About an hour and a half later, in Shirogane

“Number three!” The male Au Ra slammed his shot glass into the table, a sinister smile on his face. “Not even slightly drunk yet. Thought you said this ale was strong?”

“I’m sorry if this isn’t up to your standard Shinji, but not all of us are Darling,” A female Au Ra replied, eye twitching as she watched her higher up so effortlessly take down a fourth shot. “Seriously, what is your stomach made out of?”

“If experience had taught me anything, it's probably got tissue the strength of Titan and acid like Aurum Vale,” A Miqo’te replied from behind the couch.

“Should I… take that as a compliment?” The male Au Ra asked the Miqo’te and Hyur on the couch to his right, both giving a shrug.

These individuals, whether some would believe it or not, were the most world renowned Free Company that, in recent years, had seemed to be half the reason primals and beast tribes were more cautious. They were the Tales of Eorzea, a group of individuals of various hobbies, backgrounds, and fame. On the surface, they all seemed at least somewhat ordinary, but what made them so powerful, as well as what made them so hard for the Garlean Empire to track down, was all because of two things: the echo and their base.

In recent months, more and more adventurers have turned up across Eorzea, but very few of them had what every member of Tales of Eorzea was required to have: the Echo. It is said that the Echo was a gift from Hydaelyn, the world itself, to those chosen champions she had deemed worthy. It is a safe guard from one of the most dangerous beings to exist: the primals, being of pure magic summoned by worship of a particular group. While it did have the bonus of seeing the past and allowing the individual to speak every language, Tales used it for one purpose: primal slaying.

In the past few years many groups, both beastmen and not, have summoned beings of incredible power to the world. These primals are the manifestations of the will of those that worship them, but normally have no physical body. In order to stay in the physical plane, they consume mass amounts of aether, and if nothing is done to stop them, the land would soon be drained of all life. Normally, any normal person would be tampered by the primal if they tried to fight it, turning them into a servant whose only goal is worshipping the god, but not those with the echo. This was why Tales placed the requirement, as they would rather have those who can fight it safely do so, as opposed to some newbie adventure who thinks that you can burn everything you see.

Their method to staying out of the eyes of the Garlean’s, however, was far more risky than their safety measure would expect. The Garleans would expect for a group of such renown to hide itself in Eorzea, but it was the exact opposite. Shirogane, located in what is currently Garlean controlled lands, was the home of all members of Tales of Eorzea. The idea the “Company Matriarch” as she called herself, Corinne Larenne, had thought up was that, with the Garlean Empire so focused on harnessing the power of primals and hunting them down, they would be too busy to realize the group was right under their own noses. Considering that it had passed the estimated three months without still being found, it worked out pretty well.

That was how, against all odds, a group of what many saw as the greatest adventurers of the current era were brought together. Yet like everything else, the inside is far more different from that of how things look to those on the outside. They were functional, but many of the top members had certain quirks that made them easy to pick out in a small crowd. It wasn’t just the fact that they were all being called Warriors of Light, but rather that the gifted are almost never normal.

Now, some of their finest found themselves in the upstairs living room, a group of four watching as Shinji Okuri had yet another battle with the Au Ra rookie Alun Khal. Alun was not like most of those in the room, not having any personality traits that truly stood out. Her status as the newest recruit was enough for most members, especially since she was the friend of the Viera who slay Ultima and Archbishop Thordan. Like all else she had the Echo, but it wasn’t something she had ever thought she would need until she got captured by the Amalj'aa and offered as a sacrifice to Ifrit. She was known for being able to handle drinks better than most people, but compared to her fellow Au Ra, who she constantly challenged to drinking battles, she was nothing.

That, however, was expected by someone like the Titan’s Bane and Ala Mhigan local Shinji Okuri was. Unless most who had at least a name under their belt by the time they joined Tales, he was one of two present at the drinking game who came straight out of nowhere. The exact specifics on how he defeated Titan is unknown, but all agree that he did it with nothing but an empty bottle of the oldest wine in his hands. Some even say that he wasn’t even an adventurer before that, having just accidently stumbled into O'Ghomoro completely drunk and nearly wasted. It was only after that that he took up the Gunblade and somehow landed himself a position as a dancer, which were his weapons of choice.

“Number four,” Alun said as she raised yet another shot glass, gulped it down, and gracefully put it back down on the table. “Think I felt a shiver but other than that completely fine.”

“That’s later than last time,” The Miqo’te behind Shinji said again, smiling innocently. “You see, this is what I like about Darling not being around. She’s great and all, but after a time silly quips just stop being funny.”

“Your just upset she gave you the same title as her, aren’t you?” Shinji replied, receiving a whack on the back of the head in response.

This Miqo’te was Lucia Adilene, the second youngest of the adventurers present in the room next to Alun. Much in the same way that Darling brought Alun into the group, Lucia was brought in as Shinji’s friend, having met her when she was a member of the pugilist guild, though has since become a bard and red mage. Despite being one of the few presents to not feel a primal, she was there when Darling took down Ultima. In fact, Darling even claims that she landed the final hit, giving her the title of Warrior of Light as well. She should have been happy about it, but she wasn’t.

“You don’t understand,” Lucia replied. “Shinji, you’re cool, but do you want to know what it feels like to be the girl the supposedly saved Eorzea? I swear I can’t leave the house without someone asking me “hey can you carry this all the way to Ishgard?” or “I saw a dangerous monster but I’m too lazy, can you go do it?” Everywhere I go.”

