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Once upon a time, there was a familiar named Meteion. She had many sisters like her (who were also named Meteion), and when Hermes, their creator, sent her sisters across the stars, she stayed behind with him.
Years later, when she tried to share her sisters’ thoughts and learn what they had found, they swallowed her up and plunged her into the despair each and every one of them had found. There she remained, and together, they ended world after world, wishing for nothing more than oblivion for all of existence.
One day, someone came to find them, and they tried to end her too. One by one, they stole away her friends, and still, she did not give up. With the help of two familiar faces from another lifetime, she showed the-Meteion-who’d-stayed what it was to hope, and she pulled her back from the abyss along with her friends. After that – though not immediately after that – they all went back home together.
But this was not the end of Meteion’s story. It was merely the beginning.
Meteion’s sisters were gone. Only she remained alive. Her mission had long since concluded. This Etheirys of the distant future, fractured and changed, was the final star she would visit.
Syrene, along with her friends, had seen fit to let her live. The circumstances that led to the Final Days were deemed impossible to replicate, and therefore she was no longer a threat. Still, she had killed most of them once already, and only divine intervention had saved them. They remained wary of her. She sensed that she should not linger for long.
Already, she had released the souls they had collected, sung her newfound song of hope all the way back to Etheirys. What, then, was she to do?
Meteion began to wander. Aimlessly, at first, from place to place, listening, learning – not so different from what Hermes created her to do. This time, she asked no questions, only kept her distance and listened to their hearts. Some people were pleasant, others not, but even the worst of it paled in comparison to the anguish she had drowned in for so long.
It was just as Syrene showed her. There were as many ways to live as there were people on this star. Meteion traveled in every direction, every corner of the star, places she knew from Syrene’s memories and places even she hadn’t seen.
Yet, no matter how much she learned, none of it was quite what she was looking for. That, she must find on her own. But how?
I know! she thought to herself. I’ll find others like me, who’ve fulfilled their purpose and have yet to find another. Perhaps they will know what I should do.
First, she flew just beyond Etheirys, up to the moon, and found the Loporrits. “Greetings,” she said. “You were made to take the people of Etheirys to a new home, but now you need not fulfill that purpose. I, too, seek new purpose. Please, will you tell me what you’ve learned?”
Livingway looked around, nervous, and all the other Loporrits in the room stared at Meteion. Some were confused, others afraid. A few fled the room the moment she looked away. “I’m afraid we’re not the best ones to ask about such things. Like you, we’re still figuring it out.”
“I see,” said Meteion. “Perhaps we can work together?”
Another few Loporrits ran away. Meteion’s wings drooped. “I do not mean to offend, but you nearly scared our whiskers off back on the Ragnarok. It…may be better if we walk this path separately.”
Meteion understood. “I wish you the best of luck,” she said, and flew back to Etheirys.
Next, she spotted an odd pair of creatures – one shaped like an Omicron weapon in miniature, the other resembling the beasts known as “chocobos.” “Greetings,” she said, when she landed near them on the side of a well-worn road. “I saw you amongst Syrene’s memories. You were made to be a weapon,” she says, pointing to Omega and then to Alpha, “and you were made to trick her, but chose to help her instead. How does one choose a new purpose? Can you help me do the same?”
A whirring noise emitted from Omega’s shell. “Error: entity “Syrene” is an organic life-form and has no memory banks. Claim unverifiable.”
A beam of light fanned out from Omega onto Meteion, working its way down from the top of her head to the tips of her claws. “Species: unknown. Level of strength: unknown. Physical composition: primarily type-A with trace amounts of type-B. Irregularity among this star’s organic life noted. Conclusion: proceed with caution. Terminate at first sign of hostility.”
Meteion held up her hands and took a few steps back. “No, no! I mean you no harm! If you have no answer, I shall leave you in peace!”
More whirring. “Conclusion: unknown life-form poses no threat to this unit. Answer to query: unknown. This unit seeks to answer said query, but as of yet, results remain inconclusive.”
Meteion sensed only the barest traces of emotion from Omega, but from Alpha, there was a faint curiosity and a desire to help. His thoughts were similarly faint, but were Meteion to put them into words, they would have read as follows: “Went…lots of places…same question. Hope you…find…solution.”
“Thank you,” said Meteion, and Alpha’s big, gentle eyes remained fixed on her. “I hope you do as well. Perhaps we will meet again.”
With that, she flew away once more, no closer to what she sought.
She searched, and searched, and eventually, she found someone alone, sitting by the edge of a lake, eyes fixed on the ruins at its center. He was clad in green and carried a bow and quiver.
As she drew closer, she sensed his feelings as well. A long memory, an existence of service, often solitary. He walked Etheirys with new purpose, now, as a mortal like any other. Surely, he would know what she might do!
She landed next to him, and only then did she realize he was not alone. There was a little beast, furry with big ears, curled up by his side and fast asleep. Carefully, as quietly as she could manage, she sat down. “Greetings,” she said.
“Greetings, Meteion,” the man replied. “You’ve finally returned home, I see.”
That surprised her. “You know of me?” she asked.
“Of course! For millennia, I served Hydaelyn as one of Eorzea’s Twelve – its patron gods. She told us all she knew of you.”
The Twelve? Would they help her? Would they want to, after everything she’d done? “Where are the others?” she asked.
“Gone, now. Returned to the star, their duty fulfilled. Only I remain, and only in mortal form.”
Already dead. Then he, too, was the last of his kind. “Why did you stay?” she asked. “Have you found another reason to live?”
He smiled, and looked down at the little beast, still asleep. “Nothing so grandiose,” he confessed. “This little one did not wish to see me go. So, for now, we walk this star together.”
He was content, and so, then, was Meteion. Yet, she was no closer to finding her own purpose. “I suppose you cannot help me either,” she said, eyes downcast.
“’Tis not a question any can answer for you,” the man said. “I certainly cannot.”
“Then what should I do?” pleaded Meteion. “If I must find my answer, then where am I to look?”
The man thinks for a while. “I cannot answer for you, but I can offer you company. Your search so far must have been a lonely one. Let us travel together for a time, and perhaps you shall find what you seek along the way.”
Travel together? Her heart leapt at the thought. “I should like that!” she exclaimed
Meteion shifted into her smaller form, and the man smiled once again. “Then let us be off! And please, call me Deryk,” he added.
The little beast opened its eyes, startled, as he stood up. It clambered onto his shoulder, chattering louder, until it seemed to realize Meteion meant no harm. “Well?” Deryk said, tapping his other shoulder. “Shall we?”
Once upon a time, there was a girl named Meteion. To say she lived happily ever after would be a lie. No one can be happy all the time, as she was well aware. But, over the course of her very long life, she found not just one new purpose, but many – and more friends than there are stars in the sky.