chef_chocobro | Steyliff Grove in the Vesperpool of Cleigne in Lucis on Eos; Thursday [11/19].

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Steyliff Grove in the Vesperpool of Cleigne in Lucis on Eos; Thursday [11/19].

Today was Liliana's birthday, and, in a bold act of selfishness, Ignis had made the request that the squander it all away by spending it with him. Granted, he was fully aware of the fact that Liliana would be the exact type to subscribe to the idea of a birthday week, especially when she had to make up for last year's unfortunate timing that rendered her a mere child for the event, and he rather suspected that she did (somewhat, maybe, perhaps enjoy spending time with him, so he wasn't too terribly fussed about it. Especially since he was fairly certain she would also enjoy what he had in store for them.

Starting, of course, with him taking the day off of both work and training, allowing them to sleep in, especially since he was planning on having breakfast (or, rather, brunch) handled elsewhere, in a cute little bistro in the shadow of the gleaming Citadel in New Insomnia. From there, a car had been rented (did Ignis briefly contemplate making the sojourn with chocobos? Yes, for a split second before reminding himself that he did actually value his life and didn't want to be murdered) to drive them out to the Vesperpool, a journey that weaved through most of Lucis, affording Liliana a glimpse of most of what it had to offer: from the sparse badlands of Leide, the plains and woods of Duscae clustered around the Disc of Cauthus and the ropes of rock from the impact of the Meteor. They skirted past Lestallum when they entered Cleigne to head, instead, through the mountains and the old Hunter headquarters to emerge into their destination. The weather had, unfortunately, not cooperated, but the rain was light and warm, and, really, made short stroll through the swamp feel more true to the experience, anyway. There was no way to keep one's self that dry in approaching Steyliff Grove, anyway, and so Ignis certainly hoped Liliana had taken his warning about footwear to heart.

Trudging through a rainy swamp might not have seemed like what anyone would imagine to have been an ideal birthday excursion for Liliana, but, well, Ignis had nothing but confidence that it would be worth it.

And, eventually, there they stood among the pillars that flanked the entrance to the ancient mausoleum of the long-gone Solheim civilization, the structure of imposing stone laced with hints of old technology and nature's attempts to reclaim it, with its broken cracked stone stairs leading up to its towering entrance.

The timing should have mostly worked out, but as they approached, Ignis explained, "If the entrance is not glowing red yet, then we'll have to wait a moment. The tombs only become accessible when proper night falls."

[[ for the necromancer with the birthday and NFB for distance, obvi ]]

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For all that Liliana was, without a doubt, spoiled, finicky, lazy, and was very much an inside girl at the best of times, that didn't mean she couldn't enjoy the outdoors when the circumstances were right. And a stroll through a beautiful, new-to-her swamp? That most definitely counted as 'right.'

She insisted on taking the walk in one of her gowns and her usual boots, her only concession to the rain was an umbrella - more of a parasol, honestly - that she spent more time spinning gaily over their heads than using to keep the water off of them. "Oooh, this is filled with such lovely mana," she cooed, her arm through Ignis' as they meandered through the swamp, Liliana pausing to describe various flora and fauna for him to identify and what roles they played in the ecosystem and if they were edible and what medicinal or poisonous or just interesting purposes they might be turned to...It was probably for the best that Ignis did have a destination for them, or Liliana might have kept them there longer, wandering the length and breadth of the swamp until she'd managed to catalogue new and interesting species she'd discovered.

One of the benefits of her abnormally low body temperature: she did not offer the least temptation to the clouds of biting insects. They barely registered her presence, just another aspect of the landscape.

If she had been disappointed to leave the swamp without gaining any hundred percent exploration achievements, it was immediately lost as soon as he mentioned they were visiting a mausoleum. In fact, they had to pause as she pulled him to her for a bubbly, excited kiss. "Why only at night?" she asked as they wandered through nearly knee-high water to the doors. "A fascinating kind of magic that is."

And even Ignis found the landscape far less favorable (was there truly a worse fate than damp socks?) and the insects were far less forgiving for him, the fact that any lingering doubts (small though they may be) he had about his grand schemes for this birthday excursion were put immediately to rest upon arrival had elevated his mood substantially more, and he almost couldn't help the pleased, proud chuckle that escaped him after that kiss.

"No one is quite sure why, exactly," he admitted. "The Solheim are a true mystery for even the most learned of Eosian scholars, though, admittedly, the Niflheim were able to break far more ground in that respect than the Lucien ever could. But the popular theory is that it is simply yet another protective measure. So we must proceed with caution, as well. Though this place is incredibly ancient, it is still riddled with traps and ways to keep anyone who shouldn't be there out. And daemons, of course, are always stronger at night, so it just stands to reason, that if you're going to litter your mausoleums with them as a protective measure against grave robbers and the like, you might as well make the most of it."

