Final Fantasy XV

Ebony and Fire

Chapter 1

My eyes flutter open to the sound of muffled arguing voices. I try to hone in but I can't make out the words. My vision is blurry at first, but then it starts to clear.

Where am I…

"Look, she's awake!" I try to sit up but something, a hand, pushes me back down by my shoulder. The hand moves from my shoulder to my forehead and seems to feel to see if I have a fever. The hand is cool to the touch and I close my eyes briefly as I welcome the cold. My body seems to be radiating with heat.

Ugh…I'm so warm…and I feel like I got hit by a bus…

"Can you hear me?" I open my eyes at the male British voice and look up. The hand disappears and I follow it next to me where a man is sitting. He seems to be in his twenties and is very lean. I look up toward his face and notice his glasses as they refract the light. I nod at him as the glare disappears to reveal two piercing emerald eyes. My breath catches slightly; I've never seen eyes like these. They seem to pierce my very soul, but in a way…they make me feel comfortable…warm. My heart quickens slightly and I can feel my face heat up. I peel myself away from his eyes and take in the rest of him. His hair is tawny, but styled upward; though it doesn't stick directly up. It's just…slicked back…it's…hard to explain, but it looks good on him. Makes me wonder how it would look if it was down…He's dressed in a purpleish-black leopard print button up shirt that's rolled up to his elbows. Through the collar I can spy a small black skull necklace. Well that's odd, that doesn't really fit with what I'm seeing. I wonder if it was a gift…He looks at me for a second and then sighs as he pulls a black and silver glove over his hand, it's now that I realize his other one had been gloved the entire time. It seems like he only took one off to feel for a fever. "You were out for quite some time you know, we were all getting rather worried."

We?

I pull the comforter up to my chin and look about the room. My eyes stop at the foot of the bed where a group of three boys are standing. Well, not boys they seem to be in their twenties. One boy; well, man, is taller than the other two by a lot and is jacked. His arms are folded and he's in a tank top. I can see his muscles rippling underneath it. There is a chain around his neck that falls to about his chest that connects with some sort of 'X' pendant. It almost reminds me of a rosary. Under the tank seems to be what looks like wing tattoos across his arms. I shudder at the thought of how much pain that must have been. Woah, ouch…My own tattoo was pretty painful and that is only about the size of my fist. I can't imagine something that big. I glance up to his face and he waves his hand gently, the hand he waves has a single glove on it, but it's not complete. It looks more like a brace of some sort…or a glove that's only purpose is to protect from calluses, it looks weird. I dig down a little more into the covers, nervous, as I meet his eyes. They're a golden brown and are as equally comforting as they are intimidating. Like I wouldn't wanna piss him off because he could destroy me… He also has a scar that runs across the one that's my right. I cringe again. Damn…how did that happen? His hair is slicked back, but it's longer than the man to my left's and he seems to have shaved the sides by his ears. He has a bit of a beard as well, but when I look at it I meet his eyes on accident and shift briskly to the next boy.

The boy in the middle is standing with his weight on one foot; his hands are in front of him and are resting lightly on his white belt. He glances from the ceiling down to me and meets my eyes. My breath catches slightly at I see at how blue his eyes are. So pretty... His features get softer as his mouth peels up into a smile. His smile makes me less nervous and I come out of the blanket a bit. As the light catches his face freckles appear , giving him a sort of cute young look. His hair is blonde and seems to stick up on one side like he went to bed with his hair wet, it makes me smile back. I look him up and down and take in his sense of style. His shirt is black but seems to have a white or silver maze pattern that goes through it. He has a bandanna on his right arm, my left, and his hands are covered by black gloves and a few bracelets. His hands are still resting on his white belt that's looped through black-no I think that's actually leopard print skinny jeans. I look back up to his eyes, seeing as how the end of the bed keeps me from seeing what he has on his feet. His smile fades slightly as a sadness shoots through him, but it's gone just as fast as it came and I can only imagine that it was because of how messed up I must look…

My eyes shift to the boy next to the blonde; this boy has blackish-blue hair that seems to be spiked in the back, and is dressed in all black. Our eyes meet and my heart aches, his eyes are so blue and…they look so sad…so…depressed, so tired. I know that feeling; where something is weighing down on you so much that you're just exhausted and it shows in every aspect of your being…The boy frowns slightly, like he's wondering why I'm staring at him, so I drop his eyes. His black attire seems to be a long sort of short sleeved jacket that reaches down past my view, a t-shirt with a skull pattern around the neck, and pants that seem to be like lounge-ish low-crotch pants…it's hard to actually tell what they are. He folds his arms and shifts his weight to one foot, I notice that one of his hands has a glove that reaches to mid-forearm, it looks padded and the fingers are cut off. Is it for blocking?

I continue to look around the room; I seem to be in some sort of hotel room. Okay that's weird…and super not comforting…I don't even know where I am, or even where here is! A familiar feeling grips my chest and it gets harder to breathe.

"How is she doin' Iggy?" The brown haired mountain of a man addresses the man next to me in a sort of gruff voice.

Iggy? Is that seriously his name? That doesn't fit at all…maybe his name is really Ignatius…I guess in that scenario I'd call him Iggy too…

"I'm not quite sure…but she has obviously regained consciousness and her fever seems to have broken, so that is good news. Other than that I don't feel comfortable examining her until She gets here…"

She? That's awfully vague…I wonder who it is.

"Can she talk?" The voice seems to come from the black haired boy; I look at him then to 'Iggy.'

Iggy looks at me puzzled and then to the black haired boy and back. "I'm not sure. Can you say anything, dear?" I look up and into his emerald eyes.

