#Timaeus is a precious summer child no I will not be taking any criticism at this time

[lunarosewood23]

FFXIVWrite2022 Prompt 10: Channel

More Timaeus playing with his new powers and testing the limits of them.

Borrowing @inkblood-mistrieu’s Mingxia, who is absolutely a bad influence. And I also had her help bc while I know she’s random, I still can’t get the exact randomness, y’know?

~~~

“Big sister!!” Timaeus cheered with an enthusiastic wave as Mingxia landed over at the aetheryte near Kaia’s forge.

She grinned as she ran up to him to give him a hug. “Tim! How have you been little brother?”

“Ok enough. Lookie!! I’ve been playing with my powers! I’ve figured out a few combinations for my arcane equips thanks to Father Hermenost!” He says excitedly as he hands her his grimoire.

"How neat little brother!" Mingxia says as she looks over the list of glyph combinations. "I'm proud that you're getting so much done, especially in so short of time!"

His whole face lit up with a bright smile as she ruffled his hair. “Wanna help me some more big sister?”

“Of course I will!” She replies with a grin. “Come on!”

With that the two of them headed out into the Highlands, specifically deciding it would be wise to go cull voidsent down in Witchdrop as a test.

“How many have you found you can channel at once?”

“Currently? One at a time.”

“I meant in a single battle. How many of the arcane equips can you use without it being a serious tax on your aether?” Mingxia asked.

Timaeus thought about it and shrugged. “I haven’t tested it actually.”

“Wanna see?”

“Yeah!” He cheers. “Big sister will save me if something goes crazy!”

She giggles as they start their experiment. It started out normal enough, get a couple spells off then swap to an arcane equip.

A wand, then a spear, and suddenly he was draped in red robes and carrying an ornate white staff with star sapphires, and a sudden burst of flame ripped from the staff eradicating several Voidrouga. He dropped the form and cast a few more spells before a wand and a sword lit up. He was draped in golden robes and holding a different staff, this one white with...aquamarines? He wasn’t sure, but it was spiky, and it looked like the sky opened up and meteors fell on the voidsent.

He let go of the form and he dropped to his knees, but there were still several more of them and he wasn’t done yet.

“Tim, hey Tim are you okay?”

“I’m okay! I wanna try one more!” He called as he swiftcasted a few spells then he saw an axe light up first, then a spear.

A heavy double bladed axe was in his hands and he was wearing bronze and blue armor. He slammed the axe on the ground and made the ground shake with the impact, causing a ripple in the ground. The armor dispersed and he collapsed, faceplanting into the snow.

“Hey I think you’re at your limit Tim, take a break.” She tried to say as he started to stand up and began casting, but right as he tried for another equip, he began to cough, blood dripping from his mouth as he fell on his knees.

“Oh sh- Tim! Tim, stop, don’t cast anymore, breathe,” she made a complicated-looking gesture over her codex, and both she and her fairy channeled aether into him. “Nald’s golden scales, Tim, if you’re tired, don’t push it. That’s your body telling you enough’s enough.”

Timaeus looked up at her from his spot in the snow, a pout on his blood-stained lips. “I was hoping I could do more, like how you can big sister.”

“You’re already doing really well for how recently you started, Tim. I’m not a good standard to measure up against. I’m considered to be pretty weird by most normal metrics.” Mingxia shook her head a little as she continued checking him over, a hand lightly running through his hair as he nuzzled his face against her the way a little kid does when seeking comfort.

“But you’re able to do so much with your arcanima. I have twelve arcane equips I can use and I can’t seem to use even a third of them all before my body wears out...” He mumbled before another coughing fit took him by surprise. No blood thankfully, but he felt crappy all the same. “I’m hungry, and sleepy, and I don’t know which one first...”

“You, little brother, have something I don’t, and that is power. I specialize in control. I don’t have a lot to work with, so I have to stretch my aether out as far as I can. I’ve also had much more time than you to develop and refine my technique. It took years to get to this point, so don’t expect so much progress overnight.” She pulled out a package of pineapple ponzecake.  “Here, eat this. I find it helpful with restoring one’s aether, but it is a bit dense.”

Timaeus sighed, she had a point, and he hugged her tightly. When she hands him the ponzecake he takes it and bites into it before eating the whole thing in nearly one sitting. “It’s so good! Did you make it big sister?”

“Yep! I’ll give you the recipe when we get back, and once you’ve gotten some sleep.” Mingxia says as she helps Timaeus to his feet. He’s wobbly from using so much aether, but he can lean on her alright. He wiped his mouth of what little blood was left, he didn’t want to make his big brother worry too much.

“Umm big sister?”

“What’s up?”

“Can we not tell big brother Zephirin I did this?”

“Why?” Mingxia asked.

“Because...” He mumbles. “He’s already got so much to worry over, with the blasphemy and the other knights and Kaia, I don’t wanna add to it.”

“Well, I suppose he doesn’t need to know about this right now…we did fix it pretty quickly. But only if you promise to listen when your body’s telling you to stop. There’s only enough room for one crazy person here, and you haven’t quite got the “be crazy safely” part down yet.” Mingxia agreed, her tone turning slightly playful towards the end.

“Okay.” Timaeus agreed with a giggle.