000
Lion's Pride
There are areas in the Department of Mysteries off-limits for very good reasons. When Harry stumbles into one of them, he finds himself reborn, literally, into a new world. A new world with a father, and family, and a chance to live. For real. Slash. Ignis/Harry, Noct/Luna, SLOWBURN
Will probably contain spoilers for the Royal Edition, Kingsglaive, Brotherhood, and various Character episodes.
000
Chapter Nine
Anima... didn't know what to think as he watched Noctis and Lunafreya meet for the first time.
His Noctis, the little brat that would wait until he was mid-nappy change to piss up his shirt with what had to be calculated intent every damn time, who refused to eat his vegetables and said green food was unhealthy, and confided in him that he wanted to be a cat when he grew up – or a robot, both were cool, which was all a six year old boy cared about really. That Noctis... the Chosen King of Light? The King of Kings who would end the daemon scourge and bring peace.
How.
He still got his right and his left mixed up, not to mention he was a lazy little shit sometimes (said with the utmost affection but, yeah, his littlest brother was a spoilt brat who required a whole lot more motivating than any of the others for even the simplest of tasks. Little shit was lucky he was cute).
He supposed everyone grew up eventually though, and he shouldn't judge the man his brother would become later by the brat he was right now. It was possible that Noctis could very well end the daemons, but again, how? Was it a magic thing? Was there a primary source that once destroyed would force the scourge to burn itself out – the same way that Ebola did back on earth, killing too quickly for it to really spread very far before the advent of modern transportation. But surely they had reached a critical mass with the daemons by now, right? There were so many nests and hallows that they could self-perpetuate even without the source no matter what. They were a constantly replicating problem, a disease. Would Noctis develop a bioweapon that targeted daemons using their superior technology? Or would he develop a medicine? Would a bioweapon work? Or some kind of... well, he was called the King of Light, maybe he would reinvent the lightbulb?
He snorted quietly in amusement, too quietly to disturb the cute little royals as they chattered over Princess Lunafreya's scrapbook of pressed flowers. Ever the little gentleman, despite having no interest in flowers at all, Noctis responded to the princess's shy enthusiasm with equal cheer. It was cute. He wished he could break protocol and snap a picture, at least so Uncle Regis wouldn't miss this. But he didn't. He didn't want to embarrass Uncle Regis, Uncle Clarus, or his father by leaving their hosts with a bad opinion of their behaviour, or his discipline.
"Ani, can we go to Lunafreya's personal gardens?" his little Prince called eagerly, practically bouncing on her bed, his eyes lit up in a way that they hadn't since the incident. That alone made him reluctant to refuse.
"Is the garden visible from the manor?" he asked the little Princess who shook her head.
"No. It's just past that cliff there. I have a whole field just for me in that valley," she explained happily.
Anima nodded slowly, "Alright, let me call his Majesty and inform him where we're going, and we can make a move," he decided. He doubted Lunafreya's little field was wheelchair friendly, but what use was having your older brother be your Shield if you couldn't use him as cavalry now and again? The brat better not get used to it though, as soon as he was healed, Anima would not be carrying him around everywhere. He stepped to one side of the room, ignoring the hushed conversation that broke out between the little royals as he called the King to inform them of their little jaunt outside, and asked if he could check with the Queen whether or not the field would be discreet enough for them to safely visit. She said it would be fine, but that she would send Ravus to join them anyway and he could see to it that they didn't stray anywhere that would put everyone at risk. Realising he was on speaker, he thanked the Oracle Queen and promised to keep an eye on everyone before asking when she wanted her daughter back. Amused, she only stipulated before dinner and then told him he should make a move before the children ran off on their own.
Biting back the urge to remind her that Noctis couldn't walk right now, he hung up and smiled a little at the two eager faces. "Shall we?" he asked, watching as Lunafreya scrambled up off the bed, calling for her dogs even as she rushed to her closet in order to grab a shawl.
The trio quickly made their way to the field in question, passing through the servant's quarters and beneath a few outside walk-ways before walking into a small bridge carved into the cliff-face that was mostly obscured by hanging vines and ivy. Stone planters at every pillar spilling flowers and tendrils of green like overflowing fountains as Lunafreya lead them through a short not so dark tunnel that glowed with ghostly green mushrooms in yet more stone planters built into the rock walls.
