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It's so strange, being back.

Ishgard hasn't changed in hundreds of years, strange to think it would have changed since he'd been here last, but then, everywhere else he'd been has changed just in the time he's been there. So it's strange to be walking streets he knows from his childhood but with eyes that are so different.

Beside him, Emmanelain chatters on about the different facets of city life. He had made sure Haurchefant knew to petition his former family with as much discretion as possible. They, of course, had simply said their son had died and they were certain some fugitive from Uldah couldn't be him anyway. He hadn't expected any differently. He feels like that person is dead and he breathes on as someone wholly different anyway, but it's strange, to be being shown around the place he grew up in by a member of one of the High Houses, someone his parents would have killed for him to be friends with just a few short years earlier, as though he were a stranger to this place.

He has always been a stranger to this place.

Dressed in Gridanian fashion and tanned lightly by the sun, he doesn't expect there's anyone here who would recognize him. He'd been barely more than a ghost when he left, hardly a warrior of anything. But as they pass through the Jeweled Croizer and Emmanelain gets caught up talking to some girl he's been trying to woo, there's a sudden, strange sensation at the back of his head, something like and unlike the Echo, and he turns, eyes scanning the busy street for... something. Someone.

(For some reason, unbidden, he remembers the night of the Calamity, giant pieces of some other part of Eorzea raining from the sky..

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When he's pulled from his remembering, he'll find another set of eyes searching for his, a familiar blue and wide eyed, like they'd seen a ghost. Which, well, in a way they have.

"Gus?"

Phillip, much like Gustavian, barely looks like the boy that he knew before. His black hair was allowed to fall to his shoulders in waves, and where they last would have seen each other as awkward, burgeoning young teens, the intervening years have given his features something of a delicate, pretty quality. Of course, he's also much shorter in comparison now, the Hyur having to look up as he all but marches over. Apparently, a refusal to be intimidated by much of anything is one of his more consistent traits.

"It is you, isn't it?" he demands, as his eyes search over the other man's face. He's not wearing any sort of attire that would mark him as a servant, so he's likely just running errands on his own or some such, but there is still a simple chain of silver around his neck, the pendant Gustavian knows is attached hidden underneath his shirt.

Time passes. They see each other more, again, and Phillip only knows that Gustavain keeps his silence about his nature with his Scion friends because they also become Phillip's friends, eventually. First Tataru, because of course first Tataru, but eventually Alphinaud and then Thancred as well. Y'shtola looks at him with some degree of suspicion, it seems, but it also seems that she's just somewhat Like That. There are tragedies and triumphs, as there always are, and then, for a time, all seems quiet. Trouble is brewing in Gyr Abania in particular, but there's a period of rest all the same, some time to breathe.

Gustavain rarely seems content in one spot, has a room now both in the Fortemps Manor and in the Rising Stones but doesn't stay in either place for more than a few days at a time, wandering Eorzea instead in search of trouble or adventure or... something. He would be hard pressed to say what, he just likes to be in motion. Still, as one of the few people who can use aetherytes with relative impunity, he abuses the privilege to come back to Revenant's Toll frequently once Phillip moves there primarily.

And then one day there's a note to meet him up on the balcony of Rowena's place and the non-specificity of the note and the casual way he's leaning on balcony's edge when Phillip arrives says one thing and one thing only, learned from years of friendship: Gustavain has a mind to cause trouble.

Back when they were kids, that was usually something like swiping treats from the kitchen or going climbing somewhere without permission or somesuch. Now, it's liable to be anything, though the fact that he hasn't shown up in Phillip's room suggests that it's not likely to be something sexual.

Phillip has... more or less made up his mind on where he stands in regards to the fate of this world and what he's willing to do about it. What he hasn't done is admit that yet. Why? Part of it is that in doing that, he'd have to fess up to the Scions about what he's been hiding and that is not a conversation he's looking forward to, especially with one bedridden and most of the others on the other half of the world. A lot of it is... he's pretty sure Gustavain will know what it means, why he's finally settled on this path. And he is definitely not ready for that conversation.

