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wives-natlho · 10 days

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Rough Nights and Sweet Dreams

Athena rubbed the tension from her neck as she walked to the door to their apartment. She hadn't been sleeping well since they trapped Ikkobach in its new crystal prison, and it was made worse after the confrontation with Einar. Nightmare after nightmare of bleeding throats, glowing eyes, and darkness. She coped the only way she knew how…throwing herself into guildleves until she was so tired she couldn’t see straight.

So, in her typical battle outfit and her signature axe, she had been out five times in the last three days alone.

A sigh escaped her as she reached for the doorknob. She needed to be careful though or both Coco and Jaye would catch on to her actions.

She turned the doorknob and was greeted with an arms-crossed Coco and a very eager Jaye.

“Um…hi, what’s going on?” She greeted hoping that maybe she could bypass the two girls.

“Hey! Could you drop your axe by the door?” Jaye instructed to which Coco looked even more exasperated.

She tried to play it cool as she shrugged while complying with the orders. Maybe she was reading too much into the situation and the behaviors exhibited by her girls were not some sign of an intervention.

Jaye cocked her head with a grin, the Veena was a strange mixture of excited and nervous energy.

“Coco made you some tea, and we got all the plushies on the bed”

“Oh, uh thanks!” She turned to look at Coco who had given her…that look. Loving and caring as always but with a sternness that meant she wasn’t going to take shit. Athena felt her tail and ears flatten a little but quickly tried to school her features to appear more nonchalant but with a flick of Coco’s eyes to her appendages, it was obvious that it didn’t work.

Not knowing how to handle the situation she made her way to the dresser to get changed out of her dirt-infested clothes. So preoccupied with just trying to get through the encounter, she forgot about Jaye who had quickly turned around with a blush as soon as Athena started undoing the various buckles and straps on her gear.

As she put on one of her casual shorts and shirt combo she heard it.

“We need to talk”. The Hrothgar couldn’t control it this time, her tail and ears had completely slumped. She looked around the dresser door and opened her mouth before she being cut off.

“And you’re not allowed to ask what it’s about.” This time it had been Jaye looking slightly aggravated for the first time during this exchange. Athena’s words were quickly replaced with a sigh as she scratched the back of her head.

“I’m fine.” she said as the cat woman quickly ducked around the pair to pour herself some tea sitting on the table…she could smell that it was her favorite. Athena felt that she didn’t deserve this, hells she didn’t deserve them.

“Wow you were right? How many is that? Three?” Jaye asked Coco with surprise in her voice. Athena brows furrowed as she turned around to properly address them for the first time.

“Three? Three what?”

“Oh, um, Coco mentioned that you have a pattern and that you tend to stick to it pretty closely when these things happen.” Athena’s brows now went the opposite direction in shock followed by a few other emotions. She had no idea if she should be flattered that Coco knew her better than she knew herself and that Jaye was eager to learn…or insulted if anything at herself for being so simple. She was lost in thought and had missed that Coco concluded with Jaye’s hypothesis and mentioned they still had a few more to go. The warrior had moved over and sat on the couch while the girls hovered near her.

After a few moments, Coco finally spoke up. “We know you haven't been sleeping and that you’ve been throwing yourself into these jobs that are beneath you because of it.” Athena sat her cup down and stood up, her tail twitched in agitation.

“Beneath me? These jobs are not beneath anyone. We’ve talked about this.” Athena crossed her arms and watched Coco sigh.

“Okay, but that’s not really the point right now.” Coco held her hands in defense. Athena's ears laid back as her tail continued to swish.

Jaye looked both concerned about the two girls arguing and curious about what Coco was talking about. It would seem she had learned a lot that evening and was processing a lot of emotions herself. She nodded along with Athena in silent agreement when the Hrothgar mentioned the importance of the jobs. She also nodded along with Coco about this not really being the time to discuss it.

Athena exhaled as she calmed her nerves. “I’m fine”

“That’s four”

“Oh for..” Athena mumbled as she started to pace, thankfully for everyone, she missed that Coco had lowered Jaye’s hand as her girlfriend held up five fingers.

“Can you just tell us what’s going on?” Coco asked "The last time you were having trouble sleeping was because of that old nightmare?” Athena’s shoulders sagged as she let go of the pretense. She stopped pacing but had her back turned. She crossed her arms…well more like hugged herself and sighed.

“Yes it’s nightmares again, no it’s not the old one.” she missed how the two girls perked up and Coco slowly inched her hand to the carbuncle plushie.

There was a long pause, Jaye’s energy could be felt as it was obvious she wanted to say something but had been instructed to say little during this part of the conversation.

Athena took a deep breath and it hitched. She fought against it.

“I fail everyone around me.” Athena heard the instant scoff that came from Jaye, which caused her to spin around in shock.

“What are you talking about? You literally saved me.” Athena was shaking her head even before Jaye had finished speaking.

“That plan was far too reckless, not only did people get hurt during the whole thing, I had to say some pretty shitty things and…” she paused as she scratched the back of her head. “If it failed I could of slashed your throat and killed you among many other issues.”

“Hmm that’s one part of it, but it couldn’t just be that right?” Jaye asked Coco while a bewildered Athena stared. Coco had given her wife a sympathetic look before leaning over and whispering something to Jaye.

“Oh, right, sorry.” The Veena turned to look at the warrior standing there with her mouth agape and her tail limp.

“It’s just really hard to feel the gravity of this on my end. I mean, some of the things you said are true but it’s just really off from what happened.” Jaye gave a small apologetic shrug. “But I understand this is really bothering you and I don’t want to make you feel worse.”

Athena was shaking her head again. "No, you should be mad at me. I didn't plan things well, I pushed Einar away when he needed someone! I failed." Her voice had started to crack as the pain was starting to bleed through. Coco walked over and guided her sniffling wife to the bed.

"That's not true.” Coco assured Athena. “Both Jaye and Einar are fine. You have done everything that you could and that's all you can do." The dam broke and Athena bawled into the carbuncle plush being pushed into her arms. The other two girls could make out a few words between the hiccuped gasps.

"Everyone leaves."

"My fault."

"I'm sorry."

That last one was said the most. Coco and Jaye took turns holding and rubbing her back before she finally calmed down.

"I'm sorry." she finally managed a bit more calmly, feeling better and shitty at the same time for crying in front of the other two girls.

"Well, I don't accept your apology cause it's not needed, I will accept a thank you." Coco said, not for the first time.

Jaye grabbed Athena's hand and brought her girlfriend's attention to her. "Yeah, like I said, you saved me with what you did. I don't know if it'll help but Coco suggested that I stay over tonight?"

Athena paused and looked intently at Jaye's neck. "Okay, but can you do something for me first?"

"Um… sure."

"Can you take off your choker for a minute?" Jaye looked a little puzzled at this request but reached up and undid the clasp and set it aside on the nearby table. Athena reached out and stopped herself before she blushed a little.

"Do…do you mind if I touch you?" Jaye’s freckles slowly vanished as she turned as red as a tomato.

"Yeah. That's okay." With permission from the reaper, the sleep-deprived girl reached up and very gently touched and caressed her girlfriend's neck. She needed to stamp this image into her brain if she ever hoped to sleep again. So focused on her task she missed the smirk Coco sent Jaye's way who promptly looked away in further embarrassment. Which was enough to snap Athena back into reality.

"Thank you…sorry about that"

"It's okay!... Do you feel better now?"

"Actually, yeah," she said with a smile. The demons hadn't left her mind completely, and she honestly didn't know if she could ever shut them up for good, but they were not nearly as loud. A yawn sneaked up on her as she looked at the other two girls.

"I'm…really tired now."

Athena spent the rest of the night and a good portion of the morning snuggled up against Jaye (leaving the Veena at a loss when she really needed to get up. Coco was able to lend a hand with one of the bigger plushies in the apartment). With the two girls keeping watch to make sure the Athena didn't wake up alone, she had the first restful sleep in weeks.

