We were soon greeted by Iris in the lobby of the hotel we chose for a meeting ground. We were taken up to our room and sat in awkward silence for a split second. She spoke of the disaster that accord in crown city. And she continued to comfort Noctis with the news that Lady Lunafreya was alright and in one peace. I sat there watching the relieved expression in his face and wondered why I haven't bothered to tell him that I knew she was okay all along. The question never came up? I tried to make an excuse for myself, yet nothing came out as a good one. A knot formed in my throat and my chest began to weigh heavily. I didn't know what came over me as I stood up and walked out of the hotel room. I watched Iris leave the room as I walked down the hallway to go back inside. She gave me a small subtle smile and walked right passed me. The guys stood outside of the door, Noctis laid his back against the wall and had his arms crossed. My eyes lingered towards him automatically and I felt anger rise inside of me. I turned over to look at Prompto and stopped at the worried look he gave me. His eyes asked me if I was okay, and I just nodded in reassurance. I reached them and they told me they were going to head out for the night, being said that a tomb was near by. They argued for me to stay, due to the daemons that crawled out once the sun sets. Still I argued back in disagreement, in the end I won and was seated in the back seat between Noctis and Prompto in the silence of the night. We journeyed into the tomb and gathered the royal weapon within it. Soon after I heard Noctis let out a sound of pain and my sight once again darkened. The eye reappeared inside of my mind, although this time it left another message, a location.
"Noct, you okay!?" Prompto aked with high concern.
"What did I. Where was that?" Noctis asked holding onto his head. I watched him carefully and became concerned myself. Was he seeing my visions? Was I some how sending them out to him?
"The Disk of Cauthess" I responded without thinking. They turned to me and I felt myself take a step back, ramming my back side onto the tomb. "Uh..." I started to stuttered nervously, trying to find an excuse.
"I didn't even say what it was" Noctis said suspiciously. "How did you know that, Sera?" He asked and I couldn't look him in the eye. "Seraphina!" He called out my name, still I stared down at the ground.
He stormed out of the tomb and they followed behind him, glancing back towards me from time to time. Prompto walked beside me, without asking any questions. We soon arrived back to the hotel. He let out the same sound of pain again. The images became more visible as we saw the same eye, the disk and now a big form, a titan? The vision was too strong, that I felt myself tumble to the side. I landed against the wall and slid down onto the floor holding my head, wishing for it to stop.
"Not again.." Noctis commented.
"What's the matter? you alright?" Iris asked.
"He'll be find, don't worry" Gladio brushed it off, they turned to me as Prompto helped me up from the floor. I smiled at him as I was thankful that he thought I only had a near dysfunction. "We oughta take a closer look at this so called 'Disk'" Gladio commented looking straight at me.
"Then look no further than the outlook, We can use the viewer things" Prompto tried to comment happily, but I felt his hand tightening on my shoulder.
"No substitute for being on sight, but it would be a start. Let's see what we can glean of Noct's condition" Ignis spoke.
We walked down towards the outlook. Prompto lead me down the steps, as my gaze stayed glued to the ground. We stopped suddenly causing me to look up. I let out a small gasp at the sight of the man from a couple of days ago. He put his finger up to his lips in a shush motion and smiled at me. I felt my body begin to shake, I was overwhelmed by the thought of Noctis finding out what I was; and I had a feeling this man knew exactly what that was.
"What a coincidence" He spoke happily.
"I'm not so sure it is" Gladio commented.
"Aren't nursery rhymes curious things" He looked at me and then Noctis. "Like this one: From the deep the Archaean calls...Yet on deaf ears, the god's tongue falls. The king made to kneel, in pain he crawls"
"So how do we keep him on his feet?" Prompto asked anxiously.
"You need only head the call. Visit the Archaean and hear his plea, of course, you already knew that" He smiled towards me. I looked away from his eyes and shuck my head. "I can take you" He finished teasing me
"We in?" Gladio asked.
"I don't know" Noctis turned to me. "You know what's going on, don't you Sera?"
"The Archaean...so it's finally truly beginning" I commented mostly to myself. "A titan of the oracle calls for you"
"Oracle...How do you know about that?" Noctis asked
"I have spend many years with both you and Luna. I am a royal as well, the story is well known throughout all of us"
"So what do we do?"
"We take a ride" Prompto suggested.
"But watch our backs" Ignis completed the statement. He laid his gaze at me. He was always a person to respect others wishes, but I wondered why. Why hasn't he told Noctis yet? He was the only one who knew about me.
