Final Fantasy XIV: Tower's Shadow

Scaling History (1st Half)

13th Sun 
Second Astral Moon 
11:31 PM
Syrcus Tower

The sounds the closing door made behind them was dreadful. 

The area within shone with a bright exclamation of blues and golds.

Past the statues of the eight Allagan royals lied an interior that told more Allagan history than any book. Dariya, Eniro, Cyprus, and G'raha Tia-the former three being led on by the latter-had entered Syrcus Tower, an area within the Crystal Tower that scaled all the way up to it's roof. A sigh escaped the Viera's lips as she could feel her body shaking, taking one final glance toward the destruction outside that feigned the lives of all within Mor Dhona. Nerve-wracking impatience soon set in for the fabled Warrior of Light, revealing her relatively well hidden nervousness to the curious gaze of her allies. This prompted Cyprus to take the girl's hand in his own, softly running his thumb across her palm before Dariya reciprocated the hold. 

"It'll be okay. You've taken on the Empire, haven't you?" He asked.

"Well, yeah...But I was only able to get past them because you were there." She would reply.

After a moment, Dariya pulled her hand back, feeling her cheeks heat up with a red hue while her lavender irises averted from Cyprus. The Au Ra had the same expression as well, but only for a moment as G'raha spoke up expectedly.

"Looks to me as if the tower's awoken. After we brought down the barrier, whatever's in here isn't gonna greet us with warm milk and cookies like it's the Starlight Festival. We must take due caution, assuming that was obvious enough. Come!"

The Miqo'te exclaimed, running up a vibrant blue flight of stairs that sat ahead of them. While Dariya and Cyprus took initiative and followed suit, Eniro took his time-taking small steps toward the stairwell while gandering at the sights of Syrcus Tower. 

The area reeked of familiarity.

Eniro soon made for the stairs himself as the group of four came across a rather unusual sight-a group of shinobi-clones, draped in blacks and purples and having engaged Dariya in swift close combat. Cyprus made it a habit of his to strike only when he knew he would hit something, especially with his Gunblade, hastily dashing forward to aid his fellow hero. He ducked the swipe of a narrow dagger and watched as a second ninja slid forward to cut him, prompting Cy to take after some of his own paladin training in the midst of high-octane combat; grabbing onto the back of the first ninja's shirt and pulling them backward, Cyprus flipped the shinobi over his shoulders and caused them to be stabbed by the second one, opening up for Eniro to dash past him and stab the vulnerable shinobi in the neck. Dariya and G'raha Tia took it upon themselves to back away and play their part of fighting from a range, firing off arrows and tossing chakrams whenever one of the two got a good enough opening without accidentally injuring an ally. It took a fair bit of time to clear out the floor, as with every ninja that fell it seemed 3 more popped up from nowhere. Eventually however, the waves of shinobi came to a crawl, showing that the four had effectively cleared the first quarter of Syrcus Tower. With that out of the way, they opted to not waste any time as the group continued up yet another flight of crystal blue stairs. From then on, more and more fiends of Allag pertruded their path, ranging from a group of book-wielding summoners to even a multi-headed serpent lady. G'raha Tia, Dariya, Cyprus, and Eniro showcased their prowess by working together effectively enough to topple all that stood in their way; having enough knowledge on their side when it came to advanced combat to outsmart that of the Crystal Tower's most fearsome adversaries. Though, for a place like this, Dariya had an eery feeling that this was going too smoothly. At least they were making progress.

20 Minutes Later

Upon reaching the second quarter of Syrcus Tower, G'raha came to a stop and hunched over with an exhausted groan. The four of them had been fighting from the moment they arrived, and it's effects-along with still feeling the toll of his battle against Alenka-were beginning to wear down on the Miqo'te. Cyprus helped him stay upright while Dariya plopped herself down, sitting up against a golden pillar that stood out amongst the rest of Syrcus's radiance. As they rested however, Eniro felt it best to remind them of the severity of their mission.