#ffxiv #ffxiv roleplay #ff14 #ffxiv oc #final fantasy 14 #ffxiv rp #coco natlho #jaye devale #oc fic #fanfiction #ffxiv fanfic #ffxiv fanfiction #Athena Natlho #original character #oc rp #ffxiv fic

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wives-natlho · 2 months

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How to Train Your Voidsent

It was a dark day in the South Shroud, though it was always pretty dark that close to Urth’s Gift. Athena gripped the knife close to her chest, trying to calm her nerves. It wasn’t every day you got to ambush your girlfriend to deal with her voidsent problem.

There were several figures hiding among the trees and underbrush from The Sweet and Savory, all dressed to look the part of bandits. All present were there to ambush Jaye on the wives’ request.

The plan was simple…at least on paper. The voidsent would only appear if the host was in a life and death situation, and specifically it had to believe the host was in danger. Based on the stories they were told, Jaye could be terribly maimed and it would not care. The situation had to appeal to the little megalomaniac’s nature. Anything less and the trap would fail, and the chances of capture might slip from their grasps forever.

Yes that was correct, trapped, not killed, trapped. Because it had been her mother who contracted the creature, Jaye felt an odd connection to it... and she obviously felt it was her only way to fight. So Athena had constructed a plan, using her knowledge of crystals, Aetherial Manipulation, and Lolochan (her voidsent connection in Sharalyan). She would lure Jaye to a remote location on the premise of a private meeting. Then the sham bandits would threaten Jaye with her life, Ikkobach would come out, they would beat it into submission after it got stuck in the protective magics on the ground channeled by Coco, then it would be sucked into the crystal. If anything were to happen to Jaye, it would be trapped there for all eternity…starving.

Athena shuddered at the thought, she honestly hated that it had come to this, but it was the only chance they had to get a leg up on it.

Soon she saw the Viera walking down the path.

It was show time.

---

Once Jaye reached the spot, Athena casually walked out with a sneer on her face.

“Well well well, look who wandered to the wrong neck of the woods.” Athena had worked with the others to come up with a voice that would hopefully hide who she was…Thankfully Jaye wasn’t that observant. It was more of a concern that Ikkobach would notice.

Jaye stopped immediately, fear flashed on her face that she quickly tried to hide.

“Listen, I don’t want any trouble. Besides, it’s two against one”

Athena’s smirk had been less forced after hearing that, though she had to work to keep it from a smile. It had been a good attempt at a bluff. She held up her hand and the other members of the tavern walked out just enough to make their presence known.

“I don’t think your math’s correct there hunny”

Jaye reached behind her for the weapon she didn’t bring, thinking Athena would never have asked her to a place she would be in danger…technically she had been right.

“Stay back! I’m warning you!”

Athena had to stop herself from cursing, this wasn’t enough. Ikkobach was unmoving from the threat of petty theft.

She had to go bold.

The cat woman rushed across the clearing and grabbed Jaye by the throat. “I don’t think you are listening to me, aren't those ears good for anything?” She hated the horror in Jaye’s eyes. She so desperately wanted to drop the act and ask her for forgiveness, but she had to do this. She needed to do this… She could see the smoke billowing around them. She was so close she just needed to push a little more.

She took the knife in her hand and pressed it to Jaye’s neck, “Now listen here, you’ll shut up now if you want to keep that pretty little head on that pretty little neck of yours” and she pressed down just enough to see a trickle of blood.

FWOOSH

Athena was face to face with cold red eyes as an otherworldly feeling of dread washed over her.

“Uh, Coco! Now!!!”

A shiny white light rose up over the voidsent as it thrashed around against its confines

“NOOOO!” it roared as everyone sprang into action.

Athena led Jaye behind a tree where their weapons had been stashed ahead of time.

Pike and Talhdi were raining down blows upon Ikkobach while the others dealt with the tiny voidsents that it was summoning.

“Since when could it do that!?” Athena yelled as her and Jaye ran back into the fray.

“Uh I don’t know!”

Athena growled, she didn’t need a whole lot of coaxing to unleash the inner beast. She wanted desperately to land a few blows herself but as a few cries of pain rang out, she knew she had to tend to her allies first. She clutched her axe in a way that it was completely vertical and then brought it up above her head to slam its pommel into the ground. Energy from her emotions, channeling through her axe, traveled across the surface of the earth until it sprang around her friends, which shielded them in a mixture of emotional and earthen aetherial energies.

With the extra protection and a boost from Pike, Talhdi was able to deliver a punishing blow staggering the creature. Ikkobach had started to panic, it was close to losing control and being subject to the spell around it.

As Jaye failed to deliver a weak strike, Ikkobach snapped out a shadowy hand with a speed that couldn't be comprehended by mortal eyes and raised the Viera off the ground. All the tavern gang could do was watch as their newest addition cried out in pain as the voidsent sucked life straight out of Jaye, and finished by throwing her against a tree like glass against the wall of a rowdy tavern.

It felt like time stood still as Athena stared in horror at Jaye’s body. She had miscalculated. No one was supposed to get seriously hurt. She shouldn’t have let her girlfriend fight in her current state.

A slash from a lesser voidsent snapped the woman out of her stupor. With rage that threatened to consume her she quickly dispatched the pathetic lesser being with a swing, using the moment she continued until she flung herself with full force into Ikkobach. “You fucking bastard!”

“Athena!” She had just enough time to hear the warning and move before Talhdi slashed Ikkobach from the top to the bottom. It was finished.

“I have him!”

Coco’s voice was heard across the clearing while a pale blue light grew brighter. As Ikkobach screaming intensified, the light seemed to keep up with its intensity till finally…

Poof

Suddenly there was silence. Everything stilled as a crystal filled with dark swirling energy fell to the ground.

“Jaye!” As soon as Athena was assured the fighting had stopped she was running to the fallen Viera. “Coco! Jaye’s hurt!”

She slid next to her girlfriend, pulling her to her lap. “Jaye! Jaye! Can you hear me!?” She checked her pulse, her heart was beating.

She let out a sigh of relief as Coco bolted into view.

“Is she okay?”

“I don’t know, her pulse is steady but I don’t know what it did!”

Coco leaned down and started showering Jaye with healing energies. After the longest seconds in their life, Jaye slowly opened her eyes.

“Did it work?” was the first thing she croaked out.

Athena and Coco first looked at each other and back towards the direction of the crystal which now was in the hands of a curious Pike. Athena turned back to her girlfriend, doing her best to keep back any tears.

“Yeah, you're finally free.”

#ffxiv #ffxiv roleplay #ffxiv oc #ff14 #final fantasy 14 #ffxiv rp #athena natlho #fanfiction #oc fic #ffxiv fic #original character #oc

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wives-natlho · 6 months

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Training Day

CW: Death, Gore, Violence

It was a slightly cloudy day at the Scorpion Crossing in Thanalan. Athena had taken Jaye out for training. Something…she had very mixed feelings on. You'd think the warrior would be excited to help her girlfriend train, however it was because she was a warrior that it made her nervous.

One out of four warrior trainees don't make it through the process alive.

Those who fail, succumb to the inner beast and become something even less than a roaming animal. As she had gotten older, Athena had learned some hard truths. What she experienced with the warriors happened regularly. People lost themselves to inner beasts all the time, but it just took different shapes and forms and was normally a longer process.

Revenge, despair, fear, the list goes on. However, it always seemed to start from the same place. They always said similar things and acted in similar ways.

And Jaye was doing the same things

She only agreed to the training because she was hopeful after their last talk but also because she knew Jaye would just run off and do something stupid if Athena said the Veena wasn't ready. At least this way maybe she can guide her away from a destructive path.

The session started out well. Jaye had shown up in full armor for training which…was horribly adorable but Athena had to keep her reaction in check. She was the kind of teacher that let you figure out your own mistakes if it didn’t hurt you too bad. After a few hours of heavy training Jaye picked up that heavy armor wasn’t very useful while training and could actually get in the way so she ended up working out in her under shirt and pants.

Thanks to the soul crystal they breezed along. Jaye had gotten down her form quickly and they were already working on stamina. Athena had praised her for how well she was doing, but the impatience she had seen in the Veena’s stance finally crept out in full force. "If this is going so well why do I feel like a gaelicat could knock me over? When will I become strong?"

