#also a teaser for the upcoming ffxiv polyamory week

[kalina-moonbride]

Mothercrystal + Religious

Context: Immediately after the level 89 quest “Her Children, One and All”. Spoilers: One of the most significant plot points in Endwalker. Warnings: None.

“Kalina? Beloved Moonbride…” Y'shtola did not ask are you there; even in the unlit andron, her lover's aether shone bright as ever, burning like a roaring hearth there upon the bed. “Will you have my company?” This was their space now, yes, and the door had been unlocked, but sometimes one needed solitude.

The reclining Warrior waved vague permission, though she said nothing. Y'shtola pushed the door closed, and walked quietly to her side. She stepped around pieces of armor carelessly strewn on the floor. “You left so abruptly after the debrief with Fourchenault. Are you well?”

“…No.”

There was no sickness evident in her aether, but dynamis, that could be a different matter, invisible to aethersight. This bodes ill. Y'shtola pushed down the sudden rush of alarm that chilled her spine, and willed herself to calm, as always. She needs you. Tend to her. She sat down on the bed, by Kalina's feet. “What troubles you?”

“Hydaelyn…” The Hrothgar's voice came so thin and weak, at such stark odds with her usual strength, as to be nearly unrecognizable. She lay half curled, her tail wrapped around herself, and put a hand to her mouth.

“Ah, yes.” She bowed her head, while placing a comforting hand on Kalina's leg. “We're all still coming to terms with it. I dare say it doesn't yet feel real, to most of us.” Her thumb stroked Moonbride's shin, an affectionate if unthinking gesture. “But you always were closer to Her than any of us could even dream.”

“You don't—you can't understand!” A shudder went through the Warrior's body, a tremor from her shoulders all the way down into Y'shtola's hand. “I was supposed to fix it! I knew She was weak, that She was… fading.” The euphemism rang louder than the voice speaking it. “But I was going to make it better! Restore Her strength somehow, save… save the…” She choked. Another shudder.

“Kalina, love, that was never Her intent.” Twelve, it hurt to see her like this. But Y'shtola dared not crack, herself. “She said as much. That She meant to test us, and impart Her gifts if we proved worthy. As Her final act of grace.”

“Test us!” At last a great sob broke forth. “Test us… it was supposed to be like in Elpis! An earth-shaking sparring match! And we laughed after.” She jolted half upright, bracing her back against the headboard, her legs flinching away from Y'shtola's touch. “Shtola, I killed Her. I was Her champion, and I killed Her!” She buried her head in her hands, claws pressing into the hollows of her eyes, gasping.

Y'shtola's heart pounded. What could she possibly do or say to bring Kalina back to herself? She found words that were true, but unlikely to be right. “Kalina… dearheart. It was not your spear that laid Her low. It was Her long and arduous service holding this star in tranquility, a labor at last ended. She would soon depart, no matter the circumstances. She chose to have us bear witness to it, that is all.”

Moonbride made no reply, only shook her head, bent nearly to her knees. Y'shtola could not see the smoky tendrils of despair, but she could imagine them, and it filled her stomach with ice.

A shaft of light split the room: the door had once more opened, admitting the hallway's glow. A familiar figure hesitated there, silhouetted in indecision. “Oh!” G'raha Tia lowered his head, abashed. “Is this… not a good time? I can…”

“No!” Y'shtola shot him a pleading look. “Come in, Raha, please. Close the door, but hurry.”

He rushed to his partners' company, pushing the door behind him. With a thump, his toe collided with an armored boot of Maiming, but he managed not to yelp or fall. “What's happened?”

“She's grieving Hydaelyn,” Y'shtola said. “I've tried to explain, this was Her lesson to us…” She shook her head and looked to Kalina, trying once again. “Our star, and the distant ones that perished. All things end, but it's in the strength of those who remain that hope flourishes—”

“Ah.” G'raha knelt beside Kalina and carefully, gently, folded his hands around one of hers, guiding it away from her face. She flinched, but only a little, permitting the movement. “I think… this isn't the time for explanations. Hope grows from sorrow, yes. But we still have to live through the sorrow when there's nothing to it but pain.” He kissed the back of Kalina's hand, and touched her face where tears wet her fur. “Kalina?”

“Y-yeah.”

“Is there something the Night's Blessed do at times like these? A ritual, a prayer?”

“Oh…” Thankfully, Moonbride didn't notice Y'shtola's brief why didn't I think of that grimace. “I… we… we could say the farewell from the Darker. Hydaelyn doesn't have a Heartstone, not exactly. Not here. But we still have the words.”

G'raha nodded and looked to Y'shtola. “You know what she means?”

“Yes.”

“Then you two can say the words together. I'll be right here with you.” He reached out, joining hands with Kalina and Y'shtola both. Taking his cue, they joined hands as well, making a three-person circle there on and beside the bed.

Kalina seemed to hesitate, so Y'shtola began the recitation. It took them a moment, but soon their voices found unison.

In the light, She was known as Hydaelyn. But in the dark, we shall remember Her always as Venat. We take this moment to offer Her our prayer.

We entrust Her now to the night's sweet embrace. In Darkness will She be free from pain and suffering, now and forevermore. May Her soul find peace in the sunless sea of heaven, and in the love we bear for Her in our hearts.

Kalina sobbed once more, and her beloveds held her as she wept, until her tears were spent.