"Fair enough" Gladio agreed.
"Let's do it"
Ardyn had lead us towards the disc, granting us access into the premises. The place had been guarded by imperial soldiers, causing us to slip up and be cautious of our movement. We were split apart from Noctis and Gladio as we continued to find another way around. We could hear the loud movements and roars of the titan that lived within this disc. I fell down to my knees as a noise pierced inside of my head. I couldn't understand a word it was saying, but it wasn't long until a vision of Noctis came to mind. He stood in front of the great god, but held his head in pain. The lips of the titan was moving, but nothing was making any sense to either of us. I let out a loud gasp as I was taken out of the vision with force. Watching the god throw a punch at Noctis, the rocks crumbling from under him and causing him to fall. I was back to myself right after and in panic stood up and began to run. My body tumbled side ways and my vision blurred. Being grabbed by Prompto so I wouldn't fall again, I begged him and Ignis to run forward. The ground began to shake under us and the sound of rocks being crushed echoed. Without warning Prompto hopped me up onto his back and began to run faster. As I was on Promptos back, I could feel my vision fighting against one another. One part wanting to stay focus on the events happening before me and the other on the event happening to Noctis. Being the prophet, I let my body do its duty and entered back into Noctis vision. I watched as the titan kept trying to strike him without any mercy. It began to speak once again and Noctis became angry. Getting back on his feet he prepared himself for a battle he wasn't prepared to fight. To make matters even worst, it wasn't long until the imperial troops caught up to us. We watched as they flew by us and Ignis immediately called Noctis to warn him. As soon as the fight began, we managed to make it in time. Prompto let me off his back and put me down onto a rock, hidden in a corner. I sat there until I felt my body good enough to fight. I watched as they all battled together, it seemed like a scene in a movie, how much I wished that it was. The titan had finally fallen to vulnerability after a long while of battle. I stood to my feet and ran to stand by their side. Taking my daggers and creating my double ended sword I began to give it some damage. Ignis, Gladio, Prompto and I soon backed up and grabbed a hold of all the ice elemancy we had. Throwing onto the hand of the titan it froze completely, giving Noctis a way of breaking it. It trembled in anger and began to rise from its short lived fall. My head throbbed at the sound of its voice, yet not one word could I decipher. What appeared to be stars circled the titan and soon began to circle around Noctis. A vision of Luna bowing down to it appeared and It all made sense. This was a test for Noctis to prove himself to the Archaean and he had been approved.
"Hey, are you alright?" Prompto called out to me.
"Yeah, I'm fine. It's best that we get out of here soon" I locked my eyes with Noctis and looked away. The ground began to shake and lava started to shot up from it.
"Doesn't get much worse than this" Gladio commented.
"The empire! Now?" Ignis yelled out as a magictek engine came down before us. The doors opened and Ardyn stood at them waiting.
"Fancy meeting you here!" He yelled out towards us. "It occurs to me I never formally introduced myself. Izunia, Ardyn Izunia"
"Imperial Chancellor Izunia?"
"At your service, and more importantly to your aid. I guarantee your safe passage. Though, you're always welcomed to take your chances down there. Buried among the rubble, is it? I will take the girl from you though. Wouldn't want a royal from Nilfheim going missing"
"Dying here is not an option. And giving Sera up to him isn't one as well. We have no choice, Noct" Ignis said calmly
"I know" Noctis responded
~several days later~
"I still can't believe it. I mean, shouldn't the car have turned up by now" Prompto let out anxiously
"We should wait until Cindy's done asking around the local garages before we despair" Ignis responded.
"Well despair away" I said as I walked towards them. "I just got off the phone with her, and she's had no luck locating the regalia"
"Let's not fool ourselves, the empire has it" We all knew Gladio was right.
"Then maybe we can ask Ardyn to help us out again, right?" Prompto asked in his regular happy tone.
"No!" I let out.
"Uh...why not?"
"The imperial chancellor" Gladio stated.
"He represent a problem, not a solution" Ignis added.
"He's playing some sort of game with us. It's not smart to keep ourselves involved with him" I laid out my input.
"He seems to be very involved with you" Noctis threw the harsh comment at me.
"I may be a Nilfhiem royal, but I'm not one of them" it took some convincing, but in all honesty...I always thought I was from Tenebrae.
"Tell me, why is he so desperate to get his hands on you?"
"I don't know, probably to finish killing me off. Did you forget about that, Prince Noctis" I responded with the same harsh tone. He didn't respond. It has been days since we last spoken calmly to each other. Every word felt like a direct attack, perhaps I should just tell him. Maybe he...no.