He didn't need to see Liliana's expression to know that he grin had sharpened when he reminded her that the ~~best~~ strongest demons came out at night. "Best of luck fielding a creature that can keep me from going where I wish and claiming what I like," she declared, tossing her hair that sent a fresh waft of her perfume into his nose.

"Though, before we go...how much do you love me, my darling?"

A fresh waft that was particularly welcome considering that they'd been trudging through a rainy swamp, and Ignis hummed a little thoughtfully as his arm wrapped around her to bring her closer as he attempted to weigh just how much concern that inquiry should require from him.

"Enough that one might find themselves reaching the very end of all possible multiverses before even coming remotely close to finding the end of it, my love," he stated with confidence and assurance, "though I must admit to being a touch concerned for which way you plan to test that now. Especially knowing my defenses are quite weakened by with your current birthday buff. What is it that that beautiful and fascinating mind of yours," and, here, of course, he had to kiss her, "is cooking up, hmmm?"

"Tch, so suspicious," she said, kissing him again on the steps leading up to the doorway. "Hurts me that you think I'm always up to no good."

Another kiss and he would be forgiven if it took him a moment to realize that he was once again fully dry, right down to both socks and shoes.

"My darling, surely you don't think I would abide by the indignity and discomfort of wet clothing did you?" she asked, dimpling at him. "And, with impeccable timing, no less. There's the inviting glow."

It did take him a moment, yes, to both realize the dampening effects of their current location had completely left him and that this was what she was referring to with that question, mostly because he was too distracted in coming up with his next clever retort. But once he did realize, any commentary on the tip of his tongue about any besmirching against her character left in favor of a small breath of an amused laugh.

"Well, then," he stated, "allow me to add your generosity in not allowing me to suffer that same indignity and comfort as well to that evergreen and never-ending tally, and then we'll be off." An arm looped through hers again, and he gestured toward the entrance before leading her there through the now open-to-the-world passage of stairs leading down, down, and then down some more, into the ancient tomb. "Do keep in mind, it's been quite some time since I've been down here; I'm not sure exactly how much the New Dawn may have affected its particular wiles."

The answer, as it turned out, would be, conveniently, hardly at all.

The going was rough, with collapsed stairs and shattered floors, but they still managed the descent with perhaps surprising amounts of grace - or, well, only surprising if one were to underestimate either Ignis' own dexterity or his memory. "I must admit, my love, this is about when I would start hovering," Liliana said with a low chuckle as they made their way down. "It's slower overall, but it looks terribly dramatic and has the benefit of me not needing to worry about my footing."

She was, of course, just as curious within the mausoleum as she had been in the swamps around it. "What should I be looking for by way of traps? And what kind of traps exactly? Floors that crumble? Walls that begin to move closer? Poison blow darts or venomous snakes or sudden spikes?" She chuckled again. "Ah, there was this one delightful underground complex of tombs I was in. They simply adored spikes. It was entertaining to keep track of how many different ways they would rig up a trap with spikes in it.

#JustNecromancerThings

What was it? Tombs designed by Amaya Blackstone?

"Floors that crumble, yes," Ignis noted, even his usual by-the-books explanation warming substantially with the clear amusement in Liliana's voice, "and quite a floor floors that have crumbled, although that had little to do with intentional traps as it is merely a matter of age and decay. But even more risky are the ceilings that collapse, although a keen ear can hear the warning signs of those. There are a few places where gravity might play a few tricks on us and attempt to confuse us on what is up or what is down, and several areas engage in a bit of frustrating teleportation trickery that will set us back....literally...sometimes all the way to this very entrance. And then there are, of course, the undead, if they're still about, skeletons and reapers and a particularly gooey type of daemon we colloquially refer to as flans and jellies and custards, though they are not nearly as delectable as their namesakes. Of course, those are certainly the least of my concer--"

He cut himself off slightly, his attention clearly grabbed by something that shifted it elsewhere, toward the walls around them, with the neat patterns in them glowing softly blue. And with Ignis' words no longer drowning them out, Liliana would likely hear them, too, strange skittering sounds from beyond the chamber, seemingly all around them, and minor chittering and murmured growls, occasional clanking and thumps.

"Ah," he concluded, "either they are still here, indeed, or the impression of their presence is actually yet another one of the protective measures, meant to both dissuade and disorient."

But think how excited she would be to get that as a special order!

