A/N: I had a bit of writer's block while working on Dearest Sister. So I turned on some music and this is what happened. I hope you enjoy it! P.S. I think my writer's block is gone, so the next chapter should be up in a day or two for Dearest Sister. Check it out!

Before he blacked out, all he could remember was pain, mind-numbing pain. His memories were a bit hazy. What happened? He asked himself.

Fire was everywhere, smoke spiraled in the air. The sounds of metal scraping against metal filled his mind, screams and moans of the dying laced the already horrid sounds. War with Tenebrae had finally reached its peak. Only it wasn't in his favor, the battle had taken place in his home, in his castle.

He tried to remember what caused him so much pain. Just like any other battle, he had been holding up very well. What happened next? He urged his brain to try and remember.

A large group of Tenebrae's soldiers had come to face him. In his mind, he could see their armor, their fear. Surely, they had seen what he did to the others that confronted him, so why did they try again?

Stella! The princess of Tenebrae, she had set up an ambush. He had fought her one-on-one in the past, though their powers were similar, Noctis had the upper hand and she would usually flee. She used the soldiers to distract him while she impaled him with as many blades as she pleased.

Maybe someone will find me and save me. Noctis told himself. Ignis, Prompto, Gladiolus, and his dad were bound to look for him at some point, right?

Maybe I'll die here… It wouldn't be so bad in his opinion. He had never wanted to inherit his kingdom anyway. Besides, at the moment, he felt no pain.

Suddenly, he found himself aware of the sound of waves lapping at a beach. He felt the waves pushing him ever so slightly, farther and farther onto warm sand. With a groan, Noctis opened his eyes.

Where am I? Noctis stood up on the sand and walked away from the water. All he saw was tall buildings. As he looked closer, he saw that the buildings were gray, but some had strange designs in a light green or purple color. Some of the buildings were reduced to rubble, leaving Noctis to only imagine what they looked like.

Since there was no one else on the beach, he decided to venture into the midst of the tall buildings. Even there, the air was thick with the smell of salt water. I must be dead. He thought, as he felt no pain, yet he was certain Stella had gotten to him with her blades. When he scanned over his body, there wasn't even a trace of a battle.

If he was dead, was this the Unseen realm? No, he remembered. There would be more people there, there's no one here. This must be Valhalla.

But that would be ridiculous, he had been told all his life that Valhalla was killed with the goddess, Etro.

"Two travelers had both wanted to save the people whom were precious to them. They faced a man named Caius, within him, the Heart of Chaos beat. By killing Caius, they killed Etro and doomed everyone. The chaos of Valhalla swept through the world," Noctis' mother told him as he laid sick in bed. The only way to calm a feverish, little Noctis was with a story, so the queen sat beside her son and told him her favorite legend.

"Shouldn't Valhalla still be encasing the world?" asked a skeptical Noctis.

"Humans are strong. They overcame the difficulties of Valhalla and brought balance back to the world. That's why Valhalla and the living world are now one and the same."

"What about the goddess' body?"

"It became one with the chaos. Her knight's body is said to have been crystallized on Etro's throne. The knight woke up many decades after Chaos' descent and presumably died when her lifespan was over. She was only human, after all," finished the queen. She kissed her son's forehead and cooed to him in a soft, gentle voice. "Time to sleep."

Looking back at the memory with fondness, Noctis began to realize why he didn't want to die. He'd no longer see his mother's warm smiles, hear Prompto and Gladiolus bicker, listen to Ignis' lessons, or receive advice from his father.

In the distance, a clock tolled, alerting the empty city to the coming of a new hour. Looking around for the clock, Noctis spotted it at the top of one of the tallest buildings. The clock is pointing at thirteen? I don't remember the clocks at home having thirteen on them…

Deciding it was the best option, Noctis had gone to the building with the clock above it. Inside, he had climbed up hundreds of stairs in a spiral formation. At the top, he saw a woman in silver armor overlooking the city from a balcony. The sash of feathers over her left leg swayed in the wind along with her pink locks of hair. To Noctis, she looked like a Valkyrie.

Without even turning, she moved for Noctis to come closer to her. Although shocked, Noctis obliged. After all, he felt a strange aura of power emanating from the woman.

When he was beside her, she turned and looked Noctis straight in the eyes. She was beautiful. Her skin was flawless and her face held a fierceness that Noctis had seen in his soldiers before. But it was her eyes that drew the most attention from Noctis. They were a cold blue, very fitting for the grayness of the city, in Noctis' opinion. However, they were filled with sadness so deep that Noctis felt that all of the sadness he's felt in his life would hardly dent the amount she felt.

"Who-who are you?" Noctis stammered out.

The woman's face softened. "Lightning," she said.

Although her voice was not what he expected, Noctis couldn't help but want to hear it again. "Where is this place?"

"Valhalla."

Can she only speak in one word sentences?

"Isn't Valhalla the living world now?"

"No."

"But Caius was killed so the goddess was too. Because of that, Valhalla was unleashed into the living world. Since humans were strong enough to recover from it, they were able to rebuild society."

"Only some of that is correct," Lightning said slowly. Noctis was proud he got more than one word at a time out of her.

Lightning looked out into the desolate city again. "Humans did not recover from it, they were saved from it. The goddess did die, but she passed her powers onto a successor. Her successor retained balance to the living world and Unseen Realm."

"Who was her successor?"

"Me."

Noctis immediately felt as if he should be bowing to this woman, but shock kept him frozen in place.

"Cat got your tongue?" asked Lightning in a mocking voice.

"No!" Noctis fumbled over his words. "It's just that… well, that's pretty amazing, Lightning." He was surprised that even though she looked so sad, she still mocked him. I guess she has a sense of humor.

"Call me Light," she turned and faced him again. "Anyway, you shouldn't have died yet." Pointing to a strange object on the ground below the balcony, she gave Noctis instructions. "That's a gate. It will send you back to your time. All you have to do is jump from here and into it."

Noctis stood at the edge of the balcony and gazed at the gate. If he entered, he would be back with his family and friends. He would become ruler of his kingdom eventually. But he hated the war. He never wanted to fight anyone. Again and again, he was forced to take lives.

But he could stay here, couldn't he? He would work on restoring happiness to Light. Then, her eyes wouldn't have that look in them, that look that made Noctis want to hug her for an hour and then adopt four kittens just to see her smile.

"What are you waiting for?" Light asked in a genuinely curious tone.

Stepping back from the balcony's edge, Noctis smiled at the goddess' confused expression. He took a deep breath.

"I think… I'd rather stay here."