Why is believing in a lie more comforting than facing the truth? I wonder…

Luna stood there quietly, looking out of the window for a few minutes before retreating to her quarters. Too tired to think, she soon succumbed to sleep.

It was almost 10 a.m. and Luna had still not stepped out of her cabin, which worried Aranea. She knocked persistently, but to no avail.

"Luna, are you okay?" she asked, following another knock. After hearing no response, she banged on the door.

Luna laboriously opened her eyes and stumbled her way to the door. She opened to the door to find an impatient Aranea standing outside. Aranea was relieved to see her. "Geez, even the monster wakes up before you."

"Sorry, I went to sleep late last night," she defended, rubbing her eyes.

"I hope you guys were not doing, you know, that," Aranea teased in a mischievous tone. It took Luna's sleepy brain a few seconds to register what she was hinting at.

"How dare you," Luna threatened, squinting her eyes.

"Good, you are awake," Aranea said with a laugh. "The bathroom is that way. Get freshen up and meet me at the café two cabins up ahead. I'll wait for you there."

Luna nodded as Aranea quickly exited to another compartment. Luna admired how Aranea was always so full of energy.

She retrieved her backpack and grabbed her essentials from it to begin her morning rituals. She felt energetic and refreshed after a blissful hot shower.

She came back to her quarters and checked on Leon, but he was still unconscious. She meditated and prayed for a few minutes before joining her best friend.

"How long does it take to get ready?" Aranea remarked when she saw Luna approaching.

"Sorry! I got a hot shower after weeks, so I enjoyed it until the hot water ran out," she replied with a smile.

Aranea was like her best friend and big sister all-in-one. She was one person with whom Luna can be herself. Aranea for her part also treated Luna a normal girl as opposed to an Oracle. Their conversations were often casual and light-hearted, which meant the world to Luna. Aranea was one of the few people Luna could put her guard down without any fear.

"What would you like my annoying vegan friend?" Aranea asked, folding her hands.

"Whatever is available," Luna replied with a shrug. She sat on the barstool next to Aranea. She looked around and the whole compartment was practically empty, which she silently appreciated.

"Just give her a kid's meal with some mac and cheese and fries," Aranea told the server. "Also, don't forget to give her a toy."

Luna arched her eyebrow at Aranea and she pointed at the sign, which said, "Free toy with every kid's meal." Luna just started laughing and shook her head.

"So, what do you want to talk about?" Luna asked, resting both of her hands on the table.

"Well, we have a lot of catching up to do missy. Let me start first because I have a feeling that your story will be a lot more exciting than mine."

"I wouldn't call it exciting," she stated, shaking her head.

"There is a hot guy sleeping in your compartment right now. I am sure you have the exciting part covered," Aranea teased.

"How is Ravus?" she asked, switching the topic.

"Pissed. Scared. Annoyed. Happy."

"That's quite a range of emotions."

"Those emotions are justified when your only sister runs off in danger without care for well-being."

"Sorry," she sighed, looking down

Luna got her mac and cheese and fries while Aranea got her coffee and muffin, which she had ordered before Luna got there.

"Tell me, what happened since I was gone?" asked Luna.

"During the invasion of Insomnia, initially we feared you had died," she began.

"Stop," Luna suddenly cut her off. She just pointed at the chef of the café.

"Oh, don't worry about him. He is one of us. At least one of the weapons vendors, diners or the inn owner at every outpost in Lucis are our people."

"No way!" she was surprised to hear that.

"Information is the key to win the war, so we have gone to great lengths to infiltrate their ranks."

"Wow!" she said, still processing the information she just learned.

"After the treaty signing, we lost track of your whereabouts. Ravus was promoted to the high commander of the imperial army in the wake of Glauca's death. He convinced the Emperor to declare you as dead to lure you out of your hiding. In reality, it was a ploy to take some heat off of you. Besides, capturing Citadel caused quite an uproar in Lucis so we had our hands full. We were alerted of your presence when you crossed the Disc of Cauthess."

