Ch14: Expansion Concept 12.0--Operation Singularity

Previously, the Warrior of Light ended up travelling the supposedly ruined Meracydia with Louisoix after having suffered through the six umbral calamities. Unfortunately, there is basically zero information on the current state of Meracydia. Thus, skipping ahead… 

The Warrior of Light bid farewell to the young Louisoix after their return from Meracydia. Not just Louisoix himself, but also the soon-to-be wife that he had encountered on the journey.

In the Warrior of Light's hand was another crafted cup relic. Artifact 2.0, so the Warrior of Light named it. This new version has the capability to jump across different timelines!

Indeed, the Warrior of Light finally settled on an audacious plan-- a method to generate the singularity needed to merge every timeline. However, the Warrior of Light is not able to execute this plan alone. Emet-Selch's and Hythlodaeus' assistance are required.

As such, the Warrior of Light could only wait for the future past to first resolve. The Final Days on Eorzea eventually came to pass, and the Warrior of Light waited for the past Warrior of Light to overcome Meteion. Then, the events of the shard-travelling journey came to pass.

Finally, the Warrior of Light could take action. With the complete powers of an ancient, the Warrior of Light entered the aetherial sea, then dragged Emet-Selch and Hythlodaeus back into the world, preventing their reincarnation process.

"You cannot be serious…" Emet-Selch grumbled. "I had to tolerate your antics more than twelve thousand years ago. And finally, when I decided to take a rest, you came along once again to drag me back on another one of your… adventures!"

"Ignore his protestations," Hythlodaeus gave a gentle smile. "I am certain that you have good reason to… block our return to the star."

"And why not Venat?" Emet-selch complained. "Is she not the one who placed you onto the seat of Azem?"

Venat had suffered much during the twelve thousand years of guiding the new beings on Etheirys. At least, in the Warrior of Light's eyes, she truly deserved to rest. Emet-Selch, on the other hand… having 'forgotten' the necessary memories and caused no small amount of trouble…

"Fine. Fine!" Emet-selch's shoulders drooped. "Will you finally leave me alone after this… 'final' task?"

"I was thinking of visiting the Dragonstar after. You should come along," the Warrior of Light hummed in pleasure.

"Ooo. That should be fun. Perhaps returning to the star can be delayed to another day," Hythlodaeous nodded in agreement.

"Unbelievable," Emet-selch exhaled.

"But first. You must have a monumental task for us," Hythlodaeus prompted the Warrior of Light.

"Indeed," the Warrior of Light nodded, before going into details of all the events that led to the creation of the many timelines.

"You and your recklessness," Hythlodaeous laughed.

"Remind me," Emet-selch huffed. "Exactly how many timelines are there now?"

"Four," the Warrior of Light replied. "Firstly, there's our timeline--the final days averted, the issue upon the shard belonging to Alexandria resolved. Then another where the garleans unleashed black death, which sent that other me to death, the final days delayed. The third timeline is one where the shard belonging to Alexandria became nothing but a lightning-infused world similar to the void. Then, a fourth timeline where the shard belonging to Alexandria launched a genocidal war to absorb and utilize the souls of all the other shards."

"And how exactly will you determine which timeline would continue to exist? Yes, the minds of mankind may merge under resonance, but the physical locations-- it is uncertain how the merge would affect the physical state of matter. And what exactly is your plan to create this… singularity?" Emet-selch questioned the audacious nature of the Warrior of Light's plan.

"When I consulted the others on the convocation, they believed that the physical world belonging to the most desired outcome for the existing population will become the sole timeline in a singularity event," the Warrior of Light said.

"Hmm... if the timelines merge, then this must be so," Hythlodaeous nodded.

"If the minds and desires of beast tribes can shape primals," the Warrior of Light could not resist taking a glance at Emet-selch, who precisely seduced the many beast tribes into performing this sort of summoning in the past. "Then it certainly stands to reason that the most desired outcome will manifest when the many timelines merge together."

"You have yet to explain your 'Operation Singularity," Emet-selch grumbled.

"It's simple," the Warrior of Light grinned. "I must become a true Warrior of Darkness."