He had to pick the wheelchair up once they came to the otherside in order to get Noctis down a short flight of stairs, but the garden itself was actually fairly level. Mostly a grass and wildflower field with thick loamy moss carpeting the earth, vivid peacock blue sylleblossoms filled the majority of the field, but he could see beds of the much rarer and more carefully cultivated red, white, pink, and yellow species over towards the broken arches of ancient stone.
"It's said that red sylleblossoms don't really exist," Lunafreya explained as she danced through the flowers, leading them towards the arches. "That there were originally only white sylleblossoms until the first Oracle. She grew fields and fields of them, where-ever she walked, they would grow. When she died, they became dyed red with her blood, and the love of the Founder King, and the explosion of magic he used against her killer dyed the others blue," she detailed as she picked a handful of white and blue blossoms, "The flower is our national one, but in recognition for our family's close friendship, our sisterhood under the Astrals, and our intertwined destinies, we cultivate the blossoms borne of the union between our lines. The flowers grown by the first, and the magic that turned them blue," she continued as, under clever fingers, she wove the flowers together into a crown that she then proceeded to place upon Noctis' head.
Hm, that was quite the story. He had no idea there was such history behind sylleblossoms, or legends behind why there were so many different colours. "And the pink and yellow ones?" he asked curiously.
"The yellow ones were stained by the magic of the Oracles when we first used our magic to defend ourselves," the thirteen year old girl explained, "Until then, we had been healers only. We did not know our magic could be used to drive back the darkness like that, but, Tenebrae is small and beautiful, and there are many dark places for the scourge to linger in. The people needed protecting. I... could not tell you about the pink. Some believe that the First Oracle's anger washed away in the passing of the years, that she came to forgive those that slew her, and so the blood red blossoms faded to pink. Others say that it was just a cross-pollination accident," she added with a giggle.
Anima snorted, "That's more than likely," he agreed as he turned, ears catching the faint sound of footsteps behind them, spotting Prince Ravus as he appeared through the cave leading into the field.
"Do... you think Auntie Antheia would like some?" Noctis asked curiously as he stared at the flowers around them.
"Of course she would," the Shield agreed, she would love the seeds more than anything so she could attempt to grow her own, but he didn't think it would be very polite to ask Lunafreya if she would be willing to part with some of the red sylleblossom seeds given the apparent history and rarity of them (red was Auntie Antheia's favourite colour afterall). "Maybe Lunafreya can teach you how to make a flower crown for her? I'm sure she would like that," he suggested, catching the way the young lady's eyes lit up in excitement, and his little brother's expression as he turned away from her to stare at him was one of unadulterated betrayal. He arched an eyebrow at his Prince who grimaced a little before turning to the happily smiling Lunafreya and bowing his head formally.
"Please teach me, Princess," he requested humbly.
"It would be my honour, Prince Noctis," the blonde girl declared with a courtly curtsy before she looked in askance at Anima, the Shield released the wheelchair and stepped back to let the young lady wheel her new student closer to the red flowers, likely guessing by both of their glances to the scarlet blossoms that this was the one they were interested in.
"I hope I am not interrupting," Prince Ravus finally spoke up, making Anima turn to the side a little so he could keep half an eye on the younger ones and another on the older boy.
"Not at all, your highness," he demurred with a polite inclination of his head, hands behind his back at ease, head back and his shoulders squared.
The Prince nodded a little stiffly, taking a moment to bustle several steps forward, gaze sweeping the field, lingering on his sister as she coached Noctis on how to pick the sylleblossoms without damaging them, and how much stalk they needed for the kind of crown he wanted to make. "How are you finding Tenebrae?" he asked finishing his inspection of the field, hands moving restlessly to brush imaginary lint from his white clothing. "I imagine nothing in Insomnia compares to the gardens of Fenestala, it must be jarring."
