Heart of Darkness

is a Quest in Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers.
==Journal==
* Thancred is as pleased as anyone by the return of rain to the Empty. However, being the practically minded fellow he is, he suggests choosing another location to discuss your next move, as having waterlogged smallclothes is making it rather difficult to concentrate.
* Urianger's explanation of the plan to restore the ice element is soon interrupted by Gaia, who is none too pleased to hear that it may take decades for the Empty to be restored. Upon hearing that the endeavor is for the benefit of future generations, Gaia, clearly moved by your selfless deeds, finally begins to open up, expressing her innermost doubts and fears. Her thoughts are soon interrupted by what appears to be a sudden headache, and she absents herself, heading outside for some fresh air. The others express their growing concern for her well-being, and Thancred suggests that you go to check on her. You arrive on Eden's canopy to find Gaia lost in a reverie, and the situation takes a dramatic turn for the worse when a dark aura manifests around her and coalesces into an ominous floating glyph. At that moment, countless flying sin eaters appear from nowhere and begin circling above Eden, with the glyph at their center, though rather than attacking this dark entity, they seem to be in its thrall. With Gaia now rendered immobile and entirely defenseless, you have no choice but to take her to Eden's core and decide how best to approach this unforeseen threat.
* With Gaia now unconscious, Thancred recommends dealing with the sin eaters swarming around Eden before attempting to make sense of their sudden arrival. He volunteers to stay in the core to repel any attackers that breach Eden's defenses, while Urianger tends to Gaia. You prepare to confront the mysterious embodiment of Darkness and its legion of enslaved sin eaters.
※Eden's Verse: Iconoclasm can be accessed via the Duty Finder.
* Despite being impossibly outnumbered, you succeed in dispersing the dark aether and the horde of sin eaters that were drawn to it. With the threat now apparently eliminated, you return to Eden's core to see if Gaia's condition has changed for the better.
* You return to find that Gaia is still in a comatose state, with Ryne desperately pleading for her to wake up. Her voice seems to reach Gaia, who eventually regains consciousness. Naturally, she is more than a little subdued, though you and your companions are glad to see that she is otherwise unharmed. With the worst now behind you, it seems to be safe to proceed with the plan to restore the element of ice.
==Objectives==
* Speak with Urianger in Eden's core.
* Speak with Ryne.
* Use the Duty Finder to enter Eden's Verse: Iconoclasm.
* Speak with Ryne.
==Script==
script 	script
 	
Ryne 	Poor Gaia... If the faerie lives inside her, why would it let her suffer like this? I wish there was something we could do to help...
Urianger 	Pray be on thy guard, my friend. Gaia may yet relinquish control to the voice within...
Gaia 	Ungh... Just get it over with, would you?
 	
Thancred 	While this downpour is precisely the result we were hoping for, the novelty of standing outside in the rain does wear off rather quickly. Not to mention, Gaia's looking a bit under the weather. Let's continue this conversation in Eden's core.
 	
Ryne 	Now that I think about it, I don't really know all that much about Eden.
Ryne 	Since we need to find out how it's connected to Gaia, I should try to understand it at a deeper level. To be honest, there isn't much else I can do...
Thancred 	I'm not sure what's going on with Gaia, but it's certainly a cause for concern. Perhaps this is the faerie making itself known...
Gaia 	What does it want? Why won't it tell me?
 	
Urianger 	Ere we set forth to restore the element of ice, I would discuss the manner in which the summoning shall be undertaken.
Gaia 	Just tell me one thing: is this going to bring the Empty back to the way it was before the Flood?
Urianger 	While none can say for certain, the change we have observed at points of aetherial intersection doth give us cause for optimism.
Urianger 	It may be reasonably assumed that the Empty shall continue to transform and, in the decades to come, regain a semblance of its former state.
Gaia 	Decades!?
Thancred 	I don't think you've quite grasped the sheer scale of the damage left in the wake of the Flood. It would've swallowed the entire world if Minfilia hadn't stopped it.
Thancred 	Even if Ryne has inherited her blessing, wounds like that don't heal overnight. After all, the Empty has been utterly devoid of life for a hundred years.
Ryne 	And it might take even longer than that to bring life back. I don't expect immediate results, but I do know that it will stay like this forever unless we do something about it.
Urianger 	My sentiments precisely. Only once the final element is restored shall we have a glimpse of the future that awaiteth those of generations yet to come.
Gaia 	You'd do all this, for a world you may not live long enough to see? While here I am, so absorbed in my own problems that I spare barely a thought for anyone besides myself...
Gaia 	For so long, I've listened to that voice...telling me what to do, who to be. I was so scared of what might happen if I disobeyed. But I don't want to live like that anymore. I want to be...me.
Gaia 	Who am I? What am I? Perhaps it's better if I never find out. If Ryne's the Oracle of Light, here to mend this broken world, what does that make me?
Gaia 	Gaia, the Oracle of Darkness, bringer of misery and death! A monster. It's no wonder they left me. Mother, Father... And next, it'll be all of you. Then I'll be back where I started, where I've always been. Alone.
Ryne 	Gaia! Is it the faerie!?
Gaia 	What's wrong? Afraid I might lose control and ruin all your carefully laid plans!?
Ryne 	No! It's you I'm worried about!
Gaia 	Ryne, I... I'm going outside. To clear my head. You...just do what you need to do, all right?
Ryne 	Something's wrong, I know it.
Thancred 	That much is clear.
Thancred 	If we have a repeat of her first “visit” to Eden, we may even be joined by those voidsent friends of hers... If you go and see what Gaia's doing, Urianger and I will stay with Ryne.
 	