Athena's heart plummeted. She stared out at the landscape in front of her. When she finally calmed her nerves enough to turn to face Jaye, she had to blink a few times.What she saw almost sent her into a panic.

Standing beside Jaye was a teenage boy. A Hyur who would have been around the age of 18. Dark hair, casual clothing for combat, and a big goofy smile…but it was tainted by the red glow of his eyes.

She knew the boy wasn't really there. He was dead after all. Had been for some time now. It had been a few weeks since she last saw him.

Rothe Miller

He had wanted to prove himself to the world. He said he wanted to do great things in the name of his family. What he didn't tell anyone, was that he harbored revenge in his heart against the bandits who killed his sister.

Athena was tasked to be a mentor to the boy. Not a teacher, she was still training herself, but someone to guide him.

She failed.

She didn't know the signs yet. But to her, it didn't matter. It was her job to keep him safe, especially from himself. That's why they paired people up during training. It increased the chance of success.

But she failed.

She walked out of her tent one night to the sounds of rhythmic chopping. It was Rothe training with a real axe on a training dummy. His eyes were glowing…but that can't be right. It wasn't time for him to learn that technique yet. When she approached he stopped moving for a bit and suddenly he was his happy carefree self again, claiming he just wanted some extra practice. She chided him for working so hard, but that was it. She should have gone to the trainers about it. But she doubted her senses and her instincts.

A few months later they were sent on a training mission to escort some caravan of merchants. Not long into the trip they were ambushed by highwaymen. Rothe went into a rage the likes Athena had never seen. He tore the men apart limb by limb. At one point his axe got knocked from his hand, he never picked it up again. He snarled and yelled incoherently. She would later surmise it was his sister's name he was screaming. When he was finished with the bandits he turned his gaze to one of the people they were supposed to protect.

She yelled and pleaded for Rothe to snap out of it, but nothing worked. Tears started to stream from her face, as she did the only thing she knew to do. She clasped her axe to her back and jumped between the beast and the merchant as she unleashed her own rage.

The battle went on for hours. She tried so hard to knock him out. Sometimes someone can recover if they were made unconscious fast enough, but she couldn't overpower him. Most of the battle was spent with her running and keeping him distracted so as to not harm others. Eventually it happened, he collapsed. When a trained warrior goes into a rage, they can funnel the fury in a way to be beneficial to their body, however when someone succumbs it often means their body is put under great stress and eventually breaks down and collapses from the energy.

Athena walked up the creature that was once Rothe. Even now it was trying to get up to continue the chase, but its body just couldn't do it. "Please….please don't make me do this" she pleaded with the pitiful creature in front of her, but it just looked at her with burning eyes.

She grabbed her axe and turned it upside down and held it by the hilt near the axe blades. This was the only chance that he might come back. She brought down the pummel of her axe hard on his head, hoping it was the right amount of force to just knock him out.

The fire burned out from his eyes…but so did life. He couldn't take a hit like that with the rest of the damage his body had taken. Before he passed she heard a weak "I'm sorry" before he laid motionless.

Just like that Rothe was gone.

She fell to her knees as she let loose a yell to the heavens. She sat there and allowed herself to cry and mourn for a while. How long she couldn't tell you. Eventually Athena knew she had to continue, this wasn't the safest of spaces and the merchants were basically disorganized and confused. It helped that she was starting to dissociate as well. She picked up Rothe’s lifeless body and carried it back to the caravan. He was buried with honors and Athena visits his grave every year in secret. She never really tells anyone about this particular event in her life. She feels horrible guilt but it wasn’t like she was trying to hide it. It just wasn’t exactly something she liked to talk about.

However as the years went on something particular would happen. She would see the boy's spirit when someone was about to make a mistake. When someone was set up to head down a bad path. She has no idea if it’s legitimately Rothe’s spirit or just her mind conceptualizing all the inputs her brain receives to tell her that the pattern was happening again, but it honestly didn’t matter. She learned a while ago to always take his appearance as the giant caution sign it was. The last time it happened he was hanging on Einar’s shoulder during their meeting in the shroud.

That…really wasn’t a good night for her.

Now here he was standing next to her girlfriend.

She was running out of time.

“Did…I say something wrong?”

Athena sighs, it was going to be hard to explain this in a way that made sense.

“Did you give any more thought into the question I asked you?”

She gave a non committal answer. Athena tries to explain herself, Jaye would answer in a dodgy way, this continues for a bit till Athena has an idea.

“Why did you attack that wolf when you first got your soul crystal?”

Jaye pauses and says how she was minding her own business when it suddenly attacked her for no reason.

Of course when Athena pressures her the story falls apart. It was obvious she attacked that wolf because she suddenly felt powerful. It’s pretty common, honestly. Someone who spent their entire life being a victim suddenly has the power to be the one pushing others around. That kind of shift in power is intoxicating.

Athena grabs her axe and walks over to the training dummy they had been using. She thinks about all her pain and frustration and unleashes her beast at full power. She looks over to Jade as the red orange aura ruffles her clothes as if the wind had picked up, her eyes glowing that beastly hue. When she is satisfied that she is being watched she turns to the training dummy in front of her, jumps up into the air and spins as she brings her axe down hard, cutting through the training dummy and leaving an indent in the earth.

She clips her axe to her back and looks over to her shocked girlfriend. “You know I have the power to kill a lot more than wolves, but I don’t, cause I know what I fight for and ironically I wouldn’t have the power I do if I didn’t.”

Athena watches Jaye as she calms down a little and walks over to a nearby rock formation to sit by. She follows and sits near her. She glances and sees Rothe also sitting on the rocks. Eventually Jaye begins to speak. “Look I know I fucked up”

“Why did you fuck up?”

“ Ikkobach treated me like how I treated the wolf.”

There is a pause as Jaye grabs her knees to her chest, Athena sat to the side quietly, it felt like something was shifting. Eventually Jaye spoke up, “I want to kill my dad. I know how bad that sounds but I need to be ready.”

Athena sighs, which she realized seemed to have become a trademark of hers lately. “I don’t think it’s bad you want to kill your dad, I mean I want to kill the bastard and he’s not even my dad.” She pauses trying to find the words she needs. “One in four warriors don’t make it past training.” She notices Jaye’s shocked expression out of the corner of her eyes. “Actually, it used to be one in four, the success rate has been going up lately with new tactics and safeguards. But when I was training, it was very common for someone to lose themselves to their beast.”

She turned to face Jaye “It's okay to want to be strong, but you need something to anchor you or you’ll lose yourself too and….I don’t want to lose you. Not like that…never like that.”

“But i’m not a warrior”

“You don’t have to be, people lose themselves to their emotions all the time, it’s just not as blatant in other cases. All the results are the same, it ends in the ruin of the person and either their own actions kill them, or other people are forced to do it.” She looks away again at the last bit.

“Is that what happens to the warriors who lose themselves?” Athena nods. “Yes, it’s a fate worse than death, which normally follows soon after anyways.” There is another pause between the two.

Finally Jaye speaks up again, “I don’t want to seek him out or anything like that. I just want to be ready if I ever see him again, even if that is unlikely.” She reaches over and grabs Athena’s hand “and….I want to be able to help you guys when you need it. It’s just that seems so unlikely “

Athena looks over and studies Jaye’s face, something changed. She furrows her brows and glances to the rock behind them. He’s gone.

A weight leaves her shoulders she didn’t even know she was carrying. She smiles and she starts to tear up despite trying not to. She rubs her hand through her hair as she stands up trying to be discreet. “That’s good! That’s good… sorry got some dust in my eye from all the stupid sand everywhere”. She couldn’t see but Jaye was a little shocked at first, but slowly relaxed into a soft smile.

Athena abruptly walks over to where they had left their stuff from earlier. “Anyway, I think we’ve accomplished most of what we can do today before you build up more of your stamina, want to head back?”

She watches as Jaye stands and walks over to the other training dummy. “You go ahead, I want to train a little bit more.” She turns around and winks “Coco didn’t want me to tell you but she made some apple turnovers as a surprise for our training session, save me one okay?”

