Noctis's body hit the top of the altar with a dull thud. Luna hoped fervently he hadn't hit his head on the impact, racing to his side, looking for any sign of injury. When she saw none she exhaled deeply. He still might be injured, but at least he wasn't dead.

A wave swept over the altar, soaking Luna to the bone and almost shifting Noctis from her grip. The lake was surging around them fiercely, wave upon wave crashing into the altar as Leviathan's rage refused to dissipate along with her body. Luna's heart beat fast in her chest, but she held Noctis close, refusing to allow the water to sweep him from her clammy hands.

The water pounded against the altar, the waves crashing over them again and again, and it took all Luna's concentration to hold onto Noctis. Her hands shook, but she stayed firm—she couldn't let go of him, not now. If they got swept into the sea they would surely drown—she couldn't let that happen.

She wasn't sure how long she'd been holding him when it happened, perhaps a few seconds, perhaps a few minutes, but either way, a soft glow appeared to be coming from beneath her.

It almost seemed like it was coming from Noctis.

She ducked her head as another wave crashed over them, trying not to wince as her already exhausted body was buffeted still further. Carefully unbending herself and making sure he was still secure in her arms, Luna tried to get a better look at him, to see what was wrong.

Her heart leapt into her mouth when she saw what was actually happening.

Under Noctis's skin, where only days before there had been the inky blackness of the Starscourge, there was now a brilliant white light, illuminating him from the inside out. Along his face was a web-like pattern of cracks, where the light was searing out with the intensity of the sun—the same phenomena was present on his right hand, spreading up to his forearm, and all concentrated around...the Ring of the Lucii.

Was it hurting him? But he was one of the king's bloodline—they shouldn't injure him...should they?

She didn't have time to think, as the largest and final wave crashed over them, this time nearly wrenching Noctis from her arms. She cradled him close to her, praying that somehow he would come out of this alright. As the water seeped away, so did the light under his skin, and Luna felt she could finally breathe again. The long assault was over. They'd made it.

She would never have dared to say it in front of him, but truthfully, Luna had been expecting to die on the altar. The power of the Astrals had been draining her since the first covenant, and in the days leading up to this ritual, she had felt herself getting weaker and weaker. She'd half expected to collapse after the ritual herself, but for some reason, the pain and the exhaustion that usually accompanied the aftermath of the covenants seemed to have faded away. She had certainly felt it while Noctis was fighting Leviathan, but now it all seemed a far-away dream. She was still exhausted though.

But, as always, duty came first.

She let Noctis go, carefully lowering his body back to the ground, her arms shaking terribly with both exhaustion and sheer stress, as the full magnitude of what they had done settled over her. She had made all the covenants she could. She had fulfilled her calling.

She could almost have cried with relief, and only wished that Gentiana was there, so she could thank her for guiding her all this way.

She absent-mindedly brushed the wet hair out of Noctis's face, noting with concern that though the light was gone, that webbed pattern of cracks she had seen now took the form of raw, red scars, all across his face and arm. Why would the power of the Gods have injured him so? Wasn't he Chosen?

She pushed the thought from her mind. Of course he was. He had to be.

No one else would be so driven to dispel the darkness. Noctis would never give up. Even if he complained, even if he withdrew, even if he hated what he was doing with all his soul, he just kept going, irrepressible. It gave her courage herself to think that despite everything against him, the sensitive, quiet little boy she'd known since childhood would always keep fighting.

She found herself staring up at the darkening sky—it truly was getting darker with each passing day. But...wait, the darkness wasn't quite the same as that of the night drawing in. Among the grey clouds gathering overhead, something was moving in the sky, slow and purposeful, yet faster than any of the clouds all around. What was it? She squinted up at the sky, watching as several large shapes emerged from the darkness. She knew what they were. Ships. And there was only one power on Eos that still commanded such vessels during this time of chaos.

Now she looked closely, some were already overhead, a kind of advanced force, flying over Altissia with alarming speed. She had been too caught up in fighting Leviathan to notice the impending forces, and both she and Noctis were now left vulnerable.

Thinking as quickly as she could, she tried to push herself up, onto her feet, but it was difficult as so much of her strength had left her. It was only through maintaining a death grip on her trident that she managed to stay standing. She staggered over to Noctis, and tried to pull him up, over her shoulder, but though he was light for his size, he was still far too heavy for Luna to carry in her current state of exhaustion. She glanced back at the ship, then at Noctis. She might be able to drag him down—it wouldn't do any good to his already battered body, but then, neither would being shot by MTs.

She grabbed him by the arm, and tried to pull him as gently as possible, forcing herself forward with her trident. But then a terrible, familiar voice stopped her in her tracks.

"Unable to tell when the game is up, I see," said Ardyn, his voice like pure poison on her ears, and she immediately whirled around to face him.

He was leaning against one of the half-shattered pillars, smirking and with his hat pulled down almost entirely over his eyes.

"You did this," hissed Luna. Usually she had more restraint when it came to Ardyn, but after this ordeal she had no patience for such things. Even if he was akin to a God, he'd almost killed Noctis—almost ruined everything. She couldn't forgive that. "You called the Imperials here."

"My, my, you certainly have a high estimation of my abilities," he said, the warped smile never leaving his face. "But why the sudden animus, my dear? I thought we were friends, you and I."

"It's rather hard for a captive and captor to be friends," said Luna, trying her best to maintain her composure. "And that was before you tried to kill both me and Noctis."

"Surely you know of the prophecy, great Oracle," he said, with a mocking bow, now moving a little closer to the both of them. Luna stood pointedly in front of Noctis. "I was merely trying to help things along."

"Well, you can further assist by leaving," she hissed. "I assume you are also aware that Noctis must survive for the prophecy to be fulfilled?"

"Oh yes," said Ardyn, sweeping his hat off his head and tossing it carelessly up and down. "I know that, and really, it was such a shame he stopped me when he did! It seems he needs all the motivation he can get to get through this. He is in such a state, after all."

Luna wasn't sure what point Ardyn was trying to make exactly, but she did know she didn't like it.

"Much of that is thanks to you," she said, scowling and pulling Noctis a little further along the platform.

"Is it?" Ardyn chuckled. "Perhaps you and he ought to chat when he wakes up, there is so much that's been going on lately, it's quite hard to keep up. But before that, I think you really ought to rest. All these rituals are having such a toll on you."

Luna was about to tell him she would do no such thing, but then she blinked, and he was gone. Luna was used to such tricks by now and gripped Noctis's wrist even tighter, beginning to pull him further down the altar.

Then something hard collided with the back of her head.

She was distantly aware she was falling rapidly towards the ground…faint laughter sounded in her ears. Then it all faded to darkness.

Dun dun dun! Ah, there goes Ardyn ruining everything again. Poor Luna, she's really not having a good time of it in this fic—I mean, she isn't dead yet, which is a mild improvement over the game, but not by a lot. Coming up—what's going down in Noct's head while he's all lit up like a christmas tree anyway? Important stuff is what.

Thank you to everyone still reading, and I hope you enjoyed the chapter!