And so we continue where we left off with Serah now conversing with the Chocobros! XIII meets XV! How cool is that?!
Ahem... but in all seriousness, ENJOY THE CHAPTER!
Noctis' head rang with the name 'Sephiroth' as the next thirty minutes went by.
After Ignis' diagnosis that the girl had suffered minor injuries (despite the huge crash), the four took her back to their hotel in Altissia, all at the same time as Gladiolus and Prompto attempted to herd away the crowd that was following them close at heels.
And while all the signs suggested that the Empire had not taken notice of what had taken place, Noctis was still wary. They could be lying in wait for all intents and purposes, probably seizing the chance to ambush their hotel room and apprehend this girl who called herself Serah.
Or if they preferred the more tortuous route, they could send in either Ravus to taunt the Prince some more into submission, or Ardyn to annoy them into becoming distracted, or both.
Either way, Serah was Noctis' main focus at the moment.
Her little stunt from the sky was suffice enough to put on hold his plans for the Leviathan. But considering that the beast would rise from the waters of Altissia tomorrow, he would need to make this one short and sweet.
"Please, I swear to all of you! I'm telling you the truth!" Serah's voice implored from behind him.
From his place at the balcony overlooking Altissia, Noctis turned back around to observe her in the midst of a conversation with his other three friends.
Ignis, as skeptical as always, stated, "I must voice my opinion, however grounded to realism as it seems, that it is ridiculous to suggest that you landed here from thousands of light years away. Do you even have any proof of this "Sephiroth" character?"
"We don't have time for a heated debate!" Serah snapped back, her desperation was mounting with every passing second, "Sephiroth is a power-hungry psychopath! He invades worlds, slaughters innocents and harvests their souls! No one is left spared by his incursion!"
Gladiolus raised an eyebrow.
"So he's like what? Devourer of Worlds or somethin'?"
Serah nodded her head in his direction.
"Yes, exactly! I don't what his true goal is... but I know that it involves something that Sephiroth describes as the "Promised Land"."
She paused for a moment to get another question from the four, but there was only silence. She took it as a prompt to continue on.
"I don't know what that land is, or why he's working towards that goal..." she continued, "But I do know that before that happens, countless more planets will fall prey to his wrath."
She let out a shaky deep breath.
"... Which brings me to your people."
Noctis raised an eyebrow as he slowly sauntered away from the balcony towards the others.
Serah closed her eyes tightly, and took in a huge deep breath of air to steel herself for the dramatic moment.
"Sephiroth has chosen your world as his next target."
At this, Prompto and Gladiolus became horrified, Ignis maintained his doubtful stare but had this time had an eyebrow raised, and Noctis narrowed his eyes in grimness at her revelation.
"Then that means..." Prompto muttered softly, his voice suggesting he was not willing to believe what he was being told.
Serah nodded her head.
"Your people are running on a time limit. If you're not prepared, once Sephiroth arrives... it'll be all over quickly."
Her bone-chilling warning hung over the four men as they glanced at one another with uncomfortable silence.
After a moment or two, Noctis glanced at Serah and requested, "Could you... excuse us for a few minutes?"
Serah with widened eyes, opened her mouth to protest but the Prince had already turned his attention away from her.
"Guys. Bedroom. Now." Noctis ordered in a grim tone and brisked away.
His three comrades quickly followed suit after the royal as they entered a bedroom and locked the door behind them, leaving behind Serah who unbeknownst to them was slowly becoming more distressed than ever.
And who could blame her considering that any precious time that was being wasted would bring them closer to Sephiroth's imminent arrival?
As Prompto sat down at the side of one of the two beds in the room, Noctis began to address them.
"Well guys... What do you make of what she's saying?"
Ignis stroked his chin.
"I still have my skepticisms with regards to this whole ordeal. But if what she is saying is true..."
"Then the Empire's no longer our biggest worry," Gladiolus finished off with a solemn shake of his head and a dark grunt, "Eos may be on the verge of an apocalypse from outer space."
"Yeah, like in those movies," Prompto chimed in, "Except that it's just one guy against an entire world of people."
