Chapter 11
On the rooftop of one of the building inside the central plaza…
Alfodr stand and look down from one of the edge of the building at Nyx, Lunafreya and Zaltana as they walked slowly, arrived and came to a stop behind a large pillar inside another building in the central plaza. "Now then, princess, the time for you to make a crucial choice is drawing near. I wonder if you'll be able to overcome it and I'll be standing up here watching you and also, show me that those trainings that I put you through for the past 12 years back in Niflheim isn't a complete waste." thought Alfodr in his mind as he kept on watching them in silence, specifically Zaltana.
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In the central plaza…
Nyx cautiously look out from behind the pillar of a building at the open area of the central plaza for any sign of Niflheim troops or robots and saw no sign of them anywhere before he turned to glance back at both Lunafreya and Zaltana. "Don't move and come out until I say it's safe, alright, your highnesses?" said Nyx to them both.
"We won't." said Lunafreya as she nodded to Nyx.
"Just be careful, Glaive." said Zaltana to Nyx (who nodded to her before he walked out from the pillar, down the steps and across the empty road and stop in the middle of the plaza while both Lunafreya and Zaltana watched him from behind the pillar).
"Ulric reporting! I've the princesses! They're both alive and well!" Nyx called out before the sound of a gunshot suddenly rang out in the plaza and Nyx grunt in pain when he felt a bullet struck his stomach (while both Lunafreya and Zaltana flinch and had worry/horror looks on their faces when they saw Nyx get shot). Nyx glance down and press his hand on the bleeding wound on his stomach before he look up, saw Luche holding a handgun and walking down the steps toward him before Luche aiming and firing his gun at Nyx for the second time, which struck his stomach again before Nyx let out another painful grunt and he fell to his hands and knees on the ground.
"No!" yelled Lunafreya in fear as she run out from behind the pillar.
"Luna, wait!" yelled Zaltana in fear for Lunafreya as she run out from behind the pillar after her as well.
"Get out of here, your highnesses!" Nyx yelled/ordered as he raised his hand at them to tell them to stop and they did.
Zaltana quickly grabbed and pull Lunafreya behind her before she raised her gun at Luche in preparation to kill him but Luche noticed and shoot the gun out of her hand before she could (which make Lunafreya gasped in fear). The gun fell and landed on the ground slightly far from Zaltana's reach as she glared at Luche (who smirked back at her) as he stopped in front of Nyx and glance down at him.
"You got some fight in you, Nyx. I'll give you that." said Luche in a smug tone of voice to Nyx (who kept on grunting in pain before he briefly turned to glance at both Lunafreya and Zaltana worriedly).
"Run, your highnesses! Now!" Nyx yelled/ordered to both Lunafreya and Zaltana as he forced himself to stand up and charge toward Luche to attack him with his other kukri blade in his left hand but Luche kicked him back down to the ground (which make him drop his blade while he let out a yell of pain).
"I can't believe you still moving with that hollow-point in you." said Luche coldly to Nyx before he kicked him in his wounded stomach, which make him let out another yell of pain. "All Crowe could do was scream when one tore her insides apart."
"Stop it! Leave him alone!" Zaltana yell angrily at Luche, who ignored her.
"What? You killed Crowe? Why did you do it!?" demanded Nyx as he glared up at Luche.
"Because the Kingsglaive is nothing! An old man's battle fodder sent to die in Insomnia's war while our homes are bound and shackled!" Luche snapped angrily at Nyx.
"Niflheim took your home. Took all our homes! Nothing will ever change that!" Nyx yell at Luche as he briefly glared at Zaltana (who flinch in remorse at his glare).
"You never were too smart. You could've had a new future with the Empire." said Luche as he turned and walked away from Nyx toward both Lunafreya and Zaltana.
"Luna, listen to me. I'm going to make him think that I've the ring to lure him away from you and the injured glaive so that you can go and help him out." Zaltana whisper to Lunafreya when she saw Luche coming toward them both.
"What? But Zaltana-" Lunafreya began to protest to Zaltana.
"Just trust me, Luna. I'll be fine." Zaltana whisper back to Lunafreya (which silence her words). "Hey you! You want the ring that bad? Then come and get it from me, you bastard!" Zaltana snapped angrily at Luche before she turned and run away from Lunafreya and Luche (who give chase after her, thinking that she did have the ring) into the building, run up a staircase and down a long balcony pathway until she came to a stop in front of a locked metal door before Luche arrived and make his way toward her.
"There's nowhere to run, princess." said Luche coldly to Zaltana as he kept on walking toward her until he stops behind her, raised and pointed his gun at the back of her head. "The ring. Give it to me now." Luche ordered Zaltana, who stay silent before she swiftly turned around, grabbed hold and swung his arm down on her raised left knee to break it hard, which make Luche dropped his gun and yell out in pain before he stagger away from her, hold his broken arm with his left hand while Zaltana bend down to pick up and pointed the gun at him.
"My, how our roles have reversed now." said Zaltana smugly at Luche (who glared at her for breaking his arm).
