hello there, and thanks for being here. still own nothing of any final fantasy, just enjoying tying them loosely together

...

"No matter who you appear to be, I'll always see the person you truly are." - Ignis Scientia.

"So a long time ago, when the Queen took up her shield to defend the world, everyone thought she was the one from the prophecy?" asked Talcott, sitting at the table with his breakfast.

He had grown again, was almost a man. Almost, Ignis still saw him as a little boy. But he had his manly baritone, and was actually almost as tall as the adviser himself. There was a hint of a beard trying to grow, but the young man shaved it off a few days ago. Yet, there was still an innocence there, something that made him shine out as a child. Ignis knew the boy took a shining to Prompto, but lately, he had been pulling his weight and shadowing everything that Ignis was doing.

"Correct. But we all know that isn't accurate. Nox goes on to explain what happened, 'She took up a shield when her husband and King had died of a fatal illness. The line was already secured with one son, but he was too young for the throne, so she stood in Regency. Nearby towns had heard there was a Queen healer, and they ran away with it. She had such an avid cult of followers, they traveled Eos preaching the end of the Starscourge, and waited for the prophecy to be fulfilled. But the Queen wasn't a healer, she was a defender, thus, the plague continued. The Empire became frightened when they heard the ending of the prophecy was finally in motion. They mounted an attack with all their forces. The Queen left her son in Insomnia, going to meet their attack and defend her people. The siege lasted a long time, and eventually, she was slain.

"'But the son had grown since she left, and he took up his mace and gathered all the people he could to counter strike and take his vengeance for his mother. He called upon the Oracle for help, and Shiva fought with them. Together, the three beings as well as the army drove away the Empire back to Nifleheim, though Shiva was one among the casualties. The god left her mark upon the desert, reminding all the consequences of war. And things were again at a stalemate, the Oracle being the only defense against the daemons. The other crystals died out, leaving only one, the original, that shone inside of Insomnia.'"

"Wow... How did she find all this out?"

"She once told me that the books outside of the crown city contained plenty of information neglected in our own education."

"Why wouldn't we gather all of the facts?"

Ignis shrugged, "In a war, we only focus on one side. It's the same in our homeland."

"So, most of it could have been avoided."

"Generally. Nox was always one to chase down a story. We learn that the old gods just up and vanished one day. Not many question it. But Nox, she fixated on it. Whether it was because of her birth or not is unclear, but she pursued it until she got the answers to her questions. So, when she left Insomnia, she was on her own to gather information, as she was trained to do. She utilized her skills to gather not only what we required on our side, but quench her own thirst for knowledge."

Talcott looked thoughtful as he took a bite of his food. He was ever a curious one himself, "So, did we ever get to the part after the gods left the Eos?"

"Yes, actually. The Starscourge was never actually banished, but the gods bestowed their blessings to give us a fighting chance. Thus, the first Lucian King was born, with the powers that flowed through his blood, the blood of Maduin. That's the origin of Noct's power."

"But if he's a descendant of a god, why did he have to fight to forge the covenant?"

"Well, the lineage was no longer pure, only faint traces of it. Noct had to prove himself."

.*.*.

The sun was rising, the quiet of the night turning into a still morning. The fire was still burning, she kept feeding it all night so that she wouldn't get cold. She watched as the stars began to disappear, getting up from the ground and sitting in one of two chairs that were out. She shuddered, rubbing her eyes as she didn't sleep most of the night. She had to keep watch, she didn't feel safe. She looked at the tent, knowing that it would be a while before they left the haven.

She fed the fire more, shuddering again at the chill in her bones. Nights were cold, or maybe she was just tired. Either way, she enjoyed watching the stars disappear from the sky. It was getting lighter, as the sun was slowly making its appearance. She could hear daemons in the distance protest, and then the world was at peace for the time being. The daemons were gone, the humans would come out. But at the moment, it was silent. Until she broke it, feeling at ease while she could.

Step into the rainbow, find another view

Chase the tender light, borders let's cross over

Ready to define the mists inside your heart?

Take a breath and start your life

Waves of a new day

Clear all the gloom away

Hope is what we simply need to proceed

"That song..."

Charlie flinched, hearing Noctis speak. She looked, and he was in the doorway of the tent, staring at her incredulously. Stupid, he was always sleeping late, why is it that he decided to get up early now of all times? There was an unrecognizable look on his face, maybe a bit of sadness. He got out of the tent, going to sit in the seat next to her. Charlie kept her amethyst gaze on him, wondering what he was going to say or do. What did her singing actually have to do with anything? He wasn't even supposed to hear it. Stupid girl.

