#FFXIVWrite2022 30 Day Challenge

[wordsworn]

Master post for all my entries into the FFXIVWrite challenge over on twitter/tumblr!

(Anything explicit or requiring cw: will be marked as such; everything else should be SFW.)



Prompt #1: Cross | ✧ Sizhu Jakkya (WoL) + G'raha Tia ✧ | ShB spoilers
[Just a snapshot of my wholesome catship LOL]

Prompt #2: Bolt | ✧ Sizhu Jakkya (WoL) + Emet-Selch + Hermes (+ mention of Hythlodaeus) ✧ | EW spoilers
[Total crack, written in an hour-long flurry of feverish writing, as usual if I don't feel super inspired by the prompt things get dumb, fight me, but it's still fun/funny to ME, CATTE IS CATTE, KNOCKING THINGS OFF TABLES, SIZHU GETS THE ZOOMIES LMAO, I might want to expand this one later idk LOL]

Prompt #3: Temper | ✧ Warrior of Light + Minfilia + Thancred ✧ | EARLY ARR spoilers and maybe hints at some other spoilers but nothing obvious unless you Know Things already
[What if Thancred hadn't been late to the fight when you faced down Ifrit for the first time? AU, written to make Phase scream. CW: Tempering, brief violence, implied impending major character death]

Prompt #4: Free Prompt - θάρρος (Thárros); Courage | ✧ Sizhu Jakkya (WoL) x G'raha Tia ✧ | Spoilers up through 6.1
[More wholesome catship; on her return from another trip to Aglaia, G'raha is taken by surprise at Sizhu's attire.]

Prompt #5: Cutting Corners | ✧ Hades + Hythlodaeus (implied Hades -> Azem) ✧ | EW spoilers
[After assisting Azem with saving that island and its grapes, Hades confronts Hythlodaeus about the indisputable part he'd played in the whole fiasco--but their conversation does not go at all the way Hades had planned.]

Prompt #6: Onerous | ✧ Mikh'a Jakkya (non-WoL adventurer, WoL's twin brother) ✧ | SB spoilers
[What happened to Sizhu's twin brother when she was snatched away to the First? Mikh'a tells of it in his own words.]

Prompt #7: Pawn | ✧ Emet-Selch (Hades) -> WoL (& Azem) ✧ | ShB spoilers
[Emet-Selch always plays the long game. Musings on chess pieces and the Warrior of Light.]

Prompt #8: Tepid | ✧ Cres Shatterheart (non-WoL adventurer) ✧ | ...no spoilers really? stuff from a minor sidequest is mentioned
[The reasons vary from person to person, but most adventurers are somewhat the same, deep down. No matter how arduous or tedious, sometimes the task itself is its own reward.]

Prompt #9: Yawn | ✧ Talys Shatterheart (WoL) ✧ | EW Spoilers
[In this timeline, the WoL is a f!Viera Sharlayan scholar with zero battle experience, who is doing a Forum-funded field study about adventurers for her thesis...and who is pulled into being Very Personally Involved in everything when she realizes two facts: 1) she's actually pretty badass at this fighting stuff, and 2) somehow, the whole world needs her.]

Prompt #10: Channel | ✧ Hermes -> f(Miqo'te)!WoL ✧ | EW SPOILERS ALL THE WAY DOWN
[He wants her, even though he knows that he should not. But she’s the only one he’s ever met who truly understands how he feels...and his emotions have always proven difficult for him to tame. Why should these sorts of feelings be any different? EW spoilers, takes place during the Elpis questline. CW: depression (it's Hermes), slight dom contemplations/mild sexuality (no actual sex tho)]

Prompt #11: Free Prompt - Embrace | ✧ Hermes -> f(Miqo'te)!WoL ✧ | EW SPOILERS FOR DAYS, YO
[I enjoyed that last drabble so much, I picked up right where that one left off and did another. c:]

Prompt #12: Miss the Boat | ✧ Sarhnai Dotharl + Koharu Sumeragi (WoLs) + Scions ✧ | EW spoilers OF COURSE
[FINALLY wrote some Dargon Girls AU! In which there are TWO WoLs who are both shards of Azem, who both ended up on the Source--soul-sisters, if you will. c: Koharu is mine and Sarhnai belongs to my friend, the wonderful incontrast. <3]

Prompt #13: Confluence | ✧ Sizhu Jakkya (WoL) + Ardbert ✧ | ShB Spoilers
[Phase gave me this idea, so these feels are her fault.]

