(Journal time again~!)

The beach night was at Costa this week. It was not a bad night. Nor was it overly memorable. Well not as much compared to some of the others things that happened this past week.

I spent the night talking with Nate and Chloe mainly. Though Oni left a note with me before he left. Saying we needed to speak so I could give my report on the work Tara an I were supposed to have done. I put the note away and continued to converse with people present. I would worry about it later. The reports had waited this long anyways.

It was at dinner the next night that Oni decided it was a good time to pull me aside for those reports. I left Nate to speak with Rhisi about joining us for some work. We headed off to my room where I left my papers an the armband I needed to give to Oni.

I gave him my report. An gods be damned if I did not feel like I had somehow kicked a small cute creature after Oni had left. He was… So quiet. So unlike himself. Well unlike what I had grown used to knowing. I felt like I had surely done something bad. I returned to join those that remained at the table. Oni’s silence was unnerving at the very least. I wanted to scream an demand to know what I had done. All I had done was give my report as he had asked.

I had promised Nate a reading after dinner. Most of the others had wandered off for the night. An I needed a distraction from the fact that Oni was behaving like that. So we headed downstairs so I could use the table down there for the reading. The table that was setup for Triad was a good place to work with the cards. It all started out well as I used the Trinity spread. It was not until the third an final card that I became worried. It was a warning of sorts. At least from the way I was interpreting the meanings. I am still learning after all. It called for vigilance. That some quest ahead would be dangerous for him. I hoped the warning was not needed. But I asked Nate to promise me he would be careful an ask for my help if he needed it.

I was busy most of the next day with work of my own. Well most of the day. I might have set outside of the yard hiding behind the fence later that evening. Aimee and Oni were in the yard. As was Tara who had just gotten back home from helping her family with the harvest. I was sort of snooping, still curious what was going on with Oni an not wanting to outright confront him. Eventually Nate arrived an nearly gave away my position. Thankfully though Oni left with Aimee and Quarcy to head to Ishgard. They were off to investigate some leads.

I joined Chee for a short while before the mid-week mission. We did a little catching up on the things that had been happening in our lives. We enjoyed some drinks for a Lady’s Night at the Last Bell. Sadly too soon I had to say goodnight to Chee. Rhisi had given us the call to begin heading to the house for the mission.

Our next mission was back out in Southern Thanalan again. Nate joined us as a guest. Apparently there were more shepherds then the one we helped. We were looking for something to help remove petrification. Hopefully it would be something more effective then Dusk an my attempt before. That was a bit too much for two people to have to do repeatedly. We found something worth trying an took it back to the two groups, one of shepherds an one of sheep. I still do not understand why these silly shepherds even decided it was a good idea to try an do what they do in Southern Thanalan of all places.

My mind was on anything but the mission of course. Between Oni’s behavior and the reading I did for Nate. I felt like I was ready to jump at every shadow. I was worried something could happen. Worried out reaper friend would choose to attack again. I excused myself early from the half of the team I was working with. My mind was just not focused. I returned to the house.

Raiden was there. As well as Rhisi, Konner, and a guest. I hated asked Raiden for a moment of his time with a guest present but I really needed to at least get something off my mind. I asked him an we went to my room to speak privately. Of course he had to bring a cake with him which he decided to snack on.

I finally asked Raiden to tell me what I did to Oni. I -needed- to know. It was driving me mad. Apparently Oni thought I no longer wished to be his friend based on my behavior towards him. I was… Mad. Confused. Frustrated. Never once did I want to hate Oni. Oni is… different and frustrating. But I could never really hate him. Even if he says things he did not clearly mean. I assumed his words meant one thing when they meant something else. To be honest his words were not exactly clear either. Raiden does not think we need to apologize to each other though. I guess I need to work on my people skills…

Though I did steal a slice of that cake from Raiden’s hand towards the end of our conversation. I could no longer resist the temptation he was holding. Of course then I made a comment that he probably enjoyed me making Oni into a mummy. Which lead to him making a comment of … No I am not writing those words. I thought for sure I might melt alone hearing that comment. I bid him goodnight an pushed him towards the door before he could add more comments of that type.

