Kingsglaive: Erebus Khaine
Make the Clock Reverse
"Say your prayers!" shouted Prompto before the blonde unloaded a shotgun's worth of bullets across the outskirts of the city at a brunette Kingsglaive.
"How is this my Sunday afternoon?" muttered the man under his breath barely managing to sidestep and dodge the blonde's attack.
Whatever Erebus Khaine expected when the late King Noctis' royal retinue approached him and asked if he could lend them some of his time, this wasn't what he had in mind.
Eleven years ago, a fellow glaive, Libertus Ostium, found him barely surviving in the ruins of Insomnia with no memory of who he is. If not his Kingsglaive training, he might not have survived long enough to be found. What he does know about himself were second-hand stories recounted by Libertus and other surviving members of the Kingsglaive.
According to them, Erebus was a bit of an oddball since most natural-born Insomnians usually went for far more lucrative options readily available to them without the hassle of immigration discrimination. Kingsglaive applicants were usually refugees with an affinity towards the King's magic. He wondered what drove him to join the Kingsglaive once or twice before, but without his memories he learned to accept the possibility of never sating his curiosity.
"Try this!" roared Gladiolus as he came crashing down with his buster-styled sword.
With no chance of parrying, Erebus saw no point in attempting to block a guard-break and scrambled to get out of the way of the royal shield's attack. He was part of the Mage Fireteam Unit in Kingsglaive. His specialty lied more with magic wielding and less with swinging swords. Unlike his fellows, Erebus' arsenal comprised of mostly light-weighted weapons like daggers and staffs.
BOOM!
Speaking of magic proficiency, flames exploded in his line of vision and knocked him off him feet. The culprit was Ignis Scientia, the late king's royal advisor. Like him, Ignis's combat inclination leant more toward magic than physical, but unlike Erebus, the man was part of the prestige Crownsguard rather than the Kingsglaive.
Winded and disoriented, the Erebus rolled onto his knees and summoned his spell-crafted dagger to cast curaga. Any relief he felt was short-lived as a chillingly happy hum of a victory theme song came from behind.
"Shi—" yelped Erebus as Prompto appeared from his blind spot with his bulky Gravitywell aimed pointblank in his face.
Frantic, the brunette tossed the dagger at hand into the ruined pillars and warped out of harm's way. One quick sweep of him surroundings later, he chucked one of the daggers at Prompto. Ideally, he would like to take out Ignis first to keep him from unleashing magical hell. However, the blond gunslinger proved to be a nuisance with his perchance to pop up unexpectedly while wielding dangerous weaponry.
"Gah!" screamed Prompto as Erebus swapped out for a staff with a lightning element and electrocuted him with a thundaga spell.
"One down, two to go… Astrals, I'm too old for this," muttered the brunette under him breath before twirled the staff in his hand to swap to another spell-crafted staff and turned his attention to Gladiolus.
Compared to Prompto, what the man lacked in speed was made up for in brute strength. If Gladiolus manages to land a hit on him, the fight was over. The best he do was hope he's fast enough to dodge the burly man's attacks and not get hit.
"Try this!" roared Gladiolus as he swung his behemoth of a sword.
At the attack, Erebus barely managed to arch his back far enough for it to harmlessly swing over him. It was a feat of acrobatics and pure core muscle to force himself upright long enough to ground his feet to sweep the larger man off the ground with a well-aimed swing of the staff behind his knees. With the Amicitia man down, Erebus plants a blizzaga spell to the ground and partially froze the man in place.
Once he was certain Gladiolus was not coming at him again, Erebus swapped his weapon once more for yet another spell-crafted weapon before turned his full attention to the blind advisor.
"Well, here we are," noted Ignis, no doubt sensing his allies were down as he held a cane in one hand and a dagger in the other.
From past experience, Erebus learned to keep his distance at the sight of that stance. Even without his sight the advisor was still a dangerous man. However, fighting at a distance also posed an issue since the man had no qualms in hurling elemental spells at a whim. The memory of getting fried, frozen and burned over and over again by the advisor still haunts him to this day.
On the off chance he somehow crosses the man, Erebus made certain to have at least one weapon in his arsenal crafted with elemental defenses at all times. Not that it helps against Ignis' debilitating status debuffs. More than once, he struggled to cast esuna just so he wouldn't accidentally run into straight into the man's attack range while under his enchantment.
When dealing with Ignis, patience and observation was half the battle. Get in range when he's in the defensive position with dagger at hand and he'll deliver a devastating knockout. Stray too far and he'll unleash an elemental Armageddon. To say there's a small window of opportunity to attack the man was a glaring understatement.
