"Noctis," she breathed, barely vocalizing the words on the feeble amount of air expelled from her lungs. But her eyes were open, and Noctis had never been happier to see the ice blue of her irises.
Her breathing was still labored, despite her bleeding slowing. "I'm right here, Light," Noctis whispered. "You're going to be alright."
Noctis felt the warmth of her blood on his hands. Even though his clothes were dark, he knew it was stained with blood, but he couldn't tell whose anymore. Light's? Stella's? His own? He hoped some was Noel's, but knew the possibility did not exist. How much of it Light had lost, he didn't know. However, he did know that it was enough to overwhelm him in its metallic scent.
"You're going to be alright," he repeated.
He had never held someone in his arms after they'd been injured so gravely. Trying to hide the trembling of his hands, he kept one arm behind her back and moved the other to gently grip her shoulder opposite to him. He helped her to sit up a bit. Light was able to help support herself with a hand as leverage placed on the ground behind her. The arm nearer to him laid over her abdomen. Noctis was sure to keep a steady grip on her, the last thing he wanted to do at that moment was let her go.
"Stella?" Light asked quietly. To be thinking of someone else when there had been a knife in her chest moments earlier, Light showed her selflessness again.
Noctis forgot about Stella in his urgency to tend to Light, but she had already shuffled her way to them. Her white dress would never be free of the bloodstain set in it, but the wound across her stomach would heal in time. Stella kept one hand pressed to her cut, but blood barely flowed from the injury. It wasn't deep enough to pose serious danger, but it was large enough to release a concerning amount of blood.
The room was flooding with the sickening substance, shattered furniture splattered with streaks of drying blood. Noctis never liked the sight, but it became common place once the war started. Some things were more important than a dislike of what made them human. Things like Light's life.
"You two saved me," Stella said. She tested the words, sounding like she didn't believe them herself.
"Yeah," Noctis said. But we came here to kill you. Noel just beat us to it.
He could never admit to Stella their reasons for being there, not after what Noel did to her. She saw him as a father—Noctis remembered her skipping out of the castle beside Noel with a brilliant smile on her face. All she had wanted at that time was to see her beloved father again after his meeting. He never saw Noel treat her well enough to deserve such unconditional love. Never heard stories of overwhelming kindness towards her. Nonetheless, she had given him the love that only a child could give a monster like him: blind love.
Tears rolled down Stella's face again, her cheeks flushed from her crying. "I'm so sorry, Noctis. I'm so sorry for everything."
Noctis felt unshed tears behind his eyes, but kept them in. He felt guilty for both women's injuries and fear for Light. He felt helpless and weak. If he cried, he'd only enforce the reality that Light was hurt. If he didn't, he could pretend that everything was okay and a few bandages were all she needed. I'll become stronger. This won't happen again. I need to protect Light, regardless of if she needs me to.
Noctis glanced at Light and thought he saw her nod, if only a fraction of an inch. Looking back at Stella, he shook his head. "I understand, Stella. You were being used."
Stella smiled through her tears, but it faded quickly. "Will she be okay?" she asked, gesturing to Light.
Noctis looked down at Light. He felt her weight drop fully back to his arm, no longer able to hold herself up. While she closed her eyelids as though they were made of lead, her lips twisted into the smallest of smirks. "I'm too stubborn to die," she whispered.
Her head rolled to the side, into Noctis' chest, and he couldn't stop a sad smile from growing as he looked at her. Even when she was the one in pain, he was the one that still received comfort from her. It was his turn to return the favor and get her out of Tenebrae alive.
"You love her," Stella said.
Noctis' attention snapped up to Stella, who had a small smile despite the crying she'd done and the betrayal she'd faced. "Yeah," Noctis replied. It hadn't been a question, but it felt like one.
"I can tell," Stella said, "from the way you look at her. The way you hold her and speak to her."
"You caught me," Noctis said, uncertain of what she wanted from this accusation.
