#papanan kir nununan

[driftward]

Thunderous

Title - FFXIV Write 2021 - 15. Thunderous Characters - Nyx Blackmoon; Liana kir Vaux, Papanan kir Nununan Rating - Teen Summary - Before the calamity, before she was even a weapon of the Garlean empire, the Miqo’te woman was just a lab assistant. Until one day, when under attack, they reach for the aether around them... and become something more Notes - Originally posted here on 2021-09-16

The Miqo’te woman had rather preferred when it was quiet.

The castrum was under attack, and she was finding the noise overwhelming, finding it hard to think. She could feel the aether, thick in the air, from magitek weapons fire and thrown spells being flung around her.

She felt as though she could breath it in, feel it, hot in the air, hot in her chest and belly, flowing through her. She felt as though if she would just stop a moment, she could grab it somehow. She wanted to.

She wanted Liana and Papanan and herself to survive more.

A nearby wall exploded in on their group, with thunderous noise, and all three of them were flung unceremoniously to the ground. Liana was quick to crab crawl her way behind a nearby caltrop. The Miqo’te woman had though she had seen a hint, the false gray of an image of the wall exploding, and she managed to roll with the hit, coming to rest on her hands and knees, shaken but uninjured.

Papanan had not been so lucky. She could see him nearby, staggered, blood flowing from a wound on his head. He was still conscious, and still moving; she saw him slowly try to lift himself off the ground, holding a hand to his fresh wound.

She also saw one of the hostile soldiers moving towards him.

She could see hints again, in her mind’s eye. Possibilities coalescing, appearing to her as greyscale images. Less likely ones were lighter in shade, threatening to vanish into nothing. More certain ones were darker, with sharper contrasts. It was as though she could see the soldier’s intended actions as they considered their options.

And then she saw one in particular coalesce, and she sprinted forward, intent on ensuring it could not happen.

The soldier’s sword came up just as she tackled Papanan out of the way, and behind her, she heard it clash as it hit the ground heavily, the soldier having spent too much energy in a heavy wind up for what he thought was a sure kill. She wrapped her body around Papanan to protect him, and planted her feet.

The aether called to her. The warmth was overwhelming, now. She could feel it in the air, she could feel it in herself. It was already alive, but just needed a bit more.

It just needed a spark, and a focus, and it would aspect into something more, something not at all aetherial.

Power.

She was connected to the land through her stance. She was a conduit between the earth and the sky,  she was a pass through which the energy could flow. She could feel it whelming up within her now.

She spared a glance for the soldier, and she saw the future possibilities.

They all ended with his sword in her.

She closed her eyes, and ignited the power she felt within. It was hot, so hot. It felt sickly, sticky. It felt like so much pressure, needing release.

She just needed a focus, and she opened her eyes, looking at her hand. Then, in a smooth motion, she swept that same hand towards the soldier’s face before he could bring his sword down again.

She felt the power inside of her ignite, light up. It flowed into her violently, rushing, sweeping in from the ambient aether into her, where she pumped it, excited it, and it coalesced in the palm of her hand, a dark vibrating orb of barely restrained aspected aether. Black whisps of smoke poured out of her hand, and she saw it become partially unmade, the black vapors rapidly coalescing into the black sphere of energy that was sustained there.

And then the moment was over, as she snapped her focus to the soldier. The black sphere snaked away from her, faintly trailing its black mist, and slammed into him, igniting into a fireball. She heard it more than she felt it, a thunderous roar inside of her very self, and she felt it plenty, her hand continuing to be unmade in the aftermath of the spell.

The soldier fared far worse, however, as he was blasted back. He went down amongst the rubble, and stayed there.

She curled over on herself, grasping her hand to her chest, and she took deep, gulping breaths. Inside of her, she felt expanded, somehow. As though she could do that again, pull on somehow greater energies, could perhaps follow up with an even mightier spell. And if not for her hand, perhaps she might try-

Beneath her, Papanan groaned. She looked up to where she had last seen Liana, and saw Liana’s eyes go wide, but they were not looking at her. They were looking past her. She turned, and saw more soldiers in the breach.

She saw a cascade of future possibilities, and she did not like any of them.

She looked down at her hand. The effect on it had slowed, but. She could still see black wisping off of it. She could see muscle and tendons. They were splotchy, disjointed, unnaturally unmade.