I was late coming home the next night. I had a bit of work to do. I arrived to quite the mess. Chocolate spatters, shirtless men, and a partially damaged cake dragon. Apparently it was Raiden’s nameday. An I did not know so I did not have a gift for him.

Somehow the conversation lead to my lost bet to Felix. Great. Now Raiden knows. Let the endless harassment begin. Eventually a guest arrived. She commented on Raiden and I. It is not a courtship ritual! Raiden and I are not like that… I don’t think we are… I think he just enjoys leaving me flustered and blushing. Then Raiden just had to lean in an add something to me privately. Twelve save me… He made the comment from the night before worse… I wished I could just disappear.

I used the chance of Raiden being distracted by Anais to disappear up the stairs. I needed a drink. Badly. Nate was up there at the bar an I had almost totally missed the fact he was there because of the addled state I was in. We spoke for a bit. He finally opened up to me a bit. I was happy to listen, to understand him better. We’ve both lost people. We both don’t want to lose anyone else. I think together we can make sure not to let that happen. Not alone. That is one of the things I always hear repeated among those of this company. Not Alone. None of us here are ever truly alone. Not as long as we have each other.

Not alone. It’s been a long time since I could ever truly appreciate those words. Being here.. Among those of the Order… It’s been a much needed balm. My friends of ‘The Outsiders’ gave me purpose an the needed push to keep moving forward. The Order has given me what I’ve long needed to begin to truly heal. I wanted to hold Nate’s hand an never let go. He has become such a precious friend to me. Just as the rest of the Order. I won’t let anything happen. Not to any of them. No matter how frustrating and confusing they can be at times. They are my family.

Anyways! Our mission last evening took us back out to Southern Thanalan again. More dealings with the shepherds and looking for answers on what was going on. Apparently the golems were not behaving properly over towards Qarn. Half the team went to check with the nearby beast tribe. I was with the other half dealing with the golems. We gathered up golem cores to try an figure out what was going on with them when Dusk’s attempt to reason with them went unheeded. I brought samples with us back to the house. The aether of the area was too turbulent to be able to figure anything out from there. But it sounds like we will soon be making a trip down into Qarn.

(Journal time again! ^^ A little delayed. Been trying to recover from all the work. So many hours. @_@ Ugh. I did not get to do more then 1 learning party so far for Sophia Ex. But we were up to the healer check. So we made pretty good progress. I did get most of my other content done. Though I still have half my alex stuff to do. XD Which I will do asap once I get done with this entry. Oh! AND! I finished my hyperconductive stage of my Relic! 😀 Yay Word of the Magnate! Destiney finally hit lvl50 on PLD. My first 50+ tank class. ^^ Also making fair progress on Lance. He’s lvl 28 atm an ready to head into the next dungeon.)

Dinner was a rather quiet affair this week. Well other then Nathaniel stopped by. I was glad to have him to speak with. I checked on his well being out of concern since I did remember he had suffered a failed hunt the week before. He insisted he was fine. I hope he is. I… I don’t know what I would do if something happened. I don’t want to lose his friendship so soon.

Oni arrived while I was talking to Nate. I could feel his stare. I asked him if there was something wrong. Making sure to address him properly with a ‘Sir’ as well. He said it was nothing before whispering something over his shoulder to Raiden. I wanted to ask what he was whispering about but I did not. I let things go at that. I think Nate noticed the tension I held towards Oni. It is hard. Trying not to relax back into the way things were around Oni. I’m not ready to forgive him this easily. Though at the same time I’m not -as- angry as I was. More so… Disappointed.

