Another chapter! To think the story has been updated seven times in the first eight days. Do you realize what that means? Almost one chapter a day? It's crazy! I've been telling a lot of people that I was going to slow down eventually and I totally understand that you wouldn't want me to, but I don't want you to take for granted I can manage five chapters a week for the entire run of this fic. I love the characters and the story and I need this fic to fix what the game did to my heart, but I also need to keep up with real life. I'll update as much as I can, but the updating time will definitely slow in January since I have a job to keep up with.
I hope I can bake you one more chapter before Christmas, but after that, I'll be getting some time off to make sure I stay inspired and spent the holidays with my loved ones. I've been staying up late to finish every new chapter and with the incredible reception, I was beyond myself. I still am. I slept a full night to make sure I'd get this chapter right. I don't really know what you will think of it. We have action, but we also have some major dissension. I hope you'll like it!
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Unexpected
Chapter 7 – Who's our enemy?
Aldercapt was growing restless. He had gotten off his throne and managed to go down the maze-like halls that linked every of Verstael's laboratories together. The scientist had been expanding their army without fail, creating more soldiers than their breeding mothers could ever have. The emperor knew the daemons were multiplying in Nifelheim. He needed the Oracle back to keep the smaller at bay while Ardyn gathered the bigger as fuel for his MTs. But he had another problem.
"Verstael? Where are you hiding? I called for you thrice already!"
His knees were cracking with each of his steps, but Iedolas pushed his old bones forward. Goblins shrieked behind their highly lighted cages. A smell close to putrefaction filled the air.
"Oh, your Highness, I'm still trying to find a sound cure for the blight. We're getting better results every day."
Iedolas stared at the darkened cadaver on the examination table, his insides all pulled out for inspection. The mindflayer caged on the opposing wall was trying to find a hole in his cell, clearly wanting to feed on the former human. Maybe could it create another daemon from the ashes?
"How many days will you still need? This dreadful thing is eating me apart!"
Raising his sleeve, the emperor showed his darkened arm to Verstael.
"The stain is closing in on my heart. I need your cure or my oracle back!"
"I thought Ravus was supposed to work on getting his sister back in our hands," the scientist observed. "Are we really so undermanned, I have to do everything myself?!"
"I don't trust that man further than I can throw him," Iedolas growled, hissing back at the mindflayer, showing decaying teeth.
The emperor was growing more tainted by the days, slowly losing his mind to the bestiality. The last stages would start when his heart and mind turned dark. Then, Ardyn would take over, and Verstael would rather serve a mad man to which no daemon bowed. He'd seen more than he should and was pretty sure Aldercapt was driving the empire to ruin. Their only chance was in completely mastering the daemons growing rampant and controlling the blight without the Oracle. But it was easier said than done.
"Ardyn ripped off his arm to teach him a lesson. I wouldn't trust him at all, your majesty."
"How long till you get me a cure that won't quicken the blight?" Iedolas insisted.
"I need the right subject, sadly. We have less and less fresh citizens to spare. The MTs are unusable. Most of them have entirely fused with the daemon's fragments."
"I don't have time to listen to this. What do you need to make it work?"
The scientist frowned. The corpse on his table belonged in a butcher's shop, not his lab. But things had gone too far, and his reason governed every decision he took.
"The Lucians. We kept half as prisoners, didn't we?"
"At your suggestion. We can't keep Insomnia working without some workers. We still lack un-militarized MTs."
Iedolas couldn't look at him, staring at the mindflayer. The thing fascinated him. How strong a daemon would he become if his top scientist failed him?
"I'm also working on that," Verstael reminded him. "Now, let's have Ardyn bring me fresh meat to work on the cure."
"I'd like to see that bastard prince's face if he knew." Aldercapt smiled wickedly.
Verstael wondered if the emperor wasn't too far gone already. But the cure could still serve him. The blight hadn't won over his own body yet, but it was only a matter of time.
