Disclaimer: Welcome once again, readers! I hope you have been enjoying yourselves so far. Here's another chapter. Happy reading!
NOTICE: These oneshot drabbles contain Lightis and some other couples depending on the story, and are in no particular order, nor do they tell a specific tale of just one story. Some of the drabbles might have a second part in later chapters, and if readers become fond of a certain drabble story, that drabble might have the chance to become a new full story.
CHRONICLES
Chapter XI: Goddess Cure
Rating: T
Genre: General, Friendship (hints of future romance)
Characters: Lightning, Noctis
Pair: Lightis
Notes: It had been the vow of a child still too young to comprehend the true meaning of his words. She was of the Unseen World, his savior. Nobody would take those words seriously, but Fate itself did.
Queen Lucia tried to hold back her tears as she watched her two-year-old son suffer from yet another fever. The child had been frail of health since birth and Lucia was forever grateful that her husband and king, Giovanni still loved their child despite his frail health.
Prince Noctis Lucis Caelum, the only child of the king and queen was a sickly babe; he often caught fevers that lasted longer than normal and even suffered some pains in his body. He was weak and did not venture out of the palace for fear that another fever would strike at him again when everybody least expected it.
Lucia could feel herself suffer at the plight of her son. She wanted his pain to end; she wanted him to be strong and be able to join other children in play, she wanted to be able to read him stories of the great deities without constantly looking at him to make sure his shivering or pains did not worsen, she wanted Giovanni to be able to play sword fights with his son in the future. But most of all, she wanted him to live long and happily without the constant attack on his health.
She reached over and stroked her son's tufts of midnight-black hair.
"My son… No matter what, I will find a cure for you." She swore, feeling her son's burning forehead. The toddler grabbed his mother's hand happily, but a powerful soreness brought him back into a curled up state and made him whimper in pain.
Lucia could not bear the sight no matter how many times she had seen it already. She tucked Noctis in, kissed his forehead, and then left the room. She instructed some of the servants to keep watch over him and alert her and Giovanni if anything were to occur.
She went into her husband's study and found him slaving over papers.
Theirs was a world that mixed between modernization, magic, legends, facts, buildings and shrines. Technology and the powers of magic and swords—otherwise known to some as the Arts—worked as equals to create the world they lived in now.
Finally noticing his wife's presence, Giovanni looked up. "Ah, Lucia. Forgive me, I was just…" "No, it is alright." She reassured.
The king sat down with a heavy sigh. "How is he?"
"He has a very high temperature and he seems to have soreness on his body."
"Damn it all!" Giovanni banged his hands on his desk in frustration. He prayed to the gods in the Unseen World to watch over his son and somehow cure him. Giovanni wanted nothing more than to spend time with his little boy, but that future seemed bleak now.
Lucia noticed her husband's expression. "Giovanni, I swear I will find a way to make our son healthy! He has to be!" "Lucia, I am calling every great healer and doctors I can find. I am doing my very best—"
The queen raised her hand. "There is something we have not tried yet."
Giovanni gave his wife a confused look. "What do you mean Lucia?" "The shrine. We have not yet tried praying at the shrine!" She said.
The king's eyes widened. "The shrine is at the outskirts of the city, Lucia! Not only that, but nobody goes there unless the matter is of great importance and urgency!" "Isn't Noctis of great importance?" Lucia retorted, "Our son is growing weaker and weaker. I have to at least try asking the Deities themselves!"
Giovanni inhaled deeply and thought for a moment.
The shrine or the Hall of Gods stood high and proud at the outskirts of the city; it was there that the statues of the Deities from the Unseen World are kept. People journeyed there to ask for assistance from any of the gods and the Deity that had been called upon will appear before the mortal and assist them.
Giovanni felt unsure if those great figures would even care to spare time for a sickly child. But his queen did have a point; they had to at least try. With a defeat grumble, he nodded. "Alright… But Lucia, be careful and bring an escort with you when you go to the shrine."