Emet-selch was aghast. Hythlodaeus' mouth was wide open.

"You were not much of a Warrior of Darkness on the First. Not really, anyway," scoffed Emet-selch.

"That is precisely why I need to play the role of a true Warrior of Darkness," the Warrior of Light clarified. "The people of all timelines will unite against me, thus creating the singularity needed to merge all timelines."

"How audacious…" Hythlodaeus mumbled.

"But did the 'you' in the second mentioned timeline not die to the black death?" Emet questioned. "And would Meteion not still be singing the song of Oblivion in said timeline?"

"Indeed," the Warrior of Light nodded. "But based on the knowledge I have gained while probing the concepts with regards to multiple timelines, and the merging of all, none of this should matter. The Loporrits on this second timeline should fully awaken upon a timeline invasion. Plus, these other versions of you and other Ascians will be helpless against my forces."

"Truly?" Emet-selch had his doubts.

"Plus, I have you, don't I?" the Warrior of Light said. "You will be a partner in my heinous acts."

"You cannot be serious," Emet-selch once again had a look of disbelief. "I had labored through all those years, executing what you view as 'ascian villainy' only because Kairos had erased critical memories in my mind!"

"Please, Emet," the Warrior of Light beseeched the man.

Emet-selch sighed and rolled his neck, unable to reject the Warrior of Light's request to be a participant in the yet-to-be-fully-explained plan.

"Are you certain you wish to do this?" Hythlodaeous turned serious. "For the worlds of the four timelines to turn against you… to do that, you will need to take the lives of countless innocents."

The Warrior of Light took a deep breath. Indeed, the heart would soon be blackened with sin by such actions. Nonetheless, after visiting Meracydia and the many temples erected by the dragonkin, the Warrior of Light had come to know the dangers of split timelines on the fabric of reality.

The very metaphysical rules of the universe had begun to fray, and sooner or later, odd incongruent events would begin to amass. Eventually, a breaking point would shatter the very existence of all timelines.

"My hand will be covered by blood, yes," the Warrior of Light agreed. "But if all timelines merge, no lives should be lost."

"How…?" Hythlodaeous widened his eyes.

"If I erase the continent of the New World in alpha timeline, flatten Doma in the beta timeline, crush Ala Mhigo in the gamma timeline, and topple Ishgard in the delta timeline…It goes to reason that the remaining societies of each world will unite against me," the Warrior of Light said. "Upon the merging of all timelines, all destroyed lives will return to existence."

"The physical beings of the New World in the other three timelines will combine, while gaining memories of the New World's destruction from the alpha timeline. Long story short, all destroyed civilizations will return upon the merging of timelines, as long as I do not wipe out the same society across all timelines."

"As for the oblivion Meteion within the second timeline? Once all four timelines merge, there will only be one Meteion, containing the memories of all four timeline's Meteions. I am convinced the starbird will simply wish to observe the wonders of the world and sing a song of hope."

"But you will still drown in blood," Hythlodaeous softly whispered.

"So be it," the Warrior of Darkness replied with clenched teeth. "The source of these many timelines was precisely my fault in the first place. I was the one who could not accept reality, going back in time to change the outcome."

"A deserved end for an audacious entity that is you," Emet-selch harrumphed. "Fine, I will be an enabler of villainy-- for you-- once again."

"Thank you," the Warrior of Darkness replied with a staunch and determined expression.

"And our forces? Let me tell you. I am quite incapable of creating the number of creatures capable of conquering multiple timelines," Emet-selch queried. "You say not even the other 'me' in the second timeline can contend against your forces. Tell me. What are these forces?"

"There is the fourth timeline where Alexandria-- from the ninth shard-- invaded to reap the souls of people upon various other shards. In that timeline, I was fooled by Calyx's staged death. He stayed hidden while manipulating the digital system of Alexandria. By the time I realized what had happened, he had already amassed billions of automatons, and infiltrated other shards," the Warrior of Light explained. 

"Even with the scions' assistance, I am unable to… hijack these forces. However, with your assistance, surely it can be done,' the Warrior of Darkness challenged Emet-selch.