Prompt #14: Attrition | ✧ Crystal Exarch (-> WoL) ✧ | Shadowbringers Spoilers LIKE WHOA man

Prompt #15: Row | ✧ Emet-Selch (Hades) + Azem (Persephone) ✧ | All The Endwalker Spoilers

Prompt #16: Deiform | ✧ Koharu (WoL) x Hien ✧ | EW role quest spoilers
[My soft dargon-girl has dokis for Hien pretty bad, and finds a way to show him a very small bit of just how badly. I still think it's kinda "eh" but Phase likes it, so it can't be terrible.]

Prompt #17: Novel | ✧ Koharu (WoL) x Hien (continued from previous prompt) ✧ | Spoilers for a Stormblood Dungeon, I Guess?
[Continued from the previous drabble, very short but my head is killing me, so. This will do. :c]

Prompt #18: Free Prompt - Fruit | ✧ Hermes -> f(Miqo'te)!WoL ✧ | Endwalker Spoilers OBVIOUSLY
[I wanted to keep writing more for that same Hermes idea...and it's a free prompt, so I did.]

Prompt #19: Turn a Blind Eye | ✧ Elidibus (Themis) + Azem ✧ | All The Spoilers, Especially for Pandæmonium
[Themis is concerned about Azem's censure, only to find that he needn't be. Pandæmonium spoilers, plus a hint of my own predictions about where that questline might go...]

Prompt #20: Anon | ✧ Aymeric x/+ unnamed F!WoL ✧ | ARR Spoilers, oh noes
[...Yeah, I hate this one. But, sucky prompt, sucky drabble. Only makes sense.]

Prompt #21: Solution | ✧ Talys Shatterheart (WoL) ✧ | No Spoilers, Lots of Anti-Garlean Feels

Prompt #22: Veracity | ✧ Sizhu Jakkya (WoL) + Emet-Selch (Hades) ✧ | ShB & EW Spoilers
[I don't much like this one either, but it's there.]

Prompt #23: Pitch | ✧ Fandaniel (+ hints of current one-sided and possible future-life Fandaniel/WoL) ✧ | Endwalker Spoilers FOREVER
[Get ready for a feels-punch, that is all]

Prompt #24: Vicissitudes | ✧ Thancred + Urianger + CATBABIES ✧ | No Spoilers, Just Headcanons
[This is really bad and really dumb, but these two catbabies are headcanon for me now...]

Prompt #25: Free Prompt - Halcyon | ✧ Hermes -> f(Miqo'te)!WoL ✧ | Endwalker Spoilers
[Con't from the previous free prompt~]

Prompt #26: Break A Leg | ✧ Koharu Sumeragi (WoL) + Sarhnai Dotharl (WoL) vs Zenos yae Galvus ✧ | SB spoilers
[COLLAB WITH PHASE \o/]

Prompt #27: Hail | ✧ Koharu Sumeragi (WoL) + Sarhnai Dotharl (WoL) ✧ | SB spoilers
[Con't from yesterday's. Koharu has a mad, and Zenos is 100% it.]

Prompt #28: Vainglory | ✧ Emet-Selch (Hades) i.e. "Solus zos Galvus" ✧ | All Spoilers, All The Time
[PHASE AND I PLAY CATCH WITH THE GARLEAN HATE BALL AGAIN. Uhhhh, I mean...Emet musings RE: building the stupid bull$h!t that is the Garlean Empire.]

Prompt #29: Fuse | ✧ Hythlodaeus (-> Azem) ✧ | Endwalker Spoilers
[Mehhhh this one is so unfocused...but oh well, it's done. Might revisit and turn it into something else later.]