His queen nodded. "Thank you Giovanni." She walked over to him, kissed his forehead, and left the study. She too hoped the Deities would spare a moment to listen to her plea for her son's health.
She entered her son's room and found him sleeping peacefully. She felt his forehead again and the heat was still there. But at least the pain in his body was not disturbing his slumber; Etro knew the child needed all the rest he could get.
Lucia would need to bring her son along with her to the Hall of Gods for the Deity to see. She felt nervous already but she held it in for the sake of her little boy. Tomorrow she will venture off out of the city and head to the Hall of Gods and pray. Hopefully they will answer her; there had been no news of the Unseen World being in any jeopardy thus it meant the gods and goddesses were merely resting.
She sat there beside her son's bed and watched over him for the whole night.
"Are you sure you want to do this Your Majesty?" One of the servants asked as they helped the queen dress in for the short journey.
Lucia nodded. "Yes. I will be bringing a few escorts along, not to worry. I will have to bring my son as well; the Deity I summon will need to see him."
Noctis had been placed on a couch in the living room, wrapped in a large warm blanket and shaking uncontrollably.
Giovanni entered the room and approached his wife. "You be safe now, you hear?" He said sternly. Lucia smiled at him. "We will be just fine, Giovanni. We'll be home in a couple of hours."
The escorts stood beside their queen as she left the castle with them following. The king watched as the party left. He prayed once again that his son will finally come through in the end.
Lucia carried Noctis in her arms as she walked around the city. Her escorts would tell her to let them carry the young prince but she shook her head at them and smiled warmly, thanking them for their assistance.
It was easy finding the exit to the city, but the tricky part was walking all the way to the Hall of Gods. It was more of a tradition for people to walk to the shrine instead of heading there by vehicles and Lucia was somewhat of a tradition follower.
The outskirts were wide and open like a field that had been dried up during the season. The queen walked on with her two escorts watching over her and her son.
Noctis would shake once in a while but relaxed again. Perhaps the fresh air was helping him a bit.
"Would you like to rest for a while Majesty?" One of the escorts asked. Lucia looked in front of her then down at Noctis in her arms. "Very well. We will rest here for a few minutes." She sat down on the grass along with her escorts. She laid Noctis down on her lap.
Her son shifted to face her and buried his face in her chest, trying to keep close to his mother's warmth. "Not to worry Noctis, we are nearly there. Only a few more steps to go…"
Noctis whimpered and tried to go back to sleep.
A few more minutes and the party were up again. They went up a steep hill until a dark shape appeared before them. The party gasped in awe; before them was a tall structure made of dark stone with torches lit up with blue flames at the entrance. It was the Hall of Gods.
The escorts helped their queen at the top of the hill and watched as she walked quickly into the shrine. The two men stood guard at the entrance while their Queen Lucia prayed inside.
Lucia treaded the halls slowly with Noctis asleep in her arms.
The hall was long and dimly, but decently lit with blue flames that burned in torches at the upper walls. On either side of the hall were large statues of the Deities from the Unseen World. Their stone eyes stared down at Lucia as she walked past each on one of them.
Finally, she could see the end. There, at the end of was a large round hall; its corners were filled with smaller, human-sized statues of the ones in the hall. The statues of the Deities seemed to look right at her as she approached them. At the statues' feet were pedestals with smaller statues of what people believed were the Deities' respective Crystals.
It was said that when a mortal prayed and summoned a Deity, the statue of the respective god or goddess' crystal will glow, allowing the person to know which Deity is being sent into the world. Lucia tightened her grip on Noctis and took a deep breath. She kneeled and bowed her head to the statues. Noctis began to shake in her arms, becoming restless in his sleep.
"O Mighty Ones from the Unseen Realm, hear my pleas. I beg of you; please grant me this one wish to help my son. I am willing to offer anything in exchange for my son's health." Lucia prayed and remained on her knees, keeping her sick son warm in her arms.
Suddenly, the hall lit up a bit more.
One of the Crystal's statue lit up; it was a rose-shaped one and it glowed a reddish-pink. A white light flashed in front of the queen. She looked up and saw what she believed was what people called a Gate. As she looked on, a blurred figure came through the gate and walked towards her.