"I would find that hilarious if it were true," Ignis remarked, "But from the way Serah was describing this Sephiroth, it would appear that he may be much more than just a mere extra-terrestrial invader."
Gladiolus hummed with folded arms.
"All that matters now, is that we have to warn every major city, ever major settlement in Eos of the bastard's coming. We have to at least defend ourselves when the time comes."
"Which leads us to our next problem," Ignis told him in a serious tone, "How in the world do we convince 4 billion people that someone from outer space is coming to destroy Eos?"
Gladiolus made a simple shrug and folded his arms.
"Well, considering that we're Prince Noctis' entourage, they'll probably believe us quickly."
Ignis frowned in bemusement.
"There are a hundred ways that I could describe just how dumb that idea is. Also, need I remind you that the whole world still believes that His Highness is dead?"
"Damn those Niffs..." Prompto grumbled and he stared hard at the floor, "Why do they always have to make things so complicated for us?"
As he left Gladiolus to dwell over his ideas, Ignis looked back to Noctis who was clearly trailed off into deep thought.
"Noct, you seemed to be troubled by Miss Farron's words," he commented with concern, "How would you want us to proceed?"
Noctis' eyes darted to his sworn adviser, and then chuckled lightly.
"I thought you were the one to give me all the advises."
"When it comes to royal matters, yes," Ignis replied back, "But this is an entirely different case altogether. Your bloodline is the only one that has the power to possibly save Eos from Sephiroth, you know?"
There was a sigh that sounded more like an unintended groan, and Noctis replied back, "Don't have to remind me all the time..."
Suddenly, there came loud banging from the door, which caused all four men to jump in surprise.
"Open this door! Now!" Serah's voice demanded from the other side.
Ignis took a step towards the door, "I don't suppose where you come from, you have learnt the rules of common courtesy?"
"I don't care!" Serah snapped back stubbornly, "Let me in! THIS INSTANT!"
Prompto, who was instantly frightened by her raised tone, meekly advised, "I'd think it best to indulge the lady..."
"YOUR FRIEND'S WISER THAN THE REST OF YOU!"
"... ... I feel happier now..." Prompto spoke up more beefily, which earned him an annoyed eye roll by Gladiolus.
Noctis and Ignis shared a stare at one another for a few seconds, and the former gave off a shrug.
"Let her in..." he grumbled reluctantly.
Ignis turned the knob on the door, and in the next second he founded himself squished between the wall and the door that Serah forcefully threw open. Storming right into the centre of the room, she confronted the wide-eyed men.
"You can take my word for it or not at all, but the fact remains that Sephiroth will be here to slaughter ever single person on this planet!" she snapped at them angrily, unhappy that the dire situation was not being taken with extreme seriousness.
"There's no more time for discussions or debates! We have to act NOW! Otherwise, we'll be letting the inevitable happen sooner rather than later!"
With her hands at her hips, she began inspecting Prompto and then Gladiolus as though she were a security officer or a prison guard.
Prompto let out a small nervous wave of his hand as her eyes travelled the length of his body.
When she began scanning Gladiolus, the big man was doing his best not to feel intimidated. Noctis could almost make out the fear in his eyes. It was almost as if Gladiolus was feeling miniscule compared to this girl who had a seemingly powerful presence.
Finally, she turned her attention to Noctis, and for a moment Noctis thought that he was having an intense stare down with her. But a few seconds in, and his guard quickly disintegrated under her hardened gaze.
What was the deal with Serah anyway? She was scaring the bejesus out of all of them more than her mentioning of Sephiroth!
As soon as her inspection was complete, she asked out loud, "Who among you four is the leader?"
Slowly, Prompto started to raise his hand in a dramatic fashion, and all eyes were turned to him.
And then he gestured to Noctis in with a circular swirl.
Noctis narrowed his eyes at him and mumbled, "Way to throw me under the–"
He never got to finish it, for Serah was suddenly dragging him by his arm back out to into the living room. Before his friends could even react, she slammed the door shut on all of them. A few seconds later, and Ignis muttered, "I think my spectacles are broken..."
She shoved Noctis onto the comfy couch, and she rounded on him before he could even comprehend his situation.
Noctis glowered at Serah with a wary glare.