Prompt #30: Sojourn | ✧ Sizhu Jakkya (WoL) + Venat ✧ | Endwalker Spoilers ;_;
[A good place to end. :c]

Comments

Prompt #15: Row | ✧ Emet-Selch (Hades) + Azem (Persephone) ✧ | All the Endwalker Spoilers

[wordsworn]

“Azem!”

The slight, black-robed figure making her way down the dark, fire-lit street ahead of him doesn’t so much as pause, much less look back. Hades lets out a low growl of annoyance and tries again, louder:

“Azem!”

The figure ahead of him still doesn’t react, dodging around a group of anxiously-clustered citizens hurriedly making their way through the city, doubtless trying to avoid run-ins with any of the horrible creatures that often run wild in the streets of Amaurot these days, and for a moment Hades loses sight of her. For a moment, he loses control of his temper as well, a spike of anger shooting through him. Instead of going around the group ahead, he simply wades through them, his imposing figure and unmistakable mask of office enough to send them scattering, like waves breaking on a cliff-face. This time when he calls after the receding figure, his voice is very nearly a shout; this time, he uses the name he’d known for ages and yet had always hesitated to use, thinking it too personal, too familiar: her true name.

“Persephone!”

That, at last, brings her to a lurching halt, abrupt and jerky as cutting the strings of a puppet, the sound of her true name wresting her out of a dark reverie. Even so, Persephone doesn’t immediately turn around to face her pursuer, knowing full well who it is that had called out to her, knowing equally well why he is following her and that he will demand answers from her. Something more than what she’d given the Convocation just now. And while she has her reasons, and while she is, as ever, fully prepared to defend those reasons...she also knows that this conversation will be neither pleasant nor peaceful.

It’s tempting to just start walking again, and this time keep walking regardless of what he says, or how he shouts. And yet, they are...friends, and had been long before they were both members of the Convocation of Fourteen. He is dear to her in ways even she perhaps does not fully appreciate or understand, and in any case, Hades deserves to ask his questions and to hear her answers, and she deserves the chance to speak them.

And so although her feet still urge her forward, she merely closes her eyes briefly, steeling herself before turning about to face him, unsurprised to find his mouth, the only visible part of his face, drawn downwards in a fairly typical scowl.

“Why didn’t you stop before?” he asks peevishly as he comes to a halt just outside of arm’s reach, and his scowl deepens as he adds, “We are both well aware that you heard me calling after you--the first time, most likely, never mind the second.”

Persephone, who is wearing no mask to hide her face behind and who seems not the least bit bothered by bucking this familiar convention even here in the middle of the city, stares up at Hades unwaveringly, her response instant and evenly matter-of-fact.

“Because, as we are also both well aware, that is no longer my name. And as you both saw and heard, I have vacated my position as Azem.” Her hand rises, first to lightly tap her cheekbone, then falls to rest over her breastbone--the two most common locations of the ubiquitous masks worn near-constantly in their society. “I left the mask behind...quite literally. Now, I am once again merely a simple traveler who seeks to aid those in need.”

Hades’s lip curls at that, and for once he doesn’t seem at all bothered or flustered by her bare face.

“We need you,” he snaps, jabbing a finger at her pointedly. “And despite that, you have chosen to withdraw, deserting all of us in our time of need-”

On reflex, Persephone reaches out and slaps his hand down and away, and in spite of herself, her response comes out snappish-sounding as well. “I’m not deserting anyone. Quite the opposite, in fact. I want to find a way to save our world--without having to sacrifice Themis and half the remaining population to do it.”

Hades only scoffs at that.

“We have had countless researchers tasked with this very problem, and from their data, the Convocation has determined the cause to be stagnated aether within the currents of our star, causing it to rot. Further investigation has led us to believe that the aether flow must be restored--and the surest way to do so is the proposed summoning.” Crossing his arms over his chest, he tips his head back slightly, looking down his nose at her--something he knows she dislikes--as he lays out his challenge. “Do you truly believe that you, one single individual, can find another, better answer? Do you truly believe that your own wisdom so far outweighs that of the other thirteen members of the Convocation, all of us experts in our fields?”

