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...

As the summer progressed, Athenacia devoted more of her personal time to bestiary studies instead of infectious disease as previously planned. The crushing blow of Cor's comment left her lost, but determined to show him that he was wrong. The efforts were relentless, mornings for training and afternoons for study in order to allow the Marshal more training in the evening. Athenacia was desperate to prove herself to him, the idea that she wasn't good enough leaving her with the fear that he would discard her for another. It was irrational, but crept up from time to time and made her emotional in a way she had never experienced before. In fact, a lot more outbursts were coming to the surface for nearly a week before they would disappear completely and she was left wondering what had gotten into her.

Athenacia found herself going for another hunt outside the city, a chance to once again prove herself and she was not going to fail this time. Just like before, Cor roused her from slumber and then they disappeared outside the city limits, bypassing Hammerhead and going in the other direction away from Longwythe. Along the way she was getting in the last of her studies, far more prepared this time than the first. She truly felt that she was ready for this and would achieve her goal. The car began to slow down and she looked around curiously, honing the skills she developed over the summer.

The outpost they stopped at was not a place they had come to the first time he took her outside of the Crown City. There were hunters all about, not unlike Meldacio, and hazel hues wandered all over the new space. Cor led them worldlessly into the shelter, a smile coming across Athenacia's face as soon as she spotted Rebekah sitting down with three drinks in front of her. As usual, she greeted the Marshal in that intimate manner before the young girl hugged her and took their seats. Waiting for her was a hot chocolate and Athenacia happily sipped it, deciding not to comment on how it wasn't nearly as good as the one that Cor makes her. It was the gesture that was appreciated above all else. As always, the young girl happily chattered away about her summer, the Marshal keeping a watchful eye on her the entire time. Lately, she had begun to recognize his ability to hide his observations.

When they were finished catching up, the three of them left their post and began to walk south, past the haven and into the desert. The sun was beating down on them but Athenacia had no issues with that, never one to shy away from the heat. Cor wasn't much into it, sweat glistening off his forehead but Rebekah appeared to be alright. The three of them were quiet during the walk, very much like the first time. There was something off in the distance, three of them to be exact and as they drew nearer, Athenacia was able to recognize the beasts as dualhorns. Hazel hues narrowed as all the information she had studied filtering through her mind, taking the weapon offered to her by Cor once they had stopped moving. The girl was patient, eye flickering between the adults before bringing them back to the beasts before them.

"You stay on me, kid," instructed Cor.

Athenacia nodded, exhaling slowly as she waited for a signal. They crept closer and she tensed herself.

"Let's see what you got."

It was the last thing spoken before the fight began. In that flash of blue, Cor summoned his katana and began the battle just as Rebekah started on her own dualhorn. Athenacia stuck by Cor the entire time, completely unprepared for this turn of events. In retrospect, she should have suspected that this wouldn't be the same as last time, trying to follow the Marshal's movements and help him as best she could. The knowledge of her enemies flashed through her mind again and she carefully integrated herself into the fray. There were three in total and one of the horns was floundering around. The young girl kept an eye on it while she tried to not get killed. It would have been easier if she had seen Cor fight something for more than five minutes.

The beast behind her made a noise and she was nearly trampled, saved by the Marshal at the last second. It was mere seconds before she was back, twirling her hammer and attacking to return the favour. The first dualhorn was down, now they would focus on the extra. Rebekah was holding her own so Cor and Athenacia began their assault, felling this one much easier than the last now that they had worked out a rhythm. The huntress had finished with hers and the three of them took a moment to bask in their victory before returned mostly unscathed to the settlement.

Upon reaching the caravan, Athenacia began to utilize her skills of medicine, patching up the scrapes they sustained before enjoying a large lunch. The adults kept talking and that was when the young girl buried her nose in a book, catching up on some reading. There were mixed feelings about that fight, Athenacia having no idea what sort of test she was put in and whether or not she had actually passed it. About an hour later they were leaving, back in the car and on the way to the Crown City. Athenacia recognized the way once they were close to Hammerhead, feeling tenser as they approached the Crown City. Just like last time, Cor hadn't said a word to her about her performance and she was dying to know if she had achieved his approval.

"This time?" she asked once they crossed the gorge.

"Sloppy."

Her heart sank, sighing lowly and bringing her gaze back to the window. They were silent again, right until they arrived at home where Athenacia went straight to her room, shut the door with a huff and threw herself on the bed. Exhaling deeply, she rolled to her back and looked up into the sky through the skylight, the clouds blowing by into the evening. Moping wasn't really her thing, however, she felt so inadequate and she had no idea how to deal with these feelings. It seemed that no matter what she did, Cor was never proud of her and she had strived to achieve his approval. Obviously she wasn't working hard enough. Bringing herself back up, she marched into her bathroom in order to clean up before gathering her resolve and heading straight outside to improve her skills and not fail at her next test.

