any time Evolution isn't over No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no We're about to use our mind, yeah Yeah, to learn the language Poets and rebels craved To take off the tower That taught them of the braved

Making the Heart of the Serpent // Esben and the Witch (Vecna) Hear my tongue, my heaving lungs Expelling notes, open throat Sing your secrets, I'll be your healer Writhe that body to the ceiling Read my lips, I speak of bliss Spider's threads pour from my head Uncoil your spiral, slowly unravel for me

The Dragon // Vangelis (Bahamut) (instrumental)

The Power of Resolution // Scary Kids Scaring Kids I've grown tired of the same old story I think I'm ready for a change If there's a higher power up there watching over me Would you give me a sign today?

[tsengofshinra]

🐉 From Bahamut Sephiroth ;D

The hiss that left the Sea Beast was quite pronounced, a clear show of his annoyance as he uncoiled from himself, eyes flickering to the visitor. A low rumble left him, golden eyes narrowing down as he watched Sephiroth move closer.

“You weren’t invited here, at least not that I can recall.” The Sea Beast uncoil, sinking deeper into the pool for a moment before surfacing as its vassal form, shimmering silver scales still crossing up his face.

“What have you come to annoy me about this time?”

[toadeyes-miqote]

Prompt #29: Contravention

Note – Binding coils spoiler. The crossover that never was and the one alt who never got raise proper. And stuff was conveniently unwritten around 6.2 with much handwaving.

They were quite the unique group for the way some of them were dressed, the Knights and healers. The sand hair Miqot'te had thought they were from Ishgard when they hired him to be their guide through the Shrouds and later to Castrum Occidens

But like the "too fluffy a tail to be a Miqot'te" huffy and elegant Caster of the group they claim to be from the far east and had lost their local contact. Stranding them from reaching out to their home base.

He didn't buy it but the summoner pays well and he needed something to do until he could figure out his situation. Somehow.

This job at the Castrum was for the Summoner’s friend. A pale hair mage as young as her. Considering how dangerous the foray into the Castrum was, a lesser man would have fled but the group fought well around the flame hair summoner, coordinating somehow with her warriors of shadows.

Neither mecha nor wyverns stood a chance against them. Taking down dragon after dragon. Even the majestic firebird was no match for them. Nothing escapes their blue hair lancer and the formidable pale hair knight. Not even the enthralled firebird.

And fell the firebird to free the old sage they did. 

"The coils have been uncoiled goshujin-sama!." The far eastern caster called out.

While the twins were bidding their grandsire farewell. The flame hair summoner went about rooting through the remains of Castrum. Joyfully she lifted up a golden cup to her pink hair shield knight.

"We can go home now!"

The coils that bind him had been uncoiled.

"There you are." A young voice from behind him called out, as a single feather fluttered down before him.

[toadeyes-miqote]

The Uncoiling of Bahamut

"You guys know I'm not her right?"

"Are we birding cats? Can I go home now?"

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Think of it timey whimey ball. Poor guy disappeared because of an unintended side effect of Dreplander disappearing and close ties to Miqo'te WoL combined with the over abundance of aether in the magical battle of Louisoix and Bahamut. Something short circuited or backfire. Louisoix probably wanted to send Dreplander somewhere/sometime safe. The couple were no where near Battle of Carteneau

In a loose sense I was kinda hoping doing Coils would loosen the grip on him.

The first 8 Coils(from lvl 70-mid 80s GNB) were hers solo. Yes insane Coil 8 solo. Took so many tries to figure the death spot.

Coil 9 was done in his form(full 90 on my side). Thanks Party Finder for the anticlimax of all 4 overlevel ilvl400 players of a tank and 3 DPS turning what was the toughest solo coil into an incredibly quick curbstomp... I had to step away to reconcile with how quick the fight went.

Coil 10-13 him solo as bard was do-able.

This is not the Alphinaud that you're looking for

Actually rugged Alphinaud is that you?

Another condition met. Doing this for the one she calls "Wyrmfather"

Now one of the cats need to go annoy Lahabrea.

[toadeyes-miqote]

Umm Zero... He's my mentor.

