Happy September all! I was able to sit down and write quite a bit last weekend-long weekends are great. I wish I had another one soon. Oh well...anyway next chapter coming your way. It's kind of short, but I have more in the polishing stage so I can keep this going. Thanks for reading as always and hope you enjoy.
The barren coast of Niflheim was a mariner's nightmare. It taunted the ocean-weary with land, promised them fresh water and food, just to give them none. The coastline was a series of barren cliffs with the only shore being a narrow strip of beach composed of desert sands that had eroded down the cliffs. Passages up the cliff were few and far between, and led up to nothing but rocky desert.
Many a sailor in times past had washed up on the shore, thinking to be saved from the ocean's ravages, just to succumb to hunger and thirst in the barren wasteland they thought was their rescue. The only way through it was to get through it as quickly as possible—which is why the Empire had built a railroad across it, and had relied on airships instead of sea travel.
Its only claim to fame was its mines. And with the Empire no longer around to keep up the transportation infrastructure, only a handful of humans remained. Humans so obsessed with obtaining wealth that they were willing to live like moles in the underground caverns, spending their days prospecting and living off of the meager underground trickles of water they could find, and feeding upon their fellow cave-dwelling creatures.
Now that this was his domain, he would have to do something about them, Ifrit thought, striding though one of the mining tunnels. The weather in the tunnel was mild—much cooler than outside. And to him it felt like it was freezing cold. Not to Agneya though. She was smiling in his arms, cooing in delight at the nice moderate temperature, cool enough for her mother's powers, warm enough for her daddy's.
The darkness had been affecting Ifrit strangely lately. Even the desert nights which never used to bother him, seemed colder. And the transitions from darkness to light were, jarring. The temperature differentials made him sizzle in the heat, and his eyes had trouble adjusting to the light. He wouldn't have put it past Shiva to have cursed him—it of course had to be a coincidence that it had begun happening after she died.
Ifrit found one of the water sources the humans used. It was a small aquifer with a "pond" of fresh water available for use. Based on the crates and scraps hanging around, it seemed to be a popular spot in this tunnel. Ifrit sneered at the nest of human dregs. These petty greedy fools were the true bottom of the barrel as far as he was concerned. Humans were bad enough—feral prospectors were even worse.
Agneya was surveying the scene curiously, brow furrowed, as though everything she was seeing was something she should be learning and absorbing. Ifrit glanced down to his daughter, then plopped down on the shore of the pond with the infant in his lap.
"Let me tell you a story, little one," he began. "Once upon a time, your mother and I, and a few of our companions, built this planet. It was a paradise that we wanted to share with others. So, in our infinite wisdom, we bequeathed our paradise to living creatures. Of these, humans and daemons reigned supreme. Humans dominated the day, and daemons the night."
Agneya kept her gaze fixed upon him, seemingly absorbing his story.
"Daemons knew their place. They stayed in the dark places of the world, never venturing out into the light. Had humans not developed airs above their station, they could have lived in harmony forever with the daemons. But it wasn't to be. Humans developed artificial light, allowing them to infest the night. They eradicated the daemons—creatures who just wanted to defend themselves. Do you think that's fair, little one," he asked her, rhetorically.
Of course she couldn't reply, and likely comprehended little, but he had to start teaching her sometime.
"These humans got away with killing all daemons," Ifrit continued. "And now they live on, unchecked, unchallenged."
To demonstrate his point, he picked up one of the dry-rotted bags at his feet. It ripped open, causing gray rocks to fall to the ground. "Do you see these," he asked her. "These are nothing but useless pieces of rock—things that your Uncle Titan could make with a snap of his fingers. Humans spend their lives, living as the daemons did, in darkness and deprivation, in the hopes of finding fancier versions of these rocks."
Agneya reached out a tiny hand to touch one of the rocks, staring at it with fixed attention.
"I am the only one who can stop them," Ifrit stated with cold purpose. He rose his hands, and with one flame blast, he evaporated the pond, leaving nothing but a tiny puddle in its wake.