...

The summer turned to fall which then became winter, the least favourite season of Athenacia. Often she would hibernate in her room, focused on her studies and wearing many thick layers to keep warm. Cor insisted that the heat didn't need to be turned up so high and part of her suspected that he just enjoyed making her those hot chocolates. This year she was going to be ten and there was no time to think about it with how busy she was. Training didn't stop just because there was snow on the ground and school work was only piling up before the winter break. The Marshal was scarce around, fairly busy getting ready for the celebration of the winter solstice, an annual event that took place in the Citadel. Athenacia never wanted to attend, knowing she wouldn't be able to anyway without arousing suspicion about how a girl her age managed to find her way in there unsupervised. It was explained to her two years ago that she was to never reveal where she lived, for her own protection. In truth, she found Cor overly paranoid, however, did follow his wishes and divert any conversation that tried to trace her back to him.

Athenacia yawned before getting herself out of bed and running a scorching hot bath. After today she would be free to focus on her training during the break, hoping to get the chance to prove to Cor that she wasn't a waste of time. Ever since the summer, they had gone out at least once a month to fight real beasts in the wild, each time with Rebekah scoping out the task and fighting alongside them. The young girl would try her best, hammer in hand and fighting either solo or with Cor to defeat whatever sorts of monsters - only to come out of it with no praise about how she had improved. Instead she was met with the means to become better than the last time, to show him that she truly was exceptional and working hard for it.

As she dried herself with a fluffy white towel, she dressed and was ready for school, grabbing her lunch and leaving the house to catch the bus. In the middle was where she was hardly noticed, keeping her head down and enjoying the fact that the other kids were not ready to be up so early either. At least in this school she wasn't getting into fights as much as she used to, outsiders here to greet her instead of pure-bred Insomnians. The sky was still grey, the sun in the midst of rising to illuminate the fact that there was snow all over the ground. Athenacia hated winter; the bleakness of the days, the frigid temperatures, the fact that her feet were always cold and wet and the lack of activities that could be performed outdoors. How other people managed to enjoy it was beyond her.

When they arrived at the school, she let out another sigh and waited for the lineup to diminish before rising from her own seat and exiting the bus. The building before her always felt like a prison and Athenacia hated that. Next year she would be her last year - unless she somehow managed to skip ahead and get out of here. While the kids attending here were outsiders like her, she still didn't have really any friends, just mere acquaintances that she was friendly with in order to further the work she was in. Friends were a distraction and she couldn't afford anything like that right now. Besides, she felt queasy the last few days and was extremely moody. She was sure it was the weather getting to her as usual, however, something just felt off and she couldn't pinpoint what exactly it was.

Once she was sitting in her seat a bout of nausea hit her, almost forcing her to immediately leave and head straight for the bathroom. Athenacia endured, knowing that it was just one more day and she was free. Whatever willpower she had would be used up and then she could go home, curl up into a ball on her bed and die so that she wouldn't have to feel any more pain right now. As the day progressed, it only got worse and she wished that she had left early. One more class and it was over, she could leave. A mental note was made about her poor appetite, usually one to eat more twice her own body weight. Today she hardly had a few bites of her lunch before packing it away and vomiting in the stalls when she was sure she was alone. Just one more class and she could leave. She could do this, it was almost over and she could make it through to the end of the day without any more issues.

Stomach still in knots, she boarded the bus eagerly, taking her seat and wishing that time would go by faster. The second the bus pulled up to her stop, she flew out the door and ran home as fast as her legs would take her. Bursting through the front door that was not locked from when she had left earlier, she bolted up the stairs and straight into her bathroom, not even bothering to remove her wet shoes. As soon as she got in there she relieved herself, wincing at the pain she felt in her lower abdomen. If this persisted then she was going to have to go to the emergency room. At least there she could get some real study in the field instead of the mundane tomes she had been reading her whole existence. Honestly, how was she supposed to really learn if she wasn't allowed in the hospital? Stupid law.

"Shit."

Athenacia cursed under her breath after seeing what happened. Blood in her urine or... was it? Upon further inspection she realized that no, that wasn't the case at all. Hazel hues widened in shock, a wave of panic flooding her as she desperately flushed to hide the evidence. There was one huge problem with that, however. This was not something that would just go away because she hid it, this was something that was going to happen to her for the next fifty or so years of her life. Looking in the mirror, she wasn't exactly sure how she had missed all the signs, especially with her nose in medical texts more often than not. Gods, the day had finally come and much too early for her liking. Today, shortly before her birthday, she had become a woman.

...