"Not at all, your Highness," Anima assured him quickly, "We have several environments specifically cultivated on the outskirts of Insomnia for training purposes," he explained. It would be useless to dispatch the Kingsglaive to areas in Cleigne when none of them had the faintest idea of how to fight properly in the jungles, to say nothing of skirmishes amidst the sands and scrub of Leide, some tactics of which could be used in the Ravatogh area if need be. Duscae however saw the majority of the combat recently according to Nyx and Crowe – Libertas complained bitterly about how they barely had a chance to scratch their arseholes while out there, there was no chance to stop by Lestallum and get a look at their famed Meteor shards, never mind get a peek at the Disc of Cauthess. Supposedly the Archean was still slumbering there. Nyx laughed about how it was a wonder he could sleep through all the fighting practically in his backgarden, which didn't make his friends laugh so much as worry about what suicidal combat plan he would come up with if the Astral did wake and decide to gatecrash.
The Prince's face twisted a little in what might have been the shadow of disgruntlement, but smoothed away too quickly for Anima to make much sense of it. "Hm, I suppose you cannot have seen enough of our home to comment truly, shackled to your duties as you are," he contemplated aloud, casting another look at Noctis and making Anima swallow and force himself to relax barely a breath after he bristled automatically.
He didn't answer, merely humming as he considered his words, "I am sure I will have the pleasure of seeing more in the near future. And if not, then perhaps next time, Astrals willing," he decided to say instead of any biting comment about the fact that he was proud to be Noct's Shield, proud to be trusted with the life and wellbeing of his little brother and his uncle. They were more than just Royalty to him, he would protect them even if they weren't, but knowing how many lives relied on them just made it all the more important that he do his job right. It was a heavy responsibility, and an incredible honour, to be trusted so. But somehow he didn't think scolding the Prince of Tenebrae would be politically appropriate, and he was trying to behave himself.
A smirk curled on the young man's lips, "Then perhaps I shall be your guide then as well."
There was no way to answer that but to say: "If your duties allow it, it would be my honour," he demurred with a careful bow of his upper-body. Not as low as to his own monarchs, but low enough to be respectful without taking his eyes off their surroundings.
His face definitely soured at that, causing Ani to frown in slight confusion even as, in the distance, Noctis yelped in disgust and alarm while Lunafreya burst out laughing, only to squeal a split second later and jump to her feet even as Noct recoiled away from the flower beds, hands held aloft.
Anima snorted when he spotted the little brown fiend responsible escaping through the grass. "It's just a toad, Noctis," he called when his brother looked his way anxiously. "A regular garden variety toad. The Gaiatoads we saw are the size of soccer balls when they hatch, you'd definitely know at first glance," he explained, knowing immediately what had him so concerned. They had passed more than a few of the ambling amphibians on their way to Cape Caem, horrified and fascinated in equal amounts by the sheer size of them, and their utterly soulless gaze as they consumed their prey whole in one bite.
The little prince wrinkled his nose even as he continued to hold his hands away from himself as though they had personally wronged him, Lunafreya brushing her dress of grass strands next to him with poorly concealed amusement on her pretty little face. Anima refrained from laughing at him, but only because Ravus was there, he got the impression Lunafreya wouldn't think poorly of him for it, but the older teenager was another matter entirely.
Speaking of, the pale blond haired boy sniffed haughtily, "Truly a pampered brat of a princeling," he muttered, almost scornfully, only just about loud enough for Anima to hear but too quietly for the little ones. But Lunafreya must have correctly assumed his muttering was uncomplimentary if the wounded look she threw his way was any indication. Her elder brother sniffed and ignored her, glancing at him from the corner of his eye to gage his reaction. Ani didn't say anything, but he decided then and there he didn't much like Prince Ravus, and that the blond's opinion was unlikely to be good no matter what he did, so it was probably a waste of time to try and be on his best behaviour. He would only speak when spoken to from now on, it would be easier that way.
Noctis looked at the expression on Lunafreya's face before glancing to the two of them. Whatever he saw had him looking down in his lap with that look on his face. That same crestfallen quiet expression he would wear when his father couldn't spend time with him, and instead Noctis thought he had done something wrong and wasn't allowed to see him. It killed Anima every damn time he saw it.