Right as Shinji was about to take his next shot, Lucia took it from his hands and gulped it down. Something about the beer was off, and as the Miqo’te looked back to the bottle, she made out something that Shinji or Alun didn’t: white, sticky paper that was once part of a larger torn label. She looked to the hyur on the couch, a man by the alias of Bushi Do (he refused to tell his real name to anyone), wearing goggles and carrying a rifle on his back. Compared to everyone else currently present, Bushi was probably the most skilled of them, having felled both Leviathan and Shiva, as well as having aided both Tales and the Scions in stopping a Dravanian assault on Ishgard back before the city opened its borders. Yet, despite every battle style that he knew, he refused to use that rifle. It confused everyone, and more so, confused Corinne, who had brought him in for his rifle and machine expertise.

“Very funny Bushi, very funny,” Lucia replied, putting the shot glass down. She joined him and her fellow Miqo’te on the couch. “So, when are you going to tell them the drink has no alcohol?”

“Considering the Alun’s mind is tricking her into thinking it does have alcohol,” Bushi muttered. “Probably around the point her mind thinks she is so drunk she starts taking stuff off.”

“You sure you shouldn’t do it sooner?”

“Don’t tell me you don’t want to see Darling’s face at Alun acting like an idiot, considering her attraction to, well, you know,” The male Miqo’te said. Lucia sighed, holding her head in her arms in disappointment.

“Matthia, why do we keep you around?” She asked.

“Someone has to look after the place when Corinne is gone,” Matthia replied. “Besides, you would all die without me.”

Unlike the other members who had at least some experience with battle, Matthia was no fighter. He was the brains of the Company, the one who formulated strategy and researched the beasts they found themselves hired to deal with. He wasn’t wrong about his importance, but his matchmaking schemes made him more than a little irritable, especially because seventy-five percent of the time they worked. His current target was none other than Darling Nia, defender of Eorzea, Ascalon Slayer, and stealer of pants. She had already managed to get Alun to confess her feelings to him regarding her friend, but she was too embarrassed and nervous to even try and convey it towards the Warrior of Light.

“Noooo, you are in nooo way still that find at ei-five,” Alun said, looking at Shinji’s smug expression, one which Lucia quickly realized was directed at Matthia.

She was wrong, Shinji completely knew the scheme that was at play here.

“Hydaelin, please save Darling from this terrible fate.”

Same time, Ishgard

The Warrior of Light stood shivering in the bazaar, regretting multiple things right now. She regretted trash talking the giant dragon five times her size. She regretted taunting it and playing with her prey. Yet of all the things she regretted, she regretted not bringing any other clothes with her to talk with Hraesvelgr. She didn’t know Nidhogg would attack that soon, and thus she had simply kept her standard white mage garb with her. No one would believe that she, the Warrior of Light, recently dubbed slayer of Nidhogg, was standing out in the Jeweled Crozier with nothing but pants on.

“Damn claws with there sharpness and pokey nature,” She whispered. “The moment the mendors done I’m out of here. Back to Shirogane, downing a bottle, and going to bed. If I’m lucky Corinne is still away.”

Darling Nia was many things to the populace: a hero, savior, adventurer, pants stealer depending on who you asked. The one thing she was that nobody called her though, was sick and tired of it all. She knew about the echo ever since she was born, but she didn’t go adventuring to become some god’s tool of power. Ultima, the Ascians, Ravana, Bismark, Thordan, and now Nidhogg. Every other member of Tales of Eorzea had maybe one or two primals to their name, maybe some other big feat, but not her. She was the greatest warrior the world has ever known, and it made her tired.

She did everything she could to get the attention away from her, but doing that only made Lucia hate her. She had so much she wanted to do then just be the hero, and she was starting to think that she would never get that chance. Her blond hair was already graying, and she wasn’t even in her thirties! She knew that escape from Hydaelyn would be near impossible at this point, but if she could get away for a day, a week, she would be fine. A week of relaxing and stress-free activities.

Her thoughts were interrupted as something hit the freezing Viera in the face, making her groan. She grabbed it with her right hand, looking to see what it was that had hit her, quickly finding what she knew as a letter. Looking around to see if anyone was looking for it, she decided to read it herself out of curiosity. The more she read, the harder her grip on it was, a tear slowly starting from the top of it. That tear grew and grew until, finally, she saw the last thing she wanted to see: her name somehow at the very top, and the sound of the mendor finally finished with his repairs.

“Her you go m-”

She then tore the letter in two.

“Thank you, goodbye!” Darling said, snatching up the clothes and casting teleport.

The mendor stood there confused at why the Warrior of Light seemed so angry at him. What he or Darling didn’t see, however, was the Miqo’te watching from a distance, a Keeper of the Moon at that. In a way, she felt like she had succeeded, but in another way…

“Celestia, I only hope this is the girl your looking for.” She said, a sudden gust blowing against her body. “Sweet mother. Why are these bodies so lacking in insolation?”

Author's Note

Honestly, considering everything that the Warrior of Light is forced to do, and how expressive they are compared to most silent protagonists, I'm surprise they deal with all of this stuff so easily. I'm pretty sure I would have cracked the moment I saw Ifrit.

Tales of Eorzea, just as with Darling being my main character in XIV, is the actual Free Company I'm apart of, which is basically like a guild in WoW terms. Now, obviously the way I'm writing the characters are not representative of there respective counterparts I play along with in game, but I had to do something to make them each unique. I guess I could have just gone the simple route and used the Scions instead, but that was easy and less fun for me, so this is what I'm going with.

Anyways, like, comment, and please give me feedback. The only way I can make this story better is with your words and suggestions.