She took a sip of her coffee before continuing, "We figured that you were going to wake up the giant. Historically, Astrals has not taken kindly to be woken up. Since Ravus and I were in Gralea, we had sent in some cavalry to help you neutralize the Titan should he attack you. However, the lieutenant-general deployed at that post was an Empire's loyalist and attacked you instead. How you managed to destroy half a brigade and escape in one piece is a mystery to us."

"I can fill you in on that later," she offered, taking a spoon full of mac and cheese.

"We lost complete track of you after that for weeks. We were alerted of your presence again when one of our video analysts had spotted you in the background of our news. Brigadier General Ulldor responded to the call and killed off a civilians, but you had escaped again. We did not find a trace of you for weeks until yesterday. Knowing how you managed to remain hidden so well is of great interest to me."

"I can fill you in on that too," she assured, dipping her fries in katchup.

"Meanwhile, the word had gotten out of your death so thousands of pilgrims flocked to the Fenestala Manor to pay their respects, expecting Ravus to deliver a eulogy. Sir-Broods-a-lot avoiding the public eye caused many to worry about his well-being."

"Speaking of that, how is his arm?"

"That stupid ring had burned off his entire left arm. He met with Dr. Verstael Besithia who replaced his arm with a magitek prosthetic arm, giving him superhuman strength. He is currently on his tour to Lucis to ease the unrest in the region."

"I am glad to hear that he is doing okay," she professed with a sigh of relief.

After enjoying their meal quietly for a few moments, Luna asked, "How is your home?"

"Gralea is in bad shape. The number of demons in the capital is getting out of control. The Emperor Aldercapt had hoped that bringing Crystal to Gralea would help dispel all the daemons, but turns out that without the ring the Crystal is nothing but a shiny rock."

"Was that the grounds for invading Insomnia?" she wondered aloud.

"Yes, or so we've been told. I think he did what he thought was best for his country. He desperately wanted to protect his civilians. Lucis was not going to just hand over their precious crystal because Niflheim needed it. The Emperor Aldercapt hated the fact that Lucis thrived and prospered while everything outside of the barrier was crumbling apart. His vision was to use the Crystal's power to empower humanity so they never have to rely on magic again. His methods were far from ideal, but his heart was in the right place, that is why I joined the Empire Army. However, Ardyn and Verstael seem to be gaining more influence on the Emperor with each passing day. Weaponizing demons, experimenting on civilians, and in some cases demonizing people are becoming a norm now. This is not the Empire I loved and believe in. Honestly, I've thought a lot about leaving it."

"So, what is holding you back?"

"Ravus. It seems counterintuitive, but in order to fix the problem, he became one with the problem itself. He is fighting an uphill battle. He inspires me to keep fighting for the future I want to see. Running away won't solve anything. I want to save the Empire from itself and the best place to do it is from within. I will die for it if I have to."

"We all are constantly fighting our own battles. When do we actually live?" Luna asked.

"I don't know. You are the Oracle, you tell me," she asked, finishing her coffee.

"Unfortunately, there is no one answer to this problem. We must find it for ourselves. Ironically, people often find something to die for, but they rarely find something to live for. Aranea, don't die for the Empire. Live for it."

"Well said, Oracle," she remarked, getting up from her stool.

Both friends made their way back to Luna's quarters. Luna checked on Leon as soon as she entered the cabin.

"Are you going to tell me what is going on here?" Aranea asked sitting on the opposite berth.

"It's a long story," said Luna, rubbing the temple of her head.

"I've got time," Aranea replied, leaning back against the cabin wall with arms folded and legs outstretched.

Luna told her everything from the time king's glaives helped her escape to Insomnia till their journey to Fociaugh Hollow. Well, she did not tell her "everything." Telling Aranea everything that happened between her and Leon would be like committing social suicide. Aranea would over-interpret things and would endlessly tease Luna. Luna just told her "strategically relevant information."