"Y'know... something tells me that the biggest threat's standing right in front of me,"
Serah reciprocated his expression with a scowl of her own.
"... Compliment taken."
Noctis maintained his glare for a couple more moments before he let out a sigh. His features softened in exhaustion and he raised up his arms in defeat.
"Alright, I give..." he muttered, but then he inquired sceptically, "But seriously though, even if we could mobilise the entire world to prep for Sephiroth, how are we supposed to beat him? You said it yourself – he destroys entire civilizations across the universe."
Serah folded her arms.
"You're the ring leader around here. You tell me."
Dumbfounded, Noctis sighed with a shake of his head.
"Man… the guys are doing me a REAL solid here…" he thought to himself.
He looked Serah directly in the eyes and told her clearly and evenly, "Look, I still haven't the faintest idea of what Sephiroth is truly capable of. If we go in blind on this and just throw in everything we've got, we'd probably end up on the death row quicker rather than later. And that's assuming all the other worlds had all done the same thing."
He slowly got to his feet, and Serah was thankfully backing away a little as he did so.
"We'd have to approach this threat from a different angle. Do it in a way that gives us an edge over whatever Sephiroth's cooked up for us," he added in seriously.
Serah nodded at his suggestion.
"That's a good strategy. Not attacking head-on. That wasn't so hard was it?"
Noctis sent a small glare her way, to which she ignored.
"So do you guys have an army?" Serah asked.
Noctis shrugged a little.
"Well… the only army that's encompassing the entire world now… is the Niflheim Empire. They've probably got tons of equipment and rare resources we'll need to fend off Sephiroth."
Serah brightened a little upon hearing this.
"Great! Then let's go make contact with them!" she exclaimed and hurried towards the door.
The faster they could get in contact with this world's Empire, the better. They would need all the help they could get against the coming danger.
But just as she was within arm's reach of the knob, Noctis suddenly appeared in front of her in a flash of fiery blue sparks, and with a surprised yelp she came to a halt before she could bump into him.
"With one complication," Noctis added in as he willed away his sword, "The Niffs are our enemies."
Serah raised an eyebrow.
"Enemies?"
Nodding his head, Noctis strode along towards the centre of the room.
"It's a complicated story…" he explained, "It goes way back across many generations in my family."
He sat down on the couch, and Serah joined him shortly after.
Noticing the silent curious look she was giving him, he opted to continue.
"For about two thousand years, the royal family of Lucis has been at odds with the royal family of Niflheim. While my family wanted diversity amongst the people, Niflheim favoured the unity of the world under their banner. As you can imagine, both ideologies were the sole drivers of our conflict."
"You're a royal?" Serah asked quizzically.
Glancing a saddened look at her, Noctis hummed back.
"Yeah… big shocker huh?"
"Oh uh, o-of course not!" Serah stuttered out nervously, terrified that she had been threatening a member of a royal family, "I-I mean, I knew it the first moment I saw y-you and…"
Her rambling was cut off by a bit of light-heartened chuckle coming from Noctis.
"It's quite alright," he assured her with a small wave of his hand, "Most of Eos barely even acknowledges my existence as the Prince of Lucis anyway."
And then his expression became crestfallen, as dark memories played out in his mind again.
But Serah barely noticed it as she asked, "But if you are a prince… then why are you all the way out here?"
Noctis visibly flinched uncomfortably.
"That's… a long story too…"
Serah was finally able to pick up on the saddened look, and she realised that she may have pried too deep into his personal space. Feeling ashamed, she decided to back off quickly.
"S-Sorry… I shouldn't have pressed you that far for your story," she apologised genuinely, "If it's something painful that you don't wish to recall, I can understand and respect your boundaries."
Meanwhile from the bedroom, the other trio was overhearing their conversation, with Ignis being the main conveyer.
"Well, what's up with 'em both Iggy?" Prompto asked as he and Gladiolus stared at their bespectacled friend with anticipation. Currently they were betting on how the interaction with Serah was going for Noctis.
Ignis with his ear pressed against the keyhole, replied back, "It appears that His Highness and Serah are warming up to one another."
