Greetings All! Long-time reader here. I finally got inspired and decided to write something myself. I'm taking on Final Fantasy 15. I started with the basic question of what would happen if our boys had a girl on their team and took it from there. It's a slow-starter, but I have a lot more action planned. I hope you like where it's going so far. If you have questions, comments, feedback, etc, feel free to let me know or review. Follow/Favs are nice too ;-) Thanks for reading!

The dark-haired woman couldn't keep up with the herd of Insomnian refugees once she left the ravaged city. Her frothy blue evening dress was not designed for the great outdoors. Her matching high heels, designed for a few hours use at a party, were not stout walking shoes and had already seen her through too much. She had to mince along in them, slowly. Her feet, having been pinched in them for hours, were protesting as well. She might be able to walk faster if she took them off. The searing pain of a piping hot Lucian desert road forced her to revise that decision.

After a "fun" few minutes of wedging her shoes back onto her swollen and now burnt feet, she looked around and realized she was all alone. The rest of the crowd had moved on beyond the heat-shimmering horizon. It's not like she was lost, she had to tell herself. If she followed the road she would find civilization eventually. As long as she didn't veer off the road she would not get lost. She trudged along, wincing at almost every step. She would never, ever wear high heels again. If she ever went to another fancy event, she would wear sneakers.

She decided to alternate the agony, taking her shoes off when she couldn't stand it anymore then putting them back on when the heat got too bad, so basically every few steps. Her progress was agonizingly slow, and she still didn't see another person or any vestige of civilization. Her one consolation was that the sun was going down and the air was getting cooler. She should be able to walk barefoot soon without a problem, which meant she might make up for lost time.

With dark coming on, she had no idea what to do. There didn't appear to be lights here, so it would be hard to see. Should she try to find a place to rest for the night, or should she keep going? The roadside on either side was not encouraging—just empty expanses of sand and scrub. She would have given anything to see even a rusted out abandoned shack, but there was just the "great outdoors." She had no choice. She would have to keep going.

She had never known such a deep darkness and silence. Out here was an empty moon-washed void, the only sounds her footsteps and her breathing. Until she heard the deep groaning behind her, like a building collapsing. She turned around quickly to see a black mist forming. She watched it, frozen, as it took shape as a gelatinous blob, with glowing, evil eyes.

Her luck, such as it was, had finally run out.

2 weeks earlier:

Delenda Aurora Beatrix Achilleus despised getting to work after her boss. It made her feel like she was late for work, even if said boss got in insanely early (as he was known to do). She hated her name even more though, a legacy of her aristocratic heritage that as far as she was concerned, she could do without. As part of the Niflheim aristocracy, her family had been tasked with supporting the Emperor's war machine for years. Her father had done his part, faithfully serving as a colonel in the Niflheim military until his death in battle shortly before Delenda's 20th birthday 2 years ago.

At least Delenda was spared combat. She was able to support the war effort on the diplomatic front, serving as personal secretary to Chancellor Ardyn Izunia for the past 4 years. So, she was in her own way supporting peace, even if she was not always sure what her boss was doing. He seemed too…weird to be a competent representative of Niflheim but he had managed to keep his job for a long time now, so Emperor Aldercept must have thought he was doing something right.

Still, she hated getting to work after him.

He was already there for the day all right, holed up in his office in the imperial capital of Gralea, sprawled out in his desk chair with his feet resting on his desk. He hadn't even bothered to turn on the lights or the heater as far as Delenda could tell. The chilly air of a seemingly endless Gralea winter was oozing in, instantly chilling her. Ardyn seemed impervious, but then again that may be why he was still wearing his heavy dark gray cloak and fedora.

"Good Morning, Delicatessen", Ardyn drawled as she entered the office. He did that a lot, calling her anything from Delilah to Linda to increasing distant-sounding names. She had given up on reminding him about her name months ago, he knew full well what her name was, and just was doing it to get a rise out of her.