"See, my child? This is what we must do. You too have the power to do this. Please, help your dada with this," he asked gently, raising one of her little hands towards the puddle and infusing her hand with a tiny amount of heat.
Agneya's hand flexed, releasing that heat at the puddle. It finished the job, leaving this portion of the cave barren and inhospitable to humans.
"Good job, little one," Ifrit praised, patting her head. "Now the next time humans come here, they will suffer the same fate they have inflicted upon others."
What he said didn't seem to register to Agneya. However, she glanced back at her hand, then the puddle and flexed again. A tiny puff of flame, her own this time, puttered forth. She stared at the flame puff with delight.
Ifrit smiled tenderly at his daughter. All of his failsafes were in place. Between Ardyn and his new protégé, humankind was doomed.
How did Aranea keep ending up at diplomatic dinners, she wondered as she did her best to daintily spoon seafood soup into her mouth. Unfortunately she tended to slurp no matter how hard she tried. She surreptitiously eyed Claustra to see if she was being judged as an uncouth heathen. Luckily for her, Claustra was more focused on Noctis and Luna.
"So," Claustra asked them. "Now that you have been given a new lease on life, so to speak, are you still planning on getting married?"
Luna's spoon trembled in her hand a moment. "I, we have not discussed it as yet. Given all that has happened since we returned, getting married is not really a priority at the moment. Perhaps once this is all over…"
"True. However, if you wait too long…the Cathedral here in town is at your disposal should you like to proceed with a, er, hasty wedding."
"Why do you think they require a hasty wedding," Gladio demanded brusquely.
Claustra had the grace to look flustered. Ignis knew what she meant, and his heart dropped to his shoes. She figured they were going off to their deaths, so might as well get married beforehand. Just like how soldiers going off to war married their sweethearts first. He glanced to Aranea. Should he do just that, and marry her? Did the offer of the Cathedral extend to them as well?
Noctis glanced back at Claustra with cool confidence, just this side of arrogance. "The way I see it, given what we feel for each other and what happened on the Other Side, we are already married. Even if it is not 'official' here. To formalize such a thing now while one of my friends is in danger is unacceptable. When we defeat Ifrit, we will marry officially with all my friends present."
Then he glanced hesitantly as his "wife" to make sure she was not offended. Luna beamed at him. "Well said," she exclaimed. "It would be unthinkable to wed without Iris and while the world is, the way it is. Once the world is at peace again, we will consider a wedding venue here."
Ignis inwardly sighed in relief. They had a point. To marry in this type of environment, with looming threats, was impossible. He did not want Aranea's wedding day tarnished with fear and grief. And that assumed she'd be willing to marry him anyway. He'd have to ask her—once this was all over. And Noctis and Luna's words gave him cautious hope that it would be all over, and they would have a future.
"I must commend your wisdom," Claustra replied, seemingly genuinely. "I, am aware there is not much I can offer you in this fight. I had thought of offering whatever meager resources from my kingdom that I could offer to boost morale, or, whatever. I meant no offense," she broke off awkwardly.
Noctis shrugged. "Sometimes information and creature comforts are just as useful as legions of armies," he commented affably.
Claustra gave a relieved smile, then turned to her other guests—happening to catch Lux's eye. She did a double-take and stared at his face in shock.
Lux stopped, a handful of bread halfway to his mouth. "Um, is there a problem, er, ma'am," he asked, flustered.
"So, it is true," she muttered. "I, had thought I misheard."
Aranea looked at Claustra sharply, echoing Lux's confused stare.
"You have Ardyn Izunia's nose," Claustra finally blurted out.
Everyone turned to give that feature a closer look. Lux glanced around nervously, uncomfortable at the sudden attention.
"I can't say I ever studied him that closely to be able to be able to tell that," Gladio replied.
"I have," Noctis stated. "Being caught in a close quarters swordfight to the death with him gives you plenty of time to study his ugly mug. And Claustra is right."