"When," Stella paused and took a deep breath before continuing, wincing from her wound, "when I was little I used to think that one day we'd be married. Princes marry princesses is what my mother told me."
Noctis opened his mouth to reply, but Stella shook her head and continued with her same sad smile. "But that's not us, is it? You never looked at me like you do her, but we were only children, weren't we. Then things…" she trailed off.
It was Noctis' turn to shake his head. "We don't need to talk about this Stella, we need to get Light help."
"Then, at least let me help too. I owe both of you."
Noctis nodded and lifted Light into his arms while he stood, executing each action slowly for caution's sake. "We came in on the other side of the castle, by the servants' wing, I think."
"I'll take you there," Stella said, leading Noctis through the halls.
Noctis wasn't sure why he let her help. After everything that happened, she was alone. The last of her family had forsaken her and there were hardly guards or servants to befriend. I don't want her to feel so alone. We were friends once upon a time, but circumstances drove us against each other.
"Could I come with you guys?" she asked as they walked.
Noctis shifted Light in his arms, the route felt longer than he remembered. "What do you mean?"
"I'm not wanted here any longer," Stella said, keeping a hand over her wound.
Noctis hadn't realized how hindered they'd become. Stella didn't have much energy left and Noctis' side burned. He must have been hit with one of the swords thrown back without realizing it. But he'd been so focused on Light, he hadn't felt a thing until they were out of immediate danger. They were both running on the fumes of rapidly fading adrenaline. Noel really didn't care about them leaving. He knew they'd return. Noctis hated that he was right about them returning as well.
All for Light. Anything for Light.
"Right up there, I think," Noctis said. "The door that's open. That has to be it."
I wish Light was awake, she'd know for sure.
"Alright, almost there then," Stella said.
They were both barely walking. Stella lost enough blood to fatigue her and Noctis had to carry Light along with the pain from his newfound wound on his side—thankfully not deep enough to bleed him out. The long, winding path through the castle helped neither of them.
"At least Noel was kind enough to not send guards after us," Noctis said.
Noctis saw pain flash across Stella's face and cursed his lack of thought in his words. Why would she want to talk about the man who was supposed to be her father who just tried to kill her? Idiot. I'm never going to learn how to talk to women. I drive them away, anger them, or upset them. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
Noctis' chorus of self insults almost made him miss Stella's quiet answer. "Yeah."
After Stella entered the room, Noctis followed, careful to not hit Light's head on the doorframe. Stella shut the door behind them and pushed a small dresser from one corner in front of the door. "Just in case," she said.
Noctis looked out the window. Guards would be watching for him and Light, but Stella remained their enemy. Light's injury was not going to help Stella's case anytime soon either. What do I do?
"Noctis?" Stella asked softly. She stood still by the barricaded door, looking down and fidgeting with her hands.
Noctis set Light on the small bed in the room. Lucky we entered through the servant's wing. Turning to Stella, he asked, "What?"
"I just… I wanted to know if we could be… friends again," Stella kept her gaze on the ground, her voice unsure.
Noctis looked at her and he didn't see the woman with her eyes blazing full of hatred trying to kill him. He saw a young girl, hair tied up in pig-tails and smiling with a missing front tooth.
He picked Light up again, glad that the miniscule reprieve allowed him to stretch his arms. Looking back at Stella, he sighed. "Yeah. You were being used, I get that Stella. You just always did what you thought was right."
Her head snapped up to look at Noctis with wide eyes. She nodded and walked closer to him, lips quivering in a smile. She'd shed too many tears to shed more, even in happiness or relief.
"I'm so glad, Noctis. I'm so glad," she said.
She covered her mouth with her hands. "I'll make it up to you somehow, I will. I'm so sorry for everything."
"Stella, let's just go. Light said she's too stubborn to die, but she still needs medical care. We all do. We'll figure everything out later."
Stella nodded, removing her hands from her face and revealing her smile once again. "You're right."
Noctis was about to turn, but Stella's eyes widened as she gasped. Without another sound, her eyes closed and she crumpled to the ground.