It worked far too often. "Is this a hint you would like breakfast, sir?" Delenda replied, trying to keep the snark out of her voice

She obviously failed in that endeavor. Ardyn laughed, having succeeded in his efforts to get her to rise to the bait. "No, but a cup of ebony wouldn't go amiss".

She prepared the caffeinated beverage. She learned long ago to just bring the tray of milk and sugar in with her since he didn't take his ebony the same way every day. Some days he drank it so sweet it would rot your teeth out, other times so full of milk it was like coffee-flavored milk. She had given up trying to predict.

"I apologize for being late today, sir" Delenda said as she delivered the tray.

"On the contrary, this is your regular time I believe. I was here much earlier than you, in fact, I never left the office last night."

"Never left the office? There is nothing wrong I trust?"

Ardyn laughed heartily. "Of course not, it might actually be something good for us. Tell me, what do you think about Insomnia?"

"Other than the fact you must have it to have been here all night, in the dark, freezing your ass off." Delenda thought, but she guessed that he probably meant their hostile neighbor across the sea. The metropolis steeped in magic and protected by a crystal shield. The empire had been coveting control of the city for years and been waging ongoing war in an attempt to get it. She chose to be cautious in her response:

"They are our enemies for the time being but peace would be beneficial for all".

"Spoken like a true diplomat! I will make one out of you yet! That's not really much of an answer though. Trust me, I know. I give answers like that quite often. My duties require it, you know," he replied with a smirk.

"Permission to speak plainly sir?"

"I wish you would, Della." Ardyn replied with a smile that she assumed was supposed to be encouraging but instead seemed slimy and off somehow. But it's not like her opinion really mattered or would destroy the world so she gave it a go.

"Well, the way I see it, Insomnia is pretty far away. We have to cross an ocean to get close to it which is a logistical nightmare for us. Even when we get there, from what I hear we have to face an intensely loyal populace who reveres King Regis and his son Noctis. Even if we could conquer them, we wouldn't be able to hold them and keeping supply lines open with that distance and an ocean in the way would not be feasible. All told, I personally think we should leave them alone."

"Ah, but then we recently had a decisive victory. In fact, we could have destroyed them had we pursued the attack. Then we would hold Lucis, would we not?"

"But at what cost, sir," Delenda tapered off, wondering if she had said too much after all.

"As wise are you are brilliant! My thoughts actually fall along those lines as well. That's why I spoke with our dear Emperor and we are in agreement that we will forge a peace treaty with them. With some conditions of course."

"What kind of conditions, if I may ask sir?"

Ardyn smiled mysteriously. "Time will tell, my dear, time will tell. I will be leaving for Insomnia in the morning. I know you will like it there."

"Wait sir, you would like me to come with you?"

"It is a diplomatic mission after all, I need you by my side to assist. And besides, your life is too boring, you need an adventure."

What should she pack for her business trip to Insomnia, Delenda mused as she wrestled her suitcase out of the closet. She knew it was hot there, it was near a desert after all, but she would be in a city with (presumably) air conditioning. Well, it's not like she needed to dress as a fashion plate, as if she could ever be one. She knew her limitations. She was tall, big boned, and dark-haired where the Niflheim ideal was petite, delicate blonde. Her eyes were dark to go with her hair (no fascinating hair/eye combo for her) and she was fair-skinned. She wondered if the Insomnian sun would give her sunburn. She hadn't seen the sun in who knows how long. Gralea was perpetually cold, dreary, and gloomy lately, ever since the battle against Shiva in fact. Maybe sunburn would actually be a good problem to have.

It's not like she dressed in fashionable clothes either—she tended to wear either business suits for work (she preferred pants suits to skirts) or loungewear in her off time. She had written off aristocratic functions after her father died. She had always been shy and awkward at them anyway and knew they were just a shill to find a phony aristocrat to marry her. Marriage was not a priority for her, and she spent more time working than focusing on a relationship anyway. So, there were no fancy dresses in her wardrobe. Her clothes were just like her, practical and generic. Luckily it would be a business trip, so pants suits all the way!

