The stillness of the room was broken by the robed man's murmurs. He spoke quietly, and rather condescendingly, through thin lips curled in a grin. Not a tone to take with the King he was addressing. The row of helmet clad men behind him mirrored those dressed in black suits opposite the room, like the beginning set of chess table. King Regis, knowing the man was not here for idle chatter, had already called forth a sword to his command. They encircled him, sharp points directed towards the other man.
A second after he had finished speaking, a sudden sound of loud footfalls sounded just outside the room. The double doors were thrown open with force and armored men stormed inside, weapons drawn. They greatly outnumbered King Regis' men. Idola withdrew a pistol from his robe, as did those flanking either side of him, not threatened by the King's defenses. With a grin on his face, he knew he had won. Without a word, each of the King's guard raised one hand. In a flash of light, swords of all shapes and designs appeared from thin air in a shattering of crystal particles.
What followed was the chaos of battle. Lights, shouts, gunfire, the sounds of metal clashing. Everything shook. Chairs were overturned, the decor along the walls caught in the cross fire. All hell had broken loose within the meeting room. The image shook violently as the force of an attack connected. The view became hazy, unfocused, partially obscured by the polished black and white tile floor. The silhouette of dark shoes approached and stopped only inches away. The person knelt down. Then all went black.
When she had awoke, she was outside of the citadel. Somehow she had escaped the chaos that erupted within. She would not think her action selfish if she could repay the action by at least saving the other, his son. If he was lucky, he might have survived the initial invasion. Through her connections, she was able to locate not only he but three of his companions.
The city was overrun by the enemy. Troops and gunmen were around every corner. And yet, she was able to pick and weave a route to safety. To one of the gates of the city wall that had yet shown sign of guard. How wrong she was. An ambush had lay in wait, knowing that people would try to escape. As their luck would have it, the Prince himself was to be the one using this exit.
There were so many troops, and only four souls to go against them. She had arrived by car, driven by one of the King's chauffeurs, in time to watch the onslaught. They wouldn't survive against so many.
She had acted rashly. Foolishly, perhaps, but at the time it was justified. It was here the memory became hazy and broken. The memory was ruined, cutting to black and back to pictures like a crude slideshow. The sounds of fighting, the clash of metal, the shouts of man and machine. Armored shoes stomping on the pavement. The loud crackle and rush of electricity, so close, so loud, like lightning. And then static, ringing, multiple failures. Blackness.
The voices were muffled. But she heard them. The attack hadn't connected.
"Leanna!"
"Gladio, get her out of there!"
The sounds of a car starting, tires screeching to gain momentum...
The memory started again, back at the beginning. The robed man, Idola, was speaking to King Regis. This was all that played for the past several hours, like an unending dream.
An abrupt chime of music broke the image. Lavender hued eyes opened. She sat up, slow at first, as such an attack on anyone was bound to slow down motor control - at least first thing in the morning. She cast a steady glance at her surroundings. The castle's meeting room and men disappeared, replaced by four green vinyl walls of a tent. She immediately registered the sound was not coming from her, as her tent was empty, but from the one beside her's. An alarm set for exactly eight o'clock.
Within the other tent slept the other four members of their unlikely party. A bespectacled man, Ignis, had set the ringing cellular phone closer to the middle of the tent for all sleeping person's to hear. Begrudgingly, they roused one by one. They were tired, that much was certain. They had gone to bed in the early morning hours of the night after their whole ordeal with the car. Sleeping on the hard, tarp covered ground of a tent hardly made for a comfortable sleep. At least, for the three of them.
Gladio, the larger man of the group, was the first to speak after scratching an aching spot behind his head. "If only someone hadn't wrecked the car... unbelievable."
Prompto, the more out-going of the group, tried to act innocent. "Oh! I would hate to be that guy! - Oh come on, don't be that way! You know I didn't mean to do it."
Ignis spoke in his defense, albiet with a sharp tongue. "Of course not. Sabotage is far beyond you."
The ringtone continued to chime in their silence. The fourth person was refusing to wake up. The phone was set inches away from their royal companion, who had rolled over and away from the annoying noise. It had no affect. The chime reached its automatic timer and shut off.
"It's futile," Ignis admitted.