Lucia looked up in awe which suddenly turned into a look of confusion when she saw the figure before her. A tall woman dressed in bright silver valkyrie-like armor with a shield on her left arm; inside her armor she wore what appeared to be a sleeveless skin-tight black suit underneath. She also wore thigh-high armor boots, and over her left leg is a long sash made of white feathers.
Her physical features consisted of pinkish strawberry-blonde hair; her bangs were spiked at the end and fell over her face, seemingly covering her right eye at times while the rest of her hair draped over her left shoulder. She had a heart-shaped face, and a rather cold-looking expression which became just as confused as the queen's was.
Lucia had no idea what had just happened; the one before her was not a healer deity as she had prayed for, but instead the woman that appeared was Goddess Lightning, a Warrior Goddess. She was legendary among many mortals, being Goddess Cosmos' general and guardian to Cosmos' sister goddess, Etro before she passed on, leaving her duties to Cosmos.
The goddess was just as confused as the mortal queen was. Still, she regained her composure, held her head high and looked at the one who must have prayed for the assistance of a god or goddess.
"You summoned for assistance?"
Lucia was stunned at the sound of the goddess' voice; it held authority and power and could easily intimidate anybody. And yet, it had some sort of gentle tone to it perhaps if the goddess allowed it.
The queen lowered her head again and answered the Deity in front of her. "Yes my Lady. I am Lucia Caelum, I had wished to speak to a Healer God or Healer Goddess. My son…" She looked down at the boy in her arms. His condition seemed to have worsened again.
Goddess Lightning followed her gaze and caught sight of the toddler wrapped in a thick blanket and shivering; obviously sick with a terrible fever.
She got down on one knee before Lucia in order to have a better look at Noctis. She observed how terrible his condition was. She then looked at the boy's mother. "You are queen of Arcana?" It sounded more like a statement rather than a question. Nonetheless, Lucia nodded humbly. "Yes, Great Goddess."
"Your son is…?"
"Noctis Lucis Caelum, Goddess Lightning."
The goddess looked at the sick child once again and held her stare for a long moment. She could feel something from the boy, like a great and pure strength that would one day lead to future greatness. Being a Warrior Goddess of discipline and good judgment, she was a good judge of character; she knew the boy was someone important.
Finally, she stood up and looked over to a crystal ornament that laid around in the hall and stared at its dull-pointed top.
She grabbed hold of it and easily tore it off its base as if it were made of soft material. The sheer strength of the Warrior Goddess reminded Lucia that this was a figure of power that held judgment and authority over humans, and yet these powerful deities were always known to spare a moment should a person pray and plea for their help.
This benevolent trait of Deities was shown through the very actions of Goddess Lightning who seemed to be concentrating on helping Lucia despite not being a Healer Goddess.
The queen watched as the goddess took out a survival knife that looked rather modern. She wondered what a being from the Unseen World would be doing with such a regular-looking knife. Then again, the Deities were said to sometimes visit the world of humans; perhaps she had gotten that knife during one of those visits.
With the survival knife, the Warrior Goddess began carving at the crystal ornament she broke off. She seemed to be carving the object into a thinner shape before creating a hole at the top. Soon the object had become a slightly thin diamond-shaped vial. The goddess put away her knife and waved her arm to the side where a majestic-looking silver blade with a black center and silver carvings on it was summoned into her hand.
Lucia watched in awe.
The goddess then took off her armguard and glove and placed the blade of her sword on her palm then squeezed the blade bade in her hand. Blood dripped from her palm. She then took the vial and allowed her blood to drip into it until it was half-full. She then corked the vial and almost instantly her blood glowed into a white then green and then blue color before settling into a paler shade of blue.
She turned back to Lucia and handed her the vial.
"Return home and continue the day like normal; feed, bathe and look after your son like you do every day, and before you let him go to sleep make him drink the potion. He should feel better after a while." Goddess Lightning said.