"They, my love?" Liliana asked, turning towards the closest doorway from whence the chittering emerged. She should probably sound less excited about the prospect of whatever it is, but...look! She had all this lovely black mana from that truly beautiful swamp, could you blame her for wanting to flex her magic a little bit? "Something more dangerous than a few skeletons--" she scoffed at the idea of a mere undead (or even an entire horde of them) "--and some kind of odd dessert monster?"

"Well, there's the reapers, too, and I do recall the area with the teleportation traps being additionally annoying thanks to a few lurking liches," Ignis pointed out, mostly because he figured those names might catch her attention a little bit more, "and there's the possibility that the Iron Giants are still milling about the inner sanctums much deeper inside, but, sadly," a small apologetic smirk was sent her way, "likely nothing more than that, and who even knows, now that the Starscourge isn't a plague anymore. And we rather put quite the definitive end to the real heavy hitter lurking at the end of these catacombs over a decade ago."

Granted, that was because, even with all his continued subsequent visits here in search for more mythril in the decade since, he still had yet to discover that this place still had nearly one hundred more floors after that, so perhaps one day, when they were in need of an idea for a summer vacation...

"That is, by the way," he added, "our destination. Once we make it out onto the balconies overlooking that central atrium under the lake, you'll understand why."

"Ooooh, a lich," Liliana said, her understanding of the term vastly different than the creature Ignis was talking about. "My very first mentor on Innistrad was a lich."

This bit of nostalgia did not seem to incline her towards peace by any measure.

"And so, just to make sure I have this correct, you'll be dragging me through traps, monsters, and various other dangers, just so we can end at the catacombs? My love, however did I get so lucky?" For once perfectly sincere, she was already tugging lightly on his arm towards that doorway leading towards the clanks and growls and chitters.

Ignis did not feel particularly inclined to point out that the liches of Innistrad were probably quite a bit different from the liches of Eos, since he found it difficult to imagine the latter instructing anyone, but he had to admit, it did put to mind the image of a very determined younger Liliana steadfastly following instructions on throwing bones.

Besides, he was more than happy to let her excitement carry him away as effectively as her eager lead into the next chambers did. "All a matter, I should say," he noted, "of excellent timing and things falling into place. The opening of Eos again just in time for your birthday and you being the proper age for it just seems to be the perfect alignment of circumstances."

Circumstances that he clearly had nothing to do with orchestrating! All just mere coincidence and happenstance, truly!

He said that, but just wait until he heard her flinging bones at something. Wouldn't he be surprised.

"Me being the proper age for it?" Liliana teased as they swept into the hallway. "What does that mean for when you lot came down here before?"

Several skeletons leapt out to attack them. She gave a silvery little laugh and caught them up in a web of necromancy. Unlike some of their brethren, these weren't even bound to a necromancer, simply wandering undead intending to cause mayhem.

Well. They hadn't been bound to a necromancer. Now, with a sudden purple aura around them, they most certainly were. "Now it's a party!" Liliana said, beaming. "Go find some traps and stand near them. Don't set them off, but we're having a lovely time on my birthday and I don't wish to be bothered by a crumbling ceiling or whatnot."

She was having a marvelous time.

"Well, I meant," said Ignis, not about to let the arrival of enemies interrupt a conversation, especially since, in his experience, conversation was an integral part of any battle, really...

...not that there was much of one. The skeletons were easily the most swiftly defeated foe in all of Steyliff Grove, and with Liliana at his side, he barely even had a chance to lift a dagger before it was lowered again, grinning faintly and shaking his head as her instructions rang out cheerfully within these long-quiet walls.

"What I meant," he tried again, sheathing his daggers again, for now, and listening to where the skeletons started rambling off to, curious if any of them wound up going in any directions he didn't expect, "was that you're not a child for your birthday this time. Although, I suppose you make a fair point in that we were practically children ourselves when we first descended into this place."

Ignis, you were 34, calm down.

"And if I'm not mistaken," he added, "there will be just a few chambers more until we reach the atrium, and, I daresay," here he managed to grin, as he continued on with confidence in the pathway after his frequent visits in the past, "I think you'll rather enjoy it."

He'd honestly be astonished if she didn't. There were, of course, a few convoluted twists, a couple more skeletons that no doubt found their way into their small but growing retinue, but as they turned through one chamber, the light beyond the next door seemed to be blue and shifting; it turned out to not be from the etched panels in the walls as they had in the chambers, but instead, from the ceiling, as the place opened up into a large chamber. It was like light as though seen from underwater, because that was precisely what it was. As they entered the atrium, on the third floor looking over the vast space far below them, the ceiling was made entirely of water, the shifting currents and waves of the Vesperpool overhead, suspended by the strange magic that ruled over this place. Massive, strong roots twisted up from the stone, reaching for the surface, grown from over a thousand years of nature trying to claim it back.