Persephone’s eyes flash at that, and she raises her chin pugnaciously. “I have made no such claims, nor will I. What I truly believe is that the Convocation’s decision is wrong, and I will not be party to it.”

For a moment Hades sputters unintelligibly, clearly too angry to properly form words; when he finally does manage, it’s only to sling a familiar insult.

“You--you and your incorrigible, troublemaking behavior--tch! One day you’re going to bite off more than you can chew, and find yourself with a headache that even you won’t be able to properly handle.”

Persephone just gives a weak, mirthless laugh at that. “It’s hard to imagine a worse trouble than what we’re already dealing with.”

“Precisely. Which is why you should-”

“I won’t, Hades.” The firmness, the shade of melancholy but utterly lack of regret in her tone, cut him off, bringing him up short. “I won’t change my mind on this. I won’t agree with the Convocation’s decision--and I won’t return to reclaim my seat as Azem.”

Hades’s breath leaves him as a hissing sigh, and he brings one hand up to his face, rubbing at the upper edge of his mask, as if longing to massage away the tension growing beneath it.

“And what if you cannot find another way?”

“I have to. There must be.” Persephone shakes her head, determined, stalwart…and this time, there’s a hint of heat, of anger in her words. “There must be a way that doesn’t require the sacrifice of so many of our friends...like Hythlodaeus.”

Hades’s mouth goes thin at the mention of their mutual friend, and they can both hear how little he believes in his own words as he says, “ ‘Tis only a temporary sacrifice, as you know. Once the summoning is complete, we will find a way to restore those lost souls.”

Now it’s her turn to give a low scoff, though she follows it not with a scornful barb, but with something else entirely:

“Still, it would be far better to never lose him in the first place, wouldn’t it?”

“That should go without saying.”

“In that case--come with me.”

It’s an offer that he didn’t expect to hear, and that she didn’t fully expect to make. The idea had crossed her mind of course, but she had thought herself too certain of him and his choice to even make the attempt; and yet here she is, standing there before him bold as a ktiseos leon, one small hand outstretched invitingly, held towards him palm-up.

For the space of several heartbeats, Hades simply stares at her, utterly stunned, his mouth having fallen open in startlement. Even through his mask, she can read his astonishment--and his consternation. When he speaks, his voice is two parts shock and one part steadily growing anger as he chokes out as single, strangled word:

“...What?”

But Persephone stands resolute, and neither her hand nor her gaze wavers as she repeats herself, expanding on her offer. “Come with me, lend me your strength once again…and together we will undoubtedly find another way to stop this.” Her voice shakes with emotion at that last, but she pushes onwards. “Never have we been bested while working together, you and I. I had thought to go alone, but...I would be honored, and fortunate indeed, to have you by my side. At any time, truly, but even more so in such times as these.”

She knows his answer already. Had known it even before she asked. And yet, some part of her had...hoped. Hoped that she might be wrong. Hoped that her trust in him hadn’t been misplaced.

...Hoped that he would choose her, rather than his duty.

But even as he draws breath to give his answer, she knows that she was a fool to hold on to any such hope.

“So...not only do you choose to turn your back on your former allies, but you also ask that I do the same? I, Emet-Selch? Keeper of the aetherial realm?”

She can feel the heat of his glare even through his mask, and it’s difficult not to flinch at the vehemence with which he speaks; but she knows that she is in the right, and that she had not truly asked anything so terrible of him, so Persephone stands firm and bears up beneath his feverish ranting as, for the first time ever, Hades refuses to answer her call for aid.

“I am insulted that you would even suggest such a thing--friendship and all our prior history be damned! Unlike certain others in present company, I will not shirk my duty to our people. Whether you agree with our decision or not is of no matter: we will complete the summoning. We will save our star. And we will reclaim those brave souls that gave themselves over to the cause, whatever the cost.”

She seems smaller now, somehow; she feels smaller as well, now that the last threads of hope she’d clung to have unraveled, whispering away into nothing. But although diminished, she is not defeated, nor will she change her stance on this matter. Although at last her outstretched hand drops back to her side, she gives no ground, no quarter, and looks Hades--or perhaps Emet-Selch--straight in the eyes as she continues to dispute him.