Of course, another factor was that the Warrior of Darkness desired for the scions' hands to remain clean. These hijacked automations would effectively be sent to wipe out societies. Yes, as long as the same person isn't erased in all four timelines, they would 'return' alive in the merged single timeline. However, the heinous deed can never be erased from the heart.

The Warrior of Darkness had thought long and hard, and arrived at this singular method. After all, nothing unites the hearts of mankind quite like a despotic tyrant.

"Will the other 'you' within the other timelines resist?" Hythlodaeus wondered.

Before the Warrior of Darkness attempted to provide an explanation, Hythlodaeus already realized the mistake in his thinking.

"No. There are no other 'you' in any of these timelines," he corrected himself. "After all, it is you who returned to the past from one timeline, thus creating a new timeline. Thus the old timeline 'lost' the you that returned in time."

The Warrior of Darkness nodded with a smile.

"Hmmm…" Hythlodaeus frowned as he continued to analyze the Warrior of Darkness' proposed operation. "Why not simply allow those billions of automatons to cross timelines under Calyx?"

The Warrior of Darkness understood why Hythlodaeus suggested this method. Hythlodaeus, no doubt, wished for the Warrior of Darkness' hands to remain relatively clean.

"No," the Warrior of Darkness gave a shake of the head. "Calyx would reap souls with no disregard for their identity. If he controls his automatons and kills the same man four times in all four timelines, that man will truly be dead, and will not be alive in the final merged timeline. We must hold the reins to this operation."

"Very well," Hythlodaeus sighed. "I hope your soul can handle the weight."

The Warrior of Darkness took a deep breath. This must be done, or the very nature of reality may unravel in the near future.

So it was that the Warrior of Darkness raised aloft the newly created cup relic 2.0, capable of leaping across timelines.

The party of three traveled through time and space, arriving in the timeline where Calyx successfully escaped death and was now conquering shards with over a billion automatons.

They arrived in proto-Alexandria, in the ninth shard, newly constructed by Calyx's forces.

Hythlodaeus opened his special 'eyes', and began examining the very structure of proto-Alexandria. Indeed, if Hythlodaeus had the ability to wield magic as Emet-selch could, he would most certainly have become one of the Convocation.

"There," Hythlodaeus signaled to Emet-selch.

"I see it," Emet-selch replied. Though his eyes are less sharp then Hythlodaeus', as long as Hythlodaeus provided direction, he could then focus his vast magical powers in a small area to compensate for his slightly lacking vision.

This task would have been impossible for the Warrior of Darkness or the scions.

Emet-selch focused his powers and snapped his fingers. The physical realm cracked like glass as a rift in reality opened.

The three entered the rift into another space, decorated by ancient decoration of Alexandria.

"Hmm…" Hythlodaeus began his observations once again.

Soon, another rift opened with a typical Emet finger snap. This process repeated many times, until they finally arrived in a throne room of a medieval Alexandrian design. Upon the throne sat the image of Calyx, his eyes fixed on a technologically advanced electrope control system that formed a semi-circle, wrapping around his front.

The arrival of the three sent Calyx into terror. It should have been impossible for the Warrior of Light to find him here!

"Ah. This must be the Calyx you spoke of," Emet-selch said as he snapped his fingers. Calyx's form was immediately destroyed, crumbling into digibits.

"Hmm. He's not dead," Hythlodaeus muttered as he traced Calyx's aetherial signature. He then pointed at another location. "There."

Emet snapped his fingers again. Another rift opened.

The three pursued Calyx's aetherial signature through many digital dimensions and erased him repeatedly, until eventually, Hythlodaeus could no longer sense the man's existence. Calyx was truly erased from the world.

The man grew desperate towards the end and begged for mercy. Emet-selch responded with a simple snap of his fingers, cutting short the man's words.

The three returned to the throne room, and the Warrior of Darkness sat down on the throne, hijacking the control over the billions of automatons originally under Calyx's whims.

"And so it begins."

Not long after, billions of automatons marched upon not just the source, but also the shards of all four timelines.

At first, all reacted with disbelief as well as inaction. None could believe that the supposed Warrior of Light had declared absolute subservience from all the nations upon the Source and accompanying shards.