"For all his faults, one can't really accuse him of being ugly," Luna quietly commented.
"How can you say that about the man who stabbed you in cold blood," Ravus replied, shocked.
Luna shrugged. "I dislike him, but I need to be fair and honest where I can be."
"Hmph. Goody two shoes," Ravus snarked back, every inch her brother.
"She, does have a point, although I hate to admit it," Aranea replied grudgingly. "I hate his motherfu—er guts, but physical appearance is not one of his flaws. Even if everything else is," she added bitingly.
"Never thought I'd hear you say that, Aranea," Cor replied. "I hope we're not getting into a hatred masking attraction kind of thing here," he added archly.
Aranea's head slew towards him in amazement. "How could you even think something like that—especially when the man I love is right here," she snapped back with a sharp gesture to Ignis. Then she broke off, flustered at what she had just blurted to the table, in front of a foreign dignitary no less. Her face went red. "Er, what I mean is…"
"About time you admitted it," Gladio snarked. "I mean, I wondered when you two would ever figure it out."
"Don't be embarrassed," Luna replied. "We already knew it anyway. Just as, I'm sure everyone knows how much I love Noctis," she replied with a shy but tender smile to her beloved seated beside her. He reached over and put his arm around her.
Aranea looked away, and happened to meet Ignis's gaze. He had his answer about whether or not she wanted to marry him. The look in his eyes was a revelation. He smiled, took her hand, and raised it to his lips for a kiss. If the room weren't full of people, she imagined he would do far more.
"Quite sure I can't interest you in my Cathedral," Claustra asked dryly, but with a smile to the two couples.
The two couples shook their heads regretfully.
Lux was giving his nose a cross-eyed stare, trying to see what Claustra had been talking about regarding his inherited features. Before anyone could reassure or reprimand him, there was a crash at the dining room doors as a grizzled old man crashed through them, followed by a couple of flustered guards.
"Hey, Prompto," Cid hollered out from the doorway. "I need your barcode a minute to test the engine. We had to turn the engine off in our repairs and we need your arm to start 'er back up."
Then he glanced at the table, surveying the gourmet bounty of food. "Pissh," he scoffed. "Looks like the kind of stuff you eat then are hungry an hour later. Gimme a burger anytime." As he said it though, he reached a gnarled hand out to a loaf of bread nearest him, ripped off a hunk, and smashed it into his mouth.
The diners just stared at him, open-mouthed. Lux snickered.
"Uh. I've got this, Cid. Let's go," Prompto said awkwardly, then all but dragged Cid out of the room.
The guards stayed back, glancing at Claustra guiltily before she dismissed them.
"My, apologies," Ignis said in a desperate attempt to diffuse any insult Claustra may be feeling.
"He's quite a character," Claustra replied, dryly.
"Yeah! And this was toned down by his standards," Gladio replied. "Outside he was calling you a—"
"Ok," Noctis burst in brightly. "Since they are ready for Prompto, it seems like the airship is basically ready to go. Apologies for dining and dashing, Your Eminence, but duty calls." So saying, he lurched up, all but forcing the rest of the team to follow suit. They were just as eager to get out of there before Gladio made things worse and high tailed it out, with the briefest of farewells.
After they left, Claustra tossed off the last of her glass of wine, then rose and stiffly walked to the sitting room next door. Her joints were hurting something fierce (as tended to happen as one got old) and all of this stress wasn't helping. At times like this only the overstuffed sofa that room boasted could make her feel better.
She plopped down, facing the fireplace and the portrait that hung above. "I can guess what they say about me, Darius," she commented to the portrait of her predecessor, Darius Accordo. "I am not you, and never could be, although I have tried. I wonder what you would have thought of all that has happened, of all of this," she swept her arm around to encompass everything around her. "I, wish you were here now. You would have known what to do, how to help them. I, am out of ideas."
She leaned back against the cushions and sighed. All of her hopes were with the Chosen King and the Oracle.