Despite knowing this, it was hard press to keep it in mind with adrenaline pumping through his veins and past trauma haunting his instincts. Even so, Erebus somehow managed to wait for the miniscule window of opportunity to warp up close and spam firaga spells at the man until he hit the ground, defeated.
"Well done," breathed Ignis painfully as he gingerly pressed a hand against the burns. "I must say you exceeded all my expectations."
"He definitely gave us a run for our money for an old timer," grunted Gladiolus as he freed himself from the half melted blizzaga attack.
"Yep, no complaints here… Well, maybe one," murmured Prompto with a sheepish laugh as he tried to fight the muscle spasms from the thundaga attack. "Can't you have gone a little easier on us?"
He thought it would be easy to accept things as they came since he had no prior memories for comparison, but even he can tell the level of revere he's given by the three men was unusual and not only them.
Cor and Monica, Crownsguards to the late King Regis, also seemed to treat him in the same regard, albeit a bit more distant compared to the other three. Maybe it was a sense of comradery of having served the royal family prior to this whole nightmare, but none of them seem to treat the other Kingsglaive in the same manner.
"Three Crownsguards against one glaive isn't exactly what I call easy. Not to mention you brats are a good ten years younger than me," muttered Erebus as he willed away his weapon and brushed a hand over the Oracle's Sigil on his arm. He paused briefly when he noticed a new sigil appearing on his arm alongside the other royal sigils, but didn't give much thought. At least it'll even out the thirteen sigils he already received from recovering the royal tombs.
The green glow of curaga lit the area briefly and covered the three Crownsguard in its healing light. Erebus sighed in relief when the glow ended. It was rather strange they still had access to the king's magic even after his passing. From what Libertus told him, when King Regis died, all the glaives lost their magic, but when King Noctis died, they continued to retain said magic.
"Oh come on, nothing's too hard for the Hit n' Run hero!" teased Prompto cheerily.
"T-that's," spluttered Erebus before planting a hand to his face. "Are they still calling me that?"
"How did Vyv's magazine describe him again?" noted Ignis in amusement. "The man who strikes his enemies and heal his allies without much care or afterthought."
"There were a lot of daemons!" protested Erebus weakly in an attempt to defend his lack of consideration. "What was I supposed to do?"
"Not saying you didn't do good," chuckled Gladiolus. "You were practically a one-man army."
"You say it like I was the only one there," murmured Erebus. "The Marshal was the one that managed the highest kill count."
"Yeah, but he already has the title of Immortal," pointed out Prompto.
"And besides, you did manage to afflict a good deal of daemons with your frost spells to make it easier for the other glaives to take them down," noted Ignis as he pushed his visor back up the bridge of his nose. "I hate to imagine how much more difficult it would have been without your assistance."
"I guess," said Erebus as he ran a hand through his hair. "It's just kind of weird to get credit for what everyone else was already doing."
"Stop being so damn modest," grunted Gladiolus "You may think you're not doing much, but that day, every little bit counts."
"I supposed…" agreed Erebus reluctantly. "So, sparring session aside, is there anything else you need? I mean, it's nice to see you all, after… uh…."
He trailed off at the grim expressions on the three Crownsguards faces. The passing of King Noctis was still a sensitive subject. Erebus can't say he remember much about the king before his memory loss, but when the man called the Kingsglaive to arms to retake Insomnia, the sight was rather inspiring.
"Oh right, about that!" fidgeted Prompto. "You know how ever since he light's come back, everyone's been focus on the reconstruction effort on the city and towns that were overtaken by the daemons, right?"
"Yeah, what about it?" noted Erebus in puzzlement.
"I'm sure you're aware of our preservation efforts regarding to the royal vestiges. With reconstruction as the populace's main focus, there are limited resources and manpower we could request regarding to this venture," elaborated Ignis. "Of the glaives, Libertus mentioned you have the best lay of Insomnia's ruins with the highest support record."
"O…kay?" said Erebus with a tilt of his head, not following their line of thought.
"What Iggy's tryin' to say," sighed Gladiolus. "Think you'd be interested in helping us out with this? Compensation's not that good, but we could really use someone who knows how to get around Insomnia in its current state."
"We understand it's a lot for us to ask since you no doubt are trying to reestablish your life like many others," said Ignis.
"You guys really are something, to continue to do this even after…" Erebus stopped himself before he finished and scratched the side of his cheek awkwardly. "You know what? I'll help. If not for Kingsglaive, I probably wouldn't be here today anyway. It's the least I can do."
"Thank you! You're awesome!" cheered Prompto.
"You have our gratitude," said Ignis gratefully with an incline of his head.