She took a deep breath in, and planted her feet again. She could feel the aether once more, hanging thick in the air. It was so close to ignition. It was excited. It was as though it wanted to be remade, repurposed.

As though it wanted to be made real just long enough to unmake everything.

She was dimly aware of tears drawing down her cheeks as she planted her feet, and drew in once more. The energy filled her again, and once more, demanded purpose, pressing against her insides, pushing itself out, crowding her, wanting to be set free.

She held it until she felt as though she might explode, and then she unleashed it once more, pointing her hand at the nearest soldier she could see. Again the black energy formed, but this time, it was mightier, more powerful.

And this time, it demanded more.

She watched as, seemingly in an instant, her entire forearm was unmade, and the the entire world exploded into a roar she could not hear over. Black smoke poured off her forearm, disappearing into a sphere that shot towards the enemy, and then -

Explosion -

Fire -

Heat -

Destruction, all and more that she needed, was delivered.

The world went to grays and deep, sharp contrasts as she fell to the ground. She could not hear anything except the roar. Above her she saw Liana’s concerned face come into view. Lips moved, but she could not hear what they were saying. Papanan appeared shortly after, moving towards her, but looking away. He waved his arms animatedly, and both he and Liana were then looking, and she could see a few more soldiers, still approaching.

The first ones she had spotted had been eager, running forward, bodies down, swords out. These ones were more cautious, shuffling forward slowly, shields up.

“RUN,” she yelled. Or she thought she did. Or she tried to. She wasn’t sure.

They should have left her. They should be leaving her. Why were they staying? Her arm was ruined, and she was weak from the exertion, and she was not worth risking themselves for, didn’t they know that?

She thought everyone knew that.

She was having problems seeing the possibilities, now, but one more entered her mind. If Papanan and Liana wouldn’t abandon her, wouldn’t run from it, there was one more thing she could try. And perhaps it could stop her arm from continuing to be unmade, as she was certain she could still feel it unravelling.

She placed her one good hand on the ground, closed her eyes, and focused. She imagined a little circle around her and Papanan and Liana which was inviolate, but beyond that, she could reach out, and feel the aether, still excited, still rushing, still roaring.

All she had to do was try to control it once more, but this time, instead of encouraging it, to discourage it. To calm it down. To bring it into the ultimate form of focus and order.

To still it, and freeze the world.

She could feel the energy flows inside of her slow, and then reverse, sluggishly at first, but then quicker, shifting to a different aspect. She could feel her body grow colder, she could feel ice forming on her skin, but she could not stop. She had to do this one last thing.

The aether built up, but it was different this time. She could feel it, in a circle around her. It just needed focus. She sucked a deep breath in, and then held it.

Everything slowed for her.

And then, with a crack, the ice snapped into existence, a thousand thousand shards, and exploded.

The roar in her ears grew to overwhelming, now, and she could take no more. She felt her skin split in a dozen dozen places. She was broken, she was battered, and she had done all that she could do, more than she thought she knew how, but…

It would be alright.

Papanan and Liana would be safe.

She collapsed as the roar reached the heavens and the world went to a steady slate of gray.

[biot08]

ABERRANT

FFXIV fanfic behind the cut

ABERRANT

“These readings cannot POSSIBLY be correct” groused Papanan kir Nununan, the perpetual frown on his face deepening as he looked at a display.

Nearby, a Miqo’te woman stepped out of one of the aetherflux chambers. The chamber was designed to be able to measure the aether qualities of a person. How much they had, how much they could manipulate and how fast. It was experimental. Almost everything in the lab was, either being recently developed Garlean technology, or unearthed and re-activated Allagan equipment.

The Miqo’te woman herself arguably fell into that latter category.

And all of it, the entire Garlean laboratory, Papanan would often insist, had been developed as a test of his personal patience and how far the military bureaucracy could fuck with him, personally.

“I thought there was nothing wrong with this thing,” said Papanan. The large green oval display became the latest recipient of his wrath as he gripped it tightly with both of his hands and shook it, as though that would change anything. It wobbled.

“We did not find anything wrong with it. Not quite the same thing. Perhaps it needs calibration?” said Liana kir Vaux, who was sitting nearby nursing a cup of tea in both hands. The two scientists, while both working for the Garlean empire, were very different people. Liana was a wildwood Elezen, tall, with pale skin and gray hair. The older of the two, crows feet accentuated her eyes. Papanan was a Lalafell of dunesfolk persuasion. His skin was a dusty light brown, his hair darker than that by several shades. He was younger, but not young. Both wore the lab coat and pants demanded of their job. As did the Miqo’te woman, for that matter.