"You have been through a lot," Aranea said, with concern evident in her voice. "You are lucky to even be alive at this point."

"Yes, had it not been for Leon, my luck would have run out a long time ago," she admitted.

"I am impressed at how you guys managed to avoid the entire Imperial army for so long. Not staying at an outpost was a genius move."

"It was all his idea. He is a military genius."

"He must be as he was able to keep you safe from the Imperials, daemons, and Astrals. And he is devilishly good-looking to boot. Nice catch Luna," she commented with a suggestive wink.

Luna facepalmed. "Stop teasing, Aranea. It is not as you think."

"No, I am not teasing. I am serious. He has done more for you in the last few weeks than Noctis has in his whole life. You should seriously consider this."

"Aranea, I am engaged to Noctis."

"Oh, I am sorry, I did not know that he proposed to you. Did he send you a ring? Did he write a letter with Umbra expressing his feelings?"

"He just lost his father and his kingdom. He is dealing with a lot himself. And he is shy, so he doesn't express his feelings. That does not mean he does not love me."

"Oh please, wake up from this nonsense," Aranea's temper flared. "Your marriage was only a ploy to force King Regis's hand. It was an empty symbolic gesture to bring him to the treaty table. None of it was real. The treaty never went through, which means you don't have to marry him."

"I don't have to, but I want to marry him. He cares for me," she pleaded.

"Ya, keep telling yourself that. For every second your covenant goes unresolved, you are losing your life. Why don't you tell him to hurry up and get his act together?" Aranea snapped.

"I am not going to dictate his life. I am sure he is doing everything within his power to reunite me with quickly."

"Like hell he is. He spends his time collecting decals and stickers for his car, picking up groceries for Takka's Pit Stop, searching for the missing dog tags, and collecting some stupid frogs. And when he is free from all these burdens, he spends his time fishing. Every second he wastes is every second you get closer to death. Something is literally killing you and you cannot even tell him and you claim to know about love." She raved, unable to contain her anger.

"I know that you don't like Noctis, but please don't speak ill of Noctis. I am begging you." Tears swelled in her eyes.

"What am I to do Luna? Just watch you die when there might still be a way to save you? You might not care about your own life, but we do. At least tell Noctis to get his act together to save your own brother." Aranea was enraged.

"Save Ravus?"

"When encountering Empire airships, while you guys employed run, hide, and in the worst-case scenario fight tactic, Noctis and his buddies actively engage our troops. Every time they do that, we get notification of their location. While you guys were smart enough to avoid staying at any outposts, it looks like his Royal Highness is on a f***ing world tour. So far, he has stayed at every single outpost. And they all report back to us. Ravus and I have to either suppress those reports or stall long enough for him to escape. And people have started noticing it. If they find out that we are assisting Noctis, then Ravus would be executed ruthlessly." She continued her outburst.

"I am sorry. I did not know that," she said, amidst her sobs.

"We are trying to shield him, but it's like he wants to get captured. While you and a complete stranger, who does not owe you a damn thing, are fighting every day so that he may reclaim his throne, what is he doing? We cannot help him unless he helps himself." She riled.

"He is the chosen King of kings and I am sure he will rise to the occasion. Just give him some time," she pleaded.

"This is pathetic. I don't know if I am more disappointed in you or Noctis. Why do you defend him so much?" Aranea fumed.

"Because I love him, is that not a reason enough?"

"Do you really believe that?"

"I want to."

"Why?"

"Because it makes things easier. To think that I have to sacrifice myself because it is my duty is hard. But, to think that I have to sacrifice myself for my love makes it easier to bear. Sometimes we are not seeking happiness, but simply a shelter from the pain." She broke down into tears as she couldn't say anything further.

