Memoirs of Adventure Creative Writing Contest (NA) - Official Entry Thread

[Aeirou]

It’s me again. I don’t even know if anyone will read these messages. This is my fifth message so far, and I’m running out of bottles. This time, I’ll tell you about a moment where perseverance won the day. We were about a week out from opening the First Turn of Bahamut, and ADS proved to be a hearty foe. My companions and I stood uniform in dark light armor, all of us sick of hearing Cid explain battle plans for invading Garlean occupied territories. The explosion from the old Allagan device, ADS, lead into a cavern-like area filled with crystallized orange rocks and lost technological wonders. We fought our way past golems and other fiends that closely resembled basilisks.

When we reached the staging ground for the final battle, a slippery serpent by the name of Caduceus appeared before us. It’s only by the grace of Hydaelyn that we stood a chance at all. We weren’t strong enough, we weren’t fast enough. The moment it seemed like everything was going our way, the bastard split in two. I took up my shield, and grabbed one snake as our warrior grabbed the other. A vision that played out more than once. The battle was hard, and we fought for hours. Finally, one snake fell and the other was a little too strong. Our warrior fell to its monstrous strength. I provoked it from my comrades, and grit my teeth against its relentless assault. I felt just about as though I were visiting deaths door again when... the attacks stopped. I lowered my shield to find the husk of the snake vanishing before my eyes, and chest of Allagan-make in its place. I forsook the uniformity of my companions, and I bore proof of our triumph on my chest with the first of our many spoils, an Allagan fashioned chest piece. It took many kills to get to that moment, but somehow this one felt special. My friends and I celebrated a good long while and over enough drinks I’ll still tell the story today. And now you know why this bottle is empty.

-Aeirou Orlay
(If chosen; The Scarf of Wondrous Wit)