She made her way to the office. Ardyn said an airship would pick them up on the roof to take them across the ocean. She always thought they were ugly—big black flying boxes that looked like what they were, weapons rather than passenger vehicles. She also remembered her father saying how uncomfortable they were to ride in.

"Oh good you made it. Welcome to our humble transport across the sea." Ardyn gestured to the airship with a flourish. "I hope you don't get airsick—the ship can be quite bumpy at times, oh, and I hope you brought a coat—it gets cold at high altitudes."

"Now he tells me," she thought. She had left her winter coat at home since she knew Insomnia was hot this time of year and didn't want to be lugging a heavy coat around the whole time. She looked around the metal box/mode of transportation. Much of the room was taken up by a red convertible. "What's the car doing in here? Delenda asked."

"Oh it's mine." Ardyn said airily. "I never leave home without it."

She grabbed a random seat that folded down from the wall of the ship. It was hard and uncomfortable. Her travelling companion hadn't mentioned that little tidbit. He was already seated, fedora over his face, napping. She grabbed her blazer, set it on her lap like a blanket, and endured for the next several hours.

Ardyn was true to his word, up to a point. The ship did take them across the ocean all right, but not to Insomnia. "I confess I'm a wee bit unsure of our welcome." He confided in Delenda, "so it wouldn't do to arrive in an imperial vessel." They landed somewhere outside the city, and he offloaded his car.

"This is much better. We will look just like the locals now. Hop in, and don't scuff the leather" Ardyn instructed. "Oh, and hold onto this too," he added, handing her his fedora.

Delenda bit her lip but complied. Unless everyone in Insomnia dressed as weirdly as Ardyn did, Delenda didn't know how they would blend in, but she supposed it was a better option than flying in. It was definitely hot here—she scanned the desert landscape as they passed. Hard to believe that it went from gigantic city to this in a relatively short distance. Ardyn drove fast but not recklessly—but even with the air circulating around the open top car as they drove, the heat was still a harsh undercurrent.

At least the wind wasn't blowing her hair in her face, a typical annoyance. She liked to keep her black hair short—as her hair got longer it turned shaggy and hard to manage. It also helped her present a no-nonsense air that was an asset in her line of work. It was also beneficial when riding in a convertible apparently. She didn't know how Ardyn could stand it—he kept his auburn hair long, almost down to his shoulders. It was blowing all over the place in the hot breeze. How could he even see? She could see why he'd given her his fedora though—otherwise it would have blown out into the desert long ago

The change from desert to city was definitely abrupt. They reached a bridge and she could see the skyscrapers beyond it. She couldn't even estimate their height, but they put Gralea to shame. She stared at it, awestruck, slack jawed as they drove closer.

"Pretty impressive, hmm" Ardyn asked, smirking at her expression.

"Very" was all she could say. Delenda was never snobby about her social status, but she was definitely feeling like a low-brow hick now. And it was not a comfortable feeling.

There was a guard shack at the bridge and she couldn't help tensing up. Ardyn had said they might not be welcome and if that were the case, things could get ugly, and bloody, very quickly. For all of Ardyn's oiliness, he was also capable when he chose to be, so they were able to get through customs without incident. He claimed they were tourists from Altissia though, not imperial diplomats, and that made her uneasy.

He parked on a side street shortly past the entrance to the city, walked around the car, and opened her door.

"Ok. This is where you get out."

"Wait, what?"

"Get out, enjoy yourself, see the city."

"But…you said you needed me to work."

"I'll need you, eventually, but not right now. I've got your mobile number if I need you. Here's my credit card, play tourist on me", he said, placing a platinum card in her hand. "Oh, and my hat, please, dear."

She could only watch like an idiot as he jumped back in the car and drove out of sight. It was only after he turned the corner that she realized he took her suitcase with him.

She didn't notice the light-brown-haired, bespectacled man lounging against the building behind her, watching her suspiciously.