Wow. I was away from this one for too long...
Hello! Lilith here.
And for this chapter, I've introduced the OCs that will be taking part is this hectic story. And in case anybody is going to ask questions about them (or about my plans for this story in general), I can't promise that I'll be spilling everything. But depending on the situation, I might be willing to indulge on any curiosity anybody might have on the additions I've made in this FF world.
That being said, I can't promise I'll get to this story at a fast pace, so for any who have an interest in this, please understand that I might have higher priorities on other writings I have on me. Hope you understand.
So without further ado, enjoy!
I own nothing of FF15 or Kingsglaive except my OCs.
Read, leave me a review, but flames will not be tolerated.
Chapter 1: The Kingsglaive
Twelve years later…
Outside the far reaches of the Lucian capital close to a wide bridge hovering over a deep canyon, monstrous daemons and Magitek troopers clashed forces with that of an opposing army struggling to maintain defenses of the wall blocking the way to Insomnia. Magic spells flashed throughout the field and many weapons clashed with the gunfire of the enemy soldiers and the fangs and claws of the monsters unleashed upon them.
Dubbed the Kingsglaive, these bands of soldiers were established by King Regis as an attempt to keep Niflheim's armies from reaching the heart of the Lucian kingdom; their magic is loaned from the power of their sovereign, used by both warriors and mages in this specially formed army. But these weren't any typical soldiers; the men and women who worked to combat the imperial menace were people who once lived outside the boundaries of the capital of the Lucian kingdom, their homelands sieged by an enemy that persists in its bid for insatiable conquest on the entire country.
On the top of the broken wall, a blond Glaive called Luche was getting in communication with the other units when he saw that things are starting to get intense on the battlefield.
"All units, move to secure the Wall. If they break through, we're done," he ordered over the com, trying to keep his guard up for any oncoming daemon.
Further across the wall, other Glaives have been either blasting bolts of thunder or cutting off the limbs of the insect monsters that attempted to climb to the top. However, there have been a few instances where the creatures did cause some harm against those who tried to finish them off before the casualties increased. But just when it seemed like the defensive troops involved will be added to the obituary list, sudden flashes of white light shot out from afar and let loose a radiant aura that erased most of the injuries sustained from their battle. Surprised faces turned to find a young woman hurrying over to them and throwing out multiple spheres of white magical energy across the field toward anyone within range.
A woman in her mid-twenties, she sported back-length gold-blond hair held in a braid and light blue eyes complementing her mildly tanned skin; she dressed in a high-collar, short-sleeved black jumpsuit and a short red-and-white vest under a hooded dark-grey jacket with white trimmings, complete with thigh-high, high-heeled light grey boots and a dark brown belt with small pouches around her waist.
Relieved at being narrowly saved from death, one of the Glaives gave a thumb-up as he called out, "Thanks a ton, Calypso!"
"Just try and stay alive a little longer, okay?" Calypso replied as she hurried on.
"Calypso, the west defense has been afflicted with poison," an older man communicated to her through the com device, "They need your healing right away."
"I'm on my way, Captain. Just let me get past these guys," she replied hurriedly.
Despite the constant hazards of daemons climbing up the walls and the assault from the Glaives raining down from all sides, she made the most of her time to keep everyone she could find back on their feet with her magic while she made a mad run to the group that needs a lot more help from their afflictions the monsters could do at any given time.
Down below in the heat of the battlefield, in the midst of the storm of bullets and the rampage of bestial monsters, multiple shots of fire and thunder soared through the air before bursting into balls of flame and electrical surges, and from the chaos a woman hurried through it to find available cover for use.
A woman in her mid-twenties, she possesses short, wavy bright-red hair and bright green eyes standing out from her sandy tan skin; she wore a V-cut, long-sleeved full body jumpsuit under a dark-grey hooded cloak with ice-blue trimmings and a purple corset, complete with short fingerless gloves on her hands, calf-length warm-grey platform boots on her feet, and a dark-brown leather belt with gun holsters around her waist.
Frantic and starting to feel a bit queasy from moving all over the place all evening, she desperately searched around the field for any protection she can find until she heard someone calling out to her from afar.
"Circe! Over here!"