The tension starts to creep back into Athena’s shoulder, but as she examines Jaye she notices her demeanor has shifted. The urgency that was there before was gone. If she dared to say, Jaye almost seemed more confident in herself. Athena smiles and says “Okay.”

She walks back to Ul’dah and doesn’t look back.

#ffxiv #ffxiv roleplay #ff14 #ffxiv oc #final fantasy 14 #ffxiv rp #jaye devale #fanfiction #ffxiv fanfiction #ffxiv fanfic #oc fic #Athena Natlho

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wives-natlho · 6 months

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Different

Author's note: This may not be a specifically canon moment for Athena, but the sentiment is very real. The feelings and thoughts expressed happen both to Athena the character and to Athena's author.

CW: Internal dealings with neurodivergence.

It was a pleasant evening in the mist. The sky was clear and you could see the stars shining while people took night strolls on the beach. However for one Miqo’te it could have been raining for all she cared. Athena stood facing out a open window in her shared apartment dressed down in some casual wear, she’d been there for at least an hour now.

It happened again.

She had grown really comfortable with The Savory and some of the locals, so she tried to let loose a little and join in on some fun for once. She only got a few words out of her mouth before she noticed the person’s demeanor shift. They were becoming hostile. The person started talking about how rude it was and this and that, obviously misreading her intentions and even exactly what had been said, but she just bit her tongue and apologized. She’d been through this enough to know that trying to explain or defend herself would just make it worse. Once you got to this level of aggression, the person wasn’t really looking to understand, just to attack.

“Well, good, you should be sorry. Maybe you should have known better, yeah?”

She didn’t respond, and just gave a small nod. With that, they seemed satisfied enough with their scolding and sat back down and continued their conversation with everyone else at the table like nothing happened. The weird atmosphere that had settled on the tavern shifted back to comfortable chatter once again.

Athena signed, stood up and headed towards the door. All in all, it could have been a lot worse. At least it was over quickly with a firm reminder that she can never expect to fit in. She’d been lectured, cussed, and yelled at in length in the past with the removal of herself from whatever group she had been trying to fit in. This time it was over in about ten minutes and she even had some people give her sympathy and support while she cleaned up and headed out.

No one had really offered her support after such an incident in the past….well except for Coco of course.

She gave her thanks and appreciation of the support…she didn’t really know how else to respond to positive interactions. She was much more familiar with criticism, anger, and disgust. Regardless, the night was ruined and she could feel her darker thoughts creeping in. Not something she wanted to subject her friends to.

Back home she had spent the better time just thinking. Why does she let this happen? Why does she ever think she could just “act normal” for a lack of a way to put it. Anytime she ever tried to engage with someone outside of Coco they would always scold her, belittle her, make her feel less.

It had been this way for as long as she could remember.

She often told people that the reason why she didn’t have any friends growing up was because of her parents political affiliation and her emotional stuff she had to work through…but that was only partially true. No matter what, something seemed to get in the way for her to make real connections with people. It didn’t matter what she did or how she acted, inevitably every connection would end suddenly and sometimes even explosively. It felt like they were on a battlefield with landmines, and everyone else knew how to move about to avoid them but her. No matter what she did, she always stepped on one.

Later she would find out that she had a neurological condition that caused this. While there was some happiness to know that she wasn’t to blame…the truth was this meant that there was nothing she could do about it. For a long time she focused on her goals, not really trying to make friends anymore, but there were always people in life determined to wiggle their way into hers…especially if you truly don’t want to be alone. Because that was the sad truth, Athena didn’t want to be alone. She hated being alone. However, it was undeniably easier to stop trying.

She learned even later that there was something about the neurological condition she had. There was something about people like her that made others uneasy as soon as they met even if they didn’t know what it was. On top of that, to go along with this news, she learned that there were inherent communication issues between people who do have this condition vs those who do not. Despite the fact that it was a problem for both groups to overcome, only the ones with the condition were forced to accept responsibility for miscommunication by society.

She was so tired, and hurt, and tired about being hurt. It didn’t matter how strong or capable she was, it hurt every single time it happened. It also didn’t matter who did it, because you never know when everyone else will side with that person and leave you. Cause that was the truth

Everyone leaves eventually

Athena shakes her head and rests it on the panel next to the open window.

No. That’s the trauma talking. Everyone doesn’t leave…it just feels like they will.

She sighs.

She had gotten better at keeping the dark thought spirals at bay as she had gotten older but she wasn’t perfect…despite trying and boy did she try. She hated it, because she knew that it was illogical. The feeling that if she was perfect then maybe, just maybe, this would stop happening. That wasn’t how this worked though. No amount of perfection could ever stop these things from happening. That was something she was just going to have to accept. She would swear off certain types of conversation and people, time would pass, she would let her guard down, and it would happen again…repeat till death.

The only person to ever accept her…ATHENA, the real deal, was Coco. Which…sadly was probably more than a lot of people like her had. So in that regard she had to count her blessings. Everyone else in life, would get the mask, if she was lucky only part of it.

She stood back up and returned to her vigil at the window. No amount of time, exercises, practices, scripting, masking, etc would ever make these things go away. It was hard not to feel broken and lonely. Watching people interact with each other carefree and easy, while you sit there and just kinda nod and smile, just happy that you are being allowed in the space at all. Always afraid of the day where you fuck up and open your mouth.

Athena sighs yet again

That wasn’t fair…at least not anymore. She had people in her life that seemed to care about her now and some of them even wanted to hear what she had to say.

So why was it so fucking hard?

Because it was a reminder that she was different, that nothing she did would ever overcome that. She had to trust the grace of others and even then she could never relax and just be herself.

She’ll probably go back to sitting in the corner, reading a book and drinking her tea again….which means people will think she is stuck up…again. Gods she really couldn’t win.

It was kinda funny though, she honestly had gotten to a point where she didn’t care what people thought. It was when they were friends, or at least perceived friends when it hurt.

Urgh she was spiraling afterall

Her right ear twitched as she heard the opening of the apartment door. “Hey I'm back!....Is everything okay? I heard what happened but you were already gone when I got back to the bar”

Athena turned to look behind her, her wife standing in the hallway.

Was she alright?

She crossed her arms and thought for a moment. She was prepared to withdraw like she always did, but realized…it wasn’t the answer. Maybe this would happen again, but she didn’t have to let it control her. Maybe she couldn’t always be herself, but maybe she could get closer with more understanding friends. She certainly seemed to be gaining more lately. This will hurt every time, and it’s going to make her want to give up on herself and those around her when it happens, but she won’t let it win.

Athena looks up and meets her wife’s gaze, who by now was standing right in front of her staring down at her with concerned eyes. She gave a small nod and with a small sigh she said

“No…but I will be.”

#ffxiv #ffxiv roleplay #ff14 #ffxiv oc #final fantasy 14 #ffxiv rp #oc fic #ffxiv fanfiction #ffxiv fanfic #fanfiction #Athena Natlho

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wives-natlho · 9 months

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Character Bio: Athena Natlho

General Info:

Name: Athena Natlho

Pronouns: She/They

Race: Hrothgar, some Miqo'te heritage.

Age: Early Thirties

Guardian: Thaliak

Appearance:

Height: Average

Build: As bulky as she can get given her Miqo heritage

Head Hair: Dark Brown

Fur: Light Brown

Eyes: Blue

Clothing: Bounces back and forth between very casual to vests and suits. Always more leaning on the masculine side. She needs glasses to help her read.

Gear: Glowing battle axe of her own design. She normally wears casual loose fighting tunics and pants for fighting.

Personality:

Personality: At first meeting it may seem she is quiet and reserved, however this is probably just because she doesn’t know you well enough yet and/or the conversation hasn’t gotten somewhere yet for her to show her true colors. She has a fiery passion for things she believes in and will not shy away from a cause she deems important.

Occupation: Lots of contract work. Technically a sellsword but if you said that near her she’d quickly correct you that she actually has morals so probably not the most accurate term.