Prompto grinned from ear to ear, "I knew it! They're gobsmacked for love!" He whirled on Gladiolus and outstretched an open palm, "Pay up!"
Gladiolus groaned in annoyed defeat and fished out 500 gil from his pocket.
He slammed the money right onto Prompto's hand, much harder than he intended.
The silence hanging over both Noctis and Serah was broken by the sound of a girlish shriek coming from the bedroom.
Noctis rolled his eyes and shook his head, "Give a break…"
"I don't suppose that those guys aren't just your regular friends?" Serah questioned with an amused smile, as her eyes trailed back to the bedroom door.
"Nah… they're my entourage," Noctis replied back, "The man with the glasses is Ignis – my adviser. The brawny asshole's Gladiolus – my sworn guardian."
"I HEARD THAT!" Gladiolus shouted back from the other end of the door.
"And the last one who you mentioned just now is Prompto," Noctis continued on, "He's my… you know, actually… he's just a friend from school that's accompanying me."
"Just a FRIEND?!" Prompto's voice cried out from the other end in annoyance.
Noctis sighed, "He's also a sharpshooter."
"Yeah! With the Golden Gun! And don't you forget it!" Prompto yelled boastfully.
Noctis turned back to Serah.
"With that said, you mind if they could come out now?"
Serah stared at the bedroom door for a while and then shrugged.
"Yeah, sure. Why not?"
With a nod, Noctis glanced at the door.
"Alright guys! You can come out now!"
In no time at all, the door opened, and Noctis' entourage re-entered the living room.
"Hoi! Ten thousand years will give you such a crick in the neck!" Prompto exclaimed out dramatically as he acted out as though his neck was really stiff.
"Oh really? Then how's about a little Gladio spa treatment?" Gladiolus offered with a teasing grin, "Free of charge."
He was already moving over to Prompto who quickly dropped his act once he stared at those big, grubby hands of his. Like a terrified mouse, he fled over to the balcony.
"On second thought, I think I'm feeling a lot better now..." he stated nervously.
With a shake of his head, Ignis focused his attention on Noctis and Serah.
"If I may direct His Highness from your conversation for a moment, Miss Farron?" Ignis spoke to Serah then turned to the Prince, "There's been an update on Altissia's news channel."
Noctis raised an eyebrow. Could it be about Serah's sudden appearance?
He was handed a smartphone from Ignis who furthered, "You might want to see this for yourself."
His eyes were fully directed on the contents of the news page, and Noctis remained silent as he browsed through the words and the sentences.
According to the headline of the article, it read "Leviathan Summoning Pushed Forward! Now Expected to Take Place Before Nightfall!"
Within mere seconds, he let out an irritated grunt and tossed the phone to onto the unoccupied seat of the couch beside him.
Gladiolus noticed his reaction and asked, "What's wrong, Noct?"
There was only silence from the Prince seeing as his eyes were transfixed on the floor.
In his stead, Ignis spoke for him, "It would appear that Miss Lunafreya is now going to call on the Hydraean earlier than anticipated."
Prompto became alarmed at his statement. "How earlier are we talking about?" he questioned anxiously.
"I would say before dusk settles in this evening," Ignis muttered with a serious frown, as Serah reached over Noctis to take the phone.
She glanced down at it and then at its owner for permission. The Prince's bespectacled advisor nodded his response, which immediately prompted Serah to begin reading the article as well.
Gladiolus who too was looking over the news on his phone, grumbled softly, "Looks like the Empire's suspecting something's up."
"Could it be about what happened earlier?" Prompto asked aloud to his friends, "With the whole "girl crash-landing into the ground" gig?"
He immediately caught the death glare of the person in question as she snapped at him, "This girl has ears, you know!"
"I highly doubt it, or else the Empire would've been searching for her by now," Ignis stated plainly as his stroked his chin like he normally did whenever he was in deep thought, "I suspect that the tremors earlier have led them to suspect otherwise that the Leviathan's waking up sooner than expected."
Gladiolus let out a scoff, "Really? And what were those nutjobs all doin' when Serah here made a lot of noise in her crash-landing? Afternoon break? Typical of 'em to come up with their own fantasies..."