This led to many of the nations' inaction, allowing the automations, now under the Warrior of Darkness' control to establish a powerful overseeing force.

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In timeline alpha-- the 'original' timeline, Revenant Toll.

"I don't understand," Alisaie muttered. "Why would the Warrior of Light do this? Could the possessed Midgardsormr have caused this?"

Alphinaud struggled to come up with an answer to his sister's question, his thoughts resting on the moment when the Warrior of Light vanished after G'raha Tia was swallowed by the possessed Midgardsormr.

"Not to mention, the source of these automaton soldiers is unknown," Y'shtola crossed her arms with a hand on her chin. "We thoroughly removed their presence in Alexandria, after all. I am certain of our success."

"This doth necessitate an inquiry most serious…" Urianger muttered.

"Estinien has gone to consult with the dragons," Thancred said. "He should soon return with news."

They waited for an hour, and Estinien finally arrived.

"The dragons will not act," Estinien said, his voice low. "Vrtra has accepted the rule of the Warrior of… the Warrior of Darkness' rule."

The scions had gradually come to think of the Warrior of Light as the Warrior of Darkness.

All the scions frowned, unsure of why the dragons would act in such a subservient manner.

The truth is, of course, the dragons knew of the primal force, the guardian of time that now possessed Midgardsormr. They believe that the Warrior of Darkness must be setting up a grand play that requires their cooperation. As such, Hraesvelgr, Vrtra, and also Azdaja chose to not provide the people on Etheirys any assistance.

"So Thavnair will not join if a war is necessary," sighed Alphinaud.

"These automatons… are they still weak to lightning?" Thancred asked.

"That weakness has been corrected," Y'shtola said, having tested lightning upon an automaton soon after the Warrior of Darkness declaration of absolute rule.

"Hmm… so far, our supposed friend, the Warrior of Darkness has not--"

"A new decree!" Tataru dashed in to announce. "The Warrior of L- of Darkness has announced that each nation will take turns sacrificing their souls to power the automaton soldiers!"

The scions recognized the origin of these soldiers as Alexandrian automatons, and as such, understood the implications of Tataru's announcement.

"I dare not believe that the Warrior of Darkness means to do this," Alphinaud said. "Surely if all nations on various shards resist at the same time, all will be revealed."

The rest of the scions nodded in agreement to this plan.

The automatons controlled by the Warrior of Darkness walked the streets of capitals and major cities, keeping an eye on all inhabitants.

In the alpha timeline, the automatons began rounding up souls from the New World for sacrifice.

In the beta timeline, the automatons began rounding up souls from Doma for sacrifice.

In the gamma timeline, the automatons began rounding up souls from Ala Mhigo for sacrifice.

In the delta timeline, the automatons began rounding up souls from Ishgard for sacrifice.

The scions within all four timelines reacted the same, taking great efforts to coordinate all nations upon the Source and reflections to resist the Warrior of Darkness' efforts. If citizens of one nation on one shard must sacrifice souls, then gradually, all other nations would be picked off one-by-one.

And so, inhabitants of all four timelines revolted.

Though some automatons were lost, the Warrior of Darkness responded with brutal force.

In the alpha timeline, an army of millions of automatons descended upon Tuliyollal, and indiscriminately butchered its citizens. The population of the city was reduced to zero overnight.

In the beta timeline, an army of millions of automatons and gunships wiped out Hein's forces and people in a single night.

In the gamma timeline, an army of millions of automatons and ships massacred the rebuilding Ala Mhigans' new capital.

In the delta timeline, an army of automations descended upon Ishgard, slaughtering both high and low born with little care, including the knight, Lucia Junius.

The dragons within all timelines did not provide assistance to the people of Etheirys. Instead, the dragons themselves battled their progenitor in the skies.

A possessed, blue-eyed Midgardsormr repeatedly attempted to breach the fabric of space in an attempt to travel to and attack the Warrior of Darkness within an Alexandrian throne room in the delta timeline. The various dragons on all timelines repeatedly battled against Midgarsormr, preventing his attempt to strike at the Warrior of Darkness.

When dawn broke, not even those who revered the tales of the Warrior of Light could continue to deny that the hero had become a villain.

