Alright, alright I know. I am so late. But to be fair, I don't recall saying when on a Friday I would update. If you can find it, fell free to review/ comment and rant about how 'heartless' I've been. (Let's be honest: you've seen worse)
ILuvCupcakes2000: I hope this chapter satisfies you as my body didn't allow me to stay awake. But be ready for some angst and bad memories because that's what this chapter's all about. This warning applies to all of you.
Chapter 13: His Worst Nightmare
Year 2021 July 5 9:30am
Location: Suzume
"Come on, you two! Let's get to the dungeon!" Aria yelled from the ahead of Lumino and Kizuna.
"Aria, for once in your life, slow down!" Kizuna yelled.
"If I do that, I'll become you! And I don't want that!" she sang to her twin. Although twins, the two seemed to be polar opposites. Aria had lots of energy and was active while Kizuna did things at his own pace.
"You two really are siblings," Lumino commented.
"Yeah, but how are we twins. That's the issue," Kizuna replied. The party of three reached the edge of the town. The gathering area of the 10th boss.
All the beta testers were ecstatic. They were confident, wanting to finish at least 10 floors before beta period ended. The leader of the raid group called to everyone. "Alright, we're heading out to the boss. It is a ways to go so we'll go by chocobo."
"Right!" Everyone responded. They took out their whistles and called for a chocobo all at once. Bad idea.
The ground started to shake as about 50 chocobos came running towards the raid group. This really was a beta. Every player decided to either run away in fear of getting run over or disperse to find their chocobo.
9:45am
Location: Sparrow's Graveyard
{Final Fantasy XV: What Lies Within}
The dungeon was dark and cold like all the rest. A low fog gave off a mysterious and tense atmosphere. Stalagmites hung from the ceiling, occasionally letting water drop onto the floor.
The beta testers were on high alert. Someone could step on one of the bones of former birds and trigger their battle senses. Every monster was cleared from the dungeon before the boss raid to save time. Though some daemons would spawn.
{Kingsglaive - Final Fantasy XV: Under Siege}
Finally, they reached their goal. The boss room.
The leader pushed the door open as everyone got ready to fight. In the middle of the room was a snake. Lumino froze in fear.
The head of the snake rose up. However, the 'head' was the body of a woman with six arms. Each arm held a unique sword.
As if sensing the presence of the raid team, she glared at them. Some players flinched in fear from her intimidating gaze. She let out a broken cry as she rose her swords.
Everyone let out a war cry and charged towards the daemon. "Lumino!" Kizuna called the swordsman snapping him out of his daze. "Let's go!"
"R-right!" Lumino responded. He swallowed his fear and tightened his grip on the sword. 'No time to focus on the past. I have to focus on the here and now.'
The half snake charged at the raiders. In a blurry flourish of her weapons, she swiftly killed 4 players that were just too slow. She then had to block the incoming attacks from the players. Aria jumped up and kept the daemon's six swords occupied from the players below with her twin blades.
She moved her lower body as a whip and pushed every player out of the way. The daemon threw Aria off and moved to attack. Aria dodged but the boss started to stab some players on the floor. "This is insane," Aria whispered.
Some cards came flying to the daemon. The flurry of cards were deflected one by one. One of the cards glowed green as Lumino appeared in place ready to attack. The boss reacted quickly and kept up with his fast swings. The boss went in to try and bite him.
"DAD!"
Lumino froze at the boss's attack. He was suddenly thrown out of the way as Aria got eaten instead, dying in the process.
{Switch: Kingsglaive - Final Fantasy XV: Diamond Weapon}
"Aria!" Lumino yelled in shock. He knew it was a game but it felt so…real.
He looked to see the boss's tail moving to whip him. Lumino jumped out of the way to regroup with Kizuna. "Lumino, you need to get your head in the game," Kizuna said.
The daemon kept moving her tail, whipping it across the field. Dust started to cover the entire floor. It went dead silent.
Suddenly screams of horror and pain sounded throughout the boss room. The players were being slaughtered by the boss in front of them. The half serpent let out another cry as she charged for Kizuna. He teleported out of the way. The daemon's tail was about to hit him and he teleported again. This time into the air.
Gathering four burst cards, he kept them ready to attack and teleport. The boss was right in front of him. He fired the cards damaging the boss. He tried to teleport but was stuck. He was out of MP. "Crap," he cursed before his head was cut off by the daemon.
Only 15 remained.
"Retreat! Everyone retreat!" the leader yelled in fear. Everyone wanted to leave that fight as soon as possible. People started to run to the exit, however the boss was too fast. She eliminated 5 of them and stood in the way of the door with her swords ready to rip the remaining players to shreds.
'She's blocking the exit. It would take too much time to get out a teleport crystal. Damn it! We have to fight,' Lumino thought. He ran up to the daemon and attempted to attack it. The daemon again blocked most of his attacks while landing a few of her own.
Suddenly she was struck by lightning stunning her for a few seconds. A fear stricken mage cast thunder with a shaking hand. This angered the snake who charged to the raid team. Paralysed by fear, 7 of them were gone.
Only three remained.
{Switch: Kingsglaive – Final Fantasy XV: To the Rescue}
Lumino ran up to the serpent, ready for another attack. He started attacking distracting the serpent. "Just stop! It's useless!" one of the players yelled.
Lumino was suddenly thrown back. "Tch…it's not over until I give up or die trying!" Lumino yelled with determination. He drank a potion and felt like an energy was running through his body. Very quickly. 'I'll have to thank Whisper for the Enthunder potion later.'
Lumino went for another go. This time when his swords connected, lightning flowed through the swords of the boss. She was stunned with each connected blow. Lumino managed to get a clear slash across her face. This angered her greatly.