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After Zaltana lured Luche away from Nyx and Lunafreya, Lunafreya immediately run toward and kneel down near Nyx and pressed her hands on his stomach wounds to stop the blood from flowing out before they both heard the sound of a car approaching them from behind and when they turned to see who is it, they saw captain Drautos stepping out of the car and staring at them both.
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"You lying, cunning wench. You never had the ring with you at all, is it? The other princess had it and you lured me away from her and Nyx to prevent me from taking it from her, am I right?" Luche asked Zaltana when he now realised that she lie to him about having the ring.
"Yes, you're right. But that is none of your concern anymore." replied Zaltana coldly to Luche before she fired the gun twice at him, which struck and pierce his heart and forehead before his body fell backward off the railing and down onto the ground, away from Zaltana (who toss away the gun as she walked down the balcony walkway to get back to Nyx and Lunafreya).
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After Drautos stepped out of the car, he then make his way toward both Nyx and Lunafreya (who didn't say anything to him), stopped and kneel down to see the wounds on Nyx's stomach before he stood up to glance up at the balcony walkway where Zaltana and Luche were before he, Nyx and Lunafreya heard the sound of another car approaching them and when they see who is it this time, they saw that it's Libertus (who glared at Drautos before he slammed his feet on the gas pedal to charge toward Drautos, slammed and drove him away from Nyx and Lunafreya until he crashed Drautos hard against the wall just as Zaltana walked out of the building and had a shocked look on her face at the crashing scene in front of her before she run toward and stopped near Nyx and Lunafreya).
Right after Libertus slammed and crashed Drautos against the wall with the car he's driving in, the car then suddenly flipped up and over and landed upside-down on higher ground to reveal Drautos, who has change into General Glauca.
"Captain?" said Nyx in a disbelief tone of voice to General Glauca while Libertus slowly crawled his way through the broken window of the ruined car before he turned his head to glance worriedly at Nyx (who's glaring weakly at General Glauca), Lunafreya (who had a worry look on her face) and Zaltana (who's also glaring at General Glauca) while General Glauca walked toward them.
"Nyx!" Libertus yelled out to him before he raised his head to look up and saw one of the Niflheim airships flying in the sky over him and carrying the same large daemon that he, Nyx and their fellow glaives saw a few days ago at the border of Lucis.
"It's over. The daemons are unleashed. Lucis has fallen." said General Glauca coldly to Nyx, Lunafreya and Zaltana before he stopped in his tracks a few feet in front of them. "Take the ring from Lady Lunafreya and come with me now, your highness." General Glauca said/order to Zaltana as he hold out his armored left hand at her.
"No, I refused to take the ring from Luna. And I'm not going anywhere with you, murderer." snapped Zaltana angrily at General Glauca, who pull back his hand and shake his head in disappointment at her decision.
"Zaltana, there's one way that we can get out of this grim situation." said Lunafreya to Zaltana, who turned to glance at Lunafreya (same goes for Nyx) and saw that she's about to put on the ring.
"What? No!" protested Zaltana before she kneel down and swiftly placed her hands on Luna's to stop her from putting on the ring before Nyx could. "Are you out of your mind, Luna? If you put on the ring, you'll get yourself burned like your brother, Ravus." said Zaltana worriedly to Lunafreya.
"It's the only choice we have now, Zaltana. I don't see any other way for us." said Lunafreya.
"No, not you, Luna! I won't let you!" said Zaltana as she shake her head at Lunafreya.
"Then let me put it on, your highnesses. I'm the hero around here." said Nyx to them both.
"No, not you either, glaive. You just got yourself shot twice by that other glaive, plus your leg is injured too." said Zaltana as she shake her head at Nyx as well before she firmly took the ring away from Lunafreya. "Let me put it on instead."
"What? No!" protested Lunafreya before she try to take the ring away from Zaltana but Zaltana swiftly stood up and walked away from her, Nyx and General Glauca. "Don't do it, Zaltana! You'll be burned too if you put it on! What about your promise to King Regis?" Lunafreya pleaded to Zaltana, who smiled sadly at her.
"If I got burned putting it on, then so be it, Luna. Even if it means that I break my promise to his majesty." said Zaltana calmly to Lunafreya. "At the very least, I'm sure some people out there will be glad and happy to know that one of the former top citizens of Niflheim had die in Lucis later on." Zaltana added to Lunafreya and before any of them could stop her, she put the ring on her left hand ring finger (just as General Glauca raised his sword and jumped toward her in preparation to strike her down) and the place around her abruptly turned dark.
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Within the alternate space of the central plaza of Lucis…
"Please show yourselves to me, ancient Kings of Lucis." Zaltana called out to the Kings (after she put on the ring and soon saw herself standing in another alternate central plaza of Lucis) before she watched as several large ethereal blue flames knight figures holding different-shaped weapons in their hands appear around her and staring down at her.
"You dare to put on the ring of the Lucii and called upon us, you evil princess of Niflheim, enemy of Lucis!?" snarled one of the kings angrily at Zaltana (who flinch from his angry tone of voice to her before she let out a loud yell of pain/agony when she saw and felt flames started to appear and spread rapidly around her left leg).