Recognizing the coarse voice, Circe followed it to a broken set of arches where another comrade, Libertus, is hiding behind as troopers marched on through the field. Once she got close enough, he immediately pulled her near to keep her out of the line of sight before he poked his head from behind a broken column to assess a possible opening to infiltrate the wave of soldiers marching through the warzone. When he found an opportunity, he used a flick from his hand to form a field around his body that rendered him momentarily invisible to the naked eye as he infiltrated from point A to point B before he finally took the charge directly to the troopers marching along and the beasts that flood the pathway. He cut down a few troopers and blasted down more with a burst of thunder magic, but then when the gunshots turned towards him, he quickly threw up a protective barrier that feebly attempted to deflect the storm of bullets.
Circe, fearing the worst for her friend, quickly moved in to help her friend as she fired out rapid rounds of magic within the vicinity, letting loose concentrated bursts of flame and thunder as she moved in to provide additional cover until an opportunity can be found to get out of the area. But that didn't give them enough breathing room while there are also those demonic beasts running around looking for something to snack on or tear apart at their leisure. It's like the enemy really doesn't want them to win the battle in any way, and they're caught right in the middle of their enemy's unyielding march to conquest.
"Where's our buddies when we need them most?" she complained.
Libertus, his thoughts on one in particular, also made a complaint aloud, "What's the holdup, Crowe?"
Up on top of one of the towers of the broken-down wall, five women in black with cloaks of orange were in deep concentration as strong gales slowly formed in a circular motion. Rumbles of wind, faint booming echoes of thunder, and distant flickering embers of flames filled the air as their line is struggling with difficulty to maintain their focus on conjuring their designated weapon against Niflheim's soldiers and daemons.
The leader got in touch with as he sought a report. "Crowe, status!"
The leading mage among the Glaives answered as she strained to continue the spell, "Almost there…"
But then, when least expected, one of the women among the Glaives' mages suddenly collapsed, passing out from high levels of exhaustion from the straining efforts put into forming a combined spell that was supposed to turn the tides in the battle. Crowe, the one leading in the joint casting of the spell, quickly recognized the trouble of one of their own having spent the available magic, and immediately stepped in to make certain that they finish their part of the strategic effort to wipe away the armies persisting below.
Meanwhile, back down below in the middle of the heat of the battlefield, artillery rained down from the other side of the valley, bombarding the Glaives that are fending the beastly daemons yards from the wall. Meanwhile, down below, two other Glaives were struggling to keep up with the creatures just as the voice of Luche came through the static.
"We need help. East Wall's going down. Pelna, can you get to me?"
While giving chase to the demons nearing the Wall, Pelna had but one complaint despite what a dangerous job the Kingsglaive are doing on behalf of the king.
"Lucis isn't paying us refugees enough…for this!" he complained as he caught his breath.
Once he got himself at a high enough level, he jumped at one of the charging daemons and used his knife to pierce through its head, rendering it down for the count. But in the midst of this, more rockets soared through the evening skies and barraged the stone wall, tearing down the fragile structure until parts began to fall apart. When one of their own is about to be crushed by the collapsing parts of the wall, Pelna acted quick, throwing out his knife like a projectile, but then proceeded to warp into the same location; from there, he formed a protective barrier as they braced against the rubble that crashed against the shield until its defenses fell apart. However, not long after the dust settled down, a large behemoth came charging in like a raging animal – and its charging right towards where they are!
Pelna went wide-eyed from terror. "How is this fair?!"
To make matters worse, another behemoth joined its brethren in the assault like predators out to catch their latest prey. But just when the beasts are about to close in on their prey, a flash of magic energy surged from the right as a man with purple ribbons appeared out of the blue and used his kukris to slice open the throat of one behemoth, forcing it to drop dead from such a gaping wound. Then, magic energy flurried from the left as another man used his swords to decapitate the creature, rendering it headless and dead for good.
The first man, Nyx, is a young man in his early thirties with dark gray hair and blue eyes contrasting the peachy skin; he wore a black uniform akin to what the other Glaives wore, but he personally decorated with a silver horn on his hood, purple ribbons strapped to the back of his coat, and blue-grey fur pelts strapped on the left sleeve.