Speaking of Oni… I still have not been able to catch Leera to check on his well being either. I’m worried but I am not about to try going over to the Castrum just to check on someone like Leera. It’s been a week though…

The mid-week mission was rather tame. We built fencing for that Shepherd from the week before. No sign of our ‘friend’. I helped C’lest with bringing wood over for the others to build with. I guess it is a good thing I still regularly practice with my bow. Keeps me better fit then just casting spells would ever do. Definitely helped with carrying wood over that distance. Nothing of real importance occurred though. No attacks. Just a simple night.

Though… Our mission at the end of the week was far worse. The cards predicted a rough night for us. Well they predicted us encountering our familiar foe again. An they were right. The night was filled with attacks by our foe.

Things seemed to be starting off simple enough. We had to take care of the Peiste problem near the area where the Shepherd was. That was when we encountered a group of people who had been petrified. I did my best to try an halt the progress though I was unable to reverse it on my own. Dusk preformed some kind of strange magic using blood before having me try again. Thankfully whatever Dusk did helped. The people should have come around a few hours later. However we did not have a chance to linger. We cleared the area of Peistes before heading north.

A blast above us rained rocks down at us. I threw up a shield hoping to hold off the worst of the rubble. Thankfully the biggest of the rocks landed in front of us not on top of us. Blocking our path of course… We decided it would take too long to move or find another way. We would climb the rocks. Again I was thankful. I used to climb trees in the Shroud as a kid. This was not much more difficult. I just had to be relatively careful. I was also glad I had ditched the skirt in favor of something a bit more sensible for such tasks.

When we got over to the other side we encountered a new problem. Both Aras and Neiven managed to find landmines in the ground. Since Aras was more heavily geared then Neiven, I rushed to Neiven’s side first. Her legs were still intact but pretty hurt. I healed the worst of it an helped her to her feet. C’lest had chosen to carry Aras after she had done some fancy maneuvers with her fists an chakra to explode the rest of the landmines. We could not tarry here. It was not safe.

Chloe managed to find our reaper friend. We hurried to join her nearby. It looked like a small ravine separated us from the enemy. An somehow Dusk had managed to cross it without us noticing as we were being fired upon. I had thrown up a shield again though I did not have to hold it long before the enemy vanished as usual. Neiven helped to get C’lest to the other side so we could get Dusk back safely. I thought I heard a noise that reminded me of Oni’s cores. I could be mistaken though as I was hurrying over to check on Aras. She had finally regained conscience. She insisted she was fine. An someone learned the ground was not a ravine but a projection. There was never a gap between us and our enemy.

I was ordered back to the house with Aras and Dusk. The others would soon follow. I ordered both Dusk and Aras into the house so I could better check over them. Dusk passed out on the floor inside the house. I got Chloe and Aras to help me move her into her room where she could rest. I did not want to risk anything by healing her right then. Not when she had insisted I could not heal her hand because of the spell she had used on those people.

Once Dusk was safely in her room we headed back out to the main floor. I demanded Aras hold still an let me check her over. I thought I had glimpsed blood on her head when she had looked down at the leg she had stepped on the landmine with. Everything else might be fine but she had most definitely hit her head when the explosion had knocked her back. So I took care to heal it before then moving over to where C’lest was fussing over Neiven.

Neiven’s legs still needed further tending now that we were safely at the house again. I was feeling the strain of so much aether usage but I needed to do this. I finished what I had started out in the field. Quarcy had just arrived as I finished. I stood up an staggered a moment because I felt light-headed. Too much. I had once more pushed too hard. Though not nearly as hard as the week before. I really do need to work on strengthening myself.

It was just Quarcy an I for a moment. Chloe an Aras had gone off to drink. C’lest had gone somewhere with Neiven for the moment. I explained to Quarcy to events of the night that he had missed. An he did something I had never seen before. He asked for my hand. Out of curiosity I obliged him. He did some sort of transfer between us. It was an odd sensation but I felt better. Less drained then I had been moments before. Granted I was still physically tired from everything that had occurred. But now I was not also aetherically drained as well.

