ORIGINAL

Free at Last

Alone

That’s how she felt as she sat there beneath the giant oak tree. She had been there for…. how long had it been? Months? Years? Centuries? She was unsure. But she had been there for a while, unaffected by the passage of time that ensnared the world of Eorzea and its inhabitants. This girl was known in the Celestial Records of Eorzea as being Lexi Jaeger, The Godsbow. She was a Warrior of Light among many who were birthed by the light of Hydaelyn. But Lexi was one of the only to be bestowed with the powers of a Bard. As Lexi’s group was traveling the land, they came upon the cursed Manor, Haukke. The Lady within was known as Lady Amandine, the very reason Lexi was trapped within the mansions’ grounds.

Lexi often found herself humming tunes and scaring away adventures she did not deem to be ready to face the Lady, sparing them from suffering the same fate as she. That was until a group trudged upon the Manors soiled ground in great, confident and unafraid strides. Lexi held back a gasp as she gazed upon the group from her perch beneath the tree near the manor’s steps. The group looked just as hers once had when they had entered all that time ago. As they walked past her, unable to see her as all the others were, she prayed with all her might that these adventurers would accomplish what many had tried and failed to do.

Slay her and set us free.

It was at this moment that Lexi wished she still had her trusty Ebony Longbow on her person, But Lady Amandine had snapped the bow in Lexi’s final moments – shattering her soul with it.

The moment the leader of the group touched the Manors’ front entrance, a great darkness loomed over the area as it had whence Lexi’s group came. The Lady was hungry for more Souls. The doors swung shut and locked with a loud THUD behind the adventurers, locking them in and everything else out. Once the doors had closed, Lexi began her melodic humming again, calming the stranded souls of the manor whilst they all waited for the verdict from the new group of challengers.

Not long after the group had entered, Lexi could hear the screams echoing within the Manor’s walls escape out of the open windows. Unable to bear the shrieks and cries any longer, Lexi covered her ears and clenched her eyes closed as tightly as possible, her humming forgotten.

No! I refuse to go back to those horrible memories! Leave me alone!

Suddenly Lexi gasped as her eyes snapped open wide, her once illuminating golden irises alit with the passion of an adventurer, were suddenly shrouded in a swirling mass of black fog. The fog brought with it the painful memories of Lexi’s last moments alive – when she used The Warden's Paean to encase her friends in a protective barrier whilst removing them of their paralysing fear.

“Please my friends, save yourselves! I will hold her off whilst you all escape!”

“Lexi, we can’t leave you!” The male Dustwight Elezen – Sam, the Warrior – yelled out as he tried to run towards Lexi.

“Lexi please! You can’t take her on yourself!” The female Plainsfolk Lalafell – Jenny, the White Mage – cried out, tears running down her cheeks as she reached out her hand for Lexi.

“Lexi come on! We need you with us!” The male Sunseeker Miqo’te – Thomas, the Ninja – shouted as he tried to force his way back through the barrier that had appeared between them and Lexi.

“Thomas, I’m counting on you to get everyone out safely for me” Lexi smiled at her friends over her shoulder whilst she attacked Lady Amandine with relentless arrows.

Thomas gave a sad smile from under his mask and nodded, grabbing Jenny’s’ and Sam’s hands, pulling them out of the Manor while they all cried out for their comrade.

Lexi’s final thoughts reached her group as a fallen whisper, signalling her death to the ones she had grown to love as a family: ‘Goodbye my friends, live on for me~’

Lexi was brought back to the real world by the sound of Lady Amandine screeching as she was finally slain by the very adventurers she saw moments before. Lexi rose from her spot underneath the tree and watched as the cursed air of the manor’s grounds was purified from the death of the evil mistress which once resided within its residence. A smile graced Lexi’s face as she gazed into the light beyond the Manor’s walls.

Lexi took slow, apprehensive steps towards the light and let out a sharp cry as she saw her three friends from all that time ago standing amongst the light, hands outstretched in welcome as bright smiles graced their features. The words she’d been wanting to hear for so long finally were being spoken out to her, bringing her so much joy that all the moments without them was forgotten.

“Welcome Home, Princess”

As Lexi ran towards them as fast as she could, she turned around before she entered the light to gaze upon the group of adventures that had finally set her and the others free. Lexi began to slowly fade into the warm light of Hydaelyn with tears streaming down her perfect skin, but in her final, final moments she beamed a smile at the group and said with love from the deepest parts of her being:

“Thank you”