At least, that's what Ignis could only assume. He hadn't actually seen the true beauty of Steyliff Grove's incredible, ethereal design in over a decade, but it was a sight that one simply did not forget, and he certainly hoped that it was exactly a sight that Liliana could enjoy for herself now.

He didn't have to wait long to get an idea. Beside him, Liliana gasped, letting go of his arm to bring both of hers up to cover her mouth as she stared upwards with wide eyes...an expression that wouldn't have been terribly amiss on the face of the child Liliana had been a year ago. "Oh!" she said softly, voice catching in her throat.

She was quiet then, for nearly another minute, though her hand crept back into Ignis' not long after that first gasp. "Oh Ignis," she finally managed to say. "Ignis, this is lovely."

All the usual teasing and arch amusement was gone from her voice, leaving only an aching honesty behind. "The amount of magic that it must take to keep that there..." Another soft sigh. "Well, now I suppose I know why it must only be visited at night."

Yes. Yes, lovely was exactly what it was, and, very clearly, Ignis was not thinking about the view. There were very few times, these days, when Ignis actually missed his vision. Sure, of course, he was rather irritated by the inconvenience of it when coming across something new and wishing to understand it in all aspects, or there would always be the regret that he poured so much still into the visual presentation of his food despite being able to appreciate it himself, but it was moments like this where its absence was strong enough to make him ache. Not for the sight of Steyliff's unworldly magic itself, but just to be able to see the look on her face as she took it all in.

But then her hand was in his again, and he squeezed it tightly, and while he did have images of Liliana imprinted on his memory thanks to Irrim's parting gift, he didn't tap into them now to try to construct out of them a facsimile of her expression. Instead, he just focused on what he did know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, intimately and passionately, and that was her voice, the way it slipped out of her after that gasp, breathless with the awe he was hoping she'd be feeling, the wonder, the fascination, the curiosity...

And he focused on the way holding into that also made a swell of pride expand through his own chest, that he was able to bring this to her, that he could still manage to find things to inspire such a reaction, even after all of her experience over hundreds and hundreds of years, as she went to mark another one.

"Beautiful," he breathed out, "Isn't it?"

He still was not thinking about the view. He leaned in to kiss her cheek, as if to not disturb her appreciating gaze, and then moved forward, leading her further along the stone railing by the hand.

"Up ahead should be a balcony," he explained, "where you can see it even better."

"It's glorious, darling," she said, heading for the balcony he mentioned, though someone more slowly than normal. A few more feet in near-silence as she continued to look and then...

"The light is blue in here," she began to describe for him. "And you can see the way the waves move and the wind in the shadows. It's still raining out, each individual drop can be seen, along with the resultant ripple. The moon is out and it adds a layer of silver to it; a layer of ethereal mystery. I can only imagine what it must look like in the daytime; swapping out that silver for gold, adding back in the colors that the moonlight has leeched away. That must be why you can only visit at night. At night, it's holy, dark, reverent. In the day, it must be a vibrant rainbow that would make you forget that death existed entirely and think only of the brilliance of life."

Ignis smiled softly as Liliana began to describe the view...her view, because that's why it mattered, wasn't it? He'd seen it before, what felt like ages ago, but never through her eyes, and she was the whole reason he would even want to return.

"They say, for the Solheimian," he offered, "fire represented life, and water represented death. Thus why they built this place to honor their departed. A dichotomy well-reflected in your description, my love."

His arm wrapped around Liliana to draw her in closer to him, determined now to solve the issue that it had been far too long without a kiss.

So many things he did, for her and her enjoyment alone. She cupped his face and kissed him, at first sweet and light, like the delight she'd felt all day long as they'd celebrated her birthday.

And then she let it lengthen, deepen, in recognition of how much this was. She knew that each step must be reminding him of the times before, when he could see, when Noct was alive. And it was one thing, dealing with those ghosts in places like Insomnia and the like; places he might be expected to go and visit with those people who remained that he still cared for. But here? There was no reason for him to ever come back here and face these ghosts...except that he'd wanted to share it with her.

"How did I get so lucky?" she murmured against his lips once again.

She didn't know. What she did know was that she did not deserve this kind of luck.

And she also knew that she would destroy anyone or anything that tried to take him from her.

Kissing, she drew him up the last few steps of the balcony, because there was no view that could be perfect without his lips on hers.

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Steyliff Grove in the Vesperpool of Cleigne in Lucis on Eos; Thursday [11/19].

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