She moved from the door at an immense speed towards the swordsman. Her furious charge killed the two players leaving Lumino alone.
He was all alone.
His heart beat faster as fear started to grip him.
"Leave me alone!"
"Watch out!"
He couldn't focus. Now Lumino was blocking attack after attack. Just trying to stay alive. The daemon managed to get a few hits. Lumino saw her lift up her sword. He blocked desperately. She was fast and swung her sword down on the swordsman.
His sword dropped to the ground. And so did his arm.
Lumino summoned his weapon, now facing the beast with only one arm. He was panicking. He ran up to the beast and held it off with one arm. She aimed for his weak left side landing more devastating cuts. He couldn't keep up anymore.
She whipped her tail and threw Lumino to the other side of the room and moved quickly stabbing him in the chest with all six swords.
He was losing his breath.
There was no pain in his chest but the fear still choked and hurt him.
He dropped his sword as the sound of clanging metal pierced the air.
HP: 73
His vision started to get darker.
He looked to the half serpent. She hissed lowly and looked at him with such disgust.
HP: 0
[You have died]
Lumino shattered into crystal particles
{End of Soundtrack}
Lumino awoke the respawn timer at 100 seconds and counting down. He couldn't get that boss fight out of his head. He was the protected until the last second and in the end, he could do nothing.
When he appeared back at the Sparrow's Nest, the floor's best hotel, he was met by the twins. Clearly, they could see something was wrong. "Lumino, are you okay?" Kizuna asked. Lumino quickly accessed his menu and logged out.
Lumino woke up to his room. His perfectly normal room. He removed the NerveGear and looked to his hand. He was trembling. He started to hyperventilate. This was a nightmare.
He left his room and went into the bathroom walking, past his sister, to wash his face. "Onii-chan, you're awake," she said happily. Her happiness was turned into worry as she saw the state her brother was in. "What's wrong?"
That question flipped a switch. He became very nauseous and started to throw up. "Mitsuko…water…" he muttered as he started to puke again.
She quickly ran into the kitchen to get water. Mitsuko returned to see her brother sitting on the seat trembling with tears running down his face. He gave him the water which he drank as if he walked through a desert.
"Thank you," he said.
"Onii-chan, are you okay? Should I call mom?"
"No. I'm…fine. I…just need to…lie down," he responded getting up and going to his room. Tragic memories filled his head. He lied down on his bed and started to cry.
He cried…
…and cried…
…and cried…
…and cried…
…the just stopped crying.
Year 2023 March 9 7:30pm
"And that's basically what happened," Lumino concluded unconsciously gripping his left arm.
"Okay. That would explain your nightmares," Tsukino said.
"Yeah. And it just traces to one bad memory."
"What happened?" Scarlet asked. Lumino just looked to the floor heartbroken. Scarlet saw this and apologised.
"It's alright. Maybe I'll tell you guys another time."
"You don't need to. Just focus on making peace with your memories and nightmares," Kizuna told the swordsman.
"Alright, will do."
"Now let's hit the hay," Ronen yawned.
"You said it," Raiden said agreeing with him for once. When it was night, Lumino lay on his bed staring at the ceiling. "A nightmare that will haunt me until I kill that snake." Lumino whispered as he stared at his hand.
"Don't worry, dad. I'm not the protected anymore. I'll protect everyone just like you did for me," Lumino started to cry.
"Even if I die trying."
Lumino looked around. It was dark. There was nothing in sight. Just a pitch black void. The stone ground was lit by his presence. "Where am I?"
Lumino's father had black hair however his was straight and tame. He had grey eyes and wore an overall black attire. Black shirt, black pants, and black shoes.
Lumino saw his dad. His father didn't notice his presence. "Dad? Dad!" Lumino called out to him running towards him. He appeared to be in his 10 year old body so his voice was lighter.
A snake suddenly sprung from the ground knocking the elder raven to the sky. The serpent devoured Lumino's father before his eyes. Lumino ran up to the serpent with a sword in hand and rage in his eyes. The serpent turned to Lumino and opened its mouth.
It didn't bite as the floor10 beta boss sprung out with six swords ready. Lumino was stabbed by all six again. "Damn. Well…if I die..." Lumino raised his sword. He reverted back to his current self. (15)
"YOU DIE TOO!" he yelled swinging it horizontally chopping the daemon's head off. The daemon shattered leaving Lumino with his wounds. Instead of the holographic wounds of FFO, this was real blood.
Out of the middle of the crystal particles dropped a key. Lumino picked up the small item and recognised it. It was the key from the Deadeye quest. He looked up and saw a door appeared.
Using his sword as a type of cane, he slowly walked up to door. He inserted the key and opened the door to a bright light.
The artificial rays of the artificial sun woke Lumino up. And so did the standard wake up setting from a player. The swordsman got up and grumbled, "Wish I finished that dream."
He quickly equipped his standard battle gear and walked to the lobby. Kizuna, Tsukino, Lily and Scarlet were all awake. The girls were talking to each other as Kizuna was reading a 'newspaper' window.
"Mornin'," Lumino greeted.
"Hey. Come check this out," Kizuna called him. Lumino looked to the news Kizuna was reading. His eyes widened.
Mysterious Tomb
On the top of the rock of Spriggan, there is a door that leads to a locked room. A tomb of some sorts. No key has been discovered yet and the contents of the room remains unknown.
The major guilds have postponed the boss raid for another week in search of the lost key.
Lumino couldn't believe what he was seeing, "For every lock..." Lumino muttered. He reached into his pocket and took out the key. "There exists a key."
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