"So what exactly are you guys looking for that you need a navigator to get through Insomnia?" asked Erebus curiously. "The reconstruction effort's already making their way through, would it be so bad to wait until they cleared a way to wherever you're going?"
"Unfortunately, what we're looking for doesn't stay in one place for long," grunted Gladiolus.
"It…moves?" asked Erebus in confusion.
"Yep," answered Prompto.
"…Okay, you got my interest, what are we looking for?" asked Erebus.
"Umbra, the late Lady Lunafreya's dog," explained Ignis.
"You're going through all this for a dog?" said Erebus in disbelief. "Are you sure it's still alive after all this time?"
"Well…" trailed off Prompto solemnly.
"Not to say he can't be alive, he could be and…" fumbled Erebus awkwardly as he tried to rephrase what he said to something less heartless, but failing to find the words to do so.
"If you wish to back out, we won't hold it against you," continued Ignis evenly.
While he barely knew these men, they had fought alongside one another through the endless nights and for the return of the light, he felt bad for upsetting them.
"I mean… I don't have any problems with looking for a dog…" mumbled Erebus before turning his heel. "You know what? Why don't you let me know when you guys are ready to set off? I'll go uh… get ready."
With the daemons gone, preparations for traversing Insomnia took no time at all. Not to say it was completely safe to travel during the night with the local wildlife still out and about, but compared to the endless nights, travel in general was notably less perilous and the need for excess preparation was less imperative. Even so, most still preferred to travel during the day, if only to enjoy the long missed sunlight.
"Ah, feel that sun!" gushed Prompto while hugging the edge of the truck's cargo bed with his head on his arms.
Ignis and Gladiolus didn't share the blonde's verbal appreciation towards the sun's light and warmth, but Erebus could see the quiet signs of their own enjoyment. How Gladiolus leisurely leaned against the front of the truck, breeze playfully tugging the loose strands of his hair. Or how Ignis' chin tilt ever so slight towards the sun to feel the warmth on his face.
If he haven't embarrassed himself, he might have tried to engage them in conversation, but in the end, the ride remained quiet with only the passing breeze and Prompto's occasional humming to break the silence.
"So, where to first?" asked Erebus once their driver dropped them off as deep as he could into Insomnia.
"The citadel," suggested Ignis. "According to the hunters' intel, while they were out clearing the area for the reconstruction efforts, there were several accounts of Umbra sightings in the area."
"I guess the old boy misses him as much as we do," murmured Prompto softly.
"Loyal to the end," sighed Gladiolus before he turned to Erebus. "Lead the way."
"…Right," breathed Erebus as did his best to hurry forward and pretend he wasn't an intruder in their private moment. "The foundation to a lot of the buildings around here have started to crumble and a lot of places aren't quite stable. If we get separated, avoid using the underground tunnels as a means to get through."
"But we've used them before the last time we were here," reasoned Prompto.
"You're free to take the risk if you want, but just letting you know, three tunnels collapsed the last time I checked while on a hunt in the area," noted Erebus offhandedly.
"Don't take the tunnels, got it," amended Prompto without protest.
"Best to take caution," agreed Ignis.
"All right, we're wasting daylight, let's go," rumbled Gladiolus before Erebus nodded and lead the group on.
Despite crumbled buildings, upturned vehicles and endless piles of debris at every turn, Insomnia still held its sense of grandeur. The years of wear and tear from the daemons hasn't been kind to the fallen capital. Even so, something about the city brought on a sense of longing and nostalgia even for a person like him without his memories.
"So, I probably should've asked before we started looking, but what does Umbra look like?" asked Erebus as they made their way through the ruins.
"Well, he's mostly black with a white underbelly and yellowish gold eyes," replied Prompto with a hum before he pounded a fist over an open hand in realization. "Oh wait! Gimme a sec, I think I have a picture of him on my camera."
Erebus glanced at the blonde at his peripheral vision as the man pulled out his camera and hurriedly clicked through the photos. It didn't take long before Prompto's finger stilled and a somber smile touched his lips.
"Prompto?" called out Erebus, when the man came to a full stop.
"Found it!" hedged the blonde with exaggerated cheer, snapping his attention back to the Kingsglaive before he turned the screen for him to see.
When he saw the photo, Erebus realized why Prompto acted the way he did. The photo had not only the dog, but also a youthful version of the late King Noctis. He almost didn't recognize him without his facial hair and his kingly raiment. What a difference ten years make in a person.
"It's a good picture," offered Erebus quietly. "I'll be sure to keep an eye out for him."
"Hey, what's the holdup?" bellowed Gladiolus a short distance ahead with Ignis by his side.