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Within the Alexandrian throne room in the delta timeline.

Before the Warrior of Darkness stood four versions of simulacrum Vrtra, from four different timelines.

"When the time is right, provide the scions with these," the Warrior of Darkness handed over one auracite to each Vrtra simulacrum. "These auracites contain a link that can be analyzed, then used to track and trace my location with the Loporrits' technology." The mark was more or less an imitation and variation of Venat's mark on Meteion, which allowed the scions to track down Meteion in the Final Days.

"Once it is done, our father's sanity should return, yes?" one Vrtra asked.

"Yes," the Warrior of Darkness replied. "The four timelines require a singularity to merge. All will come to me. The singularity!"

The Warrior of Darkness raised aloft the cup relic 2.0, and the four Vrtra simulacrums returned to their respective timeline.

"Let us prepare," the Warrior of Darkness said.

Emet-Selch snapped his fingers, and the Alexandrian castle was transported into an interdimensional space, landing upon the ascian lair that exists in the interdimensional rift.

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As the shards now have communication channels with the Source, the scions soon rallied the necessary forces to resist the Warrior of Darkness.

If any of the scions initially thought the Warrior of Darkness wasn't serious with regards to the declaration of absolute rule, they now believe that the mind of the Warrior of Darkness must have become corrupted after absorbing the other soul shards.

After all, the Warrior of Darkness' soul had become complete, on a level comparable to the ancients. That capability must have caused the Warrior of Darkness to believe themselves to be a god, so the scions concluded. The mind of man, after all, is often corrupted by power and hubris.

War raged within all four timelines.

The dragons battled nonstop against Midgardsormr to weaken and prevent his interference with the Warrior of Darkness' plans.

The Warrior of Darkness controlled the automaton army to crush resistances on the Source and reflections. The Warrior of Darkness was careful to avoid targeting the same zone within each timeline, seeking to avoid potentially fully 'removing' the existence of a person on all timelines.

The Warrior of Darkness grew more haggard and exhausted with every 'fractional' life taken from each timeline.

Seeing this, Hythlodaeus felt sorrow. Even Emet-selch opted to remain silent.

Still, the Warrior of Darkness continued to carry on. To complete the audacious plan. The Warrior of Darkness carefully manipulated the automaton forces, creating the image of a weakening army.

Seeing this, the four Vrtra's on the four timelines approached the scions.

"I discovered this auracite within a unique automaton," Vrtra informed Y'shtola. "Within it, I sense the unique magic of an ancient era."

Y'shtola accepted this piece of auracite, and travelled to the moon to seek the Loporitts' assistance.

"This mark… it's eerily similar to Venat's tracking mark on Meteion…" Mappingway said.

"The source of the automations, no doubt," Y'shtola concluded after consulting with the other scions.

"Yes, but there is an irregularity in tracking this mark," Mappingway noted. "Our carrots seem to point to a place outside of normal space. I will need to adjust The Ragnarok to enter this interdimensional space that exists outside of normal space and time!"

"Then let's hop to it!" Livingway declared. "We must lay to rest to the Warrior of Darkness' corrupted mind!"

And so the four groups of scions on all four timelines set forth on the four versions of the ship, Ragnarok, using the aetherial signature within the four auracites. Yes. The Loporitts in the beta timeline where the eighth rejoining occurred had awakened upon the Warrior of Darkness' invasion. The Sharlayans in that timeline had also long completed the ship.

As such, the scions from all four timelines followed the auracite's aetherial signature, pierced through space and time to reach an Alexandrian castle floating in an interdimensional space.

They all arrived at roughly the same time thanks to Vrtra's meddling.

The four sets of scions were astonished to see other versions of themselves. They quickly discovered that they had all come here to end the Warrior of Darkness, and thus agreed not to waste time. They simply needed to complete the deed, and their curiosity with regards to there being four of them can be resolved after.

Within the throne room, the Warrior of Darkness stood to confront the four sets of scions.

"Worry not, Warrior of L- Darkness, old friend," Thancred said. "With time in a cell, your mind may yet be freed from the corruptive influence of an ancient's power."

