Slightly edited version of Ch. 1
Disclaimer: I do not own FFXV.
Chapter titles taken from names of music pieces from the FFXV OST.
Ch.1 Sorrow Without Solace
"Verum, take your siblings and run!" shouted Praesidio, the Captain of the guard, as he fended off the increasing number of magitek troopers. Diplomatic relations between Aestas and the Niflheim Empire had failed. Not surprising, as the Empire demanded Queen Regina and the royal children as their price for peace. The Empire held resentment for the entirety of the Lucian royal bloodline, and with the Queen Regina being the sister of King Regis, it made her and her children a target too.
As the eldest of the Vincit children, Verum knew it was his job to protect his siblings. He hurried his two younger sisters, Pax and Amare, out of the palace. As he led them through the blistering flames and crumbling walls of their former home, he saw his parents, King Salutem and Queen Regina fighting off a horde of magitek troopers and daemons.
Verum looked back and forth between his sisters and his parents. He was torn between getting his sisters to safety and helping his parents defend their people. He felt a soft hand on his arm and turned to face his sister, Pax. She stared at him with a watery eyes.
"Go. If you feel you have to go, go," she said through her tears. "Don't worry about us. I'll get Amare and I to safety."
Verum grabbed Pax and pulled her into a hug. He then bent down and pulled Amare into a hug too. "I love you both. Take care of yourselves," he told them before rushing off to fight alongside their parents.
"Verum! Verum, come back! Where are you going?!" Amare cried.
At her sister's cries, Pax couldn't hold back her tears any longer. She grabbed Amare as tears ran down her face. Amare struggled in her sister's grasp, fighting her hold in a desperate attempt to follow after her older brother.
"Amare. Amare we have to go." Pax whispered.
"No! Let me go! I'm not leaving without them! I won't!" Amare protested.
Pax watched with fearful eyes as more and more daemons and magitek troopers descended upon the palace and crown city of Terra Sanctum. They had to get out of there now if there was any chance of survival.
"Amare, we have to le-"
"No! We can't just leave them!"
"Amare!" Pax shouted, having reached her breaking point. "We are leaving now. We have to get out of here." Pax tugged on her sister's arm and dragged her away from their older brother, their parents, their home.
Pax and Amare continued on, dodging daemons and magitek troopers alike until they were out of the city. Once they were out of the city Pax told Amare that they would head to Insomnia. They would be safe there with their Uncle, King Regis.
Pax and Amare slowly made their way across Aestas. Travelling in the day and taking refuge in havens at night. They foraged for food. Taking down less dangerous garula for meat and collecting wild vegetables for their greens.
After two months they finally approached the eastern border of Aestas, and with that the ships that were taking refugees across the sea to Lucis and Accordo. They boarded the ship disguised as refugees. Since the fall of Terra Sanctum, the empire's influence had spread throughout Aestas. There were Imperial soldiers all throughout the refugee ports searching for Pax and Amare. By nothing less than the grace of the Astrals had the two Vincit sisters made it across the water without being noticed.
The ship first stopped in Altissia where Pax was finally able to breath without constantly worrying that the Imperials were on their tail. While the two girls still had a ways to go before they reached Insomnia, making it out of Nifilheim occupied territory was something to be glad about. The ship carrying refugees stopped only long enough for people who chose to make new their new lives in Altissia or the surrounding lands of Accordo to disembark. Once the last passenger was off the ship it was back to the open seas.
On the way to Galdin Quay, the port where the rest of the refugees including Pax and Amare would get off, a storm came over the area and the vessel carrying the newcomers sustained heavy damages. This storm threw them off course and with damages so great, making port was the crew's first priority, causing the ship to dock at Cape Caem, far away from their original destination of Galdin Quay and even further away from Pax and Amare's end goal of Insomnia.
Once they landed the captain of the ship told all the passengers that they would have to get off here at Cape Caem. It would take weeks to fix the ship. The refugees were on their own from this point on.