We discussed some theories on the enemy before C’lest returned. I let her give Quarcy her side of the events of the night. After all I had been distracted with healing a few times. Shortly after I excused myself for the night. I needed rest.

Other then that the days have been busy but uneventful. Nothing serious to note besides those few days.

(Yay a day off! An journal time as well. Can’t let another day pass. XD Might start to forget some of the details otherwise. That an Arthur agreed to spend today helping me clear content I have not yet gotten to touch. Like Alex 11 & 12 and Sophia. I am actually interested in trying Sophia Ex. First Ex I’ve been interested in learning since Ravana. Also I am roughly about 6 or 7 Umbrite remaining before my relic is ready for the next phase. Depends if I get luck on any extra sands. An I really need to start making some RP friends outside of my FC. *hides* Anyways! Journal! Yay! XD)

What a night. Total chaos is putting things nicely for that evening. The day after our mid-week mission that is. We had guests at the house. Tara and I dropped by after our work.

Tara and I had went about dealing with the tasks we had been assigned after my prank earlier in the week. Tara doesn’t like the conjurer’s guild. Or rather they don’t seem to like her. But my presence with her seemed to keep things to just dirty looks. After all my mother had once studied there an some of them know who I am because of that connection. Well probably also the fact I knew a few of them from injuries I needed treated as a child when my mother wasn’t home.

There was a rather colorful young lady visiting the house. Her name is Naho. I wasn’t paying much attention to our guest at first. I was sort of tired from all the work I had done already. So I was mostly content to linger beside Tara over towards the back.

Oni and Aimee came out of the back from the direction of the personal rooms. I still wanted nothing to do with either of them. But Oni stopped before us, holding out two small satchels for Tara and myself. I was still treating him as an officer as I asked what he wanted from us this time. Apparently they were chocolates. Made by Raiden. As a thank you… I couldn’t resist the idea of chocolates being given to me by Raiden… Though I can’t see how they are thank you chocolates. Our work was meant to be a punishment. Maybe apology chocolates from Raiden cause of Oni? I can’t begin to guess. Still… They were chocolates.

I was just silently munching on those chocolates as I stood by Tara. Then Naho came over. She wanted a chocolate. I was torn between sharing an hording my prize. I finally gave in since she was a guest an offered her one. Instead of taking the one I was holding out… She took the one hanging out of my mouth. I was speechless to put it mildly. Tara of course was amused by my predicament.

Naho then wandered off for a moment or two before coming back over. I tried my best to be nice. I was flustered though from that moment earlier. Not angry though. More of shocked an surprised. The moment was interrupted when someone mentioned the coffin in the storage room. Everyone headed in there. I figured it was best if I went in as well. Just in case someone caused something bad to happen.

It was chaos. Utter chaos. Tara dragged me from the room. Others abandoned the room too as C’lest and Neiven cornered poor Quarcy. Something about butt biting vampires. I was glad to miss whatever occurred next. I chose a spot outside of the rooms to sit down an quietly finish my chocolates. Well until Naho came out of the storage room an plopped down in my lap an made herself comfortable.

The girl was every inch confusing. An curious. Well I think it was the name she called out in her sleep before grabbing my hand. The tears left behind before she woke up an ran off. I guess a part of me was curious what caused that sort of suffering. As well as part of me knew that feeling. A longing for someone. Maybe I will seek her out an at least check on her well-being.

Tara an I went upstairs an got into Kagato’s stash of rum. We both needed some after our day. I needed something stronger then the wine.

The next day was another mission. We headed out to Southern Thanalan. Something about some shepherd needing help. Something about the whole thing seemed fishy to me. I can not recall any shepherds in Southern Thanalan before. There is not much in the way of vegetation out there. I was fully prepared to be facing our reaper friend again. Though I was also just slightly hung over too…

There was a strong dust storm as we reached past the gates from Central Thanalan. An Cactuars… Who were trying to make us into pin cushions. We ducked for cover as quickly as we were able. Many of us ducked into one of the gate’s towers. Chloe had some grenades of some sort she used to clear us a path to get out.