He opened his mouth before he was even aware of it, his words cutting and cold as he marched to his younger brother's side, "You would know," he snapped before he turned away, pot-kettle much. Noct had the excuse of being eight and hidden from public eye, what did the sixteen year old son of the Oracle Queen trained to be his sister's chief advisor upon her ascension to the throne have as an excuse? He didn't look back at the spluttering blond as he summoned a pack of antibacterial wipes from the armiger. What? He had three little brothers and a little sister, and as a Crownsguard had been forced to clean his fair share of wounds and dirt from whatever misadventure he had found himself in over the day. He made a point of keeping such supplies in his car, and backpack. It made sense to keep a pack in the armiger. He nudged the eight year old as he knelt down and tugged a wipe from the pack. "Hands," he ordered, and began to clean him up when he obediently presented them to him. "You descale and gut fish all the time kiddo, why freak out over toads?" he asked in equal parts teasing and curiosity.
Noct huffed, "Fish are different! They're clean. They're in water all the time. Toads live in mud and dirt. They're gross, and their skin is toxic, Ignis said so," he declared with childish certainty.
The Shield hummed lazily as he considered that, idly incinerating the wetwipe and tucking the pack away back into the armiger. "Not all breeds of toad are toxic, there are several kinds of tree frog in the Cleigne area that secrete a poisonous mucus, but it won't do much more than irritate a human's skin. In truth, our skin is much more dangerous to a toad than it is to ours. The oils our skin produce can cause them a lot of pain," he explained, "That's why both Ignis and I always tell you to leave the frogs at the fishing hole alone. Not because they're dangerous, but because touching them will hurt them. Understand?" he asked gently.
"Oh... yes, Ani, I understand," he said with a firm nod.
Ani smirked and ruffled his hair before looking at Lunafreya with a smile, "Has he been a good student, Princess?"
She laughed, nodding, "Yes. He has been very attentive," she told him proudly with a sweet smile that made Noct blush and look down at his knees, bashful.
"Now if only he were so attentive in his actual lessons," he lamented playfully, grinning wildly at the gasp of betrayal from his Prince and expertly dodging the flailing hand that aimed for his face to silence him, "Maybe I should tell his Majesty that all we need do is have a pretty young lady teach you, hm?"
"Ani!" the little Prince wailed, now using both hands to grab at his head and try to push him down and cover his mouth at the same time, face bright red as Lunafreya burst into peels of laughter, watching their antics.
"Noctis!" the elder of the pair returned in the same tone, grinning even as he quickly turned the tables and effortlessly caught the little brat in a headlock and messed his hair. He bowed his head to Lunafreya, "Please continue to educate my beloved little Prince, your Highness. Only the wisdom of the Oracles can save him from the brain rot of video games now," he demurred formally while Noct puffed and flailed, straining against the arm around him without effect, even more red faced and now offended.
"You're only saying that because you suck at them!" he snapped, sticking his cold little fingertips right into Anima's armpit.
Lunafreya was bent double, crying with laughter at this point, as Anima squawked and released Noct only to fall over when the little brat threw himself out of his chair to land on him. Ani had to be careful how he positioned himself and fought every reflex he physically had not to throw Noctis off him as horrible little fingers went for every ticklish spot the brat knew he had. And there was no way for him to fight back because of the wound on Noct's back – he wondered if the little shit knew about that. Still, Ani was bigger and stronger.
"Ah HAH!" he caught those nasty little fingers in one hand, and pinned the little bastard to his chest with the other, leaving him to kick his legs uselessly and menace his shins a little before a shadow fell across them.
Ravus frowned down at them, something complicated on his face, "Are all Lucians so free with their Prince's person?" he asked in tones that tried to be disapproving, but ended up just being wary and a little scandalised instead.
Noct immediately scowled and puffed up, "Ani's my brother!" he snapped, and judging by the way the Tenebraean's eyes widened he had come to exactly the wrong conclusion that Anima feared he would if someone heard him calling Noctis his little brother. He snorted and dropped his head back on the grass, releasing Noct's hands to point at him.