Cor Leonis found himself in a very foul mood. Ever since Athenacia's birthday, she had grown fangs, talking back and having an altogether sour attitude about everything and anything - except training, where she was focused on becoming better each day. The Marshal knew that it was because he was so hard on her, and he wanted to make sure that she was going to be alright if the time ever came that she would have to defend herself. Every day it seemed she was ready to fight verbally with him about something ridiculous, like how she wasn't able to open up the mayonnaise in order to make her sandwich for school, or how she was too short and somehow that was Cor's fault. More often than not he ignored her attempts at conflict and she would go on without trying again. There were days, however, where she would know exactly which of his buttons to push and he found himself reacting long before he caught himself, engaging in the argument which then led to her slamming something or breaking it. This pattern was frustrating and the Immortal had absolutely no idea how to get around this.

The Marshal sighed, finishing up the paperwork he had left over on his desk. Athenacia was in one of those moods and usually he found it was easier to stay at work as long as possible in the hopes that she would be holing herself in her room like she ordinarily did at a certain time of night. It was then that Cor was able to sneak in and hurry out of sight to try and avoid her until morning with faith that she would be in a better frame of mind. The Crown Prince's birthday was fast approaching, another summer coming to an end before the school year would begin. The new generation was progressing beautifully, with Athenacia more than ready for her year at school. Gladiolus was eagerly coming into his own with his training. The boy was eight and still shadowing his father when he wasn't in school or training to become the Prince's Shield. Ignis developed in his own way. While he wasn't as physically large as Gladio, he was still very agile with his mind, skipping ahead in his studies and truly impressing everyone he encountered. The surprise news of Clarus having another child was something else they could marvel at, the King's Shield himself filling with pride at knowing he was going to bring another life into the world from his own bloodline. Cor was proud of all of them, however, still biased and happy Athenacia was ahead of the game.

Noctis himself grew and was a happy child. The boy was going to be five years old and so full of life, Cor felt himself brimmed with such wonder - much like when he first met his own adopted daughter. Both of them had similarities and the Marshal enjoyed his involvement with all of them. It was hard to believe that five years had already passed since he entered their lives, remembering the day he was born and how much his world was impacted. This year Regis wanted to go all out and prepare a very special celebration and Cor was packed with more work than usual. There were no expenses spared when it came to his son, the pride of Lucis. It was hard not to want to spoil a child, especially one that showed such promise for their future.

When the Marshal was finished up with his work, he left the office and went to find his Majesty, wanting to have a quick chat about taking a day to have Athenacia go hunting. The girl was improving much more than he was actually giving her credit for and he was planning on actually telling her so this time. Two years ago he started training her and soon she would be ready to fight without him constantly looming over her every move. Of course, he would be standing on the sidelines to catch her if she fell, however, he wanted to give her a sense of independence and not deter her by crushing her hopes.

As Cor came off the elevator and into the living quarters, he saw the young Prince being escorted into his room. A frown on the older man's face, the Marshal continued on his journey, stopping at the quarters of the King only to find that he wasn't in. Curious, he asked the posted guard the whereabouts of Regis and then immediately headed in the same direction. Once the lift stopped on the desired floor, Cor walked briskly down the corridor and entered the shrine where the Crystal resided, shining its light up high above the city of Insomnia and blanketing it in its protection. The King stood in front of it, fists clenched at his side and almost shaking. Cor approached tentatively, feeling the tension all around the room. Something had happened here, something that involved him and the Prince, and the Marshal wasn't exactly sure that he should be here at the moment. Inaudibly sighing, he turned to leave, deciding it was best to have this conversation later on.

"Cor."

The sound of Regis's voice stopped him in his tracks, turning his head to look over at his King. The man hadn't moved and again the Marshal approached timidly until he was standing right in front of the precious gem. No words were spoken right at first, Cor watching as the blue hue of the Crystal glowed brightly, the Ring of the Lucii matching it. The Immortal had seen this before, whenever Regis would communicate with the Kings of Old in the past. It was only a wonder of what they had to say this time and why it was so worrisome.

"Everything okay?" asked Cor in a low voice.

Regis heaved a heavy sigh, hands gripping the rail in front of the Crystal. The Marshal was patient, keeping his light blue eyes almost distant as he waited.

"The time has come," replied Regis gravely.

"Time?"

"Indeed."

Another one of those long drawn out sighs scaped the royal as he looked up at his Crystal. Cor followed his gaze, a lump forming in this throat at what he was afraid to hear. That blue hue told him everything and yet, it wasn't real until it was spoken aloud.

"I've been informed that Noctis is the true King of Kings we have been waiting for."

It was like a blow, a fatal one that gripped Cor's heart and plunged it down beneath hell itself, burning in a fiery inferno that had the innocent hazel eyes of a young girl behind them. There was no way, no way that this was happening to them now. Everyone knew the fate of the Chosen King of Light, what it meant for the world. Most importantly, what it meant for the father of the child, the one that would have to raise him and know his fate until the day came. Nothing about this was easy and the Marshal clenched his own fist.