"I know that song it's... familiar..." he trailed, his eyes glowing in the dancing flames.

"Your mother used to sing it to you..." she replied.

He gasped slightly, looking down at his feet sadly, "My mother... How do you know? You can't be too much older than me..."

"I remember hearing her sing, somehow. Must be a subconscious thing, we are about the same age, you're right about that."

"I..." he didn't know what to say. Charlie moved her eyes towards the fire, the sun making the stars disappear into the daylight, "Is there more?"

Charlie was nervous, and began to chew on her lip. She could feel him look at her while she contemplated finishing it off. She had only sang once in front of his father, but she had known him a little better. Taking a breath, she worked up the courage to continue.

Step into the rainbow, world you never knew

Chase the heights of light, soar beyond your sorrows

Dance among the colours, let them be your dreams

Close your eyes and see anew

Dawn of the new day

Clears all the gloom away

This is the hope that we need to go on

She finished the song, glancing at him tentatively. He was looking at her shoes. He listened, and she wished she could gauge his emotions right now. She also wished she hadn't opened her mouth in the first place, she didn't like when people listened to her sing.

"The words are familiar..."

"Why are you up?" she desperately wanted to chance the subject.

"Couldn't sleep."

"You couldn't sleep?" she said it in mockery, but was genuinely shocked.

He let out a small laugh, "Yeah. Ignis would be proud at his moment."

It was her turn to laugh, "I don't even think he's human sometimes. Just some sort of humanoid programmed to nag."

The mood was lighter as the morning was filled with their laughter, "Still, don't know what I'd do without him."

She smiled sadly, looking back into the clear sky, "Me neither," her eyes were distant.

...

They packed up shortly after a small breakfast. Neither of them really felt like eating all the much anyway. She went to her motorcycle that was parked near the haven and started the engine. They weren't too far from Hammerhead, but they still had a bit to go in order to reach the crown city. Charlie knew how to avoid most enemies, and that included the dreadnaughts looking for him. She stayed on the lesser paths, avoiding the main roads as much as possible. When they had no choice but to get on a main road, she instead turned the bike in a completely different direction. They abandoned the bike in another one of her hiding spots.

She blew her whistle, and the two of them waited patiently for Ceres to show. Before leaving the base, Charlie had instructed her people to make sure Ceres would be in the area for her. Noct wondered why they didn't just take the same route.

"I want a chance to survey the area," she answered simply.

He supposed that made sense, he had never really planned on breaking into his home and stealing something. But they weren't actually going into the city, she had pointed out. They were going to some vault underneath it. She pulled out her phone, her face serious as she typed on it. He wondered who she was speaking to, noting that his own phone had been silent since she had texted Ignis. She probably didn't want anyone to pinpoint them, used to operating in the shadows.

As Ceres trotted up to them, they hopped on and set off with ease. Charlie continued the road less traveled, seeming to know exactly where she was going. Noct kept his eyes and ears peeled, not wanting to seem useless to her. They came across a few anak, and he heard Charlie curse under her breath. Reining in Ceres, they got off and he followed her lead to creep low.

"There's no helping it, they aren't even where they're supposed to be. We'll have to fight them," she said quietly.

"Whatever you say," he spoke, warping at the first one.

Charlie groaned, wishing he had sat still. But she ran out, calling her own weapon and striking one of the anak. There were only three, but they were big enough that they were still dangerous. Noctis watched as her hands were a blur. Her double bladed and double sided lance seemed to be invisible as she fought. He could see the training with Ignis and Gladio shine through, but there was more to it than that. While he fought one, she fought the other two, and what made him a little embarrassed was that she had actually finished her fighting and joined him to help him kill his enemy.

She was nice enough not to say anything about it, as they continued their journey on Ceres. The day was wearing on, but they focused on getting to their destination, wherever that was. Charlie stopped just as Noct could see a hoard of dreadnaughts in the air. They were close to Insomnia, the Empire still holding the city. He felt anger building inside of him, wishing he could just wipe them out. But he knew that she would stop him, and that she could very easily. She got off of Ceres, and handed Noct the reins. She then started to shimmer, and he looked on in alarm. Instead of amethyst eyes and long straight navy hair in jeans and a tank top, she was now a shorter girl, with even shorter chestnut brown hair with lots of layers. Her expression was serious, a scar running down her left cheek. She also wore the clothes of a high ranking Imperial Officer.