Noctis looked down and saw Light awake with a sword in her hand. He never felt her move, never saw her acquire a sword. Yet, Light's hand grasped the hilt of the sword pierced through Stella, her eyes determined, not foggy as per usual for someone who'd just been unconscious.
"Light?" he asked.
Light shifted in his arms and he helped guide her to the ground, mind still trying to catch up to what happened.
Stella seemed peaceful, a word Noctis never associated with her in the past. From her mouth, he saw the multicolored orb of light leave her body. On her way to the Unseen Realm or Valhalla.
Thousands of dust-like golden lights flowed out of Stella's wound in a swirling pattern and into Light's wound. Her power, Etro's power. Noctis watched as the injury slowly closed from the inside out. The light filling it in piece by piece until flesh covered what was once exposed, not even a scar remained to remind them of what happened. Maybe they could pretend it was all a bad dream one day.
"She died with a smile," Light said as the lights still flowed into her, even though the wound closed. "That's more than we could have asked for with our original plan."
She'll be happy now. Free from her kingdom and her pain. Free from her regrets.
"I wish… I still wish there had been another way," Noctis said.
"I know."
The flow of light dwindled away and Light's sword disappeared as quickly as it appeared. She stood, a bit shaky, but Noctis wrapped one arm around her to help steady her. "Etro was never meant to be reborn, but to become one with the Chaos. She gained a friend in her final moments and will always be with us in our powers, when we use Chaos."
"Gained a friend? Were you awake that whole time?" Noctis asked.
Light nodded. "Had to make her feel comfortable though. I'm just a stranger to her."
"So you pretended to be unconscious. Did you know all along what she would say?"
Light shrugged one shoulder. "A lucky guess, but I did have an idea of what she would do. I hate things like this as much as you do, Noctis. It's just necessary, but she'd have been miserable anyway. With memories of such a heavy betrayal, she'd always have doubts and mistrust in others."
"I know," Noctis said. He looked out of the window to the orb of light travelling across the sky to the next realm.
He didn't feel the sting of unshed tears like before. Stella's death left an emptiness, an unwillingness to believe she was no longer there. A willingness to hope she wasn't. Noctis felt guilt that he'd wished death on her after Tenebrae started attacking. He made the decision to remember her as she was during their childhood. She grew up to be just a puppet of Noel's, those actions weren't hers, but she managed to die the woman she should have been all along with hatred only towards the deserving. "Rest in peace, Stella."
Noctis let go of Light when she assured him she was steady, but she turned and his heart sunk. One eye had a golden symbol illuminated in it. "Light, we have to get to the guards before you go to Valhalla. We both need to see the medics, they can help get you there. Hold on, just a moment."
Light nodded again and staggered to the window, allowing Noctis to jump out first. He stood below and helped her down, the other eye starting to be overtaken by gold. The four guards were already swarming towards them. Noctis felt the pain from the wound in his side grow. It wasn't bleeding much earlier, but I probably made it worse by ignoring it and overexerting myself. I don't know if I have the strength to carry Light again.
"It's okay now, Light. To go to Valhalla. One of the guards can get you to the medics," Noctis said.
"I only let certain men carry me," she said, smiling up at Noctis. Genuinely smiling.
Noctis smiled in return, heart ready to burst with warmth, before she started to fall, but he caught her and lifted her up again. I can't argue with that.
"Prince Noctis, the princess?" one guard asked while another radioed in for pick up.
"Will be okay. We both will after a visit to the medics, did they managed to bring enough supplies?"
The guard nodded. "Yes sir. Your father decided to send more soldiers about half a day after we left. They arrived a few hours ago and found an abandoned warehouse tucked away real nice."
Noctis raised an eyebrow and shifted Light, his side began to bother him more and more. "Warehouse? For what?"
"The boys turned it into an infirmary. Crates pushed together to make some surfaces to lay the injured. It ain't much but it's better than nothing."