…
Lunafreya hadn't a lot to do to get the imperial soldiers' attention. Walking up to them, her hair in her trademark high ponytail and waving her arms at them brought more unrest than all the bullets Prompto could have shot. The base emptied itself in reaction and she had to run with all her might to keep some distance between them. Gladio was with her, ready to block anyone's attack while Prompto covered their escape, attacking from as many angles as possible despite being a single man. The panic started and grew.
Noctis thought he'd feel exhilarated as he trashed through metallic men and the few human soldiers. He didn't look after Cor or Ignis. He was paving the way for them, rushing ahead as they finished anything he left in his tracks. His father had always told him to keep the brunt of every task to himself.
"A Lucis will always be first on the frontlines. I'm not saying to rush carelessly into danger. But when men sweat and bleed for you… as a king, you must lighten their burden as much as you can."
Right now, there were no frontlines. It couldn't count when you were six against fifty. He wished he'd stop thinking about everything his father told him before. His arms were sore from all the shocks, his feet barely following his body. Noctis warped through the metal's railings, cutting down guns, busting through armor and limbs in a flurry of motions. He was just fast enough to dodge the bullets and hanged himself against a wall, looking for his breath a second. Maybe two, but not more than that. He was a Lucis. Ignis and Cor annihilated any soldier still standing.
"We need to bring down that ship," Cor reminded him, pointing to the large transport hovering above the base. "It must hold reinforcements."
"On it," The prince retorted, jumping on the wall's edge.
He threw his spear at the ship, following in a trail of blurry blue. With a twist of his hips, he got on top of the transport, huffing from the exertion. The sight of Gladio fighting back soldiers, about half a mile down made him dizzy. He'd never been afraid of heights before. Sure, he'd thrown up after his first warps, but… He might have been pushing himself during the last few days. If Cor noticed, he didn't say anything. It wasn't like anyone else could board the damn ship. Closing his eyes an instant, Noctis gathered all the elements he had absorbed lately. He needed an explosive mix. Machinery and magic never sat well together.
On the ground, Luna dove beneath an axe, calling her trident to trip up a soldier. She was graceful and nimble, her magic almost too bright. If they had been fighting humans, they might have been dazed. Sadly, the Oracle wasn't offensive. Gladio hated seeing her on the battlefield, sure she would turn into a casualty despite all the protection he was giving her. Prompto was keeping his distance, driving back the MTs before they could reach his friends. He had to move around a lot to always keep a good look on the situation and his thoughts might be going even faster than his feet, trying to predict which soldier would move next, aiming for whom.
Just when the ship opened its front door, Noctis let the magic burst from his hand in a mix of fire, thunder and ice. Having aimed for the motors, he effectively sent the pile of metal crashing down, warping away from the following explosion at the last moment. Gladio grabbed Luna by the arm, shielding her with his own body as pieces of the ship flew through the air.
The magiteck soldiers looked around at the commotion, giving Prompto the opportunity to terminate every one of them. From this point on, Noctis and his group made small work of the left overs. Cor didn't fight much, focusing on cracking the imperial codes. The men cheered as the gate opened, high-fiving each other. It was the first time Leide could connect with Duscae through the normal route in many years. Luna remained further behind, gazing at the destruction they'd caused. The ship was still burning. Through the few holes, she thought she saw something moving.
She listened as closely as she could, taking a few steps toward the wreckage. Her heart twisted in her chest as she realized there was someone in there. She invoked her trident back, hoping she still had time to get the soldier out. People burning always reminded her of her mother dying. It was the clinking sound of metal against metal when she used her weapon as a lever that caught the guys' attention. She was trying to widen a tear in the ship.
"What are you doing?" Gladiolus exclaimed.
"There's someone inside! Help me get him out."
Neither Cor nor Gladio moved. Prompto took a few steps forwards, eyeing his friends' reaction. Ignis frowned, understanding where she was coming from, but unable to move either. Noctis walked up to her, feeling his anger rising. Protecting citizens was one thing. But whoever was inside that thing was a soldier. Like those who'd killed his father.
"Let him be. You're only going to get yourself hurt."
The moans of pain turned into panicked yells.
"Help me! I don't want to die!"
Luna's mind was made up. She put all of her weight in the next swing, bending the sheet of steel further open.
"Over here!" she called out.