"Whoa..." he was stunned.

"Stay here," she instructed, her voice changing from friendly to a very no nonsense tone.

He kept his eyes on her as she walked out of the cover and towards the blockade. That must have been the person she disguised as in enemy lines. Ceres nudged him gently with her head, and he absently pet the bird, keeping his eyes fixated on Charlie. She spoke with some officers, and Noct wished he could hear what they were talking about. She was a tiny blur among them, but he knew that he could warp there fast enough to deal with any trouble But he was at ease when he could see she was coming back, a scowl fixed on her face. He wasn't quite sure he liked Nif Charlie, but he supposed he wasn't really supposed to.

"Well?" he asked once she came back

She shimmered back to Charlie, "I needed to get a report for my commanding officer. She's had me do some private investigating since Insomnia fell. Too many questions coming out of the surprise attack."

"Doubt we can go inside the city."

"Fuck no. What we need isn't inside of it anyway, it's below it. The Nifs still haven't discovered the tunnel, and probably won't since I cleared them. To be honest, I found them by accident," Charlie walked, Noct leading Ceres.

"Sure it was. You don't seem like the type to accidentally stumble into something."

"Okay fine, I was looking for a way out. I found all kinds of secret passageways inside the citadel, I figured there would be more in the city."

"You lived in the citadel?"

"For a bit, yeah. As soon as I could leave I never looked back other than when I was forced to be there."

"I can definitely relate."

"The door is near that end of the wall. From what the guard told me, the patrol is pretty minimal," she spoke, pointing in the direction they needed to go.

She would be happy to get out of the open field and into the cover. With Ceres, it just looked like a chocobo wandering around, which wasn't too much out of character. Noctis never realized how big his home was, only now understanding while he was on the outside of it. This was part of the physical wall, and the magical one used to come quite far away from it. He wondered if he could ever harness enough power to maintain a wall that big. No, from the sounds of things, he would do a little more than that. Charlie started tapping on the solid mass, listening for something.

She walked down the line, stopping only a few feet from where they stood. She pushed on what looked like just another stone slab, and it gave way, opening. A line formed where there was on completely invisible, and they stepped inside just as a patrol would have caught them. Noct let go of Ceres, and the chocobo stayed inside the doorway. She preened her feathers as Charlie walked up to the animal. She hummed a tune, one that Noct definitely heard this time and fed the greens to her. Satisfied, Charlie turned to look at him.

"Ready?" she lifted a brow.

"Lead the way."

.*.*.

"Ignis, you in there?" Talcott asked, a worried look on his face.

"Apologies, I must have dozed off," he blinked, rubbing his head from the fresh headache.

"That isn't normal for you. Are you okay?"

"Quite alright. I find as of late I lack sleep with the work before me. At times it does catch up with me."

"If you say so. I've gotta get some of this food over to Hammerhead, I'll catch up with you later."

"I look forward to it."

...

A few days had passed, and Ignis devoted his time to taking a tally on Lestallum. More survivors came in, the power plant was running, and provisions were doing well. Cid was grumpy as ever, and Gladio had come to stop in, but Iris was out with Aranea, much to their surprise. The two of them were hunting nearby daemons, cleaning up the slack that started while the city was on lock down.

Ignis felt that pang of jealousy when he saw his friend, Nox's memory still fresh within his head. But he did not let it consume him, as Gladiolus was merely an older brother to her, just as he is to Iris. And it wasn't like Ignis could really talk to the shield about that moment nor any others that might have occurred. Because then he would have to admit that there was something going on, and he couldn't do that. He needed to find the meaning behind these dead memories pushing themselves towards the surface. A meaning that didn't entail him losing his mind. It was unlike him to have so little control over himself.

.*.*.

Ignis literally stumbled into his apartment, flopping against the door to close it. He cringed when he slammed it shut, the force of his body a lot stronger than just his hand. How he had let Prompto talk him into all those extra drinks was beyond him. Gladio was no help either, nor his own Prince, Noctis. They seemed to enjoy torturing him, despite it being his own birthday. Well then, he would remember, and since he was such an expert at dishes, he would serve them in due time. Or something along those lines, he was finding it difficult to really process the plan. He kicked his shoes off, and the noted that there was music playing. Odd, he didn't remember turning on the radio. Though currently he didn't remember how he had gotten home.