When the vehicle finally came into sight, Noctis almost dropped Light. His exhaust overtook him like he jumped into the ocean and let the waves pull him under the surface into its vast depths.
Noctis sat beside her in the make-shift infirmary, filled with wooden crates of all sizes. Light laid on two crates pushed together while Noctis settled on a smaller crate pushed beside hers.
The medics had been busy since the beginning of the attack, rejoicing when Tenebrae's guards and army surrendered and retreated into the castle on their king's orders. Calling the army to tell them war's over.
But a fair number wandered to the medics with wounds from the beginning of the fight. Tenebrae's army attacked from the side with the most force, not from the front as they expected. No one guessed that Noel kept minimal security over his domain and focused more on offense, but there were still plenty training and waiting for a new order to attack on hand that Tenebrae had no trouble pulling together a defense.
The whole of their small—though now doubled from pre-emptive reinforcements—unit rejoiced more when Noctis said his mission had been a sort of success, according to their orders. The king still lived, but the princess did not. Nothing felt like less of a victory to Noctis. Light needed Etro's power to have a chance against Noel, but there's always a price. He wished that Stella could have had a better ending to her life, or at least had a happier life.
They were friends once and she was manipulated. She didn't know Noel. She just wanted to be a good daughter. The same way I've always wanted to be a good son. She'd have done anything for his approval. Things could have been reversed and all I would want is forgiveness too.
Yet, at the end of one of the most difficult days of his life, Noctis felt like none of the mattered anymore. Noises at the warehouse quieted until there were only the footsteps of medics checking in on soldiers and the snoring of some exhausted men to be heard. He was bandaged. His wound wasn't serious, just painful. Light was by him, baffling the medics at her lack of wound with no lack of blood stains and looking more content in her rest than she ever did awake and tomorrow they would be on their way back home. He should have known that the medics wouldn't find anything after Stella's power closed the wounds, but he wanted them to check and be sure. Light was one matter that Noctis would always worry about. Noctis slumped his head on the edge of Light's temporary bed, using one arm as a pillow and closing his eyes as a smile spread on his face with Light's words replaying in his mind.
"I only let certain men carry me."
It was the thud of his head against the crate when it slide off his arm that woke Noctis. He scanned his surroundings for danger, but only found the quiet warehouse engulfing him. A flashlight blinded him for a moment.
"Are you alright, Prince Noctis?" asked a medic in a whisper.
Noctis glanced to see Light still sleeping peacefully beside him. "Yeah," he said as quietly as the medic, turning his attention back to the man, "I just hit my head on the crate and woke myself up."
The guard hid his laughter well, but Noctis still felt embarrassment from the situation. He didn't even think of the words before he said them to the medic. In his still half-asleep mind, it sounded more reasonable.
"Your wound?" he asked.
Noctis' hand brushed over the bandages hidden under his shirt. "Doesn't even hurt."
He seemed satisfied, but still shook his head with an unbelieving look. "You two are made of tough stuff."
Noctis nodded, looking at Light. "Her more-so. I couldn't do half of what she does."
"You're a lucky man, Noctis. I heard your father wants to arrange a marriage for you two. With this war ending, it'll be nice to have a joyous event." The medic ended their hushed conversation with another shake of his head and a grin before walking away, checking on everyone else in the warehouse.
He almost fell asleep again, lingering on the border of consciousness where nothing could be accepted as fact or fiction, but a pulse of power jolted him awake again. He looked first at Light and saw the area around her glowing a soft grey, distorting nearby shapes.
Is that Chaos?
He felt the pulse again and found his hands to be shaking. The immense force of Chaos left him in tremors with cold sweat forming on his skin.
The power pulsed once more, stronger than the first two, but with a sense of finality. The glow was reabsorbed by Light and the overbearing force dissipated. Noctis took deep breaths to calm himself.
Light's fully absorbed Stella's power. With so much strength, I don't think even Noel stands a chance against her now.
A/N: As always, thank you for the reviews, follows, and favorites!