In a far away land, long ago, lived a King and his fair Queen. For many years they longed for a child, and their wish was granted. A child was born, and his name was Noctis. Noctis, a name that meant the night. Despite the name, he filled his parents with joy, and created a new hope and light for the kingdom. Days after his birth, the King invited people far and wide to join him and his wife in the celebration of the new prince.
The sun slowly rose over the plains and fields of the kingdom of Lucis - the new day would start. Gradually, people flooded the kingdom of Lucis, from royals to nobles to commoners, all whom brought their gifts to the young prince. Different colors and cultures of the other kingdoms added varying shades and hues to the monochrome kingdom. Soon the gatekeepers blew their trumpets, signalling the beginning of the ceremony.
An announcer bellowed, "The royal Highnesses of Tenebrae - King Ravus and his younger sister, Princess Lunafreya Nox Fleuret!" Said king and princess arrived towards King Regis Lucis Caelum and his queen of Lucis, with Ravus and Lunafreya politely bowing. The original rulers had originally planned to form a friendship with the kingdom of light, but Etro had other plans for them, as Ravus and Lunafreya's mother and father passed away. The young man had to ascend the throne somewhat rather early in his life. But now that Noctis was born, Ravus, with the consent of his sister, proposed to the king that she be betrothed to the little prince so their kingdoms could be united. The queen guided the young blonde princess towards the cradle that housed little Noctis. As Lunafreya peered into the crib, she smiled a little as she saw him sleep peacefully covered in blankets.
The trumpets were blown once again, declaring yet another arrival of some rather important guests. But instead of coming from the grand entrance of the castle, three figures apparated from the ceiling, a gentle light enveloping them. The three figures slowly glided down until their feet touched the floor, "The Guardians that are bestowed by the Great Etro herself to the kingdom of Lucis."
Three men stood before the monarchs, and bowed as the announcer railed off their names: "Gladiolus Amicitia," a brown-haired, tall, broad-shouldered man who donned black; he looked as if he could fight a daemon with his bare hands. Two scars ran down his face - there was no doubt that he had his fair share of battles.
"Ignis Scientia," a man whose hair was lighter in comparison to his bulky companion's; his gloved hands adjusted the position of his glasses, and wore a rather elegant black suit.
"and Prompto Argentum!" a man who looked a bit younger than the former two; his face was covered in freckles, and he had light hair. He too wore black clothing, although his clothes seemed to be less formal in comparison; his smiled from ear to ear.
The three Guardians walked over to greet the small prince in his cradle, "Hey there little guy." Gladiolus was the first to speak.
"Aww," Prompto cooed, cupping his hands together and then giving the small baby a pat, "he's pretty cute lookin'. I kind of just want to poke his nose."
"You will do no such thing, Prompto." Ignis warned, pushed Prompto away from the crib lightly.
Gladiolus, "Iggy don't be so stuck-up, I'm sure the King will let us hold him, right?" He turned his head towards Regis's waiting for confirmation. He chuckled at the three, "Yes. Yes you may."
Prompto gently picked up the baby and held him as the other two surrounded him to get a good look. There was a tiny tuft of black hair that sprung from his head.
"Kid's going to do a good job, I just know it." the broad-shouldered man commented.
"Given that he takes the lessons seriously." Gladiolus and Prompto snickered a little, Ignis always seemed to be overly worried about the little details, but that is what made the other two adore him. Prompto put the small child back and quickly joined the other two as Ignis and Gladiolus briskly walked into front of the king and queen once again.
"Your Majesties," Ignis bowed once again, "Us three Guardians are allowed to give three gifts. One each, of course." Regis and his wife nodded in acknowledgement.
Gladiolus was up first, and approached the cradle once again, kneeling down and wearing a gentle smile on his face, "Young one, I grant you the gift of courage and strength - two attributes needed not only for a powerful king, but a proper king as well. He needs such courage to lead his people on justly." And with a flick of a wrist, a glittering sparkle fell on the young prince, sealing the gift.
The bespectacled man approached the little bed, kneeling beside the large man, "Dear prince, I bestow you the gift of perception and sympathy - a king needs to be able to understand his people, after all." Prompto snickered, it was just so Ignis.
Lastly, upbeat blonde approached the cradle, "Little dude" Ignis rolled his eyes at that, "my gift will be-"
But before Prompto could finish his sentence, wind howled and opened the grand doors with ease despite their size. Thunder bellowed, lightning shook the castle and mist covered the grand hall. The queen grasped onto her husband's arm, fearful.