"So, where does that leave us?" Prompto cut into our minor argument.
"Stranded"
"In the mean time, we'll have to hoof it. Can you handle that Noct, Sera?" Gladio suggested
"Yeah"
"Look, it's umbra!" Prompto pointed out at the dog sitting under a tree.
I stood beside Prompto, my body feeling stiff. We watched as he took Lady Lunafreyas notebook in his hand. The gentle smile he gave the piece of paper with Luna's well known feminine writing inside. He grabbed a pen and wrote something down, tying it back on Umbras back. We journey on ahead as the calling finally came to Noctis. Running around and riding chocobos which did everything at our disposal to aid our king and head into the storm. Gathering the gods powers from the lightning striking down from the heavens. It was around night time when we finally finished our quest. Soon receiving another call from Cindy, she informed Noctis of the car being inside an imperial base. Ignis recommend a night attack, hiding within the darkness, getting in and out. Taking it into consideration, we prepared ourselves for the long night ahead of us. We reached the regalia without any problems, the battle began as we were to make a path to exit with it. The battle didn't last long as Noctis used his new power to call upon the gods. Still something inside me advised me to run and hide the minute I saw the god appear. I did as my gut told me to do, as soon as the god struck, I felt a sharp pain going through my body. It was aching and I had no idea why, but I kept moving. The sun soon rise and we hurried to get back to the regalia.
"Guys!" Prompto called out to us making all of us turn around. The gasp did not wait to escape my lips as we watched Ravus walk towards us.
"Long has it been, Noctis" Ravus commented.
"Ravus"
"You've received the storms blessing and yet, you know nothing of the consequences" Ravus brought his sword up to Noctis shin.
"Watch it" Gladio stepped in front and received a sword up to his throat.
"Ravus, stop it!" I yelled out, his eyes turned to me and his gaze burned.
"I'm sure my sister was the start of all this, as is her job as the oracle. But was it you who led him to the storm"
"No"
"I thought you cared for this man. Was I wrong? You didn't seem to have told him what this power takes away from him. Actually, I'm surprised you made it out of Tenebrae alive" everyone's bodies began to move, but he only pulled the sword closer to Gladios throat. "Be still. All of you"
"Not good" Prompto whispered.
"Heir to a crown befitting no other. Witness his splendor and glory. All hail the chosen king"
"Awful high and mighty for an imperial rat. Serving the enemy to hunt down Luna!" Noctis yelled out at Ravus.
"I do not serve. I command!" Ravus grabbed a hold of Noctis throat in anger. Gladio and Prompto scurried to Noctis side. "The king's sworn shield"
"You better believe it" Gladio let growl.
"A weak shield protect naught" They both now had their swords against each other. Ravus strongly pushing Gladio down and shoving him back onto the regalia.
"Hey! Wanna go, let's do it" Noctis angry exposed his arsenal.
My body jumped in front of all of them, my arms extended in a way to make Ravus know I wanted him to stay back. It back fired as Ravus gripped onto my face. His fingers digging themselves into my cheekbones. His eyes burned down into mine and I felt my body become numb under his touch.
"You hang around weaklings" He commented to me. The conversation was noted by his stare to be only between him and me. "What is the use of a prophet that cannot protect anything. Your father is dead and so is your mother, you are left to rot. I would never chose such a weak person as yourself to become my bride. I would never allow my offspring to come from such weak blood. The Kallisto royal family will fall and die out with you. There is no need for prophets anymore, the future is clear to me. I set out to create a future that I see, not one that you prophecies" He pushed me away and turned to Noctis. "Should the chosen fall, that too is fate" He turned back to me. "Isn't that right, Seraphina"
"I'd say that's far enough" Ardyns voice came from around us, until he soon stood beside me. "A hand, Highness?"
"Not from you"
"Oh, but I'm here to help"
"And how is that?" Ignis asked.
"By taking the army away"
"You expect us to believe that?" Gladio contributed to the questioning.
"When next we meet, it will be across the seas. Just so happens we have business of our own with the tutelary deity. Don't we?" Neither I nor Ravus responded. "Fare thee well, your majesty, and safe travels" They both soon walked away.
"You guys, know that guy?" Prompto asked a hint of fear in his voice.
"Ravus Nox Fleuret, first son of Tenebrae and older brother of Lady Lunafreya" Ignis explained
In the end we retrieved the regalia and headed back to Lestallum.