Chapter 2
They had put her in the tent, making her comfortable as she laid unconscious. As the best healer of the group, Ignis naturally volunteered to watch over her until she woke up. He had tried to read a book while waiting for her to regain consciousness, but he didn't seem to be able to concentrate, and found himself several times staring at the stranger. The brunette had long hair, pale skin, a cute round nose, and an air of sadness that clung to her even through sleep. He already knew that her bright blue eyes held a haunted and frightened look, that was the first thing he'd noticed when she'd bent over him to take one of his daggers as he was pinned to the ground. He couldn't help wondering what could have brought such despair to someone like her. He wasn't entirely sure why, but Ignis felt the urge to protect this woman from whatever made her feel that way. She didn't look like she was used to smiling, but he thought her smile must look gorgeous, and caught himself wanting her to smile for him. Was it because she had saved them all? Yes, it probably was the reason why. After all, even though they didn't know for sure how she'd come to them, without her intervention Noctis' quest would have met a premature end. Ignis felt incredibly guilty for not having seen that Deadeye was too much of a threat for them. It was his job as a strategist and royal advisor, and he had failed miserably. If not for the woman laying unconscious on the floor of the tent, they would all be dead.
He heard Prompto cry out in distress outside: he was probably losing at King's Night. Again. The young woman must have heard the blonde guy, because she started to stir. She fluttered her eyes open, looking peaceful and rested, when suddenly realization of her surroundings seemed to hit her. She gasped, and sat up quickly. Too quickly, by the way she paled even more, looking as if she was going to faint again. She threw frantic glances all around her, not understanding where she was.
"Please, calm down, Miss. You're safe here, the creature's dead".
She hadn't noticed Ignis at first, but the moment he spoke her gaze locked with his. He could see in her eyes she started to remember him, remember what had happened. She was breathing heavily, but the young man's calm demeanour seemed to soothe her. She didn't speak, but her breathing finally evened out. She closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, she had regained her composure.
"Sorry, she said. I was just… surprised."
"No need to apologise, miss…?"
"Lyne."
"Pleased to meet you, Lyne. My name is Ignis Scientia. How are you feeling?"
"Good… I suppose." She didn't look too sure of that though, given the way her fine eyebrows furrowed.
"Do you have any idea how you happened to find yourself in the middle of our fight with Deadeye?"
"What's Deadeye?"
"The behemoth you slew."
"The what?" She seemed completely at a loss as to what he was talking about. For a moment Ignis thought she'd hit her head harder than he'd realised at first, but then another idea crossed his mind.
"Are… you from Eos or do you come from some other place?"
"Well, since I have no idea what Eos is, I'd say I'm from somewhere else ? I come from, uh, planet Earth? A country named England."
The name didn't ring a bell for Ignis.
"So, you mean you have never heard of Eos, or the kingdom of Lucis?"
"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying."
To be honest, the young man was only half surprised. He had often heard scholars talk about other worlds and of the possibility to reach them, but had never thought much of it. Until that day. He wasn't sure what Noctis had done, but it was obvious he had summoned her from somewhere. A power nobody knew the line of Lucis had. For now though, that meant a lot of catching up to do, to explain to Lyne exactly what their world was.
"If you are feeling well enough to stand, why don't you join us outside, and my companions and I will fill you in as best as we can."
"Sure".
Once she had retrieved her shoes and jacket, Ignis helped her to stand and led her outside to the campfire, where the others were waiting.
Lyne was not very steady on her legs after the events of the day – there was also the fact that her last meal had been the day before, but she was used to that – so she felt grateful for Ignis' arm. He led her to a chair outside, and she felt very self-conscious while she seated herself, three pairs of eyes directed right at her. She'd always been a very shy person, and usually needed time to adjust to other people's presence, so she didn't exactly felt at ease, but she supposed it couldn't be helped. She didn't know who frightened her the most though: the huge man with his dark hair, scarred face and hazel eyes who looked like he might crush her with a mere hug, or the sulky raven-haired guy who'd asked for her help earlier but looked like he was going to tell her to fuck off right now. At least the blonde guy with the unkempt hair and blue eyes seemed friendly, and he was smiling broadly at her. Instead of staying with her, Ignis walked to the camping stove that was set up slightly apart from the fire. She couldn't tell why, but his presence felt reassuring. She wanted him to stay at her side while she faced the others' gaze, but she couldn't ask that aloud. Instead, she forced herself to look the three guys in the eye, and decided to give a try at talking.
"Hum… Hi?"
It seemed it was all the blonde guy had needed to start talking.
