While I wouldn’t accuse Gridania of having actively bad security, I certainly wouldn’t say their guard is good either. There are clear gaps in patrol lines and too few wood wailers to completely cover the city-- likely a result of the nearby Ixal tribes keeping their attention. Shortly after I split off from S’anah’to, S’olahr, and Phekda, I immediately got to work taking inventory of my surroundings, and a quick trip to the airship landing revealed that small drums of the fuel are kept nearby in good supply for stocking and resupply. Of course, getting it is another thing entirely, as Elezen tend to keep a lingering gaze on an outsider like myself.

Finding Idelle is simple enough-- she gives speeches to anyone who will listen at the amphitheatre in Gridania. Attacking her so brazenly is risky, but also sends a clear message-- those who would fan the flames of bigotry and hurt the impoverished for personal gain will not survive…at least, not while I’m still standing.

I try to leave the city as obviously as possible, which is easy with a massive chocobo carriage to catch people’s attention. Once I’ve made it a fair distance through the southern Shroud, I leave the carriage hidden in the woods and equip my armor. I always hesitate in these moments-- How much easier it would be to return home to my family, and not obsess over the balance of aether in Eorzea. To live just for myself instead of living for an ideal.

Yet I am compelled to take action, for none will do it if I do not. By the day, what was once a small impulse grows louder and more consciously into its own distinct voice, until I can nearly have a conversation with it. A manifestation of my darkest desire to seek out justice no matter the method, no matter the cost.

The Helmet of Halone which I don helps to separate me from my actions. While I wear it, I am no longer Erden, I am Halone’s Champion, and I carry out Her will. She will cast judgement on the realm’s most wicked through my blade, and no amount of money or power will protect those from the verdict they deserve. At least, that’s what I like to think. Reporters will tell you what they see instead, writing the most dramatic interpretation of events possible to bring in more readers. ‘Is NO Gridanian safe!?’

I steel my resolve to complete the task. I’ve come this far, I can’t give up now. When I put my armor on, I feel a small surge in strength, and reflect on the notion that perhaps Halone is watching over me. More than anything, I pray that she does not hate my actions and the stigma it gives Her. From my stash, I need only three things: My blade, a small handaxe, and a cup.

From this point on, the task is relatively simple: I cloak myself in a veil of shadows and re-enter Gridania completely unseen, careful to avoid streetlights that would pierce my simple spellwork. I approach the airship dock from below, and smuggle a near-empty drum of ceruleum away from the recently discarded fuel cells and pour what remains into my cup. As I move to return it, I (rather embarrassingly) trip and knock over the pile, causing a small section of guards and engineers to come running in from the adjacent inn.

“What was that?!” One of the Wood Wailers shouts. They draw their bowstring, keeping a steady aim toward the pile.

“Are you mad!?” A miqo’te engineer shouts, standing in front of the arrow. “If you launch that thing, this whole place could go up!”

“Who goes there!” Another takes the lead, quickly moving over to the knocked over drums to look for anyone hiding behind them. By the time they are investigating it thoroughly, I have already dropped down the side of the dock and am working my way along the cliffside toward Old Gridania.

“Alert the captain at once, we need to keep this ceruleum secured.” One of the guards commanded, and the rest immediately moved out to work.

I let out a sigh of relief as I escape their earshot, but tighten my aether to make sure the spell stays together. I navigate the cliffs patiently and slowly, making absolutely sure not to lose my footing again. The cliffside starts out steep, but I manage to make my way to another boardwalk and climb up to it. From here, it is an easy walk to the amphitheatre.

The stage is completely empty due to a lack of performances, and even the guards who are typically posted here seem to have vanished, likely to investigate the ‘ceruleum incident’ that I had just created. Intentional or not, I am fully prepared to take advantage of the moment.

I carefully pour a thin trail of ceruleum along the outer perimeter of the stage and use the handaxe I brought to weaken one of the support beams holding up the lights. Were anyone close enough to hear it, they would certainly notice my veil so close to a light source.

This strategy serves three main purposes: First, it will create a panic, making the act much easier. Second, it will create a ring of flames around Idelle, strongly discouraging her from attempting to flee, at least for the few precious seconds it will take to subdue her. Third, the collapse of the pole will also bring down many adjacent lights, which will make it very difficult to make out the precise details of what is happening. The more confusion, the better.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

All that’s left to do is wait. Behind the stage makes for the perfect spot to avoid detection of any kind, especially from the more experienced conjurers of Gridania, who may be able to sense the flux of dark aether that my spells involve were they to get close enough.