"Coming!" shouted Prompto in response as he jogged towards the burly shield. "Just showing Erebus a picture of Umbra!"
Apart from a flock of wild daggerquills the rest of the way to the citadel was relatively uneventful. They spent most of the day surveying the area, hoping they could catch sight of the elusive dog. Despite their efforts, disappointment weighted on the group as dusk came and not one of them spotted the canine even once.
"Maybe it's just out of the area, Gladiolus did mention he never stays in one place for long," suggested Erebus as the sky fell from dusk to night and the group still seem downtrodden by their lack of success.
"Probably, should call it a day," rumbled Gladiolus as he glanced up to the starlit sky. "Too late to head back now though."
"We can hunker down somewhere and try again tomorrow," offered Erebus before the group silently agreed and searched for a place to set up camp for the night.
While there are no havens within Insomnia, there aren't many dangerous wildlife within the city itself aside for the random avian variety. They setup camp at a nearby park with overgrown greenery. The long years without a proper landscaper turned the place into a small forest. It was safer to camp away from the buildings or any man-made structures, less they decide collapse during the night.
Dinner was a modest affair with Ignis outdoing himself with the simplest of ingredients. To this day, it still amazes the brunette on how the blind advisor could cook something this delicious over a camp fire while Erebus himself barely manages to make something edible in a working kitchen.
"Ignis, I'd marry you if just to eat your cooking every day," sighed Erebus in content as he polished off the remainder of his plate.
"Get in line," sniggered Gladiolus. "But to be fair Iggy does have a whole flock of people pining for his cooking."
"Yep, including good old Cid!" added Prompto jokingly.
"Well, if I must say, Cid is quite charming in his old age," drawled Ignis wryly as he contributed to the group's playful cajoling.
"The great Cid? How could I ever compete?" gasped Erebus mockingly with a hand over his chest before the group broke into laughter.
With hearty laughs and full stomachs, the meal reinvigorated and lifted the spirits of the group from the day's disappointment. It was a relief for Erebus to see them enjoy themselves. So many have lost someone close to them in the last decade. Be it to the daemon attacks or illness from the lack of proper livelihood. A genuine smile was rarer and more precious on those who fought long and hard through the years.
"Why don't you guys hit the sack first? I'll handle the cleanup," suggested Erebus when the meal was done.
"You sure? I could lend you a hand," offered Prompto.
"Nah, I got this, just go," waved the brunette as he collected the plates and cups for cleaning.
"See you in the morning," yawned Gladiolus without much protest as he made his way to the tent.
"Yell if you need us!" said Prompto before he followed suit. "Ignis you coming?"
"In a moment, you go on ahead," replied Ignis evenly.
"Okay, niiight!" sang Prompto before he ducked into the tent. Gladiolus' snores rumbled soundly on the other side.
"Just keeping me company, or do you have something on your mind?" asked Erebus quietly as he sprayed the plates with a non-toxic cleaning spritzer for a quick rub down. With no water source nearby, he had to make do with what they had without wasting resources.
"….You really can't remember anything prior to the world going to ruin?" asked Ignis after a moment. "Nothing at all?"
"Not really… is there something I'm supposed to remember?" asked Erebus curiously in mid-wipe.
Ignis remained quiet for a time before he shook his head and stood from his seat. Erebus half expected him to leave without another word, but then the man walked up to him and planted a hesitant hand on his shoulder.
"…If you never regain your memories, please know patience has always been your best virtue," said Ignis.
"Okay?" said Erebus, confused by the man's odd compliment.
"Goodnight Erebus," said Ignis as he pulled away and made his way to the tent.
"…What was that about?" wondered Erebus with furrowed brows before returning to finish up his cleaning.
By the time he was done and ready to head into the tent for the night, a rustling in the woods caught his attention. With daggers called to his hand, he was about to shout for the other three to wake up when a small dark figure darted out from the shadows and into the campfire's light. Erebus paused in surprise when he recognized the small figure as Umbra, the very reason why they came to Insomnia.
"Hello there, aren't you a sight for sore eyes," grinned Erebus as he willed away his weapon and knelt down to the canine's eye level. He held out his hand for the dog to sniff to show he was not a threat. "We wasted the whole day searching for you and you just stroll right just as we're going to bed. You're a little troll, aren't ya?"
Umbra sniffed his hand briefly before turning away, huffing as though to dismiss him.