Aranea moved closer to her and hugged her. "I am sorry," she consoled her. She let her cry herself to sleep. Luna was exhausted physically and mentally. Aranea gently placed her on her berth and quietly exited the cabin.

It must be around 6 p.m. when Luna woke up again. She felt something soft around her legs. She wearily opened her eyes to see what it was. Before she could even move, the furry beast hopped over her and started licking her face. She giggled as Pryna snuggled close to her. After playing with her, Luna sat up and stretched. She noticed Umbra lying around Leon's legs.

She got up and petted Umbra. "You know Umbra, you are my dog, not his," she playfully scolded him.

Umbra in response retracted from her touch and snuggled close to Leon.

She just rolled her eyes and said, "Fine. Be that way."

She stepped out of her cabin and went to the bathroom to get freshened up. When she emerged from it, she found Aranea standing in the corridor, looking out of the window. Luna joined her and observed the beautiful landscape passing by.

"Hey, I am sorry. I was very hard on you," Aranea apologized.

"It's all right. I know you meant well."

"I just couldn't watch you self-destruct. Still, I shouldn't have yelled at you. I should have simply presented the information I had and let you make your own choice. I shouldn't have projected my views on you," Aranea admitted.

"Please don't beat yourself up. I needed to hear that. Sometimes you don't see your own mistakes, no matter how obvious it may be, until someone points it out to you. While most people revere me as the Oracle, you are my one true friend, who does not shy away from telling me when I am wrong. And I appreciate it more than I show," she confessed.

"Glad to hear that."

"I took your advice to heart and have asked Gentiana to be in frequent communication with Noctis and keep him focused on the goal," Luna informed.

"Thank you."

"He is destined to lead us through the darkness and I am sure he will heed Gentiana's call," Luna reassured.

"Destiny does not become a reality unless you work for it. I hope he understands that," Aranea pointed.

"I am sure he is aware of his duties," Luna reassured.

"Let's hope so for both of our sakes."

"Hungry?" Aranea asked, after an outstretched silence.

"Not yet."

"You haven't eaten anything since the morning," Aranea pointed.

"Neither have you, am I right?" She asked.

"Ya, I am starting to get hungry, want to go grab a bite?" Aranea proposed.

"It's only 6 p.m. how about we go after an hour?" Luna offered.

"Sounds fair."

"Hey Arae, I need your help with something," she requested.

"Sure, what is it?" Aranea responded promptly.

"It's Leon. He still hasn't woken up. I don't know what's wrong with him. I am worried about him."

"Let's go check it out," she said, pushing herself off the rails.

Luna leads the way. Upon entering, they were greeted by two canines guarding the cabin. Aranea played with Pryna first and then with Umbra sitting by Leon's legs. Luna kneeled next to Leon, gently placing her hand on his forehead.

"So, after your covenant with Ramuh, on your way out you collapsed and by the time you woke up, he was knocked out?" Aranea recollected what Luna had told her earlier, while gently petting Umbra.

"Yes, after my covenant with Titan I was out for weeks. But here I woke up after only a few minutes. How did I recover so fast from the covenant? What happened after I lost consciousness and before I woke up?" Luna wondered.

"This is strange, you forged the covenant, so you should be knocked out, not him," Aranea wondered aloud.

"Exactly. Something happened and I just don't know it. It feels like I am missing a part of my memory and it is so frustrating," Luna admitted. "I guess; now I know how he must feel for not remembering huge chunks of his memories."

Aranea got up and moved close to Leon to check his pulse. Her expression changed immediately.

"What's wrong?" Luna asked with concern.

"This pulse is a lot weaker than yesterday. At this rate, he might not live long enough to reach Tenebrae."

"Oh God," she said, as the horror set in.

Aranea moved over to the empty berth. They both sat quietly pondering over what to do next. The mood in the room was very solemn. Light music played from overhead speakers in the cabin, which neither paid much attention to.

"According to legends, there is one unconventional method which has been used to wake up people from their deep slumber," Aranea said, looking thoughtful.