“Hythlodaeus told me you said something very different once, you know, and not so very long ago. That there is a reason for doing things a certain way. That while fulfilling our duty is indeed of the utmost importance, how we do that matters too--regardless of the circumstances.”

Hades feels his temper slip once again, another flicker of deep, simmering anger--this time aimed at not only the friend standing before him, but the very one they’re discussing. Of course Hythlodaeus would have told her of their conversation, likely laughing behind his hand the entire time at how he’d backed Hades into a verbal corner. The idea is maddening, enough so that it stings him into giving a poorly-couched retort.

“Yes, and the Convocation has deemed this method the best means of preserving our star--the most likely to succeed.”

“And what if it fails? What if you cannot reclaim the souls that were sacrificed?” What if we lose Hythlodaeus forever? is the question in her pained gaze, and it is that question rather than any of the others that Hades answers.

“Then he will have given his life for a worthy cause, of his own free will, and so be it!”

For the first time, Persephone recoils, breath hissing in through clenched teeth at how harshly Hades had spoken, and as she takes an involuntary half-step back, he takes a long, full stride forward, moving into her personal space, pressing his advantage as he lashes out with one final statement, a decisive stroke which he delivers with a cruel, falsely-polite smile that’s as sharp as a blade:

“If you dislike my decision, you have only yourself to blame--after all, had you not involved me in all your impetuous escapades time and again, I would never have been given this office in the first place.”

Hades regrets the words the instant they leave his mouth--but no, that isn’t true. Rather, he regrets them when he sees the stricken look that hearing them puts on Azem--no--Persephone’s face, her eyes going wide and then inexpressibly sad. She bites her lip and for the first time, she looks away, those lovely, luminous silver-violet eyes lowering briefly before flicking back up to focus on him, steady and steadfast as always. Her mouth firms, but still he sees that anguish in her eyes, and he hates himself more than just a little for putting it there. There is already so much pain, so much sorrow in their lives, in their entire world right now; he didn’t need to cause her, of all people, another sort of suffering.

Regardless of that anguished look, he’s still waiting for her to snap at him, to fight fire with fire. To snap back with the perfect sharp rejoinder, sparks flying in the usual delightful way, the one shard of normalcy he can count on in this mixed-up mess they’ve found themselves embroiled in.

What he actually gets is unexpected enough that it staggers him, and very nearly sets him reeling. Because what she does is swallow visibly, bow her head slightly...and apologize.

“...I...am sorry to have laid so heavy a burden upon you, Hades. I know how serious you are about your duty, and I also know that you must truly believe that this is best, elsewise you would never have agreed to it.”

Her words are soft and there is no hint of untruth in them; her eyes are lowered and stay that way, and his chest tightens with something like panic when he sees a glassy sheen to them, indicative of tears, but already his jaw is so tightly clenched that he can’t force it open, can’t get even so much as a syllable out from between his gritted teeth. That tightness, that panic only increase tenfold as she raises her gaze to meet his, and gives him a smile that he can only describe as wholly and utterly heartbroken.

“...I pray that one day, you might find a way to forgive me for placing so heavy a weight on your shoulders, and for asking so much of you. For asking of you that which you cannot give.”

As she speaks, she takes another half-step back, then another, then a full stride, slowly easing away from him, and Hades finds his body has gone just as still and stiff as his jaw, as if every muscle in his body has turned to stone.

“We will not meet again, I think. The world is too wide, and our chosen paths too disparate. But know that I am grateful to you, for all that you have done. Thank you for everything, Hades.”

Well out of reach now, she turns to go, angling one last wistful smile at him over her shoulder, leaving him with words that are gentle and kind and unspeakably cruel:

“No matter where our roads take us, I promise that my memories of you--your loyalty, your trustworthiness, your compassion--will never fade.”

Hades stands there, still as a statue, long after any glimpse of Persephone has long vanished into the shadows of the city, the last thing she said before disappearing into the smoke and gloom resonating, playing over and over in his head:

“Goodbye, my dearest friend.”