When Idelle finally takes the stage, a modest crowd arrives to meet her. She begins her speech the same way she always does, with more pointless fluff and rhetoric. This time, however, I will not let her finish her script. With a strong kick, I knock over the weakened pole and it crashes down onto the ceruleum, causing the flame within the lantern to sprawl across the front of the stage.

I confidently rush through the flames as they grow, knocking her to the ground, and place my foot on her chest to hold her in place, letting my spell fade away in the process. As she thrashes, she looks directly toward me with abject horror.

“Look into my eyes,” I command, and she does, perhaps out of some assumption that it may allow her to live. As I maintain eye contact with her, whispers of her voice begin to fill my mind.

“I’ve got to keep this business afloat…”

“...Can’t stand all these migrants…”

“If only mother was here…”

I break eye contact as the connection begins to accelerate, as much more will send me into visions of her past, which I absolutely can’t afford right now. I begin to hear a surge of commanding shouts coming from the street as guards charge toward the stage.

“Idelle Maifine.” I draw my blade from my back and raise it above my head. “Your path has disrupted both the aether of Eorzea and the peace of this land. For this, your life is forfeit!” In one clean blow, I cleave her head from her body, and retreat as quickly as I came. The guards desperately search for me behind and around the stage, but once I re-establish the layer of shadows around me, they cannot hope to see me in the dark of the night.

As I flee the city, I catch a glimpse of S’anah’to being accosted by several guards, and feel a knot of guilt in my stomach. From our previous conversation, I thought that S’anah’to would have left the city via airship much earlier, thus absolving him of any connection to the crime. I decide to just continue my exit, and will ask him about it when he returns home to Limsa.

A while after I make my way through the front gate, I hear it slam behind me as the city is placed on lockdown. I focus on making a successful getaway instead of worrying over S’anah’to’s safety and innocence-- I am confident he will be able to reason his way out of this.

As I return to my carriage and stow away my armor, I catch my soul crystal glowing a radiant light blue in the corner of my eye. When I clutch it, knowledge flows into me of precisely what was missing to properly channel the lightning magic which Mizu’s diagrams portrayed. For a dark knight such as myself, it is not enough to merely channel the aether, I must also feel it.

Lightning is pure energy. In order to conduct it, I must both be focused in mind and active in body, rather than expressing any particular emotion. I raise both of my hands and point them toward one another, and conduct a thick ray of lightning between them. It feels so natural to me that I forget how much trouble I was having with it just moments ago.

Out of curiosity, I attempt to unleash a controlled beam of lighting from myself to a tree in front of me, and am readily able to do so. When my focus wanes for even a moment, however, the lightning becomes much more sporadic, forcing me to stop. I am due for more practice in a safer place, so I focus on the journey back home.

To my surprise, the boat ride back is very quiet, with nearly no other passengers, which gives me plenty of time to reread the books which Mizu generously lent me. The next big step will be channeling the lightning in such a way that it moves along the edge of my blade, stunning those I strike and giving more power to every blow.

When I finally reconvene with S’anah’to in Limsa, I pretend not to know what happened, and can’t help but feel completely touched by the notion that he not only can’t possibly believe I had anything to do with Idelle’s death, but that he is even actively upset that others would accuse me.

It hurts to lead him astray, so I try to be as forthcoming as I can be, but it’s hard to ignore the idea that no matter what, nobody could ever accept or forgive me for what I have done. It is my secret burden to bear, and none others shall ever have to share it with me.

My master, I’shanta, has seemingly vanished on one of her occasional quests, leaving me to my own devices for a few months. Seeking to cool down the bad publicity, I do not once draw my blade, no matter how tempting or bad of news I hear. Fortunately, no public threats go unanswered for long as more and more adventurers rise up to the troubles created by the pirates of Limsa.

When S’anah’to asks me to accompany him on the trip to Ul’dah, it’s hard not to leap with excitement at the prospect-- an opportunity to get away from the pirate-filled bays of Limsa should do much to alleviate the stress of not taking action. Since the absolute last thing I want to do is cause a stir in Ul’dah, I do not even entertain the notion of bringing my supplies with me, and leave all of my armor and my weapons behind.

After much deliberation, I still decide to take my soul crystal with me…just in case. I happily set any worries I’ve had aside and instead fantasize on the positives of the trip-- sightseeing with S’anah’to, meeting his family and friends, and learning more about the third major city-state of Eorzea.