"You are a fool to think you can capture me alive," the Warrior of Darkness performed an imitation of Asahi's evil mannerism.

And so the battle began.

The Warrior of Darkness' strength was beyond reason, switching between many weapons in battle against the four sets of scions.

Then with a swing of a blade, the Warrior of Darkness lopped off alpha timeline Thancred's head, causing all four sets of scions to inhale a breath of shock.

The Warrior of Darkness is no old friend.

Then the Warrior of Darkness stabbed a lance through beta timeline Y'shtola's heart.

Finally, the four sets of scions recognized they could not allow old feelings to dim their ability to do combat.

A ferocious clash ensued, and sparks flew as the Warrior of Darkness brought an array of various job abilities against the remaining scions.

After what seemed like an age, the Warrior of Darkness finally began to weaken, and the four sets of remaining scions pushed their advantage.

Eventually, four rapiers from four Alisaies stabbed through the Warrior of Darkness' body. One through the heart, one the abdomen, one the right shoulder and lastly, one through the liver. All four Alisaies had tears in her eyes as she slew an old friend.

"So it ends, my beloved companions," the Warrior of Darkness slumped onto the ground of the throne room. "May you live free and see a new tomorrow."

As darkness took the Warrior of Darkness, Alisaie heard these words:

"I create timelines, I destroy timelines."

The Warrior of Darkness' body crumbled into nothingness before the four sets of scions' eyes. Then, a strange phenomenon began. The four timelines began to merge back into one.

The four Alisaies gazed at one another, and their images seemingly began to overlap as if she herself was looking into two mirrors reflecting an infinite number of Alisaie images. This caused all four Alisaeis to feel a spout of dizziness. She closed her eyes to clear her head.

When she opened her eyes once again, she had a throbbing headache that quickly cleared. Around her, there were no longer four sets of scions. There was only one set of scions. To Alisaie's astonishment, her memories seemed to contain three other possible flow of events.

As for Thancred? Alpha timeline Thancred had had his head chopped off by the Warrior of Darkness not long ago.

"Did… I die?" Thancred muttered. Indeed, one of his memories was his vision rolling and tumbling due to his head being dissected from his body. However, he was now very much alive. After all, the other three Thancred maintained his physical existence in the merged timeline.

Similar to Thancred, Y'shtola carried a memory of her death. Beta timeline Y'shtola was slain by the Warrior of Darkness not long ago as well. However, the physical surviving bodies of the other three timelines maintained her now singular form in this merged timeline.

The members of the scions gazed at one another with conflicted emotions, unsure of what this all meant. All felt their hearts pound with sorrow for the loss of the Warrior of Darkness. Not long ago, they had felt a deep revulsion for who the Warrior of Darkness had become. Yet, now, they felt only loss. Did they miss something?

As for Meteion? The now singular starbird carried four sets of memories, three in which she returned to sing a song of hope. Thus, the song of oblivion of the second timeline became irrelevant.

The singular combined set of scions milled about the Alexandrian castle in befuddlement. Eventually, they dismissed their confusing thoughts. No matter. Their mission was complete. They returned back to The Ragnarok. There was only one Ragnarok remaining. Indeed, when the four timelines merged, the four Ragnaroks also became one.

When the scions returned to Eitheirys, they felt absolutely baffled. Alisaie recalled a memory of where Lucia Junius had died from Ishgard being massacred. Yet Lucia was very much alive, and Ishgard stood tall. Alisaie then recalled three other memories where Ishgard was essentially left untouched by the automations. In the second memory, it was Ala Mhigo that was razed to the ground.

It wasn't only the scions that experienced this clashing set of memories. All upon Etheirys on the Source and reflections did as well. Eventually, they finally realized that as long as one of their memories contained a person or nation having remained unscathed, it meant that said person or nation must still exist, alive and well.

"So… everyone is alive?" Alisaie mumbled as tears rolled down her cheeks. "But where is the Warrior of Light?"

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Expansion 13.0: The Timeless Belly of the Beast

The Warrior of Light was drowning, sinking ever deeper into dark waters. The Warrior of Light's heavy heart felt a desire to rest. To take a long break and shake off the weight of having butchered the 'split' lives of many within each timeline-- now merged.Then a hand reached down from above, and tightly grabbed the Warrior of Light's forearm.