Temperament: She had horrible anger issues as a young child, to the point that her parents contacted a Roe Warrior for assistance. This was her first encounter with the philosophy of Warriors. She has much better control of her emotions and will not shy away from using them as a weapon. While she has never lost control, getting her aggravated enough will cause her eyes to glow speaking of the vast turmoil underneath the surface.

Religious?: Sort of. She is similar to other Sharlyans that believe that religion is more of a thing to help with aligning one’s creeds and morals.

Hobbies: She enjoys sewing and other clothcrafts, if anything just cause it’s nice to make something for a change.

Habits: She will scratch the back of her head when nervous or agitated. She will pace back and forth when putting together a flood of new information. While she is better at getting proper rest now that she is in committed relationships (and gets tired of the nagging) she has gone days without sleep until she can’t stay up anymore. Her tail and ears often gives herself away even when she is trying to hide her emotions, making her a terrible liar. She can’t hold her liquor…much to her chagrin training with Roe Warriors, and even if she could she can’t stand the stuff, preferring her tea. However if you can get her drunk, she’ll be even more of an open book than usual…just don’t expect any tact.

Fears: She will alienate everyone around her, aka big ol’ fear of abandonment. Those she cares about will be hurt when she’s not around. “Failing” those around her. Losing control of her inner beast.

Strengths: Her bluntness. Strategy. Her ride or die attitude towards her friends and those things she cares about. Literally her strength. Love for learning.

Weaknesses: Her bluntness. While she can control her temper pretty well, that doesn’t mean she has a long fuse either. She has a short fuse when it comes to political bull. She has a hard time connecting with people. She doesn’t understand why but it’s always been a little hard for her. This causes her to keep to herself, making the problem worse.

Hopes and desires: She desires to make the world a better place. She wants to follow her family's ideologies to spread awareness and knowledge through action instead of whatever the hells her homeland is doing. However, she also hopes more recently to be able to return to Sharlyan to work on multiple fronts. She hopes the best for her wife and girlfriend.

#ffxiv #ffxiv roleplay #ff14 #ffxiv oc #final fantasy 14 #ffxiv rp #character bio #character profile #original character #final fantasy xiv #fanfiction #ffxiv fanfic #ffxiv fanfiction #oc fic #oc #Athena Natlho

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wives-natlho · 5 months

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Family (Memories of Coco Epilogue)

“So how’d it go?” Athena had been waiting patiently at the apartment with Jaye, who had been far less patient. The Viera was basically vibrating.

“I don’t think I’m going to be seeing her again.” Coco was barely in the door before answering questions from her wife and girlfriend. She had expected as much. Jaye hurried over to help Coco out of her coat, one sleeve hanging limp. The Sea Wolf relents, though, knowing this is not the time to be too proud. Once free of her overcoat, her sling is revealed, keeping her right arm in a position that will put the least amount of stain on her new wound.

The Maelstrom chirurgeons were able to extract all the bullet fragments from her shoulder, and expressed that Jaye’s on-site healing prevented the wound from being permanent. She should recover in a few months and be able to move the arm again without issue, as long as she takes her time to heal. Coco would still insist on bartending during this time, though. The good news is the Savoury patrons all would understand their drinks taking just a little longer than usual, if it meant their Roegadyn would be okay in the long run.

“She spent a lot of time expressing regret over abandoning me and… my brother.” Coco continued. She sat down on a chair just inside the apartment while Athena poured some whiskey into one of Coco’s wooden cups. “But, she also said she really didn’t think she deserved to get to know me. She was real hard on herself.”

Coco was solemn since she came in the door. She didn’t even drink from her whiskey. She just smelled it, smiled at Athena, and placed the drink on a nearby table to talk some more.

Jaye was surprisingly quiet, like she had been instructed not to say too much. She did, though, sit curled on the couch, with her knees at her chest, eyes wide and ears upright, listening with every ounce of attention she had. Athena was intent on listening as well. She sat on the couch opposite her wife and gestured for Coco to continue.

“She told me about how conflicted she was about abandoning me, and even named the ship after me as some sort of penance. I don’t think she ever really wanted to meet me, but just to be reminded of her failure, I guess.”

“That’s stupid.” Athena blurted out. Jaye nodded in agreement.

“Yeah,” Coco sighed. “I tried to tell her as much, but she really wouldn’t have it. I think she made peace with losing me a long time ago, and her actually talking to me seemed to make her really uncomfortable… Like talking to a corpse or a ghost.”

The mentally and physically taxed Roegadyn hit a breaking point. She leaned her head back against the seat and started to silently cry. Her two paramours rushed to her side to comfort her, across the small gap in the living room. The silent tears swelled into full-on sobs. Coco tried to speak between teary breaths, but couldn’t put words together.

“Breathe, Coco.” She felt a hand on her chest, as a loving reminder. She expected the advice from Athena, but it came from Jaye instead, who had become intimately familiar with how to deal with emotional pain over the last year. Coco took the advice and breathed in deep through her nose. She held it for four beats, then looked forward and let it go, slowly, along with a flood of tears that pooled in her eyes from leaning back.

“She doesn’t want me.” Coco realized her own words and the sobbing returned.

The other two sat there in the quiet room, holding onto Coco as she cried.

—-------

Minutes later, the emotions had processed. Coco had composed herself and started sipping at the now-watered-down whiskey. She cleared her throat and continued to reprise her conversation with Captain Ana Goss.

“Ana – I’m not gonna call her ‘Mom’, by the way. – seemed like the thing she wanted most in the world was to end the conversation and to never see me again. She said she was trying to quit her seafaring life, and move inland. I think the encounter with the Sahagin got to her.” Coco looked out the apartment window, thinking. She watched a seagull float in the breeze and wondered why anyone would ever want to leave the ocean. After several seconds, she started again. “She’ll probably go someplace dark and alone, where she can bury her shame in the shade. I’m starting to think he was right when he called her a coward… My ‘brother’, I guess.”

“Did you want to at least try?” Athena would probably give anything to talk to her mom again. She wasn’t sure if Coco was feeling the same.

“I did… I gave her a paper with my name and address. I even told her where the Savoury is.” Coco looked Athena in the eyes, with tears forming at the edges of her vision. “I heard the paper rip as I was leaving.”

“Well, shit.” Jaye exhaled some frustration along with those words.

Coco nodded in agreement and took another sip of whiskey. She looked down into the wooden cup. The ice had melted into water, which hadn’t fully mixed with the spirits, creating a wavy pattern of swirly amber. She looked over to her right, and saw a chair in the hallway. It was newly upholstered and stuffed. Coco made sure to have it restored by a craftswoman she trusted in Ul’dah every single year. She leaned to her right to get a better look, and smiled. Her old headmistress’ chair sat in one of the most inconvenient places possible, reminding her of the closest person to a mom she’d ever have. All three of the girls in the house must have stubbed their toe on that chair at least a dozen times, but that was part of its charm, Coco assured herself. The pain of a stubbed toe was a perfect reminder of putting up with Headmistress Aurifort.

She looked over against the wall, opposite the window, and saw one of her aprons from the Sweet and Savoury. She looked at the small cakes lined up in a neat display, and at the jars of fruit juice she squeezed herself. She thought about Einar, the tavern’s owner, and how he trusted Coco with the bar, something she put none of her own money into. Einar would tell her often that she was more of a “boss” for the tavern than he ever would be.

She saw the stacks of papers on the table, referencing Sharlayan. Professor Uari-Uk-Upash and Athena have been communicating back and forth, leaving some evidence of their efforts to return to Sharlayan on the living room coffee table. She thought about the support all three of the girls have received from people who have no blood relation to any of them.

She looked at Jaye’s scythe, leaned up against the apartment wall. The determined Viera had been repairing it, reinforcing it, and recently had been empowering it with aetheric energies. Her connection to Ikkobach was growing, and that wouldn’t be possible without a whole cast of help from almost complete strangers.

Coco took a moment to process everything, to feel the depth of the loss of a potential mother, but to be filled with love from her friends and other folks so very close to her life. She drank down the last of her whiskey and clunked the wooden cup on the table.

“I think I’ll be okay, though.” Coco smiled at her two lovers. “If I’ve learned anything in my life, it’s that blood isn’t everything. That woman isn’t my mom, and that man wasn’t my brother. My family is you two, and Einar and The Professor, and all the folks at the Savoury.”