The other man, Shuja, is almost the same age as Nyx with short, ear-length straight hair starting to develop grey streaks, light blue eyes and light pale skin. He wore a black coat over a high-collared, long-sleeved black shirt and dark grey pants with calf-length black boots; the most colors we wore on his person are jade-green fingerless gloves, a moss-green scarf worn around his neck, and a dark-brown leather belt holding the holsters for his twin blades on his back.
Pelna breathed a sigh of relief. "Nyx, Shuja, we owe you guys one."
"You and everyone else," Nyx replied sarcastically.
Then, without warning, Shuja suddenly started to stumble a bit as he struggled to recover his breath. Perhaps he had been overexerting himself too much throughout the fight, and it's starting to take a toll on him. He would've collapsed to the ground from fatigue if Nyx hadn't been nearby to help him to his feet.
"Easy there, Shuja," he chastised his friend, "We still need you in the game. Don't pass out on us now."
"I'll be fine…" Shuja replied, attempting to reassure that he can hang on a little longer. "Let's try to wrap this up soon. I'll have to take another dose when I'm done…"
"We need support on the east flank. Nyx, where are you?"
"I'm on my way," Nyx answered the com, and then gave out commands. "Pelna, fall back and regroup with the others. Shuja, find Circe and tell her to retreat and regroup back at the Wall on the double."
"Be careful, Nyx," Shuja answered as he hurried out to front lines to look for Circe.
"Go easy on the magic, hero," Pelna called out, "You got a lady who'd kill you if you don't come back alive."
Nyx smiled as he gave a small chuckle, knowing who they were talking about. "I'd better not give her a reason to kill me, then."
Then, he immediately got to work as he threw his kukri out to the field and warped further into the battlefield to make his rendezvous with the flank that needed support while Pelna and another Glaive made the most of the open opportunity to make a break back to the group. At the same time, Shuja made immediate work using his warp spells to get himself through the field and scout out stragglers among their group.
When they were out of sight, one Glaive muttered "Showoff," before running off with Pelna to join the rest of the team.
Libertus had already put down the oncoming enemies with fire and thunder magic before he was forced to go toe-to-toe with one of the insectoid daemons that tried to hunt him down. The bug managed to trip him before he had to take action to save his skin – fast. When he found a window of opportunity, he used his kukri to slice off the pincers of the giant crawler, rendering it unable to grab at him as it would've done to any other prey. Then, he quickly used a thunder spell to momentarily stun the creature until, when the legs came close, he used his bare hands to forcibly tear off one of the legs and used the sharp point of its foot (if it can be called that) to impale it right into its ugly head, causing it to stagger – but not without it bumping him, causing him to stumble a bit in kind.
Luche came over the communication, warning, "Watch you back, Libertus. We've got more inbound."
As more of the annoying pests made their way past, each one bit the dust by either severe scorching or fatal frostbites just as Circe plowed her way through them to provide a little backup at the first chance. While this is all going on, though, it's noticed that the winds are starting to pick up at higher strength and speed – which means it's only a matter of time before something big happens before night starts to make its crawl across the sky.
"We ain't gonna last much longer," Libertus said, referring to the unrelenting horde of magitek soldiers and the daemons.
"C'mon, where's the trump card when we need it now?" Circe agreed in complaint.
Right when the winds became stronger, she almost started to fall over from fatigue after all the running and shooting she had been doing. Thankfully, though, Libertus managed to retrieve her and pull her down with him for available cover from the danger zone.
"Crowe!" he shouted, desperate for something good to happen.
At last, the mages that worked to concentrate their magic completed the grueling task of formulating an advanced spell to shake things up against Niflheim's forces. Though it took so much magic energy to use, and there was exhaustion to be expected from attempting such a feat, it was achieved successfully. Proud at having finally accomplished the spell, Crowe couldn't help smiling in triumph when they've pulled it off.
"Yes!" she cheered to herself.
Sure, she didn't know how helpful it will be, but if this can change things around for the Kingsglaive, then it's all the better. Hopefully, down there, more Niflheim soldiers and daemons were down there than any of their own while this assault is happening.