The queen held the vial in her hand and stared at it with wonder. She looked up at the goddess and bowed once more. "I thank you, Goddess Lightning! I am grateful!"
The female Deity shook her head. "Go now."
Lucia nodded, thanked her again then left the Hall of Gods. Goddess Lightning watched silently as the queen left, her mind still reeling with confusion; the queen had obviously needed and prayed for a Healer, so why had she, a Warrior Goddess, been summoned instead.
With a shrug, she turned and headed back into the portal once it flashed again, welcoming her back home to Valhalla where she was sure the others awaited her.
When Lucia had returned to the palace with the good news, Giovanni had been greatly relieved.
He was sure that Noctis now had a fighting chance as she watched Lucia head upstairs to prepare a bath for their son. He hoped this would finally solve all their problems of the little prince's health; they all would just have to wait and see.
Evening soon came and Lucia tucked her son in; it was almost time for him to go to bed.
The queen took out the potion given to her and stared at it. It had been created from the Warrior Goddess' own blood, surely it must be powerful.
She felt her son's forehead. It was still somewhat warm but not as bad as earlier that day. He need only to drink the potion and all should be well.
Noctis looked up at his mother as she helped his sit up slightly.
"Drink this, Noctis. It will help." Lucia said, showing him the vial. The prince did not feel like taking more medicine, but he was too tired and weak to argue with her so he did as told. He leaned forward while his mother uncorked the vial and placed it to his lips. She tipped it and the contents spilled into the prince's mouth.
She made sure he drank it all before letting him go and allowing him to lie down. Noctis coughed a bit then settled down into his warm blankets.
All that was left is for the potion to take effect.
It was a miracle.
Days had passed since the prince had drunk the potion and now he was as strong as the other children. One the day after he drank the potion, Noctis had stopped shivering and his temperature had returned to normal. After that he began crying for someone to help him get out of bed. When no one came to his aid, the boy slipped out of bed himself and walked out of his room.
Everyone, especially the queen and king had been in shock when they saw him walk by himself instead of being carried like a sick lamb. The Warrior Goddess' potion had worked!
Now as they days went on, Prince Noctis grew stronger and healthier, now able to play outside with his father, and in the future, other children his age as well.
That time came soon as well; three boys named Ignis, Gladiolus, and Prompto, sons of Giovanni's colleagues became fast friends with the little prince. It made Lucia smile to see that her son had people to be with now.
At the back of the queen's mind, she decided that once Noctis was a bit old enough, she will once again journey to the Hall of Gods with him and thank the goddess that saved his life.
By the time Noctis was five, Lucia told him to get ready for a short jouney. The prince seemed excited and did as he was told while Lucia called on the escorts again.
"Where are we going?" Noctis asked excitedly. His mother laughed heartily. "To the Hall of Gods, Noctis. We're going to be thanking the goddess who saved your life." Noctis' eyes shimmered with curiosity and excitement; his mother had told him stories of the Deities from the Unseen World and now he was about to me a real live Goddess.
Lucia could not help but smile; it was just like children to be excited about seeing something strange and new.
Giovanni saw them off once again, watching as his son skipped along beside his mother eagerly with two escorts guarding them vigilantly. The king sighed and shook his head fondly before heading back inside to continue his work.
"What are Deities like?" Noctis asked.
"They are like people; the only difference is they were granted special powers and long life in order to look after us."
"What was my goddess like?"
Lucia paused at his words and chuckled a bit. His goddess; technically it was true since Goddess Lightning did heal Noctis from his sickness. "You will see once we get there." The queen said. Noctis pouted but he was not more eager to see it with his own eyes even more.
The trip did not feel like it took too long because of the young prince's seemingly endless bursts of energy; neither his mother nor their escorts seemed to feel tired. It was like he was filling them with encouragement by merely walking on strongly.
Lucia felt a swell of pride in her as she watched her son. She felt that she had made the best decision in returning to the shrine to thank the goddess.
Soon the familiar shape of the shrine appeared in front of them.