"It is not what you're thinking of," he told the blond, before shifting Noctis and sitting up, smoothly getting a leg under him and climbing to his feet, Prince in arm. He set the little brat back in his chair and brushed himself off, picking one of the red sylleblossoms from his hair. "My father is Cor Leonis. His Majesty's Sworn Sword. I was born before the heir to the Amacitia Family, so it was decided that I would be Noct's Shield when he was born. Dad told me he would be my responsibility and I took that very seriously. So much so in fact, that I probably changed and fed Noctis about as often as his actual Nannies did when he was a baby," he explained with a grin as the little Prince groaned, slumping in his chair with a wail of 'Ani don't tell them that!'. "Explaining what a Shield was would be too difficult given his age, so it was just easier to call myself his older brother. I'm pretty much already considered the older brother to all the other Retainer Family children."
Lunafreya bounced forward a step, and kindly readjusted the position of Noct's chair so he could be properly included in the conversation without craning his neck, "How many siblings do you have, Master Leonis?" she asked curiously.
"Just Ani, your Highness," he told her with a small smile, "Neither my father nor myself are nobility." Ravus shifted in surprise but kept his tongue, which was good, because if he said one bad thing about Anima's father, prince or not, he was going to deck him. "Well, I'm the oldest, after me was Gladio of the Amacitia Line. He's Noct's other Shield. Then its Ignis of the Scientias – "
"Oh!" Lunafreya gasped happily, clapping her hands together, "I know that family! They are of Tenebrae! I am so glad to hear they are doing well!" she exclaimed happily.
Ravus nodded with a smile of his own, "Indeed. Lady Scientia created quite a stir when she declared she was leaving, unable to stomach Imperial rule after the death of her husband. She was heavily pregnant at the time, and no one heard from her since. Mother will be glad to hear of her safety, and the health of her child."
The two Insomnians ooh'ed in amazement, and Anima folded his arms disgruntledly, casting a look at Noct, "And Iggy says he's not important, lying little shit. Think he knows?" he asked his Prince.
Noct shook his head, "Definitely not. And don't tell him. He'll only get more uptight!"
"He's not uptight," Ani scoffed dismissively. Noct was such a brat, still couldn't see past the end of his own nose to understand that for all it had been normalised around him, it wasn't right or fair to force a child only two years older to be basically his babysitter.
"What of this Ignis?" Ravus prompted thoughtfully, "What is his role in all... this?" he asked.
Ani shrugged a shoulder, "He's slated to become Noct's Hand when he's older. But he's a genius so he's racing full throttle to that end faster than the tutors know what to do with him." Ravus smirked, pleased that his former countryman was doing so well, or, if Ani was reading him right, doing better than the Insomnians around him. "After Iggy, Noct was born. We didn't expect anyone else, but then Aunty Antheia surprised us three years ago with baby Iris, the only girl, poor thing," he added with a grin and a wink at Lunafreya.
"Why would you say that?" the Princess asked curiously.
"Little girl with four much older brothers, three of whom are combat trained, one of which is royalty?" he pointed out with a shark-like grin, "Anyone that wants to date her is gunna have to go through us. They're fucked."
000
It had been four days since they came to Tenebrae, the Queen had finally managed to delicately rearrange a few meetings in order to clear a space in her schedule at the end of the week in order to heal Noctis, in the meanwhile her children had been entertaining Noctis and Anima while Uncle Regis had been between discussions with the Holy Messenger, and the Oracle Queen herself.
Anima didn't quite know what to think about Ravus in all honesty. He adored Lunafreya, she was an absolute sweetheart and it was clear she would be a phenomenal Oracle in the future, she was already working hard at it. Queen Sylvia was absent and rushed off her feet, handling everything with grace and severity in equal measure, with a well hidden utterly wicked sense of humour behind her kindly smile. There was no sign of a father on the scene, and perhaps that was for the best, he didn't think he had ever heard of an Oracle Queen marrying. Oracles, certainly, but never into a different family. Their husbands always married into the family. And the Queen never married, despite having children, and their fathers were never recorded.
