BOOK 2: THE TALE OF THE CHOSEN KING
CHAPTER 24 – THE LONG NIGHT
There was a general sense of relief upon leaving Ghorovas Rift behind. The weather was suddenly much warmer and the train's metal components didn't squeak and groan anymore.
"We should be drawing close to Gralea," said Ignis.
"Yeah," Noctis sighed. He was bored to tears at the darkness outside. They were traversing through a very long tunnel at that moment, but the landscape outside was no better. To their knowledge, the daemons had cut the power supply in large parts of the country, and there was no moon that night.
"I can't imagine what it'll be like," Gladio wondered, stretching his arms.
"Swarming with daemons, but you knew that."
"Don't remind me."
"Once we arrive, we'll make for the Keep," Ignis reminded them.
"The Keep?" Noctis asked.
"Zegnautus. An imperial mega fortress said to be impregnable."
"With Prompto and the Crystal inside it," the king surmised.
"What goes in, must come out," Gladio quoted. "So, are we buying this story that the Crystal can purge daemons?"
"The Proof is in the purging, but it does stand to reason," Ignis pointed out. "We've observed that as the nights have grown longer, the daemons hordes have grown stronger. If they are in fact averse to the Crystal's Light, it could save nor only Lucis, but the world."
"We'll find our once we take it back," said Noctis.
At that moment, the light flickered and the train lurched to a halt.
"The hell?" Gladio sworn.
"What is it?" the retainer inquired.
"My guess? Something to sidetrack us."
They all stood up and made their way to the engine, but when they reached the sleeping car, something hit the train so hard they all fell to the ground. Biggs' voice sounded through the speakers.
"City's trying to keep us out… with the daemons."
Imps clambered to the already damaged windows, banging at them.
"Gotta run!" Biggs yelled. "Don't worry about us."
The windows exploded inwards and the imps invaded the car.
"Let's get to work…" Noctis murmured, conjuring his sword.
Nothing.
"What's wrong?" Gladio's eyes widened in surprise.
"The weapons," Noctis stammered. "They're stuck!"
Gladio shoved the king aside and sent one of the imps flying away with a hard kick. More were pouring in through the broken glass. The Shield turned around, grabbed Ignis by the arm and tugged at Noctis to run towards the rear.
Kicking and dodging their way forward wasn't easy in such close quarters. Once or twice Noctis saw the imps' claws too close to his face.
"Only a matter of time before we run out of room to run!" Ignis yelled.
"You have a better idea?" the king yelled, kicking one monster away from him.
"We trade the train for the Regalia!"
The freight car, devoid of windows, was the safest place so far. The Regalia sat there patiently until Noctis and Gladio unstrapped the tires and the king sat behind the wheel.
They drove out and made a U-turn, stepping on the gas and swerving to avoid the daemons. Over the noise, they could herd that security system announcing:
"Threat upgraded. Activating level 4 security measures. Sealing all gates."
"Where are we now!?" asked Ignis, gripping at his seat.
"Inside a tunnel on the train tracks!" Noctis yelled.
"Don't slow down or they'll catch us up!" Gladio said, looking over his shoulder.
Noctis had his eyes fixed on the road, not daring to spare a glance to the rear mirror. Their train hadn't been the only vehicle stranded there: many containers lay overturned, their cargo scattered along the tunnel, remains of other derailed trains burnt, and Noctis had to put all his attentions on not crashing with the obstacles and the daemons.
Exiting the tunnel, they still had a long way until they reached the gates. Looking through the windows, Gladio noticed that the only illumination came from the street lamps along the rails and that most buildings were dark and half dilapidates, as if they traveled through a war zone.
Something exploded in front of them: Assault crafts attacked them.
"One clean hit and it's over," the Shield warned.
"It'll take a bit more than that to stop His Majesty's trusty steed," Ignis assured. Gladio said nothing, but he doubted the Regalia's armor-plating could stop a missile.
Bullets flew now over them. The incessant rain made the road dangerously slippery.
"You can do it, girl," Noctis murmured, approaching the closing door at full speed, but it seemed agonizingly slow for the king and his Shield. "You can get through this."
When they finally crossed the door, a missile hit the back of the car. Cindy had promised them that the reinforcements they had paid for would withstand anything. It was true that they weren't dead, not even harmed, but the car had been totaled.
Through the broken window shield, Noctis could see the smoke rising from under the hood. All the alarms on the dashboard flashed for a moment, and then they went out.
"That's all she's got," Gladio said, getting off the car.
"It'll do," said Noctis.
They would have to continue on foot. That didn't bother Noctis in the least, but leaving the Regalia there was like leaving a piece of his life behind. That car was the only thing he had left of him. Regis had passed the Ring of the Lucii down to him, but the jewel was a family heirloom. The Regalia, however, had been among the later king's most treasured possessions.
Looking at the wrecked car, Noctis felt a pang on his chest. The Regalia had been his father's car ever since he could remember. The only tangible connection he had left with Regis.
"Dad… Thanks for everything," Noctis murmured.
But so absorbed he was on his memories that he didn't notice Gladio already scouting the surroundings. They still had to keep pressing on, no matter what.
"Are we seriously marching into the capital empty-handed?" the Shield said.