In the middle of the battlefield, a mighty tornado pluming with ferocious winds and scorching fire swirled around the area with great force, devastating the Niflheim armies that got caught in the middle of the man-made storm that unleashed the fury of a tumultuous thunderstorm and a condensed wildfire merged into the gales of the gigantic twister that funneled up anything that crossed its path, tearing apart anything that isn't nailed down to the ground. Finally, the tides of the war seemed to have turned in favor of the Kingsglaive.
Not long after the tornado has begun its work, Luche came over the com once again and ordered desperately, "All Glaives, fall back! Repeat, all Glaives, fall back!"
While the whirlwind is running its course, any soldier that is still out on the battlefield took cover under durable environmental structures until the storm has subsided. By that time, the sun had vanished from the horizon, and night is about to stretch across the sky. But just when things should've calmed down for the Kingsglaive, faint lights flashed from afar as several carrier airships slowly soared through the sky as they carried something sinister by several cables held at specific points. A roar crossed the darkness, alerting to the peril about to be brought upon them. And it is confirmed when, not long after touching down on the ground, the enormous creature delivered to the front lines immediately fought against the cables that held it, dragging the carriers down with it. The flaming tornado that decimated the magitek soldiers and their armed artillery could do nothing to stave off the bulking monster that began its rampage across the canyon's dangerous terrain.
Before long, the daemon forcibly breached the lingering gales of the tornado and extinguished the flames that surrounded the funnels, ultimately destroying the spell in the process. Darkness finally encroached throughout the empty land as the winds that concealed the creature continued to rush around its repulsive body, leaving everyone with little comprehension as to what Niflheim had just unleashed to turn the tides against them…
Shuja almost lost his breath when he gazed upon the monstrous sight of the colossal daemon stomping about the ground. He had seen his fair share of daemons on the battlefield, but nothing of this size and strength. But just when he thought he had seen everything, his eyes suddenly spotted a three-headed demonic canine, its mouths filled with the fires that can only come from the infernal realm – a Cerberus. Now he has more than a gigantic daemon to worry about. What a day this has turned out to be!
"I've got to find cousin," he murmured, "and get her and anyone still out there away from here!"
When he's sure that he's caught his breath, Shuja planned quickly and used his latent magic to warp himself across the field as much as possible before making his own runs, hoping to be able to find his fellow warriors before anything worse happens to them.
Just when things couldn't get any worse, the daemon hunched over and opened its shoulders, unleashing a barrage of missiles launching all over the place. Scores of missiles rained down on the battlefield where the Glaives have been confronting the troopers and lesser daemons, bombing the landscape like fiery hail – only a lot worse than that machinery Niflheim has used for their walkers and airships. Others more launched high into the sky, assaulting the large Cliffside hanging above the earthy bridge connected between the canyons, breaking apart the rock into multiple chunks of stone debris of various sizes that subsequently began to rain down on the Glaives' heads. At that point, the captain who gave out orders came over the communications with a sense of recognizing a hopeless fight.
"We can't take down that daemon. I'm ordering a full retreat," the captain commanded, "Get back here alive. That's an order. For hearth and home."
Down below, as the combat team hurried to reach the walls of the border, Libertus and Circe struggled to keep up with the rest of the group the moment they saw the rocks coming down. In the case of Libertus, he feared more for where the rocks will be landing because he knew that they are about to get caught by the rubble at any moment. Circe wasn't faring any better because she grew increasingly nauseous even after things have supposedly calmed down before the giant daemon weapon dropped into the middle of the battlefield, and she even started to stumble more from the dizzy spell she's under.
However, when the rocks came closer, Libertus realized that Circe is right in the middle of an anticipated boulder coming down to crash. His protective brotherly instincts kicking in, he immediately grabbed her arm and pulled her past him, sending her tumbling closer to the opening of the wall. But in the process of this, a giant slab of rock landing right by him and pinned him down by the leg, trapping him. His cry of horrible pain alone actually snapped Circe out of her dizzy spell when she registered a friend is in mortal peril.
"Libertus!" she cried before she turned to call for help, "Somebody help!"
Right on cue, Shuja arrived at the scene – and needless to say, when he saw that Libertus is trapped and helpless under a large stone while Circe is frantically stumbling around and shouting for someone to come and help them. He couldn't deny that it's a good thing Nyx had him find his cousin beforehand. If anything happened to even one of his cousins, he would never forgive himself for failing his remaining family.