What do they want me to say? Yes, I can talk, but where the fuck am I? It would be nice to know that…

"What's your name?" The black haired boy seems to be slightly agitated now. What did I do? "Where did you come from?" My brain tries to find the answers but there is some sort of block, everything is…fuzzy.

I…can't remember…how did I get here? I can't even remember what I was doing…The harder I try to remember the harder it gets to breathe and the bigger that tightness in my chest gets.

"Dude, chill, let her answer one question at a time." The voice seems to come from blondie, but I can't focus, I can't breathe.

Where am I? How did I get here? Where is home? Can I even get home? Who are these men? Have they done anything to me while I was unconscious? What will they do once I want to leave? Will they say that because they took care of me that I'm in their debt…where am I?

The questions pile up and up and the noise of the men talking draws further and further away until it's nothing but muffled voices. I sit up to try to be able to breathe easier, but I can't. I find myself leaning forward gripping my shirt as if it's choking me. I can't breathe. My vision blurs as tears form. No, not right now, this can't be happening. I can't fight it. I can't breathe.

"Ignis! Look!"

There seems to be shifting next to me and 'Ignis' kneels on the bed with one hand on my back and tries to look at me in the eyes for some sort of physical ailment, but I know he won't find one.

"What's wrong?" He seems to be nervous, but he's more concerned than anything else. I look at him through blurred vision as I gently begin to rock back and forth as my anxiety tears through me, ripping down all my protective walls so it can claw at my brain. My heart pounds in my chest as it tries to fight the monster gripping it. I have to say something; anything.

"I can't breathe." It all comes out as one word, but he seems to understand immediately as the tears fall to the comforter. He snaps his head to the other boys.

"Out now!"

I stare down at the blanket as they all seem to shuffle out and I hear the door close behind them. My sobs come in short bursts and it escalates until I feel like I'm screaming, but there is no sound. I try to calm myself, I try to focus on something and try to shut this down like I've done oh-so many times, but it's too late, the dam has burst and I have to ride it's wave until it's over. I feel the hands of 'Ignis' gently rub my back and he seems to have gathered what's happening.

"What do you want me to do?" His voice is calm and soothing, but it barely scratches the surface. My body is wracked with a monster that is eating away at my mind, destroying me from the inside, in times like these there are only two things that help; mind altering medication…and being held…

I don't think I can ask him to do that…but this needs to stop, nothing else is working. Can I even speak? My screams are so silent that I'm not sure my voice even works anymore…this fear of nothing, this anxiety has such a tight grip I don't think it will ever let go…All I want is to feel safe…to be held and told that it's okay. Please…just help me…

I feel pressure on my hand as he seems to take it in his and squeeze it lightly. I look up to him with tear filled eyes and as I try to hold everything in my lip quivers. I feel so helpless…I see that there is room in the way that he's sitting to just slide into an embrace. Ugh I don't want to do this…but I don't have a choice, my brain isn't capable of rational thought right now. Oh forgive me…

I pull my hand away from him and lean into his chest an place my head so I can hear his heartbeat and wrap my arms around his thin frame, he seems obviously surprised at first but then after a second I feel him softly place his hand on my back and he seems to hold me tightly as he rests his chin on my head. I feel like a child who has just woken up from a nightmare…

"Shhh, you're alright my dear, you're safe now. Nothing can harm you." His voice is soft and melodic; it hits a part in my brain that kick starts the recovery. His embrace is warm and it makes me feel safe as he holds me tight. I breathe him in with a breath and my nose is filled with a mix of coffee and cologne, whatever the cologne is, I like it and I'll have to see later what it is. The coffee smell however, I'm not too big of a fan of, but they blend alright.

I have no idea how long I sit there, wrapped in the arms of a stranger, but eventually my sobs quiet and I am able to quell and shut down the monster in my head, and return it to its cage. My brain is muddled and I'm beyond exhausted, but I manage to let go of him and wipe my tears away.

"I'm sorry you had to see that…I'll be okay now…" My voice is quiet and tired.

"Are you sure you're alright?" He still seems wary and like he's worried I'll break again at any second. I sigh; I'm used to this reaction.

"Yeah…just tired is all…"

"Perhaps you should rest again…" I nod as he moves from the bed back to the chair to give me some room. I lay back down and onto my left side so I can continue to face him.

"I hope I didn't scare them…"

"They'll be fine. Does that happen often?" He seems concerned and leans forward and places his hand on my exposed one, as if still trying to comfort me. It works.

"More than I'd like to admit, yes." I pull the covers over my shoulders a bit more and get comfortable; I can feel myself sliding toward sleep.

"And do you normally deal with it yourself?"

"Sometimes…" I yawn.

"Well, I guess I'll let you get some rest." He goes to stand but I grab his wrist without thinking.

"Hey, um, I-actually I don't know what to call you." I think his name is Ignis, but I wanna make sure.

He looks down at me and smiles warmly. "Ignis Scientia is my name, but you may call me Ignis." I nod and drop his wrist. "Did you need anything else?" I snuggle back down.

I should probably warn him about what happens after…

"Yeah…normally I sleep for like four hours after this…so you might want to wake me up in two, just so I don't freak anyone out." He nods and chuckles a little but I'm not sure what's so funny.

"I understand. Get some rest, I'll come wake you later." I nod as he leaves the room.

I adjust in the bed until I find its maximum comfort spot and sigh. Well that was embarrassing…I hope I didn't freak anyone out. I'm not sure what triggered that one…maybe just that I still don't know where I am or how I got here…or how to get home…but I guess on the bright side I feel a bit safer knowing that there is someone like him in the group…someone who will comfort a complete stranger with no problem…

As I feel myself slip into the void of sleep one name floats through my thoughts. Ignis Scientia…