We ran down the road to try an get away. However there were more cactuars. An very little covering. I threw up a shield to try an protect us from the worst of the needles. I can’t remember who, but once more the path was cleared an we made a break for it. We reached our destination finally. I took a moment to catch my breath as Rhisi talked with the Shepherd.

We moved to deal with some local peistes who were bothering the area. An found one possible cause that kept drawing those creatures to the area. But before we could do anything to deal with the problem we were attacked. Some strange man in the strangest of outfits with a mask over his head. He sent more cactuars to attack us. Aimee, Tara, and myself threw up shields to protect the group from harm. So much shield usage was making my headache I started with so much worse.

I shouldn’t have done it. I shouldn’t have used that skill with the way I was feeling. I resorted to Dissipation. Daisy added her powers to mine to keep the shield going strong. My normal soft blue aether changing to a beautiful shade of turquoise as Daisy vanished in sparkles as her power became mine for a short while. My head was throbbing badly after that. Then Dusk added onto the aether I was already using for the shield. I felt like I might be sick. Too much aether… Of course it did not help any when Felix stood behind me an basically used my shoulder to line up his shot at the enemy…

I collapsed after the enemy vanished an the attacks halted. I was glad it ended when it did. I was afraid I might pass out if I had to hold that shield much longer. I was only vaguely aware of anything after that. Dusk had helped me to my feet an onto Jazz’s back, Tara’s chocobo. I don’t think I could have made it back to the house on my own. Between the throbbing of my head an so much aether usage to the point of nearly being sick…

Back at the house I picked a spot to sit on the floor against the railing of the stairs leading down. Tara plopped down beside me an we just sat there for a while, both exhausted. Rhisi eventually arrived back at the house an brought the two of us some bubble chocolate. C’lest had been kind enough to bring us some water an cool towels. I was thankful for their care. I don’t think I could have moved if I wanted to.

I was feeling slightly better the next day. Well enough to meet Felix for our drinking date out in Coerthas anyways. I just figured I would take it easy on the drink since I was still fairly drained. We got to talking an eventually I made a bet with Felix. So we left the tavern an went to my house in the Goblet. I bet him I was a better shot then he was. I guess I shouldn’t make bets when I’ve had two glasses of wine.

It took me two shots to hit the wooden sword on the dummy in the yard. It took him one… Damn him. The bet was if I won he would let me do his next check up. If he won… Damn it… I have to wear that Thavnarian dress for a week… My cheeks are burning just thinking about it. Thankfully he didn’t mention what week I have to wear it. Hopefully I can find a week where I won’t have to see Raiden much. I’ll never hear the end of it. Hopefully it is a week I won’t have to see Nathaniel or Leera either. I have never worn that outfit since the night Leon made me.

Yesterday I went to join the others at the Mist near Oni’s house. I mostly kept to myself though. I was still trying to regain my energy. I really shouldn’t have relied on Daisy like that. It is so very draining because I am still not strong enough. I guess I really do need to practice an make my aether stronger. Not that I plan to let Oni know he won in that regard.

Quarcy came to talk to me for a short while. He had managed to find a nice prize. A scholar soulstone of his own. He was asking questions on how it might be possible to awake then fairy slumbering within. I gave him my opinion an told him what I knew from working with Daisy even though I had never had to awaken her from the state like the one he had found. Mine had been passed to me by my Uncle.
After Quarcy left I mostly sat there an half listened to other conversations going on around me.

I thought I heard Felix mentioning something about shooting Leera… I was only half paying attention though. Maybe I misheard him. I will have to check into it personally. Not that I think one shot would be enough to put any of the subjects down so easily. Still… I was concerned for Leera. Though I probably shouldn’t be.

Eventually I dozed off for a time before heading home to actually find my bed. I was apparently still more tired then I thought.