"I can't…I'm… I'm stuck!"
The young woman barely hesitated. Noctis caught her just before she plunged into the dark tear. For the first time, she tried fighting against his hold on her, realizing he might let his anger cloud his judgement.
"There's no time to argue, Noct, he needs help!"
"You are NOT going in there! I'll finish him up…"
She didn't hold back, hearing this was enough to drive her mad. She struck his left leg with the base of her trident, slipping out of his grip, turning on herself to glare back at him. The way she'd attack his weaker leg was like treason; as bad as the fact she wanted to save an enemy soldier. His eyes were ice shards piercing through her heart.
"Killing the others was fine," he groaned, putting himself between the opening of the ship and her.
"This is wrong, Noctis. He can't even fight back! You don't have to kill him…"
Prompto had gotten closer to the scene, unable to remain idle. This kind of argument shouldn't happen on a battlefield. As much as the gunman secretly wanted to agree with Luna's kindness towards an unknown imperial soldier, he wondered if this couldn't be a trap. Noctis had his back to an enemy.
"Maybe we should…" he started.
"There's no time to deliberate," Luna warned, her eyes scanning the churning carcass of metal. "Either you let me go to him right now or you get him out yourself. Out and alive,"
Noctis's hands turned to fists. There wasn't time to think, no time to register he'd been ordering her around as much as she just did. For an instant, he thought of putting her back in her place. The very idea hurt more than his throbbing leg.
"As you wish, then."
He warped backward, disappearing into the wrecked ship. The ongoing fire helped him in seeing where he was going. Beams of steel drew an awful maze in the large hangar where a broken-up mech had waited to make innocent victims. The man handling the machine was stuck in the broken cabin, one of his legs utterly crushed. He wasn't much older than Noctis, his eyes wide with fear. Those weren't red eyes. His bloodied face moved freely, showing every specter of pain. One of his arms was broken and the other one was impaled with a cannon from his own machine.
Noctis didn't want to feel anything, didn't want to obey to Luna's orders. If he could, he'd let go of the fire and extinguish the man's life. It would be better than prolonging an existence of crippled suffering. Sometimes mercy turned men into killers. But Luna wouldn't understand. Luna would hate him. He felt like hating himself, wondering if he couldn't have taken out the ship without this kind of result. But time was of the essence.
"You're getting out. And it's going to hurt like hell." He warned the Nif, cutting through the metal holding him back with his royal arms.
Getting out meant making a bigger opening. He never warped while touching other people. A bad experience with a frog had left him scared for life of ever trying it. Throwing two giant blades forward, he finally walked back into the open and fresh air. The man he carried was a mess. Luna kneeled next to him, taking his pulse and quickly giving him a potion. The burns healed and some of the bones set themselves back. When she channelled her light, Noctis had to look away from the horrible picture. Stopping her now would be fruitless, but he was still mad at her. Prompto kneeled on the other side of the man, using some of his own curatives on him.
Ignis and Gladio remained silent, watching the whole thing unfold as if it was a bad dream. Cor motioned for the prince to walk away from the healing session.
"I thought the lady and you were on the same track. If she's not on our side…"
"Luna's on our side. She simply needs to understand this is a war," Noctis replied bitterly.
As he said the words, he wondered why it sounded like a lie. A fight could turn into an outright war. His city and people might have been mercilessly attacked, but turning into the daemons he was fighting was wrong. Crippling someone like he just did…
"This was the wrong decision, Noct. What are we going to do with that guy?" Gladio complained.
"He could give us Intel," Ignis suggested.
"How can we trust an imperial?" the big guy bit back.
"Scientia isn't wrong," Cor mused. "This could actually be an opportunity. I'll take him with me when she's done. But you were lucky this time, Noctis. It'd better be a one-time occurrence."
Noctis dreaded the discussion he would have with Luna afterwards.
"We'll set things straight." He swore to the man.
The wounded soldier was sitting up now, the worse of his wounds healed-up. His crushed leg was a drag and amputation seemed like the only solution, but Noctis preferred not to think too much about it. Gladio poked him in the shoulder, almost sending him face first in the ground.