The escorts wished their queen and prince luck then stood guard outside like before. Lucia led Noctis in and the boy was immediately taken by the magnificent statues that lined the halls.
"Are they the Deities, Mommy?" He asked. Lucia nodded. "Yes Son. These are the men and women who live in the Unseen Realm as gods and goddesses, and right now we are about to meet the one who helped cure your sickness."
Noctis felt giddy inside. He could not wait to see what a goddess looked like.
He watched as his mother got on her knees and bowed to the more human-sized versions of the statues he saw earlier. Lucia then spoke, "Great Ones from the Unseen World, hear me and listen to my plea; I wish to speak with the Warrior Goddess of silver armor and cold blue eyes. Let her know I merely request her presence."
It was silent for a moment until the rose-shaped statue glowed in that familiar pinkish-red light and a flash of white appeared before Lucia and her son. Noctis gaped at the strange sight.
He and his mother watched as a tall woman in silver armor appeared before them, stepping out of the portal. The goddess seemed confused as to why she was being called again.
Lucia bowed. "Goddess Lightinng, it is I."
The goddess recognized her right away. "Queen Lucia. You summoned me?"
"Yes Lady Lightning. I came back to express my gratitude. The potion you gave me saved my son; he's well and healthy now."
The goddess exhaled. "I'm glad." Lucia smiled up at the goddess then got to her feet. "My Lady, this is my son." She pulled Noctis in front of her and held his shoulders. "I brought him here to meet the one who saved him."
Goddess Lightning seemed surprised and looked at the boy standing in front of her. His eyes were wide with awe and wonder as he looked up at her. She kneeled down and formed a small smile that was hard to detect. "It's good to know you're healthy and well, Prince Noctis. It's an honor to meet you." She bowed her head respectfully. Noctis stared at her armor and feather half-skirt.
"Prince Noctis." The goddess said, catching the boy's attention. She placed a hand on the boy's head. "Listen to me, Prince. As the future ruler of your country you must remember to put the people before yourself; a king needs his people so treat them well with respect and may your kingdom prosper."
Lucia smiled at the speech; it was expected from such a revered Warrior Goddess.
Noctis grinned up at the goddess then turned back to his mother excitedly. "Mommy! Guess what! I know what I want to do when I grow up!" Lucia chuckled and the goddess merely watched them, her body straight like a vigilant soldier.
"What Noctis? Tell me." Lucia said, smiling at her excited son. Noctis grabbed her hand and pointed at the goddess. "When I grow up, I want to marry Goddess Lightning!"
Lucia paused, completely surprised and caught off guard by her son's words. The goddess too looked as if she was in shock but it was hard to tell if she was merely caught off guard or if she was shocked. Lucia could have sworn she saw a tint of red on the goddess' cheeks, but she could not be sure.
Goddess Lightning cleared her throat and tried to remain stone-faced.
Lucia laughed warmly. "Oh Noctis, that is so sweet of you. But I'm not sure if it would be a good idea to marry Goddess Lightning." "Why not?" The boy asked innocently, tilting his head in a rather precious fashion.
"Well as a goddess I am sure she is very busy looking after the mortals. Not only that, Deities are on a higher level than we humans." Lucia said gently. Those words only seemed to make the young prince more determined. "Then I'll grow up to be really strong so I can marry Goddess Lightning! You'll see! I'll become a great person so I can marry her."
The Warrior Goddess nearly coughed on her own breath.
"Oh…well…I am sure Goddess Lightning feels flattered, Noctis…" Lucia had noticed the goddess' reactions and realized that perhaps the Deities were just as human as the mortals. The goddess cleared her throat. "I apologize, Your Highness. But I must return to Valhalla; I am needed at the moment." The queen nodded and took her son's hand. "Yes, we understand, Lady Lightning. Again, thank you so much for saving my son. The kingdom is forever in your debt."
"Yes, well. I must go now. Queen Lucia, Prince Noctis." The goddess bowed. Lucia bowed in return and walked back towards the shrine's exit. Noctis remained there for a few moments, looking up at the strawberry-blonde goddess. Sensing the boy still had something to say, she kneeled down to his eye level. Noctis grinned and pressed a kiss onto Goddess Lightning's cheek. Noctis then followed his mother out while waving goodbye at his 'future wife'.