Gaia 	My name is Gaia... That's what you said, isn't it?
Gaia 	Eden... The Flood... What does it all mean?
Gaia 	No, it can't be... Is this what it's been waiting for all this time?
Gaiavoice 	Finally, you remember...
Gaia 	Aaaaaah!
Gaia 	What...is this!?
Gaiavoice 	The Darkness that dwells within you, Gaia.
Gaiavoice 	The accursed spawn of Light are drawn to it, like moths to a flame.
Pathetic, mindless, and easily bent to my will...
Gaia 	Sin eaters!?
Gaiavoice 	Now, the time of awakening has come!
Gaia 	Unnnh...
Thancred 	[Player Name], Ryne senses sin eaters! What's happened?
Thancred 	Don't try to fight them─just bring Gaia back inside. Quickly, now!
 	
Thancred 	She's in a bad way, but at least she doesn't seem to have lost control.
Urianger 	What entity is this that should hold a horde of sin eaters in its thrall? And to what end?
 	
Ryne 	What's happened to her?
Thancred 	That's a concern for later. First, we must deal with those sin eaters.
Urianger 	[Player Name], if thou wouldst care to repel our assailants without, I would task Thancred with standing guard within. I shall tend to Gaia meanwhile.
 	
Ryne 	I'm not sure if there's much Eden can do to help, but I'll try to keep it steady.
Thancred 	While Urianger watches over Gaia, I'll tend to any eaters that chance to slip inside.
Urianger 	Whereas before, 'twas Gaia who sought to destroy Eden, on this occasion she hath become the target...
 	
Thancred 	The interior is secure. With the eaters gone, I thought that Gaia might show some sign of improvement, but she hasn't so much as stirred.
Urianger 	Sin eaters drawn to the Oracle of Darkness, just as she herself was drawn to Eden, first and foremost among their kind.
 	
Ryne 	She won't wake up! What do we do?
 	
Gaia 	What is this place?
Gaia 	Where is everyone?
Gaia 	So, I'm all alone. Even the faerie is gone...
Gaia 	Endless silence, endless darkness... Is this what death feels like?
Gaia 	It's no use. No one can hear me. How ironic... All those times I wanted peace and quiet, and now that I finally have it, I wish I had someone to talk to.
Gaia 	I thought I couldn't stand to be around them. All their interfering and fussing... And yet, I was never lonely.
Gaia 	But it's no use... Even after everything we went through, my memories still won't come back. There is no future awaiting me, only emptiness.
Gaia 	Those memories...they can stay lost forever, if only this pain will leave me.
Gaia 	Now, I close my eyes and sink into darkness...
Gaia 	And then I'll suffer no more.
Ryne 	...Gaia!
Gaia 	Mother, Father...
Ryne 	Wake up!
Gaia 	I understand now. Why wait for tomorrow to claim us?
Ryne 	Gaia! Can you hear me!?
Gaia 	This perfect moment never has to end.
Ryne 	I'm not giving up on you, Gaia! Say something!
Gaia 	What do you want?
Ryne 	Please! I'm begging you!
Ryne 	Remember all the things we said we'd do? Like going to the Second Serving for coffee biscuits!
Gaia 	I never...
Ryne 	Gaia?
Gaia 	I never agreed to anything of the sort.
Ryne 	Oh, thank goodness! I was so worried about you!
Gaia 	Ugh, do you have to be so loud?
Gaia 	The faerie fell silent, only to be replaced by Ryne's voice ringing through my head.
Gaia 	I never thought I would be so glad to hear it.
Quest complete.	Quest complete.
Category:Chronicles of a New Era - Eden in Final Fantasy XIV