“Perhaps our idiot provisioners need calibration,” Papanan retorted. “It has never had a day of instruction in any aetherlogical arts since it was decanted, and yet! Yet! The machine would have me believe that perhaps it is quite the puissant mage.”

Liana sighed, setting her tea down. The Miqo’te woman had since made her way to quietly sit down nearby, staring at Papanan with those large, almost-black glassy eyes of hers. The woman’s face was, as usual, expressionless.

“I wish you would not call her an it,” said Liana.

“I wish you would stop treating it like a pet,” retorted Papanan.

“I am not the one who keeps giving her my cinnamon sweet rolls after lunch,” said Liana.

“We are not feeding it nearly enough. It’s not -natural- and it does not eat like it should be! It’s a machine, Liana. They need fuel, and we cannot jolly well choke it with ceruleam, now, can we?”

Liana looked to the Miqo’te, who stopped staring at Papanan long enough to glance at Liana.

“I do appreciate it, kir Nununan,” the Miqo’te woman said. Her voice was quiet, but steady. Strong. Clear. Liana wished she could teach her to sing.

After a pause, the Miqo’te woman, still staring at Papanan, pulled her teeth back in a rictus grin, seemingly only remembering to squint her eyes a little bit after the face. Papanan threw his hands up and recoiled in mock terror.

“Thal’s balls, Liana! I wish you had never tried to teach her how to smile!”

Liana sighed and looked over at the Miqo’te woman. The woman continued to stare as her face shifted back to its usual expressionless state. Expressionless, Liana thought to herself. But not quite completely. Liana knew many people found the staring unsettling. She herself had, for the first few weeks. But as the moons had stretched into seasons, Liana had learned to find it endearing. A weird sort of constant in the hustle and bustle of the lab. And if she looked carefully, there was still expression there. The slow movement of an ear rotating to hear something better. The twitch of a tail. The specific way the Miqo’te woman stared at any specific moment.

And she knew that the Miqo’te woman was always listening carefully. She learned fast, languages seemingly coming to her instantly, but most tasks she could reach competence in with very little in the way of instruction. She had learned. She had learned which of the scientists to avoid and which ones to stay near. She had learned how to fit in, smoothly shifting from a failed experiment that they were trying to figure out what to do with to a valuable lab assistant and occasional willing test dummy.

Like today, with them trying to get the aetherflux chamber working. The Miqo’te woman was one of the few who did not seem to have some problem or another climbing into it for a few hours.

“Well, whatever. We need replacement parts. Assistant! Help me take this thing apart,” Papanan directed the last at the Miqo’te woman, who nodded, once, before quickly getting up and walking smoothly over to the chamber.

Liana sipped her tea as the two got to work. Liana may have been the experienced aetherologist, but Papanan was the experienced engineer, and repairing the aetherflux chamber was more his area. She watched them for a while, and then made her way over to the display and the output that had so drawn Papanan’s ire, and looked at the data.

Liana considered it with a frown. The values were high, but not astronomical. A failed component could have shown a few things. A blank for no data, or a value that was at the maximum the display could show, or a value that was at the minimum of the same. But all of the values were within reasonable ranges. Just high.

A badly calibrated part could explain it.

But… what if the values were correct?

Liana sipped her tea quietly, looked over at the Miqo’te woman, and considered.

[driftward]

Aberrant

Title - FFXIV Write 2021 - 2. Aberrant Fandom - Final Fantasy FFXIV Characters - Nyx Blackmoon, Liana kir Vaux, Papanan kir Nununan Rating - Teen Summary - Prologue - occurs before events of 1.0 Notes - Originally posted here on 2021-09-03. I’ll probably change the names of the scientist when I clean this up later.

“These readings cannot POSSIBLY be correct” groused Papanan kir Nununan, the perpetual frown on his face deepening as he looked at a display.

Nearby, a Miqo’te woman stepped out of one of the aetherflux chambers. The chamber was designed to be able to measure the aether qualities of a person. How much they had, how much they could manipulate and how fast. It was experimental. Almost everything in the lab was, either being recently developed Garlean technology, or unearthed and re-activated Allagan equipment.