He didn't drive, he certainly knew he wouldn't allow the others to. Short term memory loss, curious. He pondered all of those thoughts as he walked without crashing into his walls towards his living room where the radio was. He noisily turned on the lamp and saw that his house was overly clean. Not that he had ever left it a mess, but he was slacking in the corners. But it appeared someone had come in and taken it all apart, thoroughly cleaned it, and then put it all back together just the way he liked it. It was then he noticed the person on his couch sound asleep despite the noise he was making.

His heart melted as he saw her, smiling and happy that she hadn't forgotten his birthday. How she even made it back was baffling him, she was very talented. Her head was rested on the arm of the couch, bangs swept from her forehead. He couldn't recall her having bangs before, and then marveled at how he could remember every detail of the last time he saw her, but not how he arrived home. She wore a baby blue shirt that flared at the sleeve, fit her nicely, satin. The skirt she wore was simple, plain and black, though he could only imagine it reached mid thigh, as it was pulled up quite a bit. The rest of her hair was done up, and a hint of make up occupied her face.

He couldn't remove his eyes from her sleeping form. Her chest rising and falling in such a hypnotizing way. How long had she been here waiting for him? She didn't expect him to be arriving so late. Hell, neither did he, certainly a surprise. She didn't even wake up with his stumbling around, she really did feel safe here. He felt bad that he had kept her waiting, though she hadn't contacted him once in weeks. And then here she is to surprise him, she never did miss his birthday. He was so lucky to have her in his life, even if it was few and far between. He dropped to his knees, making a huge thud as he did so. That got her attention, alert amethyst eyes meeting his own green gaze.

"Ignis?" she looked at him confused.

"Nox," he nodded at her, though ended up falling towards her instead.

She got up immediately to avoid the collision, helping him into a sitting position onto his couch, "Are you drunk?"

"Positively!" he confirmed in high spirits.

She laughed, "Sorry I missed that."

"Twill be a night to forget," he declared.

Nox giggled at him, and the sound made his heart soar. She got up to grab him a glass of water. He put the water down and pulled her down on top of his lap, causing her to giggle again, "Yeah you're pretty wasted."

He kept an arm around her shoulders, and his other on her thighs. Though he made no move, he did note that her shirt only covered one shoulder, and the right one, the bare one, was against him. He leaned his forehead on it, the scent of her intoxicating in such another way. His hand on her thigh twitched but he didn't dare act on his instincts. It would be wrong.

"I got you something," she said.

His head lifted to look into her amethyst eyes. She smiled, vacating his lap and grabbing the box that he didn't even notice on his table. She sat beside him, and placed the box on his lap instead. Curious, he opened it, and it revealed an entire collection of books on astronomy. They were from all parts of the world that she had been to, books that the biggest library in Insomnia didn't cover. He smiled at her gift, knowing that it couldn't have been easy to gather all of them.

"You truly are thoughtful," he said, looking over at her, "Thank you."

She shrugged, "You seem to like my star tails."

"They are inspired."

"I'm glad you like them."

"I'm overjoyed you're here. I hadn't heard from you in some time."

She smiled, a bit sad, "Nif business."

He moved the box back to the table, taking a drink of water and then falling back on the couch. He moved his arm so that it was around her once more, as otherwise he was about to elbow her in the face.

"Let's get you to bed," she suggested.

"And you will remain here?"

"Well, yeah," she was confused.

"I think I'm quite comfortable here," he insisted, "Just like this," he whispered that last part.

She smiled, though he couldn't see it as his eyes were closed. She gently removed his glasses, folding the arms and placing them on the table. He watched her, and she laid her head on his lap. He placed a hand on her head, pulling out the bun in her hair and the proceeded to run his fingers through that silk mass of navy sea. He was content, and that was how the both fell asleep, the soft music on the radio filling their ears and easing their troubled minds.

.*.*.

Ignis missed her now more than ever. He opened his eyes slowly, and his soul felt empty. In all his years she hadn't missed his birthday once. That was, until she was gone from this world. The guilt made his heart heavy, and he was in the exact position he never wished to be. He was worried he wouldn't find Valhalla, and be forced to never see her again. That thought always filled him with dread. If only, he was stronger, she would be with them now. Nox...

...

thanks guys, love you!