"A bit high strung huh?" murmured Erebus in amusement as he reached slowly the pet the dark-furred dog. Umbra gave no sign of protest as his golden eyes gaze up at him. Seeing it as an invite, Erebus rested a hand the side of his head, his fingers dancing up to scratch his ears. "But I think the three in the tent would be more than happy to see…"
A frown crossed Erebus' face as his vision suddenly turned hazy with only Umbra's golden eyes in clear view. He drew his hand back, wanting to rest it against his head, but the world turned black before he could do so. The next thing knew was someone's hand on his shoulder, shaking him awake and shouting his name.
"Hey Erebus! Naptime's over, wake the fuck up!" shouted a young woman's voice before the shaking turned into a rough kick.
"Woah!" yelped Erebus as his eyes snapped open and he ducked into a roll to keep himself form landing face first into the ground.
"Hey, hey, no need to be so violent Crowe," eased a strange but familiar voice before a firm hand grabbed onto Erebus' arm and helped him up. "He probably spent the night out here from the looks of it."
"Last night?" murmured Erebus in confusion before his hand darted up to his throat in surprise.
His voice was lighter, while nowhere near pubescent, it was also nothing like the slight rasp he's developed after screaming and shouting in battle with his comrades. If it wasn't already confusing enough there was the sound of a bustling city to contend with it.
"Seriously? Did you drink yourself stupid and sleep in the park the night before our first mission? I'm not covering for your ass if you have a hangover. You know we're due to leave for Galdin Quay to escort the king and the prince home today," scowled the dark haired young woman dressed in a Kingsglaive uniform.
"You can yell at him on the way there, we need to get going before Drautos gets on our case," sighed the young man holding onto his arm, he recognized the voice as Gustco. Albeit a younger sounding one. "We're late enough as it is."
"Fine," grumbled the young woman named Crowe before she charged up to Erebus, jamming a finger into his chest. "Do this again and I'm setting your ass on fire! Got it?"
"…Got it," agreed Erebus without protest, he was still too confused by the whole situation to say much else.
"Come on Gustco, let's get going!" snapped Crowe as she turned her heel, the red cape from her glaive uniform fluttering behind her as her walk turned into a full-blown run.
Erebus blinked in surprise when he recognized the similarities between her glaive uniform and his. Like him, she was part of the Kingsglaive's Mage Fireteam Unit. Though, what confused him more was the younger and slimmer looking Gustco standing next to him. He recognized that awkward side-swept hair anywhere.
Of all the surviving Kingsglaive, Gustco and Elea as they were the only other remaining members of the Mage Fireteam Unit. He can't recall ever meeting a Kingsglaive named Crowe.
"You okay to walk on your own?" asked Gustco as he carefully released his arm and took a cautious step ahead.
"…Yeah, just fine," answered Erebus as he started a light run towards Crowe's disappearing figure amidst the crowds of civilians to gather his thoughts and take in his surroundings.
It took some time, but eventually he recognized the citadel in the distance, pristine and well-kept. His dark eyes widened in disbelief. How was this possible? How could Insomnia be whole and untouched by the ravage of war and darkness? Where was Gladiolus, Prompto and Ignis? What happened when he blacked out?
So many questions and not a single one could be answer by his lonesome. It was frustrating to say the least, but at the same time he was no stranger to unanswered questions. He lived years without answers to the life before his memory loss. He managed then and he'll manage it not. There was no point in getting angry. He will just have to be patient and see where things go.
…Strange, didn't Ignis mention something about his patience being his greatest virtue?
By the time he caught up with Crowe, several platoons of Kingsglaive could be seen filing into transportation vehicles. He spotted a young Elea waving a hand at them to signal which vehicle they'd be taking before quickly running over and hopping in. He'll try to make sense of everything later. For now, it's best for him not to stand out too badly.
Author's notes: …I have never had a story change its main character and plot on me as many times as this one has on the first chapter. It started off with a foul-mouth female SI from the real world somehow taking over Noctis' body through playing the game… but then somehow it changed into a shy, timid male player character in Comrades, time-traveling into the past via Umbra.
On top of that, the timeframe went from 5 years before Noctis came back to a year after he died and the personality changed again from meek to calm and collected, which in turn changed the fighting style from defensive to supportive.
Timeline and personality-wise, this chapter was a nightmare to keep track of. Hopefully the future chapters will be easier now that Erebus' personality and timeline is more or less set, but just to clarify, I will put the ages of the characters for reference.
FFXV Comrades (Post 1-year):
Erebus Khaine: 41
Libertus Ostium: 43
Gladiolus Amicitia: 34
Ignis Scientia: 33
Prompto Argentum: 31
Umbra Past Insomnia (23 years ago):
Erebus Khaine: 18
Crowe Altius: 17
Gustco: 22
Regis Lucis Caelum: 38
Noctis Lucis Caelum: 8