Gladio wasn't going to have any of the Prince's stubbornness and leaned over to pat his back. "Rise and shine, princess." The ground beneath them suddenly shook, rumbling surrounding them.
"Tremors," Prompto said. "now you did it."
Gladio didn't seem bothered by this as he replied, "Just call me Titan." A response which Prompto did not fully understand.
Groggily, the Prince finally awoke from his slumber and sat up with a grumble. His head was lowered.
Prompto leaned over from his seat behind Gladio. "Mornin', buddy."
"Eyes open." Gladio said, perfectly aware their Prince may have been sitting up but hadn't woken up.
"And he's up." Ignis announced.
"Not... technically..up." Noctis muttered, then yawned and rolled onto his side again to go back to sleep. Gladio looked on in mild, but not surprised, disappointment before grabbing his arm and hauling him back up into a sitting position.
"Not 'technically' having our automobile repaired and headed to Cauthess, then?" Ignis asked.
Gladio pat Noct's face, which he waved a hand at to shoo away the assault. "No turning back now, Your Highness. Gotta pay His Enormousness a visit." He left the dozing Prince to unzip the tent flap and exited.
"Yeah... wonder what it's like outside." Prompto mimicked Gladio and gave Noct a pat on his face as well before leaving the tent. Noct was even less appreciative of it the second time but was too exhausted to do more than shoot a half-asleep glare. Still, he remained unmoving from his position. Once outside, the blond exclaimed, "Wow! Couldn't ask for better weather!"
"Ah, a good day for walking." Ignis got to his feet, gave the Prince a polite pat on the shoulder and followed the others. "Aren't we lucky?"
It looked like his attempt at getting more shut eye was in vain. Everyone had gone outside into the blinding sunlight. Noct gave into the draw, attempted to prize open his tired eyes and stepped out. The sunlight was far too bright for what seemed to be only morning, but it illuminated the Duscae region as far as they could see. The grassy, forest dotted wilderness lay between them and Cauthess, the large structure of astral shard that lay frozen in impact with the ground. It was so close yet so far.
The party, namely Ignis and Gladio, began breaking down the camp. The second tent's sole inhabitant stepped out quietly, careful not to hit her head on the roof of the tent's opening, then stood straight to adjust her dress uniform.
"Mornin', Lee!" Greeted the blond, stepping over to greet their new company.
The woman looked over at him, smiled, and nodded her head to return the greeting. She stood a few inches shorter than him, but easily made friendly eye contact. "Good morning."
"Sleep okay?"
A breeze picked at the tan fringe of her hair and she tucked it behind her left ear. "Yes, I did."
"Apologies for the poor accommodations," Ignis said from the cook station he was putting away. "It was the best we could do on such short notice."
She shook her head. "It was fine. I'm in no position to complain."
"Personally, the ground could be softer." Prompto rubbed a hand on his shoulder. "Maybe we could invest in some mattresses?"
"Certainly!" Obliged Ignis. "If you're paying for them."
Prompto wore a thin smile. "Ah... actually, y'know, the ground's pretty nice."
The camp had been dismantled and set back to its seemingly bi-dimensional location, leaving only the fire pit atop the stone mesa. It made for easy traveling, thank the Gods. But until the Regalia was fixed, they were footing this part of their adventure. As much as they wanted to grumble and groan about it, they had little choice. They would get their car back good as new, but there was only one problem.
"We're well short of the amount due, I'm afraid." Ignis said as the group walked along a flat stretch of wilderness below the campsite.
"We need to think bigger. Like 'behemoth' big." Gladio said raising a fist.
Prompto ran with the suggestion and pointed his hands in the air. "Hunting down its horns could get us the money! If it doesn't get us killed..."
Finally their sleepy Prince spoke, "I wouldn't worry. We're as good as dead without the car anyway."
The party slowed down. Their hopes of getting the car fixed soon was dissipating. Either they picked off small game to sell, or they went against a giant, well, Behemoth, for a measly horn- which it certainly wouldn't want to give up easily. If they lingered to long, the Imperial Army was bound to find their trail, they might as well have had target signs on their backs.
Leanna followed closely behind, never stepping ahead of those in front of her. A tablet was in her arms, completing her uniformed attire for an all together look of an assistant - very much away from her working location. She did not speak, only listened, typing away at the tablet with one hand.
Gladio gave a gruff sigh. "Hmm, might already be a lost cause."
