Once Upon a Time in Vana'diel

Hello, everyone! Myhal here. Today I would like to take the opportunity to write a slightly different type of article than usual. This is a story about a young female adventurer from a nation we all know and love.

Her story takes place long, long ago, in a land far, far away to the east. When our maiden was but a new adventurer, she led a life of strict training, sleeping on the street corners of Mhaura each night and fighting mandragoras and rarabs on the Buburimu Peninsula by day in order to earn her support job. But the old lady in Mhaura who held the key to support jobs was a trying woman, along the vein of a troublesome fellow named Maat, and ordered the young adventurer to bring her several items before she would share her precious secret.

However, after seemingly endless mornings chasing after rarabs and enduring many a fearful night, the young maiden grew weary. One day as she sat exhausted watching the ships entering and exiting the port, a kind gentleman came and gave her new hope.

The young man turned to her and spoke. “You can get what you want much faster if you work with others.” Then he proceeded to gather other adventurers with the same goal, and they amazed the old lady with their speed in collecting the items. The maiden wanted to thank the young man, but she was very poor and had no belongings to give. So, instead, she gave him a mask that she bought with the little gil she possessed upon leaving her nation.

But the young man felt guilty. “I couldn’t possibly take any of your things from you. But I have an idea. I will take your gift in exchange for this hat,” he insisted, and handed the maiden his fine hat. Placing the mask he had just received over his face, he waved goodbye and disappeared into the darkness of the night.

In time, the young maiden became fairly renowned in her nation and left for other lands. However, this time she had orders to fell a fearsome dragon. No matter how high of a level she attained as an adventurer, this was one trial that she had to surpass in order to make her mark in the world of Vana'diel. But although she tried, everything in her memory was dark after the dragon opened its great mouth, and the next thing she knew, she had been carried all the way to the gates of Chateau d'Oraguille in San d'Oria.

Watching the crowds from the steps of the auction house, the maiden began to regret her decision to become an adventurer. She began to feel that she could have been happier as a regular townswoman, but she no longer even possessed enough gil to return to her homeland. However, when she raised her head, she saw a familiar face.

"Aha, it is you! It has been long since last we met."

It was the man who had inspired so much hope in her as a novice adventurer. The strong, reliable-looking gentleman listened to all of the young maiden's worries and invited her to put her trust in him and his friends. Taking her hand, he gathered the members of his linkshell, and together, they accompanied her to the dragon's lair.

The young maiden cast magic spells to the best of her ability to support her newfound companions, but the frontline fighters paid no heed, assailing the dragon with a violent storm of swords and fists. In what could have been just a few seconds or an eternity, the great beast collapsed.

"Now all you have to do is return to your nation and notify the proper authorities with the evidence we found. Let us know any time you need help!"

The maiden thanked her companions several times and equipped her new, bright red linkpearl. She did not realize that her new friends were keeping an eye on her and the young man as they grinned at the two of them.

"Well then, shall we return?"

Engulfed in the light of a mage's spell, the maiden's view of the kind young man and the foreign kingdom distorted and began to grow distant.

As time passed, the two became a magnificent warrior and white mage. They pledged their futures to each other, and had a quaint little wedding under a sky filled with stars. A truly happy, lovely couple was finally--

Myhal: How dare you fall asleep while I'm in the middle of a story? Oh well, good night… Tathuma: Zzz… … …Young maiden? Her…? Hahaha… Myhal: Looks like my “sweetie-pie” has a death wish^^