"Hi, I'm Prompto! This is Noctis here, and the big guy's named Gladio. What's your name?"
Lyne introduced herself, and the atmosphere started to lighten a little bit. As if they had expected her to act different. Maybe they were as frightened of her as she was frightened of them? After all, she still didn't know what had happened earlier and how she'd managed to wield lightning like that.
"It is just as we surmised. Lyne doesn't come from our world."
Lyne jumped. She hadn't heard Ignis come closer. She turned toward him a little, and noticed that he was standing just behind her, his gloved hands holding the back of her chair. It wasn't that the others posed a threat to her, but Ignis' calm and composed manners soothed her. As much as the others intimidated her, she was really curious as to where she was, so she figured she might as well force herself and be social.
"So, what is this place anyway?" She asked, looking at the most friendly of them, aka Prompto. The young men looked at each other in turns, wondering where to begin. Then Noctis, the blackhaired sulky guy, opened his mouth for the first time since she'd woken up.
"Well…"
Ignis had prepared one of the most delicious meals she had ever eaten. She wasn't particularly fond of gourmet food, and as she generally lacked the apetite, eating was just about getting something in her stomach so as not to faint, most of the time. But with the young men telling stories of their world, she felt good for the first time in ages, and she had emptied her plate without even paying attention. Since the guys had only four chairs, Ignis was sitting next to her on the ground, and had outright refused to let Lyne give him back his usual seat ("You've had a tough day, you need to rest. The mere thought of depriving you of a much deserved rest appalls me", he'd said, and after such words, she'd felt she had no choice and complied). Nobody ever treated her like that, and that felt weird. But so good at the same time! The guys had thanked her for her intervention several times through their story. Especially Gladio, who was, as she'd learned, Noctis' sworn shield, and felt extremely guilty for letting his guard down and risking Noctis' life. After a while, he wasn't as frightening, and was even quite nice, his easy-going manner helping her to relax. As for Noctis, he was the young King of Lucis, and she found that so hard to believe, given the guy's careless demeanour. He acted like any other man of his age, and that was as weird as it was cool. He was supposed to save the world, nothing less, but acted as if it was no big deal.
The world they described to her seemed fabulous as well as extremely dangerous, and Lyne was eager to explore it and see how different it was from her own.
"So, Lyne, we told you about our world, but you've barely told us anything about you", said Prompto.
So there it was. She'd spent nearly a day without thinking of where she came from, but now was the time to remember. What was she going to tell them? I live a miserable life in a world without magic, I'm married to a man I don't love anymore, and I have nothing worth living for? She lowered her head and looked at her hands, thinking about how to tell them without sounding like a crybaby. That's when she saw that she wasn't wearing her wedding ring. Of course, it was still on her desk, where she'd put it to deal with her files and her cramped cabinet! Which meant… That she was free. Free from him, free from her problems. This was her chance at starting anew, then and there she could be anyone she wanted. Even if it was for a day. She didn't even think twice before talking.
"Oh you know, there's nothing special to say about me, I'm a young woman from a world where magic doesn't exist, at least not like in your world, I'm a nobody living a small life" she said with a smile. Just like that, half of her life vanished from existence, and she felt the weight on her shoulders lighten. They had questions about her world of course, but nothing too personal, and she was glad to answer them.
"So, said Ignis after the flow of questions had ran out, you mean to say that in your world you have never used the power of lightning as you did today?"
"No, never. To tell you the truth I'm not even sure it was me this morning. When I saw that… beast, that behemoth facing me, instead of giving in to fear, some kind of presence took hold of me, and moved and talked through me. I can't see why or how I could have known how to do such things, really."
"Well, I propose we let the mystery rest for the time being, and we will see if we can glean information about it along the way."
It had been decided, much to Lyne's delight, that she would stay with the group for now, as Noctis had no idea how to send her back to her world. And since it was the last thing she wanted, the young woman was very much content of the guys' proposition to keep her with them. Something worried her nonetheless, and she decided to express her fears to the guys instead of keeping her feelings to herself.
"But what will I do if a fight occurs? I have no weapon, and I'm not sure I'll be able to use lightning again…"
"Don't worry, Gladio answered, we'll protect you. Why wouldn't you deal with curatives until we get to find you a proper weapon and give you some training?"
"Yes, I guess I could try", she said hesitantly.
"I'm sure you will be a great help", Ignis said, giving her a reassuring smile.
That night, even though she slept in the same room as four guys, Lyne didn't feel awkward. They had pulled her out of her miserable life, they had taken care of her, and they were even willing to have her around a little more. She took the gratitude she felt with her to sleep, and for the first night in ages, she slept well.