But Ravus... one moment he seemed almost like Nyx but younger, playful and genuinely kind, but then he would seem to catch himself and become stiff and almost confrontational. He took great pleasure in any perceived superiority his country and people had over... just about anyone else. And wasted absolutely no opportunity to point such out, or brag about it. He hated to be corrected if his information was wrong, and would argue to the back teeth on several matters, vanishing into the libraries for hours on end to hunt down a dusty tome and then either return triumphant to rub victory in his face, or would never broach the subject again if defeated. He was tactless as well, often a hair off outright rude. But what few times the two had on their own, Lunafreya and Noctis occupied in their own activities, were almost pleasant. The blond was incredibly intelligent, and had many strong opinions on a variety of subjects, and he didn't think less of Anima for being fourteen, if anything he seemed to value the Shield's opinion all the more for his age and lack of noble birth, stating that it offered a different perspective and opinion that would be closer to that of the people they were to serve.
He only seemed to be at his worst when other people were around, as if he had something to prove, or some kind of... like he had to show off. And stupidly always chose the most obnoxious manner in which to do so.
For instance, one morning he said Anima was brave for taking up his position of Shield at such a young age, then barely four hours later in front of Uncle Regis and Noctis himself, he admitted to not having any faith in his ability to actually protect Noctis! Hence why he was there so often! Anima had never been so insulted, nor hurt, before in his life.
Uncle Regis was quick to come to his defence, stating his complete faith in Anima's skills, pointing out that he had earned the highest combat rank amidst the Crownsguard, and the first of his Bahamut Pins, of which there were only a few. There were only four people in the entirety of Insomnia who could boast four of those pins. Himself, his personal Shield Clarus, the head of the Kingsglaive Captain Drutaros, and Anima's father, Marshal of the Crownsguard, Cor Leonis. That he had earned such a pin at fourteen years of age was already deemed a feat for the history books, and they had absolutely no doubt he would obtain the four pins before his twentieth.
Anima had suggested a sparring match, so the Prince of Tenebrae could assess his skills personally in accordance with the values of his own country. One could not expect their two countries to have the same ranking systems, of course, they were continents apart.
Uncle Regis looked horrified over the Prince's shoulder, Noctis looked gleeful, and Ravus, stupidly, agreed with all too much enthusiasm.
Queen Sylvia, when she came to see to her son's injuries in the aftermath, laughed like a drain for a solid ten minutes and then told her eldest that he bloody deserved it for being such a rude little shite. She then fixed up his broken nose, dislocated arm, and bruised torso. Anima tried to feel bad, but he really didn't. He felt guilty for embarrassing Uncle Regis, but the man only put his face into his hands and complained about how he was most definitely his father's son and damnit, he didn't think he would have to deal with Cor going through puberty again. He was too old for this shit. Ani could only awkwardly pat him on the shoulder and offer the incredibly unhelpful reminder that it would be good practice for when Noctis did so?
The look of horror he received had the Oracle Queen guffawing again. So... At least someone was having a good time?
To apologise for his poor choice of words, and any offence he had caused (apparently getting his ass beaten into the floor of the training fields had enlightened the young Prince to the fact that he had considerably upset his guest, go figure), Ravus managed to swing access to the royal library for Anima. The Insomnian greedily diving into the dusty texts much to Noct's disgust because, really, homework when they were on holiday? Anima ignored the little brat as he dug out the historical records and blazed through them, eager to understand the world from a fresh perspective. He learned an awful lot more about the Astrals and the other Messengers through the texts compared to everything he found in the Insomnian royal libraries. Several of the stories were the same event, but with vastly different views – and sometimes the story was entirely different. Harry wanted to think the Oracles had edited their records, as almost all religious orders back on Earth were known to do, erasing bits and pieces they didn't like, making themselves look better – the whole thing of the Romans throwing Christians to the lions was just... Christian Martyr fanfiction. It never happened. But historians couldn't tell the difference at first and given the changing world they were eager to make themselves victims as if it excused their other behaviours. Harry wanted to think the same was happening here. But Anima... wasn't so sure.
He actually got the feeling it was the other way around.