The Warrior of Light awakened to find Emet-selch chortling.

"Now you know what it feels like to be dragged away from a good long rest," Emet-selch laughed at the Warrior of Light's disgruntled expression.

The Warrior of Light examined the surroundings, a dark space filled with the seats of ascian.

"How we Ascians escaped death time and again back in those days," Emet-selch shrugged.

A rift suddenly opened and Midgardsormr appeared, his eyes now clear. It was obvious that his mind was his own again.

"So you have done the impossible once again, Warrior of Light," Midgardsormr rumbled. "However, G'raha Tia remains trapped in the world connected to my stomach. It is a world belonging to the primal force guarding the congruence of the timeline. You must enter it if you wish to save G'raha Tia."

And so, the Warrior of Light, with Emet-Selch and Hythlodaeus, entered the belly of the beast to rescue G'raha Tia, in a world without time.

Author's Comment:

There are mythological tales where a world exists in the belly of a legendary beast. I, however, lack the knowledge to properly explore this idea.

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Expansion 14.0: The Dragonstar

Having rescued G'raha Tia from the belly of the beast, the Warrior of Darkness, Emet-Selch, and Hythlodaeus decided to bid farewell to Etheirys. In truth, the Warrior of Darkness felt exhausted from the ordeal of protecting this star. Plus, the unity of the star and the merged timelines hinges on the singularity that is the people's revulsion and disgust for the Warrior of Darkness. That must be maintained. It was thus time to bid farewell to a home that had lasted many years.

"The Dragonstar is a unique place," Midgardsormr began. "It was meant to be a place beyond time itself. You will be able to rest your mind there. WIth Meteion gone, the Dragonstar should have recovered."

"Very well," the Warrior of Darkness agreed. "One last adventure, then." G'raha Tia, Emet-selch and Hythlodaeus smiled as they rested upon Midgardsormr, who opened a rift in space to return back to the Dragonstar, his home world.

Fin

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Afterword:

Thank you for reading. This is my last post on this fanfiction. Was this ending a bit… absurd? Perhaps. I will, at the very least, explain my thought process on creating this 'possible' storyline.

Firstly, I asked myself what I would like to experience in future ffxiv story:

Journey with Deryk/Louisoix/Emet/HythloSee more of the lore underlying the current story, especially the historical nations.Explore and give more relevance to the dragons and their place of origin, the DragonstarConsequences for time travel altering reality

There are other considerations I had. The Warrior of Light is in a way, a little too perfect. So I asked myself, what sort of crazy mistake might the current Warrior of Light make?

The answer I reached is that the Warrior of Light had gotten away with time travel. That led me to consider the idea of the Warrior of Light abusing time travel to avoid bad outcomes, which led to the concept of multiple timelines.

Now, personally, I'm not a fan of the multiverse craze, so I decided to insert the concept that multiple timelines will instead cause reality to fracture. Thus, this placed the Warrior of Light in a position where merging the different timelines is necessary.

As I have previously mentioned, I chose to place the dragons as beings carrying the primal force governing congruent timeline, because dragons already seemingly have some ability to overcome time. Midgardsormr is essentially immortal, after all.

Returning to the issue of merging multiple timelines. I thought of the concept of a black hole, a singularity focusing multiple timelines into a single one. At this point in time, I suddenly recalled the anime, Code Geass. Yes. A personal favorite.

In Code Geass, the main character Lelouch, took the seat of the emperor, intentionally becoming a tyrant hated by the whole world in order to unite the world for a better future. Sorry if I spoiled it for you.

Well-- I thought why not apply that idea here, a singularity to unite multiple timelines and prevent the fracturing of reality?

Thus, the Warrior of Darkness must become the villain that the world wishes to hunt down, creating a singular event that aligns all four timelines. In 'death', the Warrior of Darkness successfully merges the four timelines, before entering the timeless world to rescue G'raha, then heading off the dragonstar for a new adventure with two old pals.

Once again, thank you for reading through my amateur ramblings.