As the mist settled, there stood a tall man with a cane, and a crimson colored bird swooped in and landed on his master's shoulder. He was covered in a long black robes that touched the floor, but seemed even longer as you could not see his feet. His robes was accented with peculiar patterns - one that looked like vines with thorns. They were colored with a mix of snowy white and deep crimson. On top of his robes, he bore a 'capelet' of black and grey feathers. He donned a black fedora-like hat, and his mahogany locks framed his face. A flash of malice was painted on his face.
"It's Ardyn!" the blonde gasped, his mouth making an 'o', "What in Etro's name does he want?"
"Hush!" Gladiolus quieted his companion, waving his hand.
"Why hello there, dear King Regis!" he feigned a bow and snickered, "It's such an honor to be here. It seems you've invited the whole lot!" His amber eyes narrowed, scanning the room, "You've invited the neighboring kingdom, nobles, the gentry, and," he faked a gasp, "even the Guardian faeries of Etro. How cute." He smiled sinisterly, and the king and his wife swallowed, looking grim, anticipating what Ardyn may say or do next.
"I was …. Rather devastated," his voice lulled, "when I found out I wasn't invited to the celebration. I mean, who wouldn't want to see the little brat?"
Regis frowned at the horrid comment, but Gladiolus fumed and pointed at him, "It's because you obviously weren't wanted!" Ignis and Prompto quickly held Gladiolus back before he could do anything reckless.
"I wasn't wanted? Oh my... I better be on my way then." He made an exaggerated sigh and turned around, heading for the exit.
"And you're not bothered by that, Your Excellency?" the queen questioned worriedly, as Ardyn turned his head and glared right back at the queen. He then turned his body fully as to face the coupled monarchs fully once again. A smirk was on his face, and Ignis's eyebrows furrowed, suspicious that nothing good would come next.
"Of course not, my dear Queen! If anything, I think it's only appropriate to give the little prince a gift." he said as he leaned forward, focusing on the baby. The three Guardians stanced themselves, ready to fight.
"Listen well, because I'm only going to say this once!" Ardyn boomed, stabbing the marbled floor with his cane. "The prince will grow up well, strong, healthy and intelligent. But before the sun sets in his eighteenth birthday, he'll prick his finger on a spinning wheel, and die!" He roared as everyone was visibly shocked.
"Seize the bastard!" Regis ordered, and with that his Kingsglaive knights rushed towards Ardyn.
"Idiots! As if I'd let you catch me!" Ardyn roared as black and white flames enveloped him. He cackled away as the vanished into thin air, leaving no trace of the discolored embers.
The three looked at the king and queen, who looked solemn and felt as though nothing could be helped.
"Your Majesties, if it helps, I still haven't given my gift yet." Prompto piped up, a slight optimistic lilt in his voice. The queen looked up and stared back at him, as if to say "Please."
"Can you lift the curse?" Regis asked sadly, but with a hint of hope.
Prompto frowned, "No not really. I'm not nearly as … experienced as Ignis and Gladiolus, and even then I don't think they could remove it entirely. But I can change the curse."
The forlorned king nodded, "Then my dear boy, do what you must." He gave the blonde Guardian a reassuring pat on his shoulder. "Do whatever you can. Anything to avoid a ... tragic death."
Ignis and Gladiolus pushed him towards the cradle, "Well, go on. You can do it."
Prompto knelt down besides the cradle once again, sweating. He hoped he didn't mess this up and accidentally do something worse. He wasn't nearly as proficient as Gladiolus or Ignis, since he was much newer in comparison to the two Guardians. He sighed, hoping that with his luck, he'd do some good.
"Little dude, even though this wicked man put your life in his hand, I hope that my gift will save you so that instead of death, you sleep. But do not worry, this curse has a key, and I make it so that the key to your awakening is a true love's kiss." And with a flick of a wrist, the gift was bestowed upon the young prince, forever destined to sleep if such consequences came around.
Although the deadlier part of the curse was removed, the grand hall of the castle held an aura of despair; No one could be sure that Prince Noctis would be safe.
On that night, King Regis ordered everyone in the kingdom to burn their spinning wheels, afraid for his son and did not want to take any risks. The only visible thing in the night was the enormous bonfire in a part of the kingdom where all of the wheels were burnt to a crisp. Back in the castle, three men were in a room thinking.