"You're certain?" asked Cor.

"I wish I wasn't."

"I'm sorry I... know what this means for you."

"For you as well."

The Immortal tensed when he met the eye of his King. There was no denying it, no matter how much he wanted to run from this moment over the last ten years. In the back of his mind he always knew, however, refused to really give it the truth that it deserved. It was silly, he was supposed to prepare for all possible scenarios and now he was taken aback by the very one he never wished to come to life.

"Athenacia truly is the Infernian."

The words cut through them like a knife, the answers they never wanted out loud and unable to be taken back. Everything around them told them that this was coming, all starting with the day that Cor brought the young girl through the doors of the Citadel and told them of how he came to be the primary caregiver of Lilium Aldercapt. The day that Gladiolus was born and Athenacia released the first true sign that a God lived within her, when all the astrals themselves sans Ifrit told them so in this very room, the second time her magic released in a destructive wave the second Noctis was born, the way all the other Six greeted her as soon as she left the protection of the Crown City. All the evidence was right there in front of them and yet, Cor chose to ignore it and hope for the best. Now there was no getting out of it, he was left to accept what he could no longer cower behind.

"I understand now," said Regis, eyes back on the Crystal.

"What?"

"I understand why you find it so hard to speak it to her, to tell her what she truly is and her purpose in the world. It's not easy, raising them for the slaughter of a better Eos."

Those terms weren't exactly the way that Cor wanted to hear it, cringing slightly before sighing. It didn't change the truth of the matter in the slightest.

"And what will you do?" asked the Marshal, "Will you tell him as I've neglected to tell her?"

The question hung in the air for a few moments. It was hardly simple and Cor knew all too well exactly how coming to terms with something like this could literally break a person - especially when a child was the only thing either of these men had left. The Marshal ripped his gaze away from the gem, turning his back on it in near disgust for causing him the plague of making an impossible choice the last decade of his life.

"I don't know," the King finally answered, utterly defeated by this.

Cor grunted, "You'd think your ancestors would give you an answer."

"There are no right or wrong answers. All that matters is the two of them perform their duties and win... even if it will cost them everything they'll come to know."

"There has to be another way."

"You know there is not. Noctis will pay the blood price and Athenacia..."

It was Cor's turn to sigh heavily, closing his eyes tightly. In his mind the last ten years flittered through it, every crucial moment as vivid as the day it happened. That calm hazel stare bore into him as it always did, telling him what he needed to know.

"Athenacia will make her choice, holding all of our fates in her hands," Cor spoke softly.

...

It was well into the night that Cor had finally arrived home. The idea that his child really was holding a dormant, blood-thirsty God inside of her drove him to seek the comfort of an amber coloured whiskey in a bar he used to frequent long before his Guardian days. There was no way he could drive, hailing a cab to take him a few blocks in the opposite direction of his home. The last thing he needed was someone following him home and finding out where exactly he lived. Cor's house was quiet, the lights off but the door unlocked which made him sigh in exasperation. How many times had he told her to lock the door? Honestly it was common sense.

The man made his way a little noisily into the kitchen, turning on the light and finding the stash of alcohol he kept in the cupboards for guests he never had. Instantly it was cracked open, and the burning liquid poured down his throat a little too eagerly. That calm hazel stare, he couldn't get it out of his mind no matter how hard he tried or how much he had drunk. After the bottle was more than halfway done and nothing had changed, he gave up, slamming it on the counter and pounding his way up the stairs. His bedroom was to the left but his body went right, down the hall and stopping at the wooden door with a giant red "A" nailed on it. No sounds came from inside and Cor opened the door quietly to make sure that Athenacia was still here.

There was nothing to worry about, the girl sleeping soundly beneath the covers of her bed with the windows allowing the summer breeze to pass through. Carefully taking his steps to the bedside, his heart melted when he saw how peaceful she looked. Tears welled in the bottom of his eyes at knowing the truth about her, the confirmation he had been trying to drown out the second he had left the Citadel hitting him full in the face. Cor knelt down to get a better look, trying desperately to find any outward signs that he had ignored the last ten years. Nothing popped out, she was still the same innocent child he had met at the hotel room in Lestallum. Athenacia had come so far in her life, showed great promise and the Marshal knew that she could truly become anything she wanted to be. Now he would just hope that she wanted to be on the side of humans and save them all from the monster that was locked within her. No matter what she chose, he would always be by her side. Leaning over, he placed a gentle kiss to the top of her head.

"Love you kid," he whispered before carefully pushing himself up and leaving the room.

Athenacia opened her eyes as soon as the door was closed, a tear leaving one haze hue as his words ran through her head.

...

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