The goddess watched as the queen and her son left the shrine before turning to leave through a portal that appeared to take her back to Valhalla.
As soon as her feet touched familiar grounds, her fellow Deities were on her almost instantly. "Hey Light! How was the visit?" "How's the prince? Is he better?" The others said all at once. Lightning sighed and ignored most of them until Zidane, the Messenger God and God of Thieves spoke teasingly, "Hey Light I heard you got proposed to!"
The other Deities paused and stared at their General. Lightning growled, "Zidane, I warned you not to ever eavesdrop on other Deities' business."
"Heh. I know, I know. I just could not help but overhear." Zidane went on teasing.
"Overhear what?" A raven-haired goddess asked.
Lightning grunted. "Never mind, Tifa."
Zidane snickered. "Little Prince Noctis said he wants to marry Light when he grows up!" The other gods and goddess turned their surprised gaze to their general. Then all at once, they came at her, joking, cooing, and wolf-calling.
"Wow! You just got a prince to propose to you!" "I always knew you had something in you, Light!" "That was sweet, Lightning. I knew he would like you!" "You did a good thing in saving him, Lightning."
That last comment reminded Lightning of a certain question.
"That reminds me; Queen Lucia came to pray for a Healer Deity. So why didn't you or Aerith answer the call, Yuna?" Lightning directed the question towards a brunette goddess with bi-colored eyes. She thought for a moment. "I…I don't know. I would have heard her if she had called for a Healer, but neither I nor Aerith were called out."
Lightning crossed her arms and sighed. "Why summon me? I'm a Warrior Goddess, not a Healer." "Maybe it's a strange twist of fate." Tifa said, chuckling.
Lightning rolled her eyes.
"What matters is the prince is healthy and safe from dying of sickness." Cloud, a Warrior God, said while placing a hand on Tifa's shoulder.
"By the way Lightning, how was your first kiss?" Zidane started again. Lightning glared at him icily. The others snickered. Only Yuna smiled politely. "I thought it was sweet of him. He was just thanking you in his own way."
Lightning calmed down then rubbed her temples. "I'm going to rest."
She walked past the others and headed back to her temple. Each Deity had their own temple to live in as their own homes. Lightning had taken up residence in Etro's temple after the goddess' passing; Cosmos had decided to remain in the Order's Sanctuary and instead offered the temple to Lightning as a gift and home residence.
Lightning entered her sleeping chamber and unbuckled her chest plate off her body, letting it fall to the floor with a clang.
She sat on her bed with a tired sigh. Unconsciously, she touched the cheek the young prince had kissed and felt her face grow warm. She expected he would forget about what he had said in a couple of years. After all, children say strange things all the time and are not to be taken too seriously. Still, she found herself smiling just a bit as she touched her cheek.
There you go. I hope you all liked this. Now, I just wanted to say that nowadays I noticed how people most, if not always (but it seems to be going there) seem to portray Noctis as a playboy or sadistic abusive sex predator/beast, or some arrogant bastard who doesn't give a fuck about anyone but himself and sex or whatever. I actually enjoy those but sometimes it gets tiring afterwards.
I know Noctis probably seems to fit that kind of persona because of his dark looks or it's the writer's style maybe, but I wish that people will give that personality a break and try some new ones. Now I will not act like I have not thought of that kind of portrayal; I am actually planning on writing down some dark romances in the future but for a while I will be taking a break from those just to get my mood for dark stuff back. I like to try and be flexible so I experiment with different other personalities while also keeping faithful to the characters' canon personality.
I am not criticizing or anything, I just want to suggest that people learn to portray Noctis in other ways instead of that one kind.
Anyway, thank you again for taking the time to read these stories and more will be coming soon. Thank you to all you readers who commented and enjoyed. I wouldn't be having so much fun without you; your comments keep me going! So I'll be seeing you next time!
Until then…