( Hylnyan be hanging with him for a day or two. After Pandemonium she deserves this. The only change was the lack of Estinien in this scene. She even bought a new outfit though not for this reason. The rains have ceased but now The Emissary pops in roulette and it do be cloudy here.)

“Umm Zero…. He’s my mentor. Wisdom does not always come from reading dusty old tomes. Think what you will of him but his eyes see much.” The Miqo’te strode forward arms wide as she embraced the pale hair Hyur.

It was good to see her in high spirits after how they had to threaten to bundle her back to Ishgard to convalesce under the watchful eyes of Lord Edmont and Aymeric.

Moving a little way from the others, he could sense she had much to say by the ferocity of the thumping her tail gave him. He doubts her concerns were about Zenos’ former weapon. He gave her a warm smile to signal that he was ready. “Should your Sharlayan ears and eyes contact you before this. They might have drawn your attention to a recent report about an incident in the Aitlascope. Whether you rather read their report or the one I filed with Tataru or hear it from my own mouth is up to you.” She patted his hands lightly.

“For you to harbour such concerns. I would be a fool not to hear it.” “The resolved incident involves The-- Elidibus and souls of the dead Ancients. I had to take a trip back to Elpis past and aid them in containing their creatures’ outbreak.” She was looking for the right words to use. And being careful about it. Thancred suspected why

“Go on.” “I met Lahabrea.” “…” “Lahabrea of the past. Like Elidibus and Emet. I saw the path they would end up taking.” “…” “But my main concern is if you had came into contact with an auracite know as The Heart of Sabik?” He rummage through his thoughts, he’s aware that she knows he does not speak much about his time under Lahabrea’s control. For her to bring it up like this. “My memories of the time are somewhat jumbled and hazy. There were days I could not account for.” He doubt he could get the answers she needs by his own ability to remember.

“One of the researchers of the Aitlascope had had memories of an Ancient, the one who put out the distress call awaken in him. Should he asks to meet you and you wish for me to accompany you. Let me know. The Heart of Sabik is in the hands of a shard of Lahabrea’s son.”

“… I understand your concerns and will keep your words in mind. Who else have you spoken to about this?” “Only G’raha and technically Fourchenault.” “I should hear you out.” He squeezed her hand in assurance as they headed for a spot to rest. No sense rushing when her mind isn’t at ease. By now he knew better than to brush aside her concerns.

--------------------------------

Extra

"I see island life had been treating you well." "I been behaving yes. I have a package for you." She passed him a box of biscuits, it had a couple of letters tied to it. The neat little handwriting was greatly familiar to him. "My thanks." "My house in Shirogane is ready to receive you as the guest of honor, unless you prefer visiting the island or my apartment. My mate will prepare a feast for you." "That will be something to look forward to indeed.... Your m.... Your mate?! He has return??!!" How did you find him?!!" ".... I didn't, Meteion dumped him at my feet and would only say that Bahamut had been uncoiled and there were great wishes of happiness for me. Certain parties agree that retrieving him was payment enough." "That is good news. I look forward to visiting then. "

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TL;:DR - The lady ain't good with words, she works more by instincts due to her hunter upbringing. There are only a few people who are able to piece together her lack of words. so far Thancred is the main person who could, the other ones would be Yugiri and Lucia, amusingly the aides are good reading this.

Wefies now at own page

"

Might upgrade to daylight version. but its seems cloudy all the time.

Might shift this part back to Pandemonium later

Yes there was a line of thought that occurred, if Heart of Sabik was already influencing the desire of Lahabrea for a long time after the conclusion of Pandemonium.

Are Thancred (during Lahacred), Gaius and Nero affected by it?

Thancred if he either comes into contact with it during Lahacred. The need to do good and be better? Or that he kept thinking he not good enough? Post ARR behaviour? Washed off riding in the Flow? Or into Heavensward-Stormblood as well? Wash off during the trip to The First? HW Thancred was this?

Gaius if he's near enough during the installation of the Heart Was that what ignited his Shadow hunting?

Same with Nero Does it increase his obsession with Cid O_O

I would think it worn off for the first two, if Alma (Ivalice raid fuzzy now) be the reference. Nero be interesting though if it did affect him that way.

-----------

I will LOL if Zero's mother turned out to be WoL's 13th shard