gaiages | Genuary Jubilee Week 4

Comeuppance

Fandom: Final Fantasy XIV
You can't hide from the shadows.

Genuary Jubilee Week 4: Person

Rating: Teen

642 words
Relationship(s) / Characters: Rielle de Caulignont
Tags: Post-MSQ ; minor character death ; DRK!Rielle
CWs: none

Gen-uary Jubilee's last prompt: person, place, or thing. I went with person, and here is my first FFXIV NPC fic :) The cut-ins between the text is the Dark Knight description from the Lodestone. It goes pretty hard, LOL

Also on AO3 and Tumblr

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The pious Ishgardian clergy guide the flock, and the devout knights protect the weak.

—

The door to the church slams open, causing the priest to jump. "Who goes there!? Close the door before—"

He stops, staring in horror at the figure in the doorway. Tall, slim, and covered head to toe in black armor, the elezen made for an imposing figure. As she took a step in, the priest backed up against the wall, scrambling for anything nearby to defend himself. "No, wait!"

—

Yet even the holiest of men succumb to the darkest of temptations.

—

"Where are they?" She takes another step towards the priest, and he babbles incoherently before finally finding his voice.

"I-I don't know what you mean! Please, I'm… I'm just—"

—

None dare to administer justice to these sacrosanct elite residing outside the reach of the law. Who, then, defends the feeble from the transgressions of those meant to guide and protect them?

—

Another step forward, and the priest falls to the ground, shaking under the woman's glare. "You'll have to try harder than that." She stops, and calmly crosses her arms. "Where are the children you've been absconding from the Brume?"

She waves a hand, a smirk making her expression all the more dangerous. "Don't try to lie. Your men told me everything after a bit of… persuasion."

—

A valiant few take up arms to defend the downtrodden, and not even the holy priests and knights can escape their judgment. These sentinels bear no shields declaring their allegiance. Instead, their greatswords act as beacons to guide the meek through darkness.

—

The woman reaches behind her to grab the hilt of her greatsword, easily hefting it over her shoulder and leveling the point at the priest.

The man's face twisted into an expression of desperate anger. "You… you heathen! You wretch! You dare attack a priest!?" He bares his teeth at her. "You'll be caught, and you'll rot on the streets, just like—"

"Well, I gave you the chance." Her expression becomes blank as she looks down at the man. "I shall pray for your soul to be cleansed in the depths of the hells."

"N-no—"

She drives her greatsword forward—

—

Pariahs in their own land, they are known by many as Dark Knights.

—

—and stabs the priest through the heart, the man only opening and closing his mouth uselessly as he draws his last breath.

"How pathetic. How often they mewl and beg when they realize Halone won't save them." She wiped the blood on her sword off on the priest's clothes before sheathing it. "The children should be in the basement…"

The woman wastes no time in locating the stairs to the basement, and she takes a breath and removes her helmet before slowly, calmly, heading down the stairs.

She hears the sounds of children crying as they hear her footsteps. As she reached the bottom, some of the crying stopped, replaced by an air of confusion at the new figure. The elezen looked over them—battered and bruised, her heart ached for the horrors these children had been through.

"Wh…who are you?" One particularly brave child calls from the back of the small basement.

The Dark Knight shakes her head. "It matters not. But it's time for you to return to your homes, your families. I will take you to them."

They don't move—obviously distrustful of a random woman after everything that's happened to them—until one child suddenly speaks up. "It… it's her! I told you…"

The girl begins sobbing, but it is of relief rather than fear. "It's Rielle! She… she came to save us!"

As the children realize what the girl means, they begin chattering and run up to Rielle. She holds back a sigh and pats one of the children on the head. "Let's get you all home now, alright?"

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