"But would mean... Miss Luna's gonna be working overtime before the day's out," Prompto muttered out of realisation.
"And that leaves us with little time to plan now," Noctis suddenly proclaimed and immediately all eyes were turned to him.
Slowly, his head rose up and his narrowed eyes met the other pairs.
"One thing is for certain. If the Tide Mother's coming out tonight, then we have to move quickly," he told them, "The Empire is probably already prepared, but we aren't."
And then remembering the other issue sitting beside him, he turned to face her.
"I'm so sorry, Serah," he apologised truthfully, "But looks like my friends and I have to make this our top priority first. Sephiroth's gonna have to wait."
There was a look of hurt on Serah's face as he spoke out, and he could not help but feel a little guilty.
Here he was, shifting their situation to the more grounded one rather than the extra-terrestrial one, and now depending on how fast Sephiroth was travelling to Eos, he may very well have sealed the fate of his world.
But then he thought about Leviathan and Luna.
If Noctis had chosen to stick with the alternative, he would be forced to forsake his role in the Prophecy of the True King, risk losing the Mark of the Hydraean, and risk losing Luna should she decide to go all in during the chaos.
Coped with the direct threat of the Empire, that danger was more immediate compared to what was heading their way.
Just then, the sounds of loud sirens had suddenly begun blaring all across the city.
From his place at the balcony, Prompto gazed outside to see what was going on.
Gladiolus frowned a little once he heard the sirens. "Looks like actions are speaking for themselves now," he grumbled.
Ignis focused his attention on Prompto, anxious to get some information about the events transpiring outside. "Well Prompto?" he asked him.
Prompto continued staring out for a couple more seconds, then he turned around to face the others.
"There's so many things goin' on out there, but I'll be brief," Prompto responded as quickly as he could, "Altissia's given the order for a city-wide evacuation, and there're Niff ships heading straight for the bay as we speak."
"Nif ships?" Noctis questioned back and shot to his feet, "How many?" "I'd say armada-sized!" Prompto replied back with thrown up arms.
With pursed lips, Noctis muttered a curse under his breath and stormed all the way over to the balcony. Prompto quickly hopped out of the way of the Crown Prince and hurried back into the living room.
With hardened eyes, Noctis stared up and outwards at the late afternoon sky, where Niflheim airships were indeed heading off in a general direction – towards the bay. At ground level, he could see local guardsmen doing their best to escort panicking citizens away.
And with all of this in mind, Noctis knew that there was not much time left before catastrophe struck. He spun around to face his entourage.
"We gotta move. Now!" he stated and he marched straight for the door.
"So we stick to the agreement?" Ignis clarified, to which the Prince nodded back.
"Once the Hydraean wakes up, all hell is gonna break loose," Noctis stated, "Find whatever stragglers that are left and get them to safety!"
"Yes, Your Highness!" Gladiolus nodded his head.
Just as Noctis was about to open the front door, he heard Serah calling out, "Wait!"
Immediately reminded of the last occupant in the hotel room, Noctis looked back to see the pink-haired woman hanging just behind Gladiolus, a concerned look on her face.
"I understand that this threat seems dangerous," she said, "B-But is there anything that I could help out with?"
Noctis and his friends casted eyes at each other for a second, and then the former told her, "You can help my friends out with the evacuation. Ignis will run you through on the details."
It was to his surprise that Serah responded with, "Not what I've had in mind, Noctis."
The four men stared at her with surprised looks.
Serah fidgeted a little with a smile of awkwardness.
"I mean... don't take this the wrong way Your Highness, but your friends here have pretty much got the evacuation covered. They seem to be tough enough to watch each other's backs. And besides, I'm still technically foreign to your world. But you on the other hand?"
Almost immediately, Gladiolus, Ignis and Prompto glanced at one another and then turned to face Noctis, the logic dawning on them.
"Serah does make a valid point, Noct," Ignis mused with a stroke of his chin, "Without us, you're going to be facing the Hydraean. Alone. You're probably going to need some form of backup."
He then faced Serah again.
"I assume that by your logic, you are a fighter?"
Serah nodded her head.