Ignis walked back and forth, contemplating on how to stop Ardyn's curse from happening. "What riff raff!" he exclaimed, hitting the wall beside him, startling Prompto a bit as he clung onto Gladiolus's arm.
Prompto, "We stopped it as best as we could, Iggy. Besides, Ardyn's way more experienced in magic, of course he'd make it irreversible."
"But we could always do better," Gladiolus grimaced, "it would've been better if he just didn't show up at all."
"Well no duh!" the freckled blonde retorted, giving his buff friend a light smack on the arm.
"There must be some way we could avoid it from happening at all." Ignis paced back and forth, his hand on his chin and deep in thought. An idea sparked in his brain, and he snapped his fingers, "I've got it."
"Well how about that? What's the plan Ignis?" the brawny man smirked.
"We'll just- Wait." Ignis paused, looking around him, "We should do this in private, make sure absolutely no one hears us." Prompto gave him a confused look, but the brown-haired man beckoned, "This way." And with the power of his magic bracelet, he was gone - except he wasn't and instead he became the size of a fly, and flew over to an ornate decoration that looked like it could house a private conversation. Prompto turned to Gladiolus, as if to say "I'm supposed to do that?" Gladiolus nodded in response, and copied Ignis's actions, and headed towards the ornament. Prompto shrugged and followed suit as well.
Once all three of them were in, Gladiolus shut the ornament's 'door'. Ignis waited, and then proceeded to speak, "It's rather simple. We just have to whisk Noctis away. Ardyn already knows that Noctis is living in the castle, and he probably assumes he'll be there his entire life. But what if we took him away and lived with him somewhere rural, where no one could see? We'd have to explain this to Regis of course and…"
"So we would live with him?" Gladiolus questioned. Ignis nodded, "Precisely. We will pretend we're his adopted family."
"And what about us?" Prompto said, "Do we really just pretend to be this kid's family for eighteen years and after that's over we go to him and say 'Noctis, your entire life is a lie! We're not your family! You're actually a prince!?'"
Ignis sighed, "Well, when you put it like that…"
"I think it's a great idea," Gladiolus said as he put his hand reassuringly on Ignis's shoulder, "It might be silly, but he's less likely to encounter Ardyn if we shield him away. And when the time comes, we'll just drop the news as gently as possible."
"Indeed, just as Gladiolus said. But with that in mind," the light brown-haired Guardian started, "We too will need disguises." Ignis waved his hands and worked his magic; In an instant, the three were wearing different clothes.
Gladiolus donned a leather jacket with a black tank top, and dark-colored jeans. Ignis's outfit did not look too different, but he wore a white dress shirt with a pair of slacks with suspenders. He still kept the dress shoes on, however. Prompto wore casual baggy pants with plenty of pockets, and wore a red tank top with a fashionable vest.
"Sick." Prompto commented, clearly pleased with the wardrobe change.
"And with our clothes changed, we need to make an adjustment to our lifestyles as well." Ignis put out his hand. "Put them here."
"Put what there?" Prompto questioned. "The bracelets you dope." Gladiolus smiled as his took off his bracelet without worry, "We probably shouldn't use magic while we live with Noctis. It'll make it easier for Ardyn to locate us if we kept using magic."
Prompto stuttered, "B-b-but I've never learned how to live without magic," keeping his bracelet hand hidden, "and you guy don't know how to either!"
"Well we can start learning now." Ignis replied as he tried to reach for Prompto's bracelet.
Prompto shook his head as he ran around trying to avoid Ignis. The bespectacled man sighed, Prompto could act like such a child. He pinched the bridge of his nose, "Gladio, would you mind…?"
Gladiolus responded by picking up Prompto and putting him over his shoulder firefighter-style as Ignis took the bracelet.
He shoved the magic bracelets into one of his pockets and said, "Now we must tell the king and queen."
The three left the ornament 'house' and returned to normal size, quickly looking for the king and queen.
Deep into the night, three hooded figures departed the kingdom of Lucis. The trio had received permission from Regis to take away Noctis so they could keep him safe. He and his wife watched with a heavy heart as the three Guardians left the courtyard. He would miss so much of Noctis's life. But Regis knew this was a better option; it was better to never see his son in eighteen years than for him to be subjected to potential torment and curses. Nonetheless he still shed a few tears.