Her grin grew. The other two were smiling as well.

“And no one can take that away from me.”

#ffxiv #ffxiv roleplay #ff14 #ffxiv oc #final fantasy 14 #coco natlho #jaye devale #athena natlho #ffxiv rp #oc fic #fanfiction #ffxiv fic

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wives-natlho · 6 months

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First Meetings

It was the evening at The Bismarck. Coco and Athena sat outside chatting, dressed in their finest as they waited for a new arrival. To say Athena was worried would be putting it lightly, though she tried to act casual. (She didn't know why, there was no way Coco didn't notice). It had been a few weeks since Coco approached her and talked to her about potentially dating someone! Her! She didn't even know she liked anyone before her wife…

Apparently the girl's name was Jaye and the two had taken a liking to each other. She felt like she was supposed to feel betrayed or fearful but she just felt curious. Coco and her had been together for a bit and the seawolf had never seemed to have that kind of interest before. Sure, the two of them would compare notes when they walked by a pretty girl or something but this felt different.

She trusted Coco, and the fact she came to her to talk about this was all the proof she needed that there was no need to feel jealous or anything.

No, what she was worried about was…what if she just didn't feel that spark? The "thing" for a lack of a better word, because sometimes calling it sexual attraction didn't seem to explain it well enough. It felt like a fickle beast and she honestly didn't understand how her sexuality worked a lot of the time. Gods know she had tried to map out every part of it to no avail. (...Which was literal, Coco had made fun of her endlessly when she walked in on Athena using a chalkboard. "I think you are taking the scholar thing too far" she had said between bursts of laughter)

What if she didn't like Jaye? What if she got between the happiness of two people? She honestly wouldn't care if Coco wanted to see both of them, but she knew the roe girl wouldn't do that, no matter how much she encouraged it.

She sighed and her tail started swishing back and forth with a little more energy and she clutched the extra fabric of her slacks to the point her knuckles turned white. If she wasn't lost in thought she would have noticed Coco smirking at her.

After what felt like an eternity, Coco stood up and started waving someone over. The warrior sighed once again and stood up to greet the new arrival.

"Hey Jaye! This is my wife Athena. Athena, this is Jaye."

Athena stood and waved. Jaye, a redheaded Veena covered in freckles, was wearing a strapless purple frilled dress with a corset built into it.

She was cute

The trio talked and enjoyed a good meal. Athena was surprised how similar yet different the other two girls were. Coco had this more suave beauty to her, a type of elegance that came from being confident in who she was. Jaye was shy, though she tried not to show it. Her beauty seemed to come from her persistence. She wasn't who she wanted to be yet, but that wasn't going to stop her. Both girls however were very bubbly and affectionate. If they were feeling good, the world was going to know and be invited to join in their revelry.

"How in the hells Coco sees anything in me, is something I don't even think The Scholar would be able to figure out…but two girls? No way. Jaye probably already thinks I'm a loser" she mused.

Almost as soon as the thought entered her head, she felt a hand on her leg. She looked up to see Jaye looking at her, head in hand and tilted slightly. With a bit of a sly smile she said, "You know, I just wanted to say, you look really handsome."

Coco chuckled on the other side of Jaye. "She really does".

Athena had heard the term "gay panic" before but she had always been confused by the term till now. She turned beat red, and it felt like her brain had malfunctioned. She gave the very dignified response of "uhhhh". Which just caused Jaye and Coco to giggle.

She eventually gained enough sentience to utter a thank you, which caused a new round of laughter at her expense which she couldn’t help but join.

The trio talked well into the evening to the point they were asked to give up their table for other guests. Night was starting to settle on the area when Athena hoisted herself to sit on the railing next to where Coco was leaning. Jaye was on her other side holding onto the roe girl's arm. Athena took a glance over at the Veena. They had a lovely time together and seemed to have clicked to some capacity. She smiled. She didn't know if the spark was there yet but what she did feel was exciting…she would definitely count today as a success. A tension she didn't know was resting on her shoulders lifted to be replaced with an exhilarating warmth within.

She was excited to see where this new conjoined path would take them.

#ffxiv #ffxiv roleplay #ff14 #ffxiv oc #final fantasy 14 #coco natlho #ffxiv rp #jaye devale #Athena Natlho #fanfiction #ffxiv fanfic #ffxiv fanfiction #oc fic

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wives-natlho · 6 months

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Here's a timeline for the current stories in the order they occurred in fiction. I might be missing some stories on this list. If you notice any missing, please let me know.

Let Me Tell You How We Met, Part 1

Let Me Tell You How We Met, Part 2

The Headmistress' Chair

Coco's Dilemma

Acceptance

Captain Styrnsyn

Jaye Devale

Ikkobach

Jaye and Coco

First Meetings

Pearl Lane

Scythe

A Plea

How To Train Your Voidsent

Rough Nights and Sweet Dreams

I guess I live Here Now

Fruit Juice

Whiskey

Training Day

The Deal

Come Alone

Interrogation

Pearl Lane Redux

She's Not Who You Think She Is

Family

Carmen Weaver

Math is Hard

The Realization

Carmen and Athena

Fate

Smoking

Free Company

I will do my best to update this list whenever we publish new stuff. Again, please let me know if there are any broken links or missing posts. I'd also like to link my Carrd with, in my opinion, a much better layout.

#ffxiv #ffxiv roleplay #ff14 #ffxiv oc #final fantasy 14 #coco natlho #jaye devale #ffxiv rp #fanfiction #ffxiv fanfiction #ffxiv fanfic #oc fic #Athena Natlho #ffxiv fic #carmen weaver

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wives-natlho · 2 months

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Carmen and Athena (Carmen Weaver part 4)

Carmen has found a new favorite spot of late. She sits at a table right next to the levemete with her book open. Her left elbow rests on the table, her hand upright and holding her head - A common pose for her of late. The book is open to a series of scribbles and scrawl from Carmen, trying to figure out the wind augmentation spell she failed to complete when face-to-face with a goobbue. Her leg is restless, jiggling up and down in stress and frustration.

"You look a little stressed. This one's on me." A miqo'te woman wearing an apron slides a glass of wine onto the table and gives Carmen a worried look. The Midlander smiles politely in return and takes a deep breath before picking up the wine and taking a sip. She looks around the room, resting her eyes and brain for just a moment.

About this time, Athena strides up to the leve board. She swings her axe to be on her shoulders while her arms dangle over it on the other side. She hums to herself "Oh weird that rampaging goobbue is still causing trouble? I figured that would have been taken care of by now since it was removed. I guess I could go grab Jaye and we could go use it as a training exercise for larger opponents....or I could knock it out pretty fast as a warm-up." She mumbles to herself as she does when she is trying to figure out a plan of action. Her tail swishes from side to side as she rocks from one foot to the other.

Carmen's eyes dart to the Hrothgar-looking woman at the counter. An exaggerated and frustrated sigh can be heard across the room, and then the voice: stern and matter-of-fact.

"Here. Take this one. I didn't finish it."

She reaches into her coat pocket and produces the glass and metal card, placing it on the table and sliding it towards the adventurer.

The look on her face is one of irritation, both at herself and at the stranger, for possibly inadvertently insulting her adventuring skills.

Athena swings her body around to stare at the agitated voice. Her head tilted a little and she swung her axe back into its holder on her back.

She walked over and glanced at the card that seemed to offend this woman. She then took a longer look at the woman herself. Sharlayan garb but with an arcanist book....at least it looked like an arcanist book. Half the equations were sloppy and incorrect.

Strangely not the oddest thing she'd ever seen.

"Are you a....Sharlayan arcanist?"

"Temporary arcanist." There was heavy emphasis on the first word, along with a held up finger signaling an important correction.

"I'm taking an annex course on aetherological geometry!"

She almost seemed proud of herself for making that sound somewhat official.

Athena's eyebrows shot up into her mane of hair. "Ooof that bad huh?"

Carmen starts huffing and stammering.

"I-"

"You-..."