"At least, we know which one of you will be pulling the reins, if you ever agree to the wedding."
"Get off my back!"
When Luna was finally done with the healing and stood back up, she faltered, having used far too much magic in a single treatment. Prompto caught her by the arms, holding her up, while Cor gathered the imperial on his shoulder. The barely rescued man was half conscious. Noctis saw himself in the guy an instant, a small boy carried by his father, helpless, vulnerable. What should have feel like a victory seemed worse than a loss.
"Let's get back to the car. Check out Duscae while the sun's still up," he ordered.
He was limping a little more with every new step, but he refused help from either of his friends. Anger was stronger than guilt, although they waged a war in his heart. Luna had no right to…!
He sat in the front seat this time, something that never happened. He almost wanted to drive, but Ignis formerly forbid him from doing so.
"Rest that leg."
Luna felt prickles of shame at the idea she'd hurt him. She knew how hard his temporary disability had been on him. But beneath all the good sentiments, she was human too and couldn't bear to see him turn into a cold-blooded murderer. She just hoped he would understand her point. For the moment, Prompto was the only one siding with her. Gladio took as little place as possible in the back seat and the gunman thought it better to be the one sandwiched in the middle. Noctis had never sat that far away from her yet, but even though she wanted to talk things out right away, her strength was failing her. She huddled over herself, shivering as she slowly processed her fight with Noctis. They'd never disagreed so strongly before, always taming either of their point of view in their letters for fear of losing their only correspondent.
They crossed the wall erected by the imperial in awkward silence. Noctis wanted to receive some indication that he hadn't been wrong instead of the silent looks his friends shot him in the various mirrors of the Regalia. Dizziness came back, stronger this time. When Gladio broke the silence, both royals were fast asleep, gone in a tense slumber.
"Why did you help that soldier, Prompto?"
"The fight was over, and we'd won. Why didn't you barge in?"
The question was for Ignis as well, but the driver cut to the chase.
"It wasn't my place to interfere. Although I'd rather not see Noctis taking risks just to please Lady Luna."
For once, Ignis sounded affected, almost angry at the situation. He knew that interlude had been far more meaningful than answering a princess's whim, but he had worked too hard and watched the prince growing up for far too long to be fine with him putting his life on the line for an enemy soldier. He was like a younger brother to him.
Gladiolus ran a tired hand through his hair.
"It was lucky the man didn't turn out to be a MT bidding for time. Luna needs to understand who's our enemy here."
Prompto kept his head down, nervously playing with the wrist band on his right arm. His camera hadn't been out once during the encounter, but the picture of Noctis and Luna glaring at each other was engraved in his mind. Watching those two fight had been awful, even if it hadn't lasted more than a few minutes.
"I hope they can make up," he thought out loud.
…
Noctis woke up a few hours later, lying in the small bed of some unknown RV. He didn't remember walking out of the car, but his friends had certainly carried him around and tucked him in. It was a pretty diminishing idea, but he pushed it away, swinging his legs out. His left knee throbbed and the pain radiated through his bones. Usually, the leg would feel stiff on rainy days, but the old wound had been awakened. Surely all the running and warping around hadn't helped. He stubbornly got up, fighting against the fear of his father's golden cast. He didn't want to end up like that. He couldn't falter before getting few years older, in the very least. Although the crystal's magic was eating up his energy with every use he made of it.
The first few steps served to gage how much he should save his leg. The pain would eventually numb down and vanish until the temperature woke it. Movements on the other side of the RV caught his attention. Luna was tying up her hair, having just woken up too. The Luna that had attacked him without hesitation when she'd realized his intentions for the remaining Nif.
Her eyes met his, widening instantly.
"Noct!"
The prince deduced his friends had deserted to give him time to sort things out with her. But he didn't feel like it. He was still too bitter to listen. And somehow, he didn't want to be the only one to hear what she had to say. He turned his back on her, walking out of the RV without a word.
Luna's hands fell into her lap. They had been so supportive of each other until now and suddenly…
She was still tired, still sore and aching from the magic spent, but she got up, following him outside. The longer they'd waited to explain themselves, the worse it would get.