He took pictures of the texts. Ravus had been completely astonished to see his phone acting like a camera, never mind the touch screen attached to it. Such a thing was completely unheard of in Tenebrae. It was only after gushing about the phone that he even asked what Anima was doing, learning that he had some concerns about records in Insomnia being falsified had him offering to get several others from research libraries in other locations for him to cross-reference, which was pretty cool.
"I must say, I am surprised that you have such a fervor for history. You honestly do not seem the type," Ravus admitted as he flipped through the depictions of the battle at Vesper where the oracle of the time was struck down, and her trident taken up by the Lucian King of the era until her daughter was able to take up her duties. He wrinkled his nose in disgust and set the paper down.
Anima shrugged as he took another picture of the carefully unrolled scroll, "Originally I was looking for information about magic. All records state that magic originated from Bahamut, and he only gifted it to the lines of the Oracle and the Lucis Caelums. But I know that's false. Dad has a friend outside Insomnia with magic and her family had absolutely no ties to Bahamut. Then there's the legend of the Assassin's Order, supposedly patroned by Leviathan herself. Then there's a few very, very, old and rare records pre-Crown City in a university collection that talks about the fire mages of Succarpe, which, as I'm sure you know, is more intimately connected to Ifrit than Bahamut. I have some theories, but without access to more records than just what we have in the Crown City, it's unlikely I'll be able to prove or disprove them," he explained animatedly with some annoyance, not looking up as he gestured with one hand, flipped pages, and took photographs with the other.
There was a long moment of silence that prompted him to look up and blink at the Prince as he stared at him from his seat, a strange look on his face, "...Yes? Did – I say something strange?" Ani asked warily. Ravus was a hard one to read, and he took offence so easily, he was never sure exactly how he had offended the boy at any given time when his face soured, but he did so often apparently.
The Prince slowly got to his feet, "Would you like to read about the Covenant of the Oracle?" he asked slowly, as if he weren't sure he should even be offering.
It took Ani a moment to understand what he meant, the Covenant of the Oracle, the day that Bahamut approached the first Oracle and not only charged her with her duty, but also bestowed upon her the magic of her line. Almost all at once Anima wanted to jump to his feet and say yes, a hundred times yes, but he was also wary and alarmed.
"Something so private. Are you sure you should show me, your Highness? I would not want to get you into trouble with your mother," he admitted, eyebrows creasing with worry. Never mind the politics that probably surrounded those very records. Hell, Niflheim had likely tortured members of the Nox Fleuret family in the past in order to access those records! Had they ever managed it? Would they ever manage it? "I would love to see them, but not at the expense of you or your family's safety. I am sure the Empire have tried to – "
That weird look was back on his face, the strange half smile that looked strangely twisted and uncomfortable on the sixteen year old's face. Soft, and slightly glassy eyed, but also uncomfortable and guilty.
"I think... if it is you, mother would not mind. We have always walked a careful line, there is always a chance this information could be stolen or lost or destroyed. It would set my mind at ease, at the very least, to know another has a copy of it somewhere. Should the worst come to happen," he admitted at length before turning, "Come. They are... kept elsewhere."
There was no way Anima could say no, and nor did he want to. If Ravus was willing to take the risk, and aware of what they were, then Ani would thank him and accept his generosity.
Then, of course, the Empire attacked the day Noctis was to be healed.
And Fenestala Manor went up in flames.
0000
TO BE CONTINUED IN THE NEXT EPISODE OF DRAGON BALL Z wait wa?
God this chapter was a pain. Ravus y u such a butt to rite? Ugh. Teenagers.
As a warning, I will be including a few spoilers for the new Episode Ardyn in a few of the later chapters, just the world building stuff. I didn't CONTINUE the scene where Ravus shows Ani the beginning of the Oracle line because of this and because I wanted to warn people before I threw things out there. Believe me, everything has been planned. And what did you think about the history of the sylleblossoms? It's totally bullshit but I thought it would be cool to subscribe a legend to how they got their hues and why the BLUE ones were specifically important to the Oracles given how their colour associations are typically white and gold to match their magic.
((When you think about it, FFXV is the story of Red vs Blue gone to the extreme with poor Yellow in the middle going 'gaiz pls stahp fiting'.))