Gulool Ja Ja's Legacy: A FFXIV DT Rewrite + Expansion Concepts [Fanfiction]

Ch11: Final Battle

Though suspicious as to why the current Sphene was preserved, the party assisted her within Solution Nine, doing battle against the automatons that normally should safeguard the Alexandrians' safety.

Otis made an appearance to protect Sphene, sacrificing himself in the process, to Gulool Ja's dismay. Although the party eventually returned peace to Solution Nine, many lives were lost, and souls harvested.

After the dust had settled, the party located Zoraal Ja's position. He had returned to the Everkeep.

On the way there, Sphene and Wuk Lamat engaged in conversation.

"I struggle to believe he can be so cruel," Wuk Lamat muttered. "For years, he served Tuliyollal loyally as the captain of the Landsguard. Is the living so fragile? That rejection from Mamook was enough to twist his mind into... this?"

"To be rejected from those of your ancestral home is...devastating," Sphene murmured.

"You took advantage of his weakness!" Wuk Lamat glared at Sphene, She felt rage at Sphene, but primarily at her own failure. The failure to identify her brother's inner struggles.

"I... I did...?" Sphene was wide-eyed at Wuk Lamat's accusation, her face blank in bewilderment.

Wuk Lamat took a deep breath to calm herself as she recalled Sphene's state. This Queen Sphene had been reset many times, that she was certain of.

"You know... he tried," Sphene added.

"Ehh?" Wuk Lamat's ears twitched.

"Zoraal Ja tried to satisfy his end of the deal by harvesting the souls of beasts and monsters. The assumption was by separating memories from the soul, these feral souls would be effective in supporting our society."

"Ultimately, that method was a failure. Currently, it has only been determined that occasionally using these feral souls to do combat should be safe," Sphene explained.

"I see..." It somewhat warmed Wuk Lamat's heart that Zoraal Ja had attempted to satisfy his end of the deal with Alexandria through another method, at least initially.

As they reached Everkeep, Sphene turned to not just Wuk Lamat, but also the rest of the party.

"Say. Do you think I am truly alive? What does it mean to be alive?" She inquired. Her eyes were lost in uncertainty.

This was, indeed, a question that had sat in the back of everyone's minds ever since they discovered the underlying system supporting Alexandria.

"I suppose..." At length, Wuk Lamat spoke. "To be alive means to grow as a person, learn from experiences and change oneself." She had come to recognize that she could not simply sit back now that her father was but a soul in that device attached to her head.

"I see... to change..." Sphene muttered to herself.

As they climbed the Everkeep, armies of automatons blocked their way. As typical in such situations, the Warrior of Light was sent ahead while the rest of the party cooperated to fend off the army of automatons.

"Save a piece of my older brother for me," Wuk Lamat requested. The Warrior of Light simply nodded.

The Warrior of Light arrived atop Everkeep to find Zoraal Ja awaiting upon his throne.

"So in the end, it is you, my sister's mentor, that has come before me. As always, she prefers to avoid trouble, leisurely sitting back within her safe caravan and wile away her days." Zoraal Ja stood up menacingly. "But perhaps you, whose soul is the densest of us all, is the perfect specimen to test the results of my soul experiments. To me!"