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

Ch11: Final Battle

"Father... you..."

"I am the past. Just a memory in your head. Look to the future!"

And so they did battle against the berserking virtual Sphene.

Wuk Lamat's black axe, combined with the twinblades of Gulool Ja Ja's shadow, blocked much of virtual Sphene's gargantuan metal claws. The Warrior of Light and accompanying heroes whittled down Sphene's resistance by taking advantage of the created openings.

Finally, the Warrior of Light raised a fist as a signal to Wuk Lamat. Wuk Lamat once mentioned that this was her and Zoraal Ja's signal for one to feint and the other to deal the final killing blow. The Warrior of Light feinted, and Wuk Lamat swifted swung with a powerful axe strike, connecting with a vital point that dispersed the virtual form of Sphene.

Sphene crumpled onto the battle arena in despair. A lightning seemed to flash around her head as her eyes widened, followed by a hysterical laughter.

Both the Warrior of Light and Wuk Lamat took a half-step back in fear.

"In the end..." Sphene scoffed at herself after somewhat calming. "I thought in my bid to truly feel-- to be alive, I needed to change myself. But I was still only acting as The Preservation's pawn. To do battle in order to, with full certainty, identify the nature of your world."

"So," Sphene's attitude suddenly became calm and calculated-- a different voice rose from her lips. "This is truly 'The Source'. Else, how could the eternal construct lose in battle?"

Sphene's 'form' crumbled into nothingness, and a cup-like relic dropped to the ground. The Warrior of Light picked up the cup, and was once again astonished to find Azem's symbol upon it. How curious. With the scions' assistance, its mystery should be resolved. Sooner or later.

An image of a female hyur flashed into existence before the Warrior of Light.

"I am Fiona. Much like you, I fought for my world. You must save what remains of my world. Please." She then vanished, leaving these last ominous words.

A week later, they had returned to Tuliyollal, leaving Solution Nine in the hands of the resistance group, Oblivion. Zoraal Ja had passed on his control over the systems to Gulool Ja, who was more than happy to receive Oblivion's advice, as well as Tuliyollal's assistance.

In the throne room.

"Thank you," Vorporlor's slow speech acknowledged Bakool Ja Ja's assistance. "The words you carry from that 'heaven' and your assistance to the north will lift a generational weight from our shoulders. For that, your father will be free to return, and we will have peace."

"But you..." Vorporlor turned to Wuk Lamat. "You are foolish. Those citizens of the place named Solution Nine? You should have forcefully destroyed all these regulators, their... way of life. Their reliance on an extra soul within these regulators are completely unsustainable, and this will come to a head sooner or later. No matter how, they will have to face the threat of death sooner or later."

"In time... they will awaken, I am sure of it," Wuk Lamat replied.

"You are too idealistic," Vorporlor shook his head. "Historically, the majority of humanity are stuck in their ways, even if said ways are clearly harmful to themselves. Often, these beliefs will be taken advantage of by a madman for nefarious purposes. Even then, they will not awaken. Sometimes, only a harsh hand can purge such practices and build a better future. You'll see."

The giant turned and left Vollok Shoonsa, accompanied by Bakool Ja Ja, off to collect his imprisoned father.

When it became dark, Wuk Lamat sat alone atop Vollok Shoonsa, gazing out at the seas. The regulator on her temple whirled on.

"Farewell, father," Wuk Lamat muttered.

"I will await you in the aetherial sea, my dear daughter," Gulool Ja Ja replied.

Wuk Lamat closed a hand around the regulator that carried the memories and soul of Gulool Ja Ja. With a snap, the regulator was destroyed.

Tears rolled down Wuk Lamat's cheeks.

"Within my head, is a living memory," Wuk Lamat placed her hands on her hips as she straightened her back. Her eyes lingered over the mesmerizing lights of Tuliyollal wondrous nightlife as she nodded to herself.

A week later, Wuk Lamat and Koana were officially crowned to lead Tuliyollal for a new era.

Author's Comment:

Thank you for going through my rewrite attempt. My goal with the rewrite was to adjust a few elements to give the characters more of a concrete motivation while maintaining the official flow of the MSQ.

Zoraal Ja: I felt that for him as a one-headed Mamool Ja, if those of Mamook, his race's origin, rejected his leadership due to him not being a blessed sibling, that would be a more compelling source of frustration. Not that it wasn't mentioned, but rather, lacked the necessary emphasis. I attempted to build this more into his psyche.

Wuk Lamat: I changed her personality to be more of 'a sibling who felt herself unneeded, prefering to leisurely enjoy her days in the background' sort of character. This, I believe, would provide a more of a summer-holiday vibe initially, eventually allowing Wuk Lamat to realize that her lack of interest in participating may have been costly. ie, she did not notice her older brother's internal struggles until it was too late. I felt that would make a more compelling character profile.

Bakool Ja Ja: I believe that his action of freeing Valigarmanda should have consequences, thus his jailed father who sacrificed himself for a 'blessed sibling'. To free his father, he needed to travel to Solution Nine to resolve the Yok Huy's past visions caused by Alexandria. In doing so, he would see his thousand dead siblings within Living Memory. At least, I felt that to be interesting.

Gulool Ja Ja: I felt he was underused, and as such, I opted to place his memory and soul into a stolen regulator, used to augment Wuk Lamat's combat ability, and have a presence later on in the story. This would also make Wuk Lamat's growth in strength more 'reasonable' through the tale. In theory, there could also have been more scenes of Gulool Ja Ja expounding on his experiences and thoughts through this approach.

The Preservation: Introducing the presence of The Preservation earlier on, I believe, is critical to the tension within the Solution Nine storyline.

Sphene(s): There could have been much more philosophical exploration of Sphene as a memory, a sort of AI. In my rewrite, I positioned Sphene as this 'memory' that desires to truly be 'alive'. There is the interference of 'The Preservation' to prevent her opposing Zoraal Ja earlier on, while she is 'manipulated' into abandoning her kindness after Zoraal Ja chose to collect the souls of Solution Nine's citizens. At least, I think it serves to somewhat explore the idea of memory and living.

Krile: I added the mammet search in an attempt to give Krile more screentime and build a link to Galuf Baldesion's involvement. I wasn't entirely sure how to flesh this out, but the concept was, admittedly, a rather weak attempt to create the idea that even in death, Galuf was providing assistance to Krile through his investigative mammets into Solution Nine, sent in decades before.

As for the other details in the MSQ, they were mostly done pretty alright, such as Erenville's involvement with Cahciua. For those reasons, I did not feel it was necessary to explore those areas, and only briefly mentioned those storylines to create a coherent flow of events.

Now, as for 'future tales', I plan to do brief snapshots of a future storyline that will span a few expansions. They won't be particularly detailed, and will serve more as concepts.