The sole merchant at Cape Caem was kind enough to provide a free map to every group and wished everyone the best of luck. With the open map in one hand and the other in Amare's grip Pax took a deep breath and began to lead her sister down the lighthouse steps and toward the road. They needed to head to Lestallum first. It was the closest largely populated city in the region and they needed a place to blend in and hide out for a while Pax regained her bearings and came up with a plan.
Still, she had yet to decide whether to go right or left once they hit the road as both options had their pros and cons. It would be a long journey either way, but turning to the right would make it even longer. The left side was a good amount shorter, but the risk of high level enemies was greater. Pax was confident in her abilities, but she did not know what sort of creatures they would be up against. As much as she wanted to get to relative safety as soon as possible, she couldn't risk her sister's life like that. Amare was skilled in magic but could only do so much given her young age. She had promised she would take care of Amare, and she planned on doing so.
When the sisters reached the road Amare looked up at her sister and asked, "Which way?"
"This way. We'll go right."
With the help of a couple of kind hunters they met at the Taelpar Rest Area that happened to be in the area the girls made it to Lestallum much sooner than Pax had expected. During their journey with the hunters the Pax and Amare had learned what kind of foes were in what area and what worked best against them. It seemed that they would do best to avoid magic resistant creatures like Dark Flans and Gelatins since magic was all the two girls had. When the friendly hunters, Bonnie and Venari, dropped them off in Lestallum Bonnie, thinking that these girls were too young to go it alone, gave them directions to Meldacio Hunter HQ with the promise that refuge would be available to them there if they ever found themselves in a tight spot. Amare and Pax thanked them and the two hunters stayed and watched the two sisters until they faded into the crowd before driving off.
During their fourth day in Lestallum, Pax and Amare ran into Fiducia and Dolo, two advisors to their parents. Having seen familiar faces Pax allowed herself to let her guard down once more.
"Princess Pax! Princess Amare! You're alive!" Dolo cried out in relief. Fiducia smacked the young man in the arm.
"Quiet down will you?" the older woman whispered harshly. "Do you want the whole city to know that the Princesses of Aestas are here?"
Dolo rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Oh, yeah. Sorry about that, but it really is great to see you both alive and well."
"We're alive, but I'm not so sure about the well part," Pax said as she thought about the long journey her and had sister had undertaken since first fleeing Terra Sanctum.
"Have you heard anything about Verum?" Amare asked. She knew that her parents had died defending their kingdom and had come to terms with it, but she still hadn't heard anything about Verum.
Dolo shook his head. "I'm sorry princess. But who knows, maybe he made it somewhere safe like the two of you did," he tried to reassure the younger princess.
"Just how did you manage to get all the way to Lestallum without being identified your highness? I was under the impression that the Empire had set up checkpoints at every border crossing in Aestas," Fiducia asked.
"Psh, that was the easy part," Amare said to the elder lady. "We disguised ourselves."
"Oh? I would think it would be quite difficult to hide that bright red hair of yours."
"Nope. We used some cool dye that turned our hair brown. You'd be surprised at what some hair dye, different clothes, and the lack of a bath can do," Amare giggled.
"I see. How very resourceful of you girls. What are your plans from here? I suspect you'll want to continue on to Insomnia?" Fiducia asked.
Pax nodded in confirmation. "Yes, we'll make our way to Insomnia. That's the plan."
"Please, allow us to escort you there," Fiducia said.
"Yes, please. It's the least we can do for the family we swore to protect. Let us see you there safely," Dolo added.
"Thank you. Amare and I would be glad for your company."
"We'll leave first thing in the morning, so rest well," Fiducia said.
As Amare and Pax were preparing for bed, Pax recalled that she wished to clarify some travel plans with Fiducia and Dolo. She walked down the hall to the room the two guards were staying in. She knocked and the door swung back slightly. Pax could hear Dolo and Fiducia's muffled voices arguing about something. She decided to come back later and was carefully shutting the door when she heard a scream come from the room. She rushed into the room to find Fiducia holding a bloodstained dagger over Dolo's fallen body. She could see that he was dead. Not even the white magic she knew could bring Dolo back.
