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

Ch11: Final Battle

"Mamook was only willing to be under your banner because of your position as a blessed sibling, father," Zoraal Ja rebutted. "They would have, sooner or later, after your eventual passing, begun another war on the back of a more capable blessed sibling."

"I may not have been able to remove Mamook's dark obsession with blessed siblings," Gulool Ja Ja continued. "However, as Tuliyollal grows in the future, with all those that participate in the... nation-building. With different peoples cooperating to build a better future, it was but an eventuality that Mamook would realize their foolishness. It may take centuries, but sometimes patience is needed. One cannot expect change overnight."

In the end, Gulool Ja Ja's words fell on deaf ears. Zoraal Ja shook his head, denying all of his father's words.

"Your victory is Gulool Ja Ja's and not yours!" Zoraal Ja picked up his dropped twinblade and pointed it at Wuk Lamat.

"Very well," Wuk Lamat exhaled, sorrow filling her heart as she pitied her older brother's state of existence. Her adapted regulator was switched off and Gulool Ja Ja's shadow vanished.

Zoraal Ja laughed hysterically and the two once again traded blows.

However, Zoraal Ja was already spent, while Wuk Lamat seemed to have a bottomless well of energy.

It did not take long for Zoraal Ja to collapse onto his back, his eyes unfocused as he gazed upwards at the fake sky of Everkeep.

"I thought I would hate losing to my younger sister..." He muttered to no one in particular. His voice was low, and as such, Wuk Lamat only saw his lips move silently. "Yet why do I feel such... relief in the end? Sister... go on... be more than those damn blessed siblings of Mamook."

With those whispered words, Zoraal Ja took one last breath and the pounding of his heart became silent.

Wuk Lamat was naturally distraught. None of her axe strikes should have been fatal.

The rest of the party arrived, and Alphinaud examined Zoraal Ja's body.

"Hmm." Alphinaud tilted his head. "His body had long broken down internally. He was already at death's door prior to the battle."

"This is my fault..." Wuk Lamat lamented. "If I had been more present... perhaps my brother would have opened up to me, and I could have changed his fate..."

"Do not blame yourself..." The Warrior of Light consoled.

Sphene strode forth towards the throne and picked up an intricate cup.

"Of course. He had experimented with feral souls so often that this was almost inevitable. It's almost a surprise that he lasted this long," Sphene noted.

"Sphene! You--" Wuk Lamat's words were interrupted.

"Wuk Lamat," Sphene said as she grasped the cup. "You told me that to be alive means to learn. To grow from experiences. Often, I wonder if I am truly alive. And so I considered... how I, as Sphene, must grow."

"As Queen of Alexandria, it was my failure-- my lack of viciousness to purge Alexandria of some personnel-- that led to the war which plunged my nation into desperate straits. And once again, it was my unwillingness to dirty my hands that led to Zoraal Ja's necessity."

"It is this...shadowy 'Preservation' that chose such a course of action," Wuk Lamat replied, sensing that this 'Sphene' wasn't right in the mind. "There is no need to--"

"No. If I was capable of dirtying my hands and doing what is necessary, then Zoraal Ja would not have been given power, and such devastation would not have been delivered upon my people," Sphene muttered to herself, distraught.