"Please… Listen to me… all of you…" said Zaltana in a pained tone of voice to the Kings of Lucis standing around her. "I know that all of you… are very angry at me… for putting on the ring… but please know that the reason I… put on the ring… and called upon you all… wasn't for myself… It was… to help Luna and the Glaive…"
"Lies! That's what you Niflheim peoples are always good at, telling lies, ruined people's lives, take away their homes and killed those who get in your way!" snarled another of the kings at Zaltana (who let out another yell of pain/agony when the flames moved and spread around her right leg). "Tell us the truth, what is your reason to put on the ring?"
"I told you all already… I put on the ring… and called upon you all… wasn't for myself…" gasped Zaltana. "It was… to help Luna and the Glaive."
"Really? Because we find it very hard to believe that you would want to help them both." said yet another king to Zaltana (who kept on gasping in pain from the flames on her legs). "We'll ask you one last time, what is your reason to put on the ring?" the third King of Lucis asked Zaltana the same question for the third time.
"And I told you all again… it was… to help Luna and the Glaive." replied Zaltana for the third time to them. "Please believe me… Kings of Lucis… I truly don't have any… bad ideas or ulterior motives… in using the ring for myself…" Zaltana added painfully to them before she fell into silence (while the Kings of Lucis fell into silence and watched/scrutinized her in silent anger before all of them heard the familiar voice of King Regis speaking to them from somewhere in the darkness).
"She's telling the truth, all of you. She may be a Niflheim but she truly is on our side. Please trust her and give her a chance to help." said King Regis's voice to them before he fell silent.
"Very well then, King Regis. We shall trust your words and granted her the magic power of Lucis. But that doesn't mean that it's cheap." said the first King of Lucis to King Regis then to Zaltana (who slowly raised her head to look up at them). "Whose lives will you offered up to us in exchange for the power that we'll granted to you soon, girl? The life of the Glaive or the Oracle?" the first king of Lucis asked Zaltana before he show her the 2 figures of Nyx and Lunafreya lying and kneeling on the ground in front of her.
"No… I'm not offering either of their lives… to you all…" replied Zaltana. "The live that I would… offered up to you all… in exchange for power… is mine."
"What a noble answer you just gave us, girl. Perhaps you're truly different from those other Niflheim people. Very well then, we accepted your answer and shall grant you our power. As for your life, we'll only take it from you once you've fulfill your promise to King Regis." said the second king of Lucis to Zaltana (before she felt the flames and the excruciating pain on her legs disappear then she felt a strong surge of power rushed straight into her body).
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Zaltana raised her hand to casts a strong Protect magic around herself to block against General Glauca's downward strike on her (which surprises him and make both Nyx and Lunafreya gasped loudly in shock) before she dismiss it and cast a strong Fira magic at General Glauca, which struck him in his chest and sent him flying backward away from her before he landed hard on his back on the ground.
"Woah, this feeling of power coursing inside me feels amazing." said Zaltana as she glance down at her hands with an awed look on her face before she turned around, approach and kneel down near Nyx, placed her hand on his bullet wounds and she casts Cura to healed his wounds. "There you go, Glaive. Your wounds are now healed up." said Zaltana as she gave a small smile to Nyx after she's done healing his wounds.
"… Thank you, your highness." said Nyx gratefully to Zaltana.
"I don't believe it, Zaltana. The ring of the Lucii accepted you and granted their power to you?" asked Lunafreya in a disbelief tone of voice to Zaltana (who nodded to her before all 3 of them slowly stood up from the ground just as Libertus approach and stopped near them).
"You two should take and get Luna safely out of Lucis now. Because she holds the future of the world in her hands, plus she still have an important destiny that she must fulfill for Prince Noctis." Zaltana ordered to both Nyx and Libertus.
"Of course we will, your highness." said Nyx as he nodded to Zaltana.
"What about you, Zaltana?" asked Lunafreya worriedly to Zaltana.
"I'm gonna stay here a while to fight General Glauca and helped in avenging your mother, Queen Sylva and King Regis, Luna. After I'm done with him then I'll catch up to you three." replied Zaltana.
"But, Zaltana-" Lunafreya began saying/protesting to Zaltana.
"Trust me, Luna, I'll be fine. Oh, and before I forget, here the ring." said Zaltana to Lunafreya before she take off the ring and handed it over to Lunafreya, who take it from her (while General Glauca slowly stood up from the ground).
"…Good luck, Zaltana. I'll… see you later." said Lunafreya.
"Yeah, I know, Luna. Now hurry up and go already, you three!" said Zaltana slightly urgently to Nyx, Libertus and Lunafreya, who nodded in unison to her before they turned around, walked toward and got into the car that General Glauca just used and Libertus reverse and turned the car around before driving the car away from Zaltana and General Glauca. After Zaltana watched them drove away from the central plaza, she turned to glance coldly at General Glauca, raised her hands to summoned forth twin rapier weapons before both she and General Glauca charge toward each other and began their battle.