"Yeah, I am. Although unfortunately, I lost my weapon sometime before Sephiroth..."
It just hurt her to reminisce the moment she parted ways with Mog. And now thanks to Sephiroth that she was not upon the New World, she may never get the chance to see him again.
But she forced herself not to show any emotion to the four men, especially since that there was a local threat that she was hell-bent on participating in. The least she could do to earn the trust of the locals was to at least safeguard their lives against this Tide Mother beast.
Noctis took notice of her trailing sentence however, but he chose not to press further into it, given their present situation.
At the same time he felt that temptation to tell her to join the evacuation instead. Fighting an Astral as tall as a mountain was no joke. But then Gladiolus would have chided him for wasting precious time.
Summoning a sword into his open hand, Noctis handed it over to Serah. "Here," he said, "Think you can use this?"
Serah inspected the material of the blade for a moment and performed a little waving trick as though she were play-acting a sword fight.
"Take good care of yourself out there," Noctis said with a look of amusement on his face, "Enhancer's attacks pack more than a punch."
Serah lowered her blade and nodded her response at the Prince.
With that settled, Noctis proclaimed, "Alright guys! Let's do this thing!"
He opened the door and raced out, with the others following close behind.
Lady Lunafreya was nearly beside herself when she got word that the time for the ritual of communion had been pushed to this evening. And while there was little that she could do to protest the Empire's decision, that did not stop her from speaking out against the sudden move.
Apparently, it was all due in-part to the tremor that rocked Altissia earlier.
The Empire was more than likely spooked that the Leviathan may waking up sooner than expected. Heck, she could even see the fear in the eyes of her brother Ravus when he told her of the news.
Of course, her questioning of a decision of the Empire led to more rifles being trained on her, and by that point she was hardly fazed anymore.
After years of having to be challenged by a higher military power, Lunafreya had come to grips with withstanding intimidation and fear-driven tactics.
Although her brother Ravus had ensured less security around her as time went on, she was no less wary about what the Empire wanted to use her for.
They had used her role in the True King Prophecy to their advantage.
When she summoned the Archaean, the Empire turned their weapons on him and made a large target practise out of him – they took credit for his supposed fall later on.
And now they were going to do it again with the Hydraean, with the destruction of the city of Altissia being the consolation prize.
It was times like these that she wished that the Empire had not existed at all, that they strove for more peaceful times than chaotic times.
Yet here she was, walking at a snail's pace towards the altar overlooking the bay.
All around her, battleships were hovering in the evening sky in encirclement around the bay – their cannons all being trained at the water surface. Behind her was a legion of soldiers that were training their guns at her back, ensuring that she did as she was told.
With the Trident being tightly gripped in her sweaty palms, Lunafreya's eyes remained fixed at the altar, at the stage where history would play out.
Yet as she continued to close the distance with her destiny, she could not help but feel a twinge of nervousness ebbing away at her thoughts.
Unlike Titan and Ramuh, Leviathan was said to have a harboured hatred against mankind.
Her rage was so powerful, it could power a megatsunami capable of sinking an entire continent. Within just an hour, about half of humanity would be dead in an instant.
If that rage was stoked during the ritual, Lunafreya was more than willing to give up her own life to satiate the beast.
Her main concern was Altissia and the surrounding regions of Accordo.
She had been praying for days that everyone in the nation would be spared of the Hydraean's wrath by the time Noctis had forged a covenant with her.
Speaking of whom, Lunafreya was wondering where the True King was at the moment.
Surely, he must have been spurred into action once the news broke out about the ritual?
She was hopeful that he was already here in Altissia, else Accordo is set for a permanent dip under the sea.
With her first steps, Lunafreya sets foot at the very edge of the altar, and from there she scanned the calm waters of the bay.
As if on cue, the battleships casted down searchlights onto her, as though Lunafreya was preparing to give a live concert performance in front of a crowd.
She was going to give a live performance alright, but unfortunately her main audience was going to be the Tide Mother, and the Empire.
Slowly, she took in calm, deep breaths to steady her bearings, and then in one single breath, she bellowed out to the bay, "LEVIATHAN! GODDESS OF THE SEAS! HEAR MY CALL!"