"Princess Pax, how convenient. I would tell you to come quietly, but you wouldn't do that would you?" Fiducia grinned.
Pax stared at the woman in horror. "Y-you just killed Dolo. Why? Why would you do this?" she cried. Pax could not comprehend what was happening. She had thought she and her sister were safe! She had thought she could trust Fiducia's familiar face, but she had just murdered Dolo!
"He was in my way," Fiducia stated bluntly. "My true objective was to find you and Amare and hand you over to the Imperials. Though, I suppose I'll be doing everyone a favor if I just get rid of you now. Your sacrifice will lead to peace in Terra Sanctum, in all of Aestas."
"You can't possibly think that doing this will change anything, Fiducia. They're monsters! They killed my parents and countless others!" Pax challenged.
"You're wrong. You killed them. You and your whole selfish family. How could the lives of four people be worth more than all the citizens of Terra Sanctum? Your father was selfish to give up a chance at peace with the empire for your lives. When you're gone we will finally have peace," Fiducia grinned darkly as she took a swipe at the princess with her bloody dagger. Pax dodged, but not quick enough. The blade still nicked her right arm. Crimson blossomed on Pax's white shirt as her blood began to flow.
"I won't let you take me or my sister," Pax said through grit teeth as she shot a Holy spell at Fiducia. She knew it wouldn't do much as Fiducia was not a daemon, but it would knock her back and provide Pax with a bit of time.
Pax ran to the room Amare and her shared and burst through the doors.
"Pax? What's going on?" Amare said drowsily. Pax grabbed the backpacks they had picked up on their journey to Lucis and threw them over her shoulder.
"We have to go now, Amare. Fiducia is a traitor. She killed Dolo," Pax informed her sister. At the words we have to go, Amare jumped out of bed and grabbed her shoes. She had long since learned not to question Pax when she said they had to leave.
"Out the window?" Amare asked. The sisters were on the first floor of the hotel so there was no need of injuring themselves if they chose to jump out of the window.
"That would be best. Let's go," Pax spoke and the Vincit sisters jumped out the window. They ran through the city streets zig-zagging their way through the crowds that made up Lestallum's bustling night-life. Every now and then Pax would look back and see if Fiducia was following them. So far so good. Fiducia was nowhere in sight. They continued running until they were on the other side of the tunnel that covered the road leading into the city.
Pax knew what they were about to do was risky. It was nearing the middle of the night and they were outside of the city. There were no lights or havens anywhere nearby Lestallum. With the white magic she knew and the little black magic Amare knew they should be able to fend off low level daemons, but if they ran into any of those giants or the magic resistant flans they were in big trouble.
Pax and Amare carefully made their way through the darkness. They stuck close to the road, but not so close that they could be seen by anyone that would be passing through.
When they reached a fork in the road Amare asked, "Which way?" Would they take the road that led north towards Meldacio or would they go east towards Rydielle Lay, towards Leide and Insomnia. While there was a very good chance that Fiducia was waiting for them somewhere along the way, they still didn't know if she was working alone, or if she was just one of a larger group. If it was just Fiducia, Pax and Amare stood a good chance if they came across her before they reached Insomnia. If it wasn't just her— if it wasn't just her, the two princesses of Aestas didn't stand a very good chance at reaching Insomnia at all.
"Pax?"
Pax turned to Amare with confident eyes. She was making the right choice, she knew it. It was the better and safer option. "We go north."
So I've been super busy with school which is why I haven't been updating any of my stories recently. I'm in my last year of university so please forgive my lack of updates. However, in honor of NaNoWriMo I'm hoping to get some work on various stories on here done and up in the coming weeks. Thanks for reading!
- S.F.E.