"Cousin, what happened?" he demanded an explanation.
"The rock…! It just… Libertus, he -" Circe had a lot of trouble keeping her words clear.
He didn't have to put two and two together what's wrong. Not wanting to abandon them under any circumstances, Shuja quickly hurried over to his friend's side and tried to help him remove the rock from his leg. But that proved to be more difficult than he expected, mostly because he started to feel very lightheaded and almost out of breath; not helping him is that he could easily feel his heart rate escalating very quickly. That would be a serious problem if there any lingering daemons still lurking about – or worse, that Cerberus he saw hunting the field like a lethal bloodhound.
"Damn it…not now…" Shuja gasped wearily, "Not when your family needs you…"
"All units, fall back to the extraction point. Support is inbound."
Just as Nyx is about to hurry back to join at the rendezvous point, something in him sensed there's a problem. His worst fears are confirmed when he stopped and turned around to find that three closest partners are still far off from the rest of the team. He could see Libertus flailing helplessly with his leg trapped under the rock; Shuja is struggling fruitlessly to move the rock under pressure, and poor Circe is staggering around the place crying out for someone to help her and her cousin. They were a second family to him, and he couldn't bear to leave them behind – especially not after the horrible tragedies he had to endure!
But he had to time his return well, as one wrong move could spell trouble for him and for his loved ones. Unknown to him, Luche had just arrived past the boundary of the wall, and he noticed how Nyx stopped to assess the situation.
"Nyx, we have to get out of here!" Luche ordered.
But Nyx didn't pay him any mind. His mind is too focused on his friend's distress and his new family's endangerment.
"Nyx, we have orders!" Luche snapped as he tried to get his attention.
He would've been able to understand what Luche was talking about. But after he heard the echoing voice of his lost sister crying for his help, his mind snapped back to reality when he heard the familiar voice of Circe shouting as loud as she can for anyone to help her and her cousin.
"Nyx, where are you?!" she cried out from afar.
Circe's calling his name proved to override Nyx's better judgment. Breaking free from Luche, he acted fast, throwing out his kukri and subsequently warping back in the middle of the danger zone. He had to hurry because he could see that the daemon Cerberus is charging at top speed towards them, and it's ready to kill.
"Nyx!" Crowe shouted as she realized a friend went back out there.
But before she could attempt to turn back, Pelna arrived near her and pulled her along so as to stop her from running back.
"C'mon, we gotta move!" he told her.
Not long after, Calypso met up with the two as she looked around to see who's missing among the group.
"Where's my sister?" she asked worriedly to Pelna, "Is my family with you?"
"No, they're still outside," Pelna replied quickly.
"Libertus is still out there, too," Crowe added, sharing the same fear. "And Nyx went in there after them."
That horrified Calypso badly. If her sister and cousin are still out in the field, then that means Libertus is in danger, too! Even worse, Nyx is now out there and they can't reach them because of the captain's orders. She would've wanted to hurry back out there and help her family, but when she tried to head back out there to find them, she, too, is pulled away and forced to escape the field with the rest of the group. All she can do by this point is pray for their safety…
Despite all efforts to move the stone off Libertus's leg, Shuja found himself on his knees trying to catch his breath while Circe tried to step in and help her cousin continue the rescue effort. But then, their situation immediately went from bad to worse when the three heard the sound of animalistic growling looming over their heads and rough footsteps echoed on the ground. When the Cerberus came into full view, it didn't take long for the trio to feel horror rear its ugly head on them and fear for their lives.
"You gotta be kidding me!" Libertus exclaimed in exasperation.
Just when the beast is about to start picking them off, Nyx abruptly appears on the scene to aid them, and jumped into a confrontation with the beast head-on. Warping from one point to the next, he next found himself trying to stand on one head while the two others tried to snap their fangs at the defiant morsel intruding on their space. He readied his kukri to perform a blow on the middle head of Cerberus, but the long tail snaked around and whipped him off the beast, sending him flying into a stone slab. One would think he'd be done for by that point, but using quick thinking, Nyx saved himself with another dose of Warp to escape the jaws of the creature before he found a way back on ground level.