Prompto tried to keep the mood up. "Hey! If Cindy says she can fix it, that's good enough for me!"
Ignis went on, "Since she's gone through all the trouble of servicing it nearby, we need only concern ourselves with one thing and one thing alone."
Noctis raised a pointed hand in response to Ignis' obvious answer. "The money."
"Sounds simple enough" Gladio said as the group stopped walking. "We hock whatever we hunt 'til we come up with the cash. Then fetch the car."
Leanna had been looking down at her tablet, the tips of her fingers tapping on the screen keys. Her silence must have been noticed as Prompto stepped beside her and asked, "What's up?"
She finished the final command prompts and turned the screen over to show them what she had been working on. The four of them stepped closer to get a better look.
"I was able to access a simple map of our location. Using a secured GPS signal, I'm able to pin point where we are at any given time. Currently, we are here." She pointed over to the red dot on the screen. "I also added markers for other registered camp sites, the gas station, the trading post, and other notable land marks in the area.
"Least we can't get lost." said Gladio.
Leanna flipped the tablet back around to access another window. "I'm also able to keep track of tasks we need to do and other information if we run across anything of interest. I could also make a list of our inventory. If we find items to sell, I can estimate how much it will cost."
"You can do all that?" asked Noct.
She lowered her screen with a rather confident, but courteous smile. "Part of my job is to be of help in any way I can, sir. Although, I'm not sure what I should be prepared for in this case."
"Alotta walking," grunted Gladio. "Thanks to this guy."
"I said I didn't mean to! You heard Iggy, 'sabotage is far beyond me', right?"
"Right," Gladio arched a brow but still wasn't convinced. Somehow this was all Prompto's fault.
"Sounds like a plan." Ignis approved and the others agreed. "What's first on the agenda, Miss Leanna?"
With a few keystrokes, she replied, "Raise the twenty four thousand gil needed for repairs. If we're doing as Mr. Amiticia- Gladio suggested, we'll need information on the behemoth's whereabouts. There were reports of one sighted in the area, however nothing specific has been given."
"Go figure," said Gladio.
The only way to start gathering information was to start searching. The group began their walk again. They had the entirety of Duscae to search for the proverbial needle of a beast. The needed a lead. Not far into their quest, Prompto spotted something off in the short distance and picked up the pace ahead of the group.
"Hey! Check this out!"
"What?" the Prince replied irritably, it seemed he hadn't completely woken up yet, or forgiven them for having woken him up. The rest picked up the pace before they lost sight of Prompto. Up ahead was a notice board. A little strange and out of the way, considering their location. On it was a single paper depicting a ferocious looking beast with one horn. Much like a dog, only angrier, much angrier. The words below read:
'Dread behemoth Deadeye sighted in nearby woods.
Enter at your own risk
25,000 gil reward for kill or capture.'
So, just as the summary says, this little fanfic is going to be a retelling of the Demo. I'm just gonna trust anyone who reads this has already seen or played the demo, so you'll be seeing a lot of familiar scenes and conversations. I tried my best to have things flow naturally, as well as include the banter randomly heard throughout the game. I'm feeling somewhat proud of what I've been able to write, considering all I have available are youtube playthroughs. If you enjoyed it, I would really appreciate any feedback or kudos. Thank you for reading~!
4/9/2016
Whoa! Hey. Hi! Thanks for deciding to read my god awful fanfic you deserve like... a cookie, or something. Okay, so people who /have/ read this before might be wondering what the heck I'm doing. Well, I finally bought the demo earlier this month and after playing it, decided to reread my fanfic again for old times sake. Lord almighty did I realize what garbage I wrote? How come no one told me I had freaking typos everywhere? And in some cases entire middle parts of sentences were missing? Yeesh! For clarification, I wrote this whole fanfic last year on my phone using Swype and decided I was too ashamed to proof read it at the time and just posted it. Very regretful decision.
So I went through the whole thing, added some scenes, changed some other scenes, and fixed up some descriptions now that I'm playing this game myself. I even have a bonus chapter in the works to add once this story finishes, so if you like this story, look forward to that! It's gonna have more Leanna scenes in it that I thought up later and couldn't fit into the current story. I really hope you guys like it. It really helps the self esteem thing when people leave nice comments quq.