"Tell me. I'll do anything," Luna eagerly replied.

"Once upon a time there was a princess who was cursed by a wicked witch. The curse puts her to sleep. All the medics in the kingdom got together, but none could wake her up. Yadda yadda yadda it took a true love's kiss to wake her up."

"I am NOT doing that," Luna glared at her.

"Fine. Then get out of the way. I'll kiss him," Aranea said, getting up from her berth.

"No!" Luna spread out her hands, blocking Aranea's advance.

"Oh, being territorial, are we?" she said with a mischievous wink.

"Arae, this is not the time to joke!" Luna scolded her.

"Geez, I was just trying to light up the mood. It is so solemn in here that it felt like someone has died. You don't get the best ideas when you are in stress," she justified her recent actions. They both went back into their thinking mode.

Aranea finally broke the long silence. "When we are looking for information not readily available to us, we check with the sources closest to the information. Next, we see if there is any documentation or recording of it. In your case, it was only the two of you so that rules out any other sources. I doubt there is any documentation or recording of your journey. I am at a loss for ideas here," she said. "If only we could peek in from the window of time and look at what happened in the past."

"But even if we do that, it's not-" Luna stopped mid-sentence as she had a eureka moment. "Arae, you are a genius."

"I am?" she wondered out loud. Not sure what she was getting credit for, but she'll take it. "I mean, I am."

"There is a recording of what happened!" she said gleefully.

"What? Where? How?" Aranea asked, confused.

"That recording in his mind!"

"Oh! I get it. So, let's cut him open and see what's inside!" Aranea said with too much excitement. Luna just glared at her. "Sorry, not the right time to joke. Guilty as charged." She raised her hands in defense.

"We do have a way to look through the window of time and look at the past."

"And how are you going to do that?" she wondered.

"Our answer is looking right at us!" Luna said with a voice full of excitement and hope.

"I am still not following you," Aranea admitted.

"Umbra!"

"What about it?"

"Umbra's power can send people back in time. I can ask Umbra to send me back in time to see what happened," Luna projected.

"But you were unconscious, so even if you go back in time, you will simply be unconscious, No?"

"Yes, I did not think of that," Luna confessed.

After pondering for a while Luna spoke up again, "How about I go back in Leon's time. Then I will see everything, right?"

"I thought Umbra could send people back to their past, not someone else's."

"Umbra will connect with Leon and I will connect with Umbra. Using Umbra as the mediator, in theory, I should be able to see his memories," Luna explained.

"In theory?" Aranea asked with concern.

"Well..." she said, recollecting an old memory.

Earlier in Lestallum

Lunafreya was sitting in her bed, idly squeezing a stress ball. It was part of her therapy to regain motor control in her hand. She noticed Umbra sitting at Leon's feet as usual.

"He really likes you," she commented.

Leon, who was reading cosmology, looked up and questioningly arched his eyebrow to Luna.

"Umbra, he really likes you. For years, he has been my faithful companion, never leaving my side once. But ever since you got here, he does not even come to me anymore," she said with a laugh.

Leon lovingly petted Umbra.

"You know, he has divine powers."

"Is that so? What does his power entail?" he asked.

"Umbra is a manipulator of time. He can send someone's consciousness back in time."

"How interesting. I used to know someone in my world with very similar power."

"Really?" she said, sitting up on her bed. Her curiosity ran wild now. "What was their power like? How did it work?"

"She called her power Connect. She could connect with the consciousness of someone she knows, and send their consciousness back in time to experience the events of their or someone else past," he explained.

"She could let someone explore the memories of others? That is so cool. And scary."

"Yeah. It helped me save someone's life once, I think," he said, unable to recollect details of that event.

"How did looking at someone's memory help you save them? How did it feel to look at someone's memories?" she asked. Leon could tell there were hundreds of other questions she was trying to not ask all at once.