"Uh-"

Trying to find words and failing, she slams both her palms on the table and stands up, rattling her wine glass, and barely not spilling it.

"And what are you!? A... smart-mouthed wannabe marauder!?"

Athena couldn't help but crack a smile. She was short for a Hrothgar but this still felt like the equivalent of a squirrel chittering to a wolf.

She help out her fist towards the spicy woman, showcasing her ring while grabbing her axe and heaving it to her shoulder again. Gripping the hilt and letting it glow.

"Warrior actually."

Carmen’s eyes narrow in disbelief. She scans the supposed warrior up and down. Her gaze passes over the scars, the outfit, the gear... and lands on the weapon.

"Well that is clearly Sharlayan work." Carmen points a finger, accusingly. "How did a thug like you convince someone to infuse your weapon like that?"

Athena's stance loosens for a bit and a look of surprise settles on her face. She then throws her head back and laughs. This goes on for quite a while.

Eventually she calms down and rubs her eye.

"How did I get it? I made it! It was my thesis for my archon mark. Turned it down though. Name’s Athena Natlho"

The stammering returns.

"Wha-"

"Archon ..."

"Made it?"

The whole sentence finally caught up to Carmen’s reeling mind. Her voice raises to a near shout.

"You turned it down!?"

Athena actually kinda deflates a little at this. To most people saying she turned down the marks doesn't really mean a lot. But to someone like this? She'd know exactly what she did.

"Well, I didn't turn it down as much as just not get it...given my parents had just been assassinated...kinda put me in a bad spot mentally" she kinda tried to shrug after dropping that random bombshell on the stranger

Carmen's face cooled. A moment passed in silence. The blonde girl stood upright and tightened her tie, fixed her hair and held her hand out to the open chair across from her.

"Would you like a drink?"

Athena straightened up a little and gave a genuine smile. "Sure!"

She takes the seat next to the woman and leans her axe, handle up, against the table.

The blonde sits down in her seat and closes the book in front of her, with some practiced-looking grace and stiffness all at once. She slides the book to the side and takes her wine glass closer to her. Slowly, she gains precision control on her emotions. She turns and waves over the waitress to get Athena's order, then turns back around to look at the Warrior Scholar.

She clears her throat.

"Sorry. I came off a little strong there. My name is Carmen Weaver."

Athena almost goes for a handshake but stops herself. She kinda got the impression this wasn't that type of person. "Athena as I mentioned earlier and, no worries! We all have rough days."

Carmen pauses for a while between each statement. She wants to be sure she's saying the right thing. She takes her hand and places it on the guildleve on the table, sliding it towards the center, right between the two of them.

"So... You're Sharlayan? And nearly had an archon mark... And you're working guildleves? Here?"

About that time, the Waitress arrives at the table to take an order. Carmen smiles politely and takes another sip of her wine before ordering.

"Can we get a fruit and cheese platter for the table, please? And whatever she's having to drink."

Athena smiles at the waiter and says, "A nice black tea if you don't mind." She turns her attention back to the conversation.

"Well I'm not doing it for money if that's what you're asking. I enjoy doing them. It's a long story, but in short I come from a family line who do not agree with the Sharlayan way of hoarding knowledge and resources. The river must flow to be healthy after all." She pauses as she rests her head in her hand and looks out toward the sky she could see through the door. "I had anger issues growing up. My parents got desperate and reached out to a Warrior to help me. Fell in love with the lifestyle and decided to work on emotion aetherial manipulation before I left home to get more training at Limsa....it just happened sooner then I had planned."

The poised fingers of the uptight Midlander still rest on the leve on the table. She listens intently to the statement before pushing the leve plate around in small circles on the table, thinking up her next words. Carmen stares at the plate.

"So you came from a background where you excelled... until you had difficulties solving things on your own, and you and your family sought help." She looks up and meets Athena's eyes. "That's not terribly different from my current predicament." She picks up the leve and holds it up.

"I tried to do this on my own, but I have admittedly run into a problem I alone cannot solve. I'm going to need help." She then holds out the leve plate across the table, offering it to the Hrothgar woman. "And you like to help people, right?"

Athena snaps out of her memories with a small shake of her head as she sits back up to listen to the Hyur. When Carmen finishes speaking, she leans back and crosses her arms in thought and hums.

"Hmmm I don't see why not? I was thinking of asking my girlfriend Jaye but she probably needs someth- ...er needs to do that errand I forgot about. " she corrected herself with an awkward scratch on the back of her head. She doubted the girl needed to hear about another skilled fighter.

It was about that time the waiter returned. Athena grabbed her tea with gratitude and started sipping.

"So what went wrong last time?"

Carmen tries and fails to hide her excitement. On her first try, she managed to find a capable frontline fighter to keep her out of harm, and she also might be able to help with her math. What are the odds!? She grabs her tome and flips to the page with the failed wind augment spell for her carbuncle. She spins the book around to face the strange scholar.

"I couldn't figure this one out. It's supposed to augment my Carbuncle with wind aether."

Athena looks over the equation in front of her. Reaching over and grabbing a slice of cheese.

"You keep trying to use the Marvis equation for wind when you only really use it for water. It can work sometimes but it's just a weird happenstance. Wind uses the Meso equation. Like, the math is just the numerical value to the natural world. The equations kinda fit that. Notice here how the numbers kinda float around the equation. Like they are all over the place? It contrasts earth for example which has very big numbers that don't change a whole lot by the end of the equation."

She punctuated her statement by finishing off her cheese and sitting back to observe the woman in front of her.

In slow, deliberate movements, Carmen grabs the book and spins it back in front of her. She picks up her quill and looks down at the equation, starting completely over. Sitting in silence for what seems like forever, Carmen writes, and solves the formula. Line by line, she checks her work. Solemnly, and with a stone cold expression, she quietly utters:

"Son of a bitch."

--------------

Carmen and Athena stand at the bottom of a slope looking up into one of several farms in Cedarwood. At the top of the hill stands a goobbue, currently shoveling armfuls of immature crops into its gaping maw. A poor farmer's livelihood has been greatly affected by Carmen's ineptitude and she now sees the direct result of it. Half of the field has either been trod upon or uprooted. Those few stalks that remain are being pecked at by sea birds and other vermin. The fences and scarecrows have been destroyed by the goobbue's hunger and carelessness.

"This is all my fault" --- is what she wanted to say, but didn't. Instead, she took her time to find something useful to say.

"Alright, lets put this thing down for good."

Athena, now with her axe resting casually on her shoulder, turns her head slightly and simply asks "Are you ready?"

Carmen looks down at her notes and summons her carbuncle.

‘I need to give this fellow a name sometime.’

She then turns to a brand new page, just after the one with all of the scrawl, where she has clearly written the solution to the wind augment spell, as well as the hand-drawn aetherogeometrical shape needed. The tired, pride-wounded, but determined daughter of a fisherman stands up straight, tome open in her right hand.

"Yes."

Athena smiles as the tip of her tail twitches ever so slightly. It was time to hunt.

"Alright, you might want to stand back...also don't worry about the glowing eyes and stuff"

With that warning she slams her foot out into a wide stance and unleashes the inner beast with a roar as she clutches her axe in front of her. Her eyes turn to their red glow and fiery energy whips around her giving the impression of being in the middle of a windstorm.

She tosses her axe into the air. Once it reaches its apex she jumps up after it and then slams down hard on top of the goobbue. It gives a roar in pain and surprise. She removes the axe from its head. The sound is like metal on stone as she jumps down in front of it. If that didn't make it focus on her, nothing will. She made sure to lead the creature away from the arcanist in training and from further damage of the crops.

The once-sure Midlander is pushed off balance and nearly off her feet as the display of what Carmen can only assume is wind aether blasts forth. She hesitates as Athena begins running away from the crops. Once the reality of what is happening settles, She refers to her page and starts gathering wind aether, according to her hand-drawn charts. After a moment of focus, the carbuncle turns a light shade of green and starts to swirl with wind energy.