As her voice echoed out across the waters, a tense silence slowly followed. Nothing seemed to be happening at all. The only sounds heard were the booming engines of Niflheim's airships, and the distant cries of the citizens that were being evacuated.
A small voice lingered at the back of her mind and it told her that maybe the Hydraean had deliberately ignored her.
But Lunafreya swept that thought aside.
She knew that the Astral would be entitled to answer the call, else she may not even deserve that title at all.
And then all of a sudden, a response was heard.
"What fool mortal dares break the slumber of the Tide!?"
"No turning back now..." Lunafreya thought mentally and she took a step closer to the edge.
"It is I, Lunafreya, blood of the Oracle!" she proclaimed out loud boldly, "Goddess of the Seas, I beseech you: enter into this covenant that the King might reclaim the Stone!"
Within seconds, the almighty Astral burst through the surface of the water in all of her monstrous splendour.
Airships that were close to her were wise enough to steer clear of the beast.
Powerful waves began rushing the borders of the bay, unleashing large splashes and cascades of rain that drenched buildings and roads.
The Tide Mother slithered in a circular motion like a serpent until her eyes made contact with Lunafreya's. She lowered herself until she was close enough to confront the Oracle head-on.
"This wretched pile of bone and flesh, ignorant of that which governs All, comes to requisition the might of a goddess?"
Lunafreya's eyes narrowed with determination, "I do."
The Hydraean's narrowed eyes darkened and bore deep into her soul.
"And am I to presume that you speak so callously on behalf of the Chosen King? He, who would purge all of darkness from this world?"
"Yes," was Lunafreya's simple response.
Leviathan continued to inspect the female for any signs of malice, for any character that spoke of her deception. But she saw nothing that was against this Oracle's personality.
Slowly, her tense body relaxed just a little bit, and her head lowered more to the woman's level.
"If this were any normal circumstance, I would have devoured you where you stood. However... the situation has changed for the worse. And therefore I am forced to set aside grudges of events long passed. I shall grant the True King his covenant."
Lunafreya became surprised by this proclamation. "Y-You are?" she asked for clarification.
Odd... she had been expecting a much fiercer reception to her plea.
Leviathan moved her head slowly in such a way that it looked like she was nodding.
"Indeed, Oracle. The events of the Prophecy that had been mandated eons past, bears altered significance with what is happening at present."
"What...?" Lunafreya muttered softly to herself. What did the Hydraean mean by that?
The Prophecy... has changed?
As though she had heard her thoughts, Leviathan continued.
"A new threat approaches this planet from beyond the stars, even more threatening than the Scourge that plagues our star. A being who seeks to bend entire worlds and civilizations to his endearing will. Soon, he shall desecrate our soil with blood, and assimilate everything impermanent into his collective."
The Astral leaned closer to the astonished Oracle who was hanging on to her every word.
"This world must be saved from the being's wrath, and the True King will be a piece on the board when the time is nigh. As the Oracle, the task falls to you to ensure his survival until the very end of the coming conflict."
As Lunafreya contemplated her warning, the Hydraean rose back up to her full height and let out a mighty roar. Her body began to glow in a orange hue.
"His servant of darkness will soon be here! Go, Lunafreya, blood of the Oracle! Find the True King and give him my Mark!"
Within seconds, Leviathan disappeared in a flash of light. Blinded for a brief moment, Lunafreya shielded her eyes.
When the light finally disappeared, she opened her eyes and caught sight of a orange orb hovering over the calming waters of the bay. Realising what it was, she stretched a hand out to it, and it flew over to her palm.
As it hovered over her hand, Lunafreya brought it closer to her to inspect it. Within the orb she could make out the faint lines that made up the Mark of the Hydraean.
Acting with haste, Lunafreya turned around and began to brisk her way from the altar.
And there we have it! The second chapter is complete!
For those of you who are presently following my story from the first chapter, do take note that I had decided to move it onto the Final Fantasy VII main page of this website. This is because I had done a lot of thinking about the plot, and that I had decided that this story, while its mostly based in the XV world of Eos, would be more of a somewhat continuation of the events of VII.
And with that, I'll see you guys later!