So he's been starting to help more, be more active in things, but with a protective layer of obfuscation. With Tataru gone to station in Kugane to support the Doman efforts, he'd gotten roped into being her contact in Gyr Abania- which actually suits him fine, though he made sure to put up an exasperated front about it, knowing she wouldn't take no for an answer. But periodically, when things are going particularly wrong for the Scions or the Resistance more generally, a masked and shadowed figure wielding a scythe would take the field, staying long enough to rectify the situation before vanishing once more.

A bit dramatic, to be sure, but that was how Phillip liked things.

He'd been practicing black magic a little more publicly, one of the members of the thamaturge's guild noting that he'd likely be good at it when he was running some errand or another and instructing him on the basics, the rationale being that everyone should have some manner of defense with the way things were. He was progressing quickly in it, too, but... apparently not quickly enough. Because now he and Gustavain were surrounded by Garlean troops, and a not entirely proficient Black Mage and a Bard who'd mostly been acting as a healer recently was not an ideal combination. It was supposed to just be a supply run, Phillip dragging along Gus more for the company than for protection. Now he wasn't sure if they were going to get a way out of this.

He took a step back, trying to put some distance between himself and their attackers, his mana running dangerously low. He only had a few more spells in him, but even if he aimed every one of them perfectly it wasn't going to be anywhere near enough.

There are things to be put to rest in the First. There are things he needs to do sooner rather than later, loose ends to tie up, people to let know about what has happened, problems yet to solve. But the moment that Gustavain can get away, before sleep, before travel, before anything, he slips back to the Source.

There is so much to do. But the world can do it without him for a day, a night. Even G'raha must see it on his face, because there's no protest when he moves to the portal, even with so much left undone. His aether has been set back to rights, but there's another type of sickness afflicting him, turning his eyes shadowed and his steps heavy, and there's precisely one remedy and one person who can offer it.

Which is why Phillip is getting a visit in the Rising Stones. It's been a while since Gustavain has come-- since before the Light became a problem to hold in, since he wasn't sure if he would be putting the Source in danger by returning. So it's a bit of a surprise to greet him.

It's more of a surprise when he collapses utterly in Phillip's arms, pulls him close and tight without a word of hello, clings hard enough to sink both of them down to the floor, without any warning or explanation.

Over the next few months, he's back frequently.

There's trouble brewing on the First, again, but there's also time, for once. It's a waiting game, now, to see if they can bring their friends home and while things are happening they are happening with enough space between them that he can steal away, even if he rarely stays too long on the Source unless there's something that takes him afield there.

Gustavain can't always be found at the Rising Stones, but it's not far from there to Ishgard by aetheryte, or even by chocobo, really, and he puts in at least a decent effort with the restoration committee there... maybe has his eye on one house in particular as he works. He hasn't talked to Phillip about it yet, he's not even entirely sure if he's looking for himself or looking for them, so it seems premature. But a place to call his own is starting to sound more and more appealing by the day.

Events at the end, however, conspire to keep him away longer than normal-- though at least he says goodbye this time properly, lets Phillip know he's going to stay until they can deal fully with Eden and with getting everyone home. He doesn't mention Elidibus when he goes, though they both know the confrontation is coming. He still holds out hope that maybe, maybe this time, it doesn't have to end in violence.

It does. Of course it does. And then there's another companion to see to, to save. And then there is nothing left to do, nothing to stop him from coming home in truth, from seeing to a life starting anew, even as more conflict looms.

And so, for a short while, Gustavain runs.

There are always places for the Warrior of Light to throw their might, always uprisings or even just boars to kill, villages to inspire. It only lasts about a week before he's back in Mor Dhona, though, a short-lived bit of cowardice, and then he's knocking on Phillip's door, peering inside a moment later.

Things never stay quiet for long with the Scions. With the threat of the Final Days's return looming over the horizon, Krile had finally managed to secure passage for them to Sharlayan- or, at least, for all of the actual Scions. There was a bit of a hiccup when it came to their resident Ascian; it was not as if they could put such a thing on his paperwork, an obvious red flag as it would be, but neither did he seem qualified to help with 'rebuilding' if one just looked at the hyur's record. So, unwilling to delay or endanger the rest of the group's arrival, Krile sent word that she'd have to try and find a way for him separately, perhaps at a later date when they've earned a bit of trust. Surprising no one at all, Phillip was not pleased by this bit of news, and remained in a bit of a snit up until the moment of departure.