Her plan before was to hit it in front with wind up high, and from behind at its legs from below. Now, with three targets, it should work even better. As the carbuncle leaps into the fight, Carmen starts spinning wind around her left hand. The carbuncle takes a wide path to the right, as Carmen focuses wind energy up high on the left. All at once, the two forces of wind slam into the creature. It's pushed to the right up high, and its legs are swept from under it by the carbuncle. The massive form begins to topple over, looking like it will land on Athena.

"Watch out!" Carmen shouts from the back lines.

Athena, upon hearing the look out, takes a glance back behind her. Quickly she alters her path and speeds up, no longer concerned about the creature following. It lands with a dull thud a hair’s breadth away. As the goobbue thunks to the ground, it begins to squirm, trying to stand itself back up.

"Should we... Kill it?" Carmen walks up closer to Athena and watches the creature struggle. "It looks kind of... pathetic like this."

Athena heaves her axe over her head as the vortex calms around her and her eyes go back to their normal shade of blue.

"I mean, unless you want to lure this thing miles and miles away so it doesn't keep coming back to the crops, it's kinda the only option"

Carmen nods solemnly. She looks at the anatomy of the squirming beast and makes a decision. Her left hand rises and she begins forming stone into a spike in the air in front of her. She moves her hand forward and the spike hovers over what would be the goobbue's neck, if it had one. She twists her hand and the spike rotates about 30% from center, above Carmen's best estimate of where the carotid artery should be. With a swift downward motion, the spike pierces into the creature. It wails painfully for just a second before it stops moving, and breathing, entirely.

A silent moment passes before Carmen speaks.

"Poor thing."

Once Athena had looked around to make sure there were no other dangers and the silence passed, giving her own mental ritual for taking a life, she hummed in response to Carmen's comment.

"Yeah, but it's the way of things. Thankfully it won't be in vain. The guilds and farmers will make use of it. We are not really sure how Goobbues reproduce but it's effective whatever it is. Thankfully this doesn't happen often but when they get a taste for crops or livestock there isn't much you can do about it."

She then clips her axe to her back and relaxes her stance.

Carmen pays her respects to the creature, taking one hand up above her face and pulling it down into a fist slowly. She releases a silent prayer in her mind to the weaver. She hopes all of this fate-string-plucking she has been doing lately is for a good cause. The girl takes comfort in knowing the farmers can use what's left of the goobbue.

She looks up at the beast, and then turns towards Athena.

"Now that all of that is done..." She leans forward with sudden excitement and amazement.

"HOW DID YOU DO THAT!?"

Athena who was pretty relaxed at this point and even day dreaming about dinner, almost trips over herself in shock from the outburst. With her ears kinda pinned back and her tail puffed up, she clutches a fist to her chest and gasps out.

"What?"

The stammering returns.

"You threw your ax-"

"You jumped like- "

"Your eyes!"

Her smile and amazement continue

"Uhhh" Athena scratches the back of her head. Looking around a little awkwardly. "That's pretty standard Warrior stuff...wait." She pauses her movements and turns back slowly to Carmen. "Do...you not know what Warriors are?"

She leans back out of Athena's face a bit. She turns her shoulders a bit to the side, trying her best to be what she assumes to be aloof. Carmen's eyes sparkle at Athena as she tries to contain the more overt parts of her still-very-impressed state of mind.

"Well, I guess I don't. Because, you see, I was under the impression that warriors were a kind of adventurer. Hardened by the life, maybe, and very good at their job. What I did not know, however.-" Carmen's composure breaks. She swings her body around, shoulders facing Athena and leaning in again like a theater fan trying to get an autograph. "... That you could do THAT!"

Athena is back to scratching her neck again in embarrassment. She tries to focus on the miscommunication but the swishing of her tail spoke to the underlying awkwardness she felt as she produced a Job Stone from her pouch. She held it out for the excitable girl to see "It's actually a type of fighting style and a lifestyle."

Carmen's excitement turns to curiosity.

"I've never seen one like that before. And it looks way different from mine." From a pouch, Carmen produces a small white gem, with some markings carved in the front. It's a Sage's job stone. "I'm attuning this one to myself, so if I ever become a professor or instructor, I can pass it on... Eventually."

Athena blinks a few times "wow they just gave you one? I'm a little impressed. That island is more fort the library when it comes to keeping secrets"

"Gave?" Carmen is insulted. "I earned this, thank you! Top in my class for aetheric manipulation and noulith accuracy. The top three were awarded blank Sage crystals to attune to."

The apprentice arcanist was about to flush with embarrassment at her own behavior. She's been fawning over this stranger, and probably making herself look about 5 summers of age. She quickly hid that she was upset, once again under an expressionless face, frequently practiced.

"I'm not entirely useless, you know?"

'Gee and I thought the girls were feisty....’ Athena held up her hands in mock surrender. "Sorry that's not what I meant. I just know they are really precious with their resources and will deny a dying man water because they're afraid he'd weaponize it somehow." She tries to shift the topic back, returning to her trademark awkward stance. "Mine is also a teaching stone as well. The program is so new, I had to share with other trainees. They contacted me about a bit ago to hold on to this. Another reason to do leves I guess though I don't think about it very often"

An idea crosses Carmen's mind.

"I saw a posted notice earlier about creating a Free Company, a group that works independently of the Grand companies." This is the best idea ever, Carmen's convinced. It's obvious in her body language. "What if you and I were to form a Free Company together. We could find like-minded people who wanted to help train each other, and the next generation."

She stands akimbo like a superhero.

"We'd be an unstoppable team, helping fill in each other's gaps all while attuning with our soul stones!" Carmen continues and drops into a thinking stance, considering the obstacles. "I think we'd need four people, though. Do you know anyone who might be interested? We just need two more after you and me."

'What did I get myself into?' This was not how she expected this conversation to turn. Athena put her hands back up in surrender again, noting how much she was doing that.

"Whoa! hold up! You are kind of getting ahead of yourself there. I don't mind helping you out with leves and what not but I can't stop everything that I'm doing and I doubt my wife and girlfriend could either." She pauses for a bit thinking of a solution.

"Wife and girlfriend! That's four! Let's do it!", Carmen blurted out.

"By the scholar", the Hrothgar mutters under her breath. "Carmen, can you take a deep breath for me?"

Carmen, frozen in an excited pose, tries to force a deep breath in through her smile, and holds it for a concerning amount of time.

"-and out!" Athena exclaims in a panic.

Carmen’s fists clutch tight before she releases them into open hands while bringing them downward, breathing out with her whole body over several seconds. She clears her throat.

"Sorry."

Athena chuckles nervously "No worries... Now that we are more...present, did you hear anything that I said?"

"Kind of." She looks a little embarrassed. "Look, I know you're a busy person. I'm getting ahead of myself. You're just..." Carmen spins her hand in the air in front of her, like she is trying to hand start her own Brain engine. "We took that thing down together and barely broke a sweat. It was incredible!"

Athena glances over to the crumbling body of the Goobbue. "Well, I served the Maelstrom for several campaigns. I kinda got let go in an unofficial capacity." She turned back to look Carmen in the eye. Instructor mode in full effect. It was time to be serious.

"The feelings that you are feeling are good and natural, but you can't let it get you into situations that will cause you to lose your head.... potentially literally. The whole thing about Warriors is we have to have an understanding of our emotional state or it can literally kill us..." She pauses unintentionally. Her memories threaten to suck in down the depths' spirals if she lingers too long.She shakes her head a little to clear the water.

"Look, I'm not sure if a Free Company is necessary. We hang out at a tavern in Ishgard a lot. We are not really an official group or anything but if you ever need help, then someone there will probably have your back. Hells we've had people help us out who just knew we were friends of friends." She looks Carmen up and down and nods to herself. "Yeah....I've been helping train Jaye, the girlfriend i've been mentioning, I don't mind helping you out as well. The only hang up is I'm actually going back to Sharlayan soon, I have..." She takes a deep sigh. "I have some things I need to take care of that I can't keep running away from."

Carmen tries to keep herself composed now. She looks around at the goobbue, and back to Athena.

"Well, we should probably head back and report our success... Do you think you'll have some time to talk about all of this a little more?"

Athena lessens up her stance and sends Carmen a smile "of course! I can jot down some contact information for you."

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