Fear and Loathing in The Burn

The Burn

The airship landed at the border of The Burn. It was honestly a depressing sight. The border of The Burn was home to dead withering trees that were probably just barely getting any source of life from the soil that they could. The cheerful atmosphere Chibibi made with her breakfast dissolved with each step further into The Burn. Nothing but a pure white desert wasteland. It was almost beautiful in a way. A land no longer touched by man nor beast tribe. This is what Moralia had meant when she warned about a mass produced line of Lux's gunblade. This could happen to all of Eorzea in the span of just a few summers. Fortunately, this one singular gunblade couldn't do that. It was the first, and would remain the last of its kind.

Moralia stepped forward, leading the way, "Ship picked up some faint readings of aether Northeast from here. Bout 10 malms in. Can't really fly rest o' the way without sufficient aether currents. But 10 malms ain't much. 'Specially not for Mr. Merc." She smirked at Lux and continued onward.

Chibibi wasn't exactly amused however, "Moralia, after the 5 malm mark, you should definitely carry me. My Lala legs can't survive such a trek!." Lux shook his head. All he could do was hope they were capable enough to get done what needed to get done. Report on the aether readings, it's density, and the aspect. Hopefully they would find water aspected aether. It would make the rejuvenation of this land happen that much faster. Almost a couple hours passed and they eventually hit the 5 malm mark. Moralia knelt down for a moment and Chibibi climbed on her back. No words exchanged. They just knew. Quite the team, Lux thought. At the 8 malm mark, Moralia reached into her pocket. She took out a small gizmo that flipped open in her hand. Lux said nothing, but he was certainly beyond curious. Fortunately, Chibibi was around to give some delightfully convenient exposition on the strange doodad, "That aether locator thing must really come in handy, huh?"

Moralia nodded, "Lot better lookin' than them masks the Scions wear."

"Yea! Those are ugly!" Chibibi exclaimed atop Moralia's shoulders.

Lux understood now. That gadget was used to locate aether currents. He didn't know what else they were talking about in regards to those masks, however. But it was rather useless information at the moment. Once they hit the 10 malm mark, Moralia stopped and lowered herself to let Chibibi back down. She raised an eyebrow upon examining the aether locator.

"What's wrong, Moralia? Did we veer off our path or something?" Chibibi tried to get a look at the locator, but Moralia had stood up already.

"That ain't it at all... Aether under the ground is usually somethin' like.. Water. But this is... Lightnin' aspected aether." Moralia paced back and forth.

Lux walked over to Moralia, "Well our mission here should be done. Strange things happen all the time. The Burn should certainly be no exception." Lux wasn't sure what any of this meant. But if there was more to this mission, the risks weren't worth the reward. Not with just the three of them. Any complications could lead to an extended expedition and the lack of aether wouldn't be good for their bodies.

"I may have agreed with that if the aether density wasn't so high... There's something underneath us and we're gonna find out what it means." Moralia put the locator in her pocket.

"I see a thing!" Chibibi shouted, "Over umm.. East? That's East, right?"

"You're absolutely right, Chibibi." Moralia smiled at her, and then she looked back at Lux sternly, "Yer comin' right? Otherwise you're out 10 mil."

Lux stood there. He was annoyed. He knew the money wasn't worth it. And there wasn't much he could do when it came to talking them out of this.

"Tch.. Fine. Just know I'm only moving forward to keep you two from making any more unwise choices." Lux made his irritation quite clear.

Chibibi, however, turned back and smiled, "Exactly! You're the tough guy, Mr. Lux! I'll reward you with something extra after this! Promise!"

Lux shook his head and moved along with Moralia and Chibibi. They headed Eastward. What Chibibi had seen in the distance was the silhouette of some sort of man made facility. That much Lux knew. It seemed to be a several more malms before getting there. It was noon already and Lux would have preferred they leave before it got dark. He feared, however, that won't be happening. And camping out in The Burn wasn't the wisest choice. They couldn't be seen, but monsters of all kinds made this place their home.

After just a few malms, Lux looked up at the sun. Just a few more hours until the sun begins to set. Fortunately, Moralia and Chibibi were undeterred from all this walking. He was glad they were at least strong enough to stay walking and keep a steady pace for so long. A few more hours passed and the facility out in the distance could be seen more clearly. Lux wasn't too happy with what he'd seen.

"Garlean tech..." Moralia took the words out of Lux's mouth. It was a giant rounded metal structure. And it looked as though it led underground.

"That certainly doesn't bode well. We have something else to report at least." Lux was ready to turn back and let the Eorzean Alliance handle this. However, Chibibi and Moralia wanted to investigate further.

"I don't know, Mr. Lux. Looks pretty abandoned to me. All run down and gross looking." Chibibi's observation wasn't wrong. As they got closer, they could see that the facility's exterior hadn't seen maintenance in a long time. Lux could also see the sun beginning to set. They wouldn't make it back to the airship before dark.

"Kinda weird for this big thing not to have a proper door, don'tcha think? Anyone could enter." Moralia looked around at the entrance. It was something akin to the gaping maw of a giant monster.

"Anything could enter, more like." Lux looked around as they entered, "A storage facility. Definitely leads underground."

Chibibi looked back toward the outside and realized the sun was now beginning to set, "Wait! The sunset looks sooo beautiful, you two! We should watch before it's gone. I'm sure we can spare a few minutes."

Lux let out a sigh, but Moralia joined her immediately. Time may have been of the essence, but 15 minutes certainly didn't make much of a difference. Moralia sat down, and Chibibi sat in her lap. Lux however, stayed standing, his hand at his hip. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. As the sun went down the reality set on him that they would have to spend their night here.

Moralia leaned back, relaxing herself a bit, "Yer right Chibibi, it really is pretty."

Chibibi turned her head toward Lux, looking up at him, "And we'll be ok with our super tough bodyguard!" Chibibi smiled innocently.

"Right, Mr. Lux?"