With the possible exceptions of G'raha and Estinien, who hadn't gotten to know just how very stubborn the ancient was, all expected him to find his own way along before Krile would have the chance. Likely none of them realized just how little time it would take.

Merely the day after arriving in Old Sharlayan to a less than welcoming atmosphere, during an occasion where he was familiarizing himself with the city, Gustavain will find himself being approached by an oddly familiar stranger. He's never seen the Viera before in his life, but whether it's in the way he moves or perhaps the angles of the face, or maybe just the look in his bright blue eyes--

He doesn't get much of a chance to say anything, the young man sliding into his personal space with ease, and the heels that support the natural curve of Viera's feet lifting him just enough that their faces could easily meet. "Hey there, love," he says, and there's something in the lilt that's familiar too but before he can so much as process the words, Gustavain will find himself pulled into a tender kiss.

Gustavain's trip to the past has been... eventful, to say the least. It should be time for him to leave it, learned what can and all he's likely to about the cause behind the Final Days, and can hardly go back to Emet-Selch and Hythlodaeus to try tell them what happened. He's said his farewells to Venat, no one else would notice him gone

Except then there's a bit of a commotion back where they'd left the three partial amnesiacs, and whether Gustavain moves to look closer naturally or with the Echo, the cause becomes obvious. Another Ancient has joined the group and seems to be having it out with Emet-Selch. The various researchers look alarmed, Hythlodaeus amused, and once Gustavain sees the slight, familiar figure, white hair tied back in an intricate looking braid, it should be clear why.

Thanatos doesn't come to Elpis often, but when he came by once to check on one of the rare concepts he actually submitted, he'd run across Hermes (or, more accurately, been found by Meteion) and since what he spends his time doing is essentially trying to transfer dynamis via performance (not that he knew or called it that), peaked the man's interest. So, finding out that Hermes is hurt, Meteion is gone, and somehow his brother is involved in this means that he is not having a good time, torn between confused and upset and worried. All of these are emotions that Emet-Selch does not wish to deal with right now, and eventually his friend takes pity on him. Hythlodaeus places a gentle hand on Thanatos's shoulder, gesturing in the direction Argos had been and asking him if he would look for Venat, to confirm that she's alright.

He knows it's just a means of letting Emet-Selch have a chance to deal with everything else before dealing with him, but since he can assure that he will have to be dealt with sooner or later he relents. He's heard Azem talk about Venat quite a bitanyway andwouldliketomeether.

What this means for Gustavain is that when the young man breaks from the rest of the group, he'sheaded more or less straight towards him.

Edited 2022-01-06 19:48 (UTC)

This time, it's Gustavain walking through the streets of Sharlayan with a different gait than normal and a surprise.

His is a little less... wholly willing of a surprise than Phillip's had been, but he's also not particularly bothered by it, to the point where, when it first happened, his only thought had been well... Phillip's going to LOVE this one. From there, the first stop being the marketboard had been obvious. And now, Phillip's here at one of the only bars in Sharlayan (not part of the official tour, of course, and mostly (literally) underground) ostensibly to meet Gustavain at some point.

But in any body, Gustavain is a showman, and so he can't just wander up to the table. No no, he has to make an entrance, coming slowly down the stairs into the bar. "His" eyes are hidden under the hat, but they're fixed on Phillip, all the same, a weight he may be able to feel.

He has to find Phillip.

He knows that the information he has is vital to the entire world, but there's only two people in the entire world for whom the information he has is personal. He needs to talk to Phillip. He needs to talk to Phillip alone. But when he hurries to the Annex, everyone is already there. He manages a breathless,

"We need to talk. Right now, before--" everyone finds me, is the end of that, but then everyone does, in fact, find him and suddenly they're dragged into a larger conversation. A conversation that, as much as he tries to avoid it, has to contain the story of Elpis, Kairos, Venat... Hades.

Throughout the telling, he's distracted, distant. No one seems to notice beyond just that obviously he's gone through an ordeal. His eyes keep drifting to Phillip, can't stop himself, but he has to keep going with the story, can't stop to check in without telling everyone something he'd rather keep to himself.

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