At the same time, Circe found herself experiencing a slight rush of adrenaline as she pelted the hulking beast with multiple rounds of ice pellets in an attempt to protect Nyx, catching the beast's attention in the process.
"You're not eating my man, you bitch!" she yelled angrily.
While the creature is kept at bay by Circe's magic gunshots, a rogue insectoid daemon happened to enter the fray and started to make its way over to the worn-out Shuja. Immediately, Nyx used his warping spells to intercept the giant bug, outmaneuvering it until he had successfully used his blades to cut the legs and finished it off with a thunder spell to its face.
In the middle of the chaos, however, a small saving grace is given to Libertus because the stone that pinned his leg was wiped out and he is freed at last. That and the subdued Cerberus gave Nyx plenty of time to rendezvous with his loved ones and aid them in escaping from the canyon as quickly as possible. While he hurried to help Libertus to his feet, he also tried to rouse Shuja to his senses.
"Hey, we're getting outta here," he announced, "Can you hold up a little longer?"
Shuja heaved himself as he replied, "I think so…"
At the first opportunity, Circe turned back to help them make an escape before the Cerberus catches on to their movement.
"Can we make it out?" she asked worriedly.
"We'll have to hurry if we want to live one more day," her cousin replied as he joined in supporting his friends.
But as the men started to attempt to lift Libertus up enough, he complained, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, you guys know I ain't the stomach for this crap."
"Would you rather walk?" Nyx replied sarcastically as he spotted Cerberus rearing for another attack. "C'mon, just like Galahd Canyon back home."
As the quartet got together to prepare for an emergency escape, parts of the canyon bridge have begun to fall apart, threatening them with a rapid drop to their deaths. The Cerberus giving chase after them didn't help matters either, especially when it's fighting to stay alive amidst the peril looming from below. Before long, the earthen bridge crumbled under their feet, the weight of the beast only adding to the danger of a swift descent. Acting quickly, Shuja gathered his cousin and his friends together, and in conjunction with Nyx performed a stronger Warp spell powerful enough to carry all four of them out of harm's way and back onto solid ground while the Cerberus plummeted to the bottom of the canyon with no chance of surviving its speedy descent to death.
However, they weren't out of the woods yet, as the enormous daemon is still on the prowl for lingering opposition to prey on. If they didn't get out of there quickly, they're done for.
"Now how're we gonna get out?" Libertus groaned.
Shuja took a deep breath before he pitched in an idea. "I might have a way for us to escape…but that means I'll have to use my inherited branch."
"Whatever you're thinking, you'd better act fast," Nyx warned.
Though he wished he didn't have to use his latent powers under any circumstances, Shuja knew firsthand that there are times he has to take a risk just to ensure his loved ones fight on another day. Channeling what magic energy he still has on him, a green aura surrounded his body as a large magic circle patterned in unusual foreign symbols formed underneath him. Then, under his breath, he proceeded to chant an incantation that evoked a call for deliverance in a dire circumstance.
"Children of the Archaean, heed my call. Roam again the earth molded by your father," he chanted quickly, "Gather your pack and sprint through the land. I call for your aid in deliverance from the threat of the daemon. Come, protect us and deliver us, Fenrir!"
By the time he had finished the incantation, the green magical energy burst out all around their vicinity. Before long, howls echoed through the skies as six large grey wolves leapt across the ruins of the warzone led by one grey wolf larger than others, racing at great speed to the call of the one who summoned them. The quartet then found them protectively surrounded by the mystic wolf pack, allowing the group a window of opportunity to prepare their escape before the daemon weapon caught on to their movements. From there, Shuja heaved Libertus on the back on the leader wolf Fenrir while Nyx hoisted himself and Circe on the back of one of its underlings, and allowed the pack to carry them away toward the extraction point, where a distressed Crowe and Calypso are waiting in fear for their comrades to return in time to be brought back to the capital. But their fears would be cast aside when they caught a glimpse of them arriving near the rendezvous point safely the same time the beasts dispersed from sight after having completed the will of their evoker.
"You almost had us stressing to death!" Crowe admonished them, her worry strongly evident.