"I don't recollect all the details, but I think someone I cared about fell into a coma. No medical treat helped, so I finally asked the girl with the mysterious powers to let me look at the memories of the person in a coma with a hope to learn more about their condition. Once I saw what caused them to lose their consciousness, I was able to help them recover. I think." He said piecing together fragments of his memories.

"Wow, that is fascinating. I would not have thought of that in a million years. You must have really cared about that person to come up with such an innovative solution."

"Yes, I think I cared deeply for that person," he said, slightly unsure. "As for your second question. Looking at someone's memories is like looking through a window of time. It almost feels like watching a movie. You see the world through their eyes, but you cannot change anything."

"That is amazing. I wonder if Umbra has such powers too."

"Who knows," he said, petting Umbra again.

Aranea raised her concerns, "Just because it worked in his world does not mean it would work here as well. What if you cannot 'disconnect?'"

"Arae, I can't let the fear of failure stop me from trying. I am not going to just sit here waiting for him to wake up someday. If there is a way to get him back, I will find it."

"I still feel this is reckless. Is he worth risking your life?" Aranea asked.

"He has risked his everything for me. This is the least I could do for him."

"Wait! So, you are just going to jump into his consciousness and look at everything he did?" Aranea checked.

"Yes," she replied as if it was the most obvious thing to do.

"Luna, this is an invasion of privacy on a whole new level," Aranea said with disbelief.

Luna sighed and said, "I know it is, but there is no other way. He is a very closed off person, so I know he would probably hate me for this. I think he might hate me already so adding a little more hate to it won't make a difference."

"The only reason you would risk your life for someone who hates you is if you love them."

"Arae, not now."

"From what you have told me he sounds like a good person. Why do you think he hates you?" Aranea wondered.

"I betrayed him in a worse possible way." She couldn't finish her sentence as words dried up in her mouth.

"You betrayed him?"

"We'll talk about it another time. I need to do this now," she said, getting up and walking to Umbra.

"I can't let you do this. This could be very dangerous," Aranea cautioned.

"I don't care what happens to me," she said with uncharacteristic anger. "I won't let him die again. You said it yourself that he won't even make it till Tenebrae. This is our last hope and I won't let that hope extinguish so easily."

Aranea nodded, giving her silent approval.

"Thanks, Arae."

She kneeled down beside Umbra and gently petted him. "Umbra, I need your help. I know you care about Leon too. Only you can help me with this. Can you please let me see Leon's memories? There is something wrong with him and no one knows what. If we know what is wrong with him, then maybe we'll be able to save him. Will you please help me?"

Umbra got up on his paws until he was eye-level with Luna. His eyes suddenly started glowing red. Luna was enthralled by it as she couldn't move her gaze from Umbra's eyes. She suddenly started feeling lightheaded and fell limp on the ground with eyes shut close.

"Luna," Aranea bolted from her seat to attend her friend. She tried calling her name and shaking her to wake her up, but it was to no avail.

Aranea picked her up and laid her down gently on the berth.

"Great, now I have to babysit all three of them," she said, shaking her head. "I wonder what she is going to find out."

Author's Notes:

This chapter highlights Luna and Aranea's friendship. This also gives a different (potentially controversial) perspective on Nocti's open-world journey. Personally, I felt horrible upon finding out that while I was spending ridiculous amount of time doing silly side quests Luna was dying all along. Your thoughts?

The next chapter would be a bombshell. Luna finds out the meaning of, "Your fates have been intertwined for eons." I can confidently say that it's a plot twist no one would have seen coming. I promise. *evil laugh*

Please leave a comment and brighten my day. Thanks :)

PS: I wrote couple of new stories so check it out of you have time. 1st story is called 'Eye on me' a Leon x Aerith story in Kingdom Heart universe. 2nd story is called 'I was not born evil this the cruel world made me' it is FFVIII story which narrates how Rinoa ended up becoming Ultimecia. Check out my profile for details.