The night was falling on the station and little to no people were outside. Ignis was cooking dinner, making small talk with Prompto while Gladiolus trained, raising weights borrowed from some local, his jacket thrown to the side. Noctis was kneeling in front of Umbra who'd finally manage to find them. Luna was taken aback by the sight of her loyal companion. Pryna had been left in Tenebrae to fend for herself and Umbra had been carrying her last message to Noctis. Forgetting she was supposed to be angry with him, she raked her brain to remember what she had written, when she'd yet have to learn of the empire's true plans. She'd been love-struck at that point and not thinking fully, writing in the heat of the moment. The prince took the notebook from Umbra and she launched herself at it, feeling embarrassed beyond words.
"What are you doing?!" Noctis exclaimed.
"You don't have to read it," Luna declared. "I'm here to tell it myself."
Noctis kept a grip over the book, keeping her at arm's length with his free hand. He had risen at the sudden movement, but all his anger was gone for the instant, replaced by a mixture of surprise and curiosity.
"Then tell me," he pulled on the notebook, almost dragging her closer to him by doing so.
"I…"
She blushed, feeling the eyes of his friends on her. Noctis wondered what could get her this embarrassed. Now he really had to read it before she could tear off the page or something! Slipping one arm around her, he tickled her side, which made her release her hold on the book for a second. Enough time to hold it high above their heads, which got her squirming, but this time she wasn't trying to hurt him. And the memory of it got him wondering more…
"Please, Noct, I…"
"It's not because of what happened today?" he asked, his smile faltering.
"Of course not, it's just… different writing something and watching you read it right in front of me."
"Well, if you won't tell me, I got to read it."
She wanted to squirm and fight back more, but decided to let it go, despite the ache in her throat. She wasn't sure how he would take it with what had transpired a few hours earlier. But she'd pushed him enough in a single day. Although Noctis's friends were dying of curiosity a few feet back, they kept their distances. Luna didn't look away from her prince's face as he opened the notebook and quickly found their last exchange.
I'll be waiting in Altissia. I really can't wait to become your wife!
It sounded almost childish, but the words and everything they meant hit him like a ton of bricks. This had been written without thinking, but it made it sincerer than any well-thought-out letters they'd exchanged in the past. His wife, his queen. His Luna. He looked up at her flushed face, torn between longing and the anger from earlier.
Now he needed to know…
"Why did you have to save him? Why was it more important than…?"
Not hurting me.
She swallowed, holding his stare.
"I've seen so many people burn. My mother. Everyone touched by the blight before that I had the power to help them… They brought them to Tenebrae, telling me that if I didn't turn out to be the next Oracle…" She closed her eyes, her lips quivering, trying to keep the awful memories at bay. "I… I can't… If you force me not to save them, I won't be able to live with myself."
That hit home. Hard. And despite the compassion he felt and how much he wanted to hold her, he stood still. He wanted them to burn for what they'd done. He wanted them to hurt and she was telling him it was wrong.
"I'm going to kill more people, Luna. If I'm to save any, I'll have to kill those that can't be saved."
"I know. If it's your life on the line, I might kill them myself. But they made me a healer."
For the first time, he understood she resented her fate as well. It was enough to forgive everything. He let the notebook fall to the ground and held her to his heart. It took a long time to part from her afterwards. As if letting go meant losing her entirely. But she wanted to be with him. He wanted to convey some feelings in return, but the new wounds were still too fresh.
The gods had made her a savior and the crystal had made him a destroyer. All he could hope was not to taint her, while holding her up as much as she kept him together.
To be continued…
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I'm really worried about the reception of this chapter. I think the thematics I explored here were entirely needed and should be addressed now. Luna is kind, but she's also human. Her flaws can't only be to love Noctis and wish for a normal life with him. That's not a flaw and that's far from being a weakness!
The ending made me tear up as I finished it. I really feel sorry for Luna. She wants to understand the people around her, but that doesn't mean she has no hate for some specific persons either. I don't want to say her kindness simply come from being the Oracle, but the excessiveness of her kindness might be from it.
Please review to let me know what you think!