The Miqo’te woman herself arguably fell into that latter category.

And all of it, the entire Garlean laboratory, Papanan would often insist, had been developed as a test of his personal patience and how far the military bureaucracy could fuck with him as an individual.

“I thought there was nothing wrong with this thing,” said Papanan. The large green oval display became the latest recipient of his wrath as he gripped it tightly with both of his hands and shook it, as though that would change anything. It wobbled.

“We did not find anything wrong with it. Not quite the same thing. Perhaps it needs calibration?” said Liana kir Vaux, who was sitting nearby nursing a cup of tea in both hands. The two scientists, while both working for the Garlean empire, were very different people. Liana was a wildwood Elezen, tall, with pale skin and gray hair. The older of the two, crows feet accentuated her eyes. Papanan was a Lalafell of dunesfolk persuasion. His skin was a dusty light brown, his hair darker than that by several shades. He was younger, but not young. Both wore the lab coat and pants demanded of their job. As did the Miqo’te woman, for that matter.

“Perhaps our idiot provisioners need calibration,” Papanan retorted. “It has never had a day of instruction in any aetherlogical arts since it was decanted, and yet! Yet! The machine would have me believe that, perhaps, -despite that fact-, that it is quite the puissant mage.”

Liana sighed, setting her tea down. The Miqo’te woman had since made her way to quietly sit down nearby, staring at Papanan with those large, almost-black glassy eyes of hers. The woman’s face was, as usual, expressionless.

“I wish you would not call her an it,” said Liana.

“I wish you would stop treating it like a pet,” retorted Papanan.

“I am not the one who keeps giving her my cinnamon sweet rolls after lunch,” said Liana.

“We are not feeding it nearly enough. It’s not -natural- and it does not eat like it should be! It’s a machine, Liana. They need fuel, and we cannot jolly well choke it with ceruleam, now, can we?”

Liana looked to the Miqo’te, who stopped staring at Papanan long enough to glance at Liana.

“I do appreciate it, kir Nununan,” the Miqo’te woman said. Her voice was quiet, but steady. Strong. Clear. Liana wished she could teach her to sing.

After a pause, the Miqo’te woman, still staring at Papanan, pulled her teeth back in a rictus grin, seemingly only remembering to squint her eyes a little bit after the fact. Papanan threw his hands up and recoiled in mock terror.

“Thal’s balls, Liana! I wish you had never tried to teach her how to smile!”

Liana sighed and looked over at the Miqo’te woman. The woman continued to stare as her face shifted back to its usual expressionless state. Expressionless, Liana thought to herself. But not quite completely. Liana knew many people found the staring unsettling. She herself had, for the first few weeks. But as the moons had stretched into seasons, Liana had learned to find it endearing. A weird sort of constant in the hustle and bustle of the lab. And if she looked carefully, there was still expression there. The slow movement of an ear rotating to hear something better. The twitch of a tail. The specific way the Miqo’te woman stared at any specific moment.

And she knew that the Miqo’te woman was always listening carefully. She learned fast, languages seemingly coming to her instantly, but most tasks she could reach competence in with very little in the way of instruction. She had learned. She had learned which of the scientists to avoid and which ones to stay near. She had learned how to fit in, smoothly shifting from a failed experiment that they were trying to figure out what to do with to a valuable lab assistant and occasional willing test dummy.

Like today, with them trying to get the aetherflux chamber working. The Miqo’te woman was one of the few who did not seem to have some problem or another climbing into it for a few hours.

“Well, whatever. We need replacement parts. Assistant! Help me take this thing apart,” Papanan directed the last at the Miqo’te woman, who nodded, once, before quickly getting up and walking smoothly over to the chamber.

Liana sipped her tea as the two got to work. Liana may have been the experienced aetherologist, but Papanan was the experienced engineer, and repairing the aetherflux chamber was more his area. She watched them for a while, and then made her way over to the display and the output that had so drawn Papanan’s ire, and looked at the data.

Liana considered it with a frown. The values were high, but not astronomical. A failed component could have shown a few things. A blank for no data, or a value that was at the maximum the display could show, or a value that was at the minimum of the same. But all of the values were within reasonable ranges. Just high.

A badly calibrated part could explain it.

But… what if the values were correct?

Liana sipped her tea quietly, looked over at the Miqo’te woman, and considered.