Under the looming grey clouds was a desolate kingdom, its buildings destroyed and its people scattered to the winds. Most never returned, most roamed through its streets before being cast out by the daemons that crawled its way to the surface. In the center was the citadel, and inside sat a prince.
Noctis Lucis Caelum was sleeping on his throne. Elbow on the arm wrist, and the side of his head cupped in his hand. Even how much he slept, his eyes were always burning with the need to sleep, the bags beneath his eyes spoke his desire to close himself away. Whenever he woke up, he felt the pain of guilt weighing him down, and the smallest thing would draw anger out.
His loyal advisor and close friend, Ignis Scientia came rushing into the room. "Noct. Noct." His hands grasping onto Noctis and shaking him.
Noctis woke with a start, his gaze narrowed at Ignis who saw his rage but ignored it. "What?" he asked, pushing Ignis's hands away from him.
"The sky outside...the clouds, they're parting," Ignis said.
Noctis stood and walked out of the room with Ignis close behind. He thought of the Astrals, but they haven't bothered him for some time. He was alive, ruling over his kingdom, he figured they were happy about that, even though the people have left. Noctis didn't like to think about it, so instead he focused on what was going on outside.
Once on the front cement steps, he looked up, the wind outside was cold against his skin, but the clouds were in a circle and there was a light shining in the center. A beam of light shot through to the ground and the cement itself cracked as the light faded and a woman with rose colored hair stood. She straightened, and her eyes fell on him and they held nothing within.
He walked down the remaining steps and was about to raise his hand to summon his engine blade when she did the same, but this time feathers came out and in its place was a sword.
"Raise your weapon at me," she began, walking over to him, her eyes set into a stony gaze, "and you won't survive the fight."
His fingers curled and he dropped his hand to his side. "Who are you?" he asked, noting the silver armour that adorned her body, and the white feathers hanging from her left hip. Above, the clouds began to merge once more, darkening the area around them.
She stopped, "My name is Lightning, and I come from the Unseen Realm in courtesy of the Goddess Etro."
His lips parted, unsure if he wanted to believe her, but she was otherworldly, he can feel the shift in the air the moment she planted her feet on the ground.
"You're a Valkyrie?" he asked her, knowing the legends of such beings, but he wasn't sure if they were myth, but he can tell there is some semblance of truth in those faraway stories.
Her expression didn't change when she said, "Knight."
"What do you want?"
"What do I want doesn't matter," she said, her fingers tightening on the handle of her blade, "but what the Goddess Etro wants, and that is your death." She moved so quickly that he didn't see her until the second he summoned his blade and parried her attack, pushing her back, he stumbled, but she didn't look shaken nor surprised. She raised her blade again, and he attacked back, barely matching her in speed, her blade cut his arm, a long slash made him cry out before he warped backwards.
His blade disappeared as his hand came down to his arm where the blood was. He heard Ignis call for him, but he waved for him to stop. He couldn't let Ignis interfere with this fight.
"Why does she want me dead?" he asked, panting low, blood squeezed through his fingers and the pain was sharp, making him clench his teeth.
Lightning didn't look in the least winded than he did. She straightened, her hand still on her blade, and her face neutral. "For what you've done."
What he did? "I saved everyone."
For the first time since meeting Lightning, she finally cracked a smile, one that was amused, as if he said a joke. "You call this saved?" she asked, "all I see are empty streets and an eternal night."
The guilt returned, the one that weighed him down and made him desire sleep. Right now he wanted to fall asleep, to ignore this woman and anyone else, to fade away from consciousness. "They have their dawn."
"You're a king without a kingdom," she said, shaking her head, "the Goddess Etro sees your impudence."
"I saved their lives," he said, gritting his teeth, the pain growing inside of him, "Ardyn was going to kill them and I saved them, I gave them their world."
"In exchange for what?" Lightning asked, raising her chin, "to fear you, a power hungry king with no respect for his citizens. You destroyed all your adversaries when in truth they were trying to stop you from becoming this." She extended her hands, gesturing at the world around them. "There is no respect for what you've done, Etro sees it, and I see it. You're the one blinded by it. Even your friend fears you, loyalty goes a long way, but sooner or later he'll realize the truth—"
Noctis didn't want to hear it anymore, he summoned his weapon and he threw it at her, hoping that it would hit her, but she raised her blade and slashed at the weapon. It faded before it could clatter to the ground, and she began to walk toward him.
"You are crying out," Lightning said, her tone empty, "and Etro can hear you."
"If she does," Noctis said, stepping away from her, "why did she send you to kill me?"