"We're alive, aren't we?" Nyx replied casually like it's no big deal.
"You're in so much trouble from us, you hear me?" Calypso chastised harshly.
"It's the captain I'm more worried about…" Shuja murmured under his breath as he led the way back.
An SUV stopped at the extraction point, where a man of military authority stepped out of the vehicle to assess the aftermath of the battlefield. The captain of the Kingsglaive, Titus Drautos, is a middle-aged man with short brown hair and blue eyes, bearing a scar on his face from a battle once experienced; he dressed in a muted red uniform with a black cloak over his shoulder as well as black boots and decorations befitting that of a man of his station assigned to the protection of the kingdom.
"Luche, report," he ordered as he accepted binoculars to view the damage.
"The imperial forces appear to be…withdrawing, sir," Luche replied, perplexed at the change of movement in the enemy.
Through the lens of the binoculars, Drautos can see the hordes of airships and machines departing from the front lines and vanishing into the darkness without even pressing further advances. It is rather out of character for Niflheim to just make a retreat like this; there had to be something else at work…
"Guess I owe you two another one, huh?" Libertus asked as he is taken on a stretcher.
Nyx smiled. " Shuja and I'll put it on your tab. You just get some rest, alright? Don't wanna worry your future bride, now do you?"
Libertus chuckled sarcastically. "Says the hero who got his own."
Shuja shook his head with a smile as he heard the exchange, knowing exactly what the little banter is about. He felt a small relief that a friend of his is safe, and that Calypso can have one less matter to worry about. Now he only has to hope that something can be done to help Libertus get back on his feet so he can keep going.
As their friend is hauled into the nearest SUV for transportation, Crowe and Calypso followed closely behind him, the former fretting over him while the latter is quietly hushing him and promising help.
"Circe, your prowess was stumbling," Drautos said sternly, "What happened out there?"
Circe gave a dismayed sigh. She had hoped nobody would notice what happened to her in the later stages of the battle, or at the very least paid little attention. But apparently, somebody must've noticed something amiss and just had to report to the captain what one of their own is doing out there.
"Just a little nausea, fatigue…" Circe answered lamely, "I didn't want to let it get in the way of my job."
"If you were feeling ill, you should've said so beforehand," he chastised her harshly, "As talented as you are, even you have your limitations. Once we've returned, go home and rest until further notice."
She just didn't have enough chances for argument. But at the very least, what he ordered her to do is just a slap on the wrist compared to what other punishments he'd dole out to anyone who makes trouble among the Glaives. The only thing she would have to worry about is what he'd have to say to Nyx and Shuja, considering they are the ones who opted to forgo leaving a man behind for their own self-preservation.
"You disobeyed a direct order to retreat," the captain reprimanded to Nyx.
"'For hearth and home', right, sir?" Nyx reminded his superior, "As long as I got strength in my body, I follow that order."
Drautos frowned. "Don't fool yourself, Nyx Ulric. Whatever you have is on loan from the king. You're nothing without him."
That's when Shuja came to his pal's defense. "All due respect, captain, I wouldn't say he's nothing. At least he has the heart to fight for what he thinks is right. And besides, he wasn't the only man who chose to risk his life to preserve a life – so was I. If anything, it's my ignoring self-preservation that goaded him into disobedience rather than completely his doing."
Nyx gave a proud smile at his friend's efforts to protect him. He's always known how much Shuja cared about his family to the point of trying to shoulder the responsibility on him on a constant basis. That same mindset just carried over to his job as a soldier of war.
Unfortunately, even he's not safe from the captain's reprimanding. "Then you should be held accountable for encouraging disobedience in the first place, Shuja Mahal." He glanced between them before turning to leave. "Await details of each of your reassignment."
As the SUVs made their way back inside the capital city of Insomnia, Nyx sat close to an exhausted Circe as he let her rest on him for the moment. He heard she was ordered to return home to rest and recover because she was showing signs of sickness while on the battlefield, something that the captain apparently frowned upon. But at least she got off scot-free for the most part, which is more than he can say for him and Shuja. He's going to have a lot of explaining to do after he finds out what the reassignment will be; though, he's quite sure he'll be placed into something he wouldn't like all that much…