"More like teach you a lesson, to show you that what you're doing is wrong, that you have to choose a different path than the one you are on. If you don't you'll forever be in darkness," she stopped on the staircase, "and even sleep won't help you."
He shivered at her words, but he summoned his blade and attacked her out of rage, out of desperation that clung to his guilt, to the thoughts in his mind that wanted more than this. And in some way, he hoped this woman, this Knight of Etro, would kill him.
She attacked as if she was swatting a fly, there was no exhaustion in her body, no struggle on her face. She hit him with a stronger impact and he stumbled back, this time missing a staircase and falling down. Her blade went to his neck, chin tilted up as he glared at her.
"Noct," Ignis yelled.
"No," Noctis said, not looking at his friend, "stay back."
"I can see what's in your heart," Lightning said, her voice almost soothing, "I can see what you're thinking, what you're feeling, and you want me to kill you, to end your life for what you've done. Did Ardyn's death really traumatize you that much?"
"He deserved it," he spat. "He deserved to die for what he's done. He orchestrated the ruin of my kingdom, he killed my father, he killed my…" he couldn't even say her name after so long, her face flashed in his mind, blonde hair tied up and her smile warm, but that thing he saw of her was her body prone on the ground with blood coming from her side. "She's dead because of him," he whispered, sucking in a trembling breath, "Luna's dead."
"I know," Lightning said after a moment, "I know what happened."
"So you know that he deserved it," Noctis said, he knew he sounded off, maybe even a little insane, "I drew my sword and I fought him, stabbing him in the chest and ended his life."
"At the cost of your own." It almost seemed like a question, her head tilted to the side, her brows furrowed as if she were seeing inside of him, she probably was. "He has destroyed you even after death."
"What is this?" he asked her, incredulous, "an intervention."
She gave him a smile, and stepped back, "From what I can tell, you need one." He didn't know if she was joking, but she was no longer attacking him and her gaze went to Ignis, a prime moment to attack her, but he figured she knew that. Instead he didn't, he righted himself on the staircase and covered his face with his hands, fingers rubbing over his eyes to chase sleep away.
"Are you still going to kill me?" he asked her.
"You're already dead inside," she said, looking off at the horizon, "I'm sure Etro knew that, but she wanted to make sure her prince was alright."
"She cares?" he asked her, he wasn't really sure about that.
Lightning looked at him and her face betrayed nothing. "She always has. Not in ways people think, but sending me is her way of caring."
"By fighting me?"
"It wasn't much of a fight," she said, her blade was gone and she crossed her arms, "or you would be dead by now, ending the Lucis line. I'm sure the citizens would be glad their tyrannical king fell mysteriously."
Noctis sighed, he looked to Ignis and waved him over. "I don't know what to do."
"First, maybe send the eternal night away, I'm sure people want their kingdom under the sun, and not under stars for the rest of their lives," Lightning said, wryly.
Ignis sat beside him, his gaze going to Lightning and back at Noctis and his bleeding arm. "Always pushing yourself," he mumbled.
Noctis let Ignis bandage him up. "I don't know if I could do that."
Lightning turned her head and looked at him, "It'll take time to rebuild your kingdom, and longer for the people to accept you as their king."
"Why did Etro send you?" he asked after a moment.
She looked away, "Like I said, she wanted me to kill you."
"But you're not."
"No, I'm not," she sighed, "because I see something in you, and I'm sure Etro feels the same way. You did save your people, but you also isolated yourself. You did things in the wrong way, even how right they seem. Your world is gone, ruined upon, from a man who wanted you dead, and will you live with that legacy or will you grow from it?"
He didn't want to live with Ardyn's legacy, not with the pain and guilt that burned him from within. He still shuddered at the thought of killing Ardyn, of when his blade cut through his body and Ardyn fell to the ground, looking at the dark sky, rain falling upon him. Noctis didn't feel guilt, nor any rage for what Ardyn had done in that moment, what he felt was melancholy that ached in his bones.
Lightning began to walk down the steps, she looked back at them, a smile on her face, "If you don't change your kingdom, I will come back and end your line."
Noctis felt a shudder run down his spine, he knew she was telling the truth, that her threat was prominent in her gaze. She raised her chin and a light surrounded her before she disappeared, the wind blew white feathers towards them, and Noctis caught one between his fingers.
"Do you think they'll forgive me?" he asked, looking down at the feather.
"They will," Ignis said, "and it might take time, like she said, it's not going to happen overnight."
"I wonder what the others are doing," Noctis mused.
"I'm sure Prompto and Gladiolus are alright, rebuilding Lestallum and the other towns is hard work."
"We should go help them."
"And of the sky?" Ignis asked.
Noctis looked up and smiled, "It'll clear, eventually."