"And with no assurances the Crystal can beat back the daemon hordes," Ignis tapped the ground with his cane.
"Guess we'll find out the hard way." Gladio sighed. "No turning back now, right?"
They had been stopped near the train station, which had been the site of an accident: two trains had derailed and now the cars partially blocked the path. One of them left an opening underneath, but was precariously balanced between the next car and a mountain of debris.
"This thing could come down at any time…" Gladio said, looking uneasily at it.
Noctis hurried them to run under it before it collapsed. It wobbled dangerously when he slid under it to the other side but, as his two friends prepared to follow him, the car gave a sickening creak as it fell heavily, blocking the way and separating Noctis from his friends.
"Hey! Ignis! Gladio!"
But the sound of the rain and the crafts flying overhead drowned his screams. He had no other choice but to follow the initial plan. Biggs and Wedge had told them of the building next to the railroads with a direct access to the elevator. That was the place Noctis had to reach, praying that his friends could find another route.
He heard the giggling and the scrapping of talons behind him. Imps spawned everywhere now. He dodged and ducked, kicking at them once or twice, but not risking any close quarters.
A voice could be heard through the station speakers.
"Look at you. All by your lonesome," Ardyn gloated.
"You again." Noctis hissed, his voice trembling with rage and fear. "You know, for an imperial chancellor, you are one sick son of a bitch."
He ran as fast as his legs and the slippery ground allowed him. At a short distance he saw the stairs to the building Aranea's men told him about. He climbed, running and dodging the imps, until he finally reached the door. Banging it shut behind him, he leaned heavily against it.
He was alone.
The building he had entered was half lit at best. The few light sources worked only at half power, as if there wasn't enough power supply. His flashlight illuminated his surroundings, but the atmosphere felt strange, as if the very air dimmed the light.
He was alone.
Despite his anger, Ardyn's words had gotten under his skin. He was alone, with no weapons and no allies.
However…
There was something he still had: The Ring.
Images of his father flashed before him, like in a half-forgotten dream, battling the monster the empire had sent to kill Noctis as a child. He saw the weapons flying, and a blue light shone on his father's hand.
Regis had told him that the Ring had the power to fight daemons on its own, but never specified, and Noctis never asked, thinking that there would always be time for that.
But now that wasn't what troubled him at that moment, nor had been what had troubled him since he got the Ring.
Was he worthy?
Noctis had always heard tales of usurpers who tried to steal the Ring's power and burned to ashes for their insolence. They didn't deserve the Kings of Old's favor because their blood wasn't from the Lucis Caelum line. But, was blood right the only thing that counted? No matter how he looked at it, he didn't see himself as a king. Noctis had put a brave face in front of Luna when they were kids so as not disappoint her, and always acted cool before his friends for the same reason.
His fingers trembled as he took the Ring out of his pocket. Gladio had scolded him for not wearing it as a king should, but a king protected, and all who meant something for him had come to harm: His father, Luna, Prompto, Ignis… the image of good old Jester flashed before his eyes, and Iris, now alone at fifteen and having to take care of Talcott.
However, if he didn't wear the Ring and accept whatever judgment the Kings might pass on him, he wouldn't be able to at least salvage what little he had left.
Noctis held his breath as the jewel slid into his middle finger, and screamed as a jolt of energy ran through his body. His right hand felt as if it burnt for a moment, and then it calmed, thought a faint tingling remained on his skin. The Kings hadn't appeared before him, but he wasn't dead either. Power coursed through his body, like when he summoned the Royal Arms, but it was a subtler kind of energy.
"The time has come," he whispered, almost without breath.
Looking around him, the building looked as if it had been abandoned years ago instead of days. Debris and garbage littered the ground, forgotten cargo blocked many doors and there was no power supply to activate certain accesses.
An imp spawned in front of him. Instead of running away, Noctis raised his hand. He felt the energy of the daemon being seeped into the Ring as whispers rang on his ears, until the daemon disappeared in a small explosion of light.
This was the power of the Ring. At least he wouldn't be as defenseless as he thought. However, he was worried about Gladio and Ignis. The Shield could fend for himself but Ignis…
Traversing the labyrinthine corridors was a painful chore on itself. The Ring was a very effective weapon, but the sheer number of daemons prowling about made him take and excruciatingly long time to reach his goal.
Near the elevator's door, Noctis walked into a balcony overlooking part of Gralea. Far from the bustling metropolis that had once been Insomnia, Gralea looked like a giant military camp. Despite the power outage and the damages caused by the daemons, Noctis knew he should been able to see remnants of neon signs announcing hotels, restaurants or shops of any kind. Instead, he could see many warehouses, far too many to be normal, and the other constructions had all the same design, as if they were more barracks than apartment blocks.
What kind of life did the empire force on its people?
Now daemons swarmed the warehouses and the buildings, immune to artificial light. Overhead, strange monsters taken out of a fever dream flew like birds of prey.
Ironic that the empire had destroyed Insomnia with daemons, to see its capital overrun in the same manner.
The elevator was near. After turning on the switches, he could finally take it to the top of the building.
The upper levels weren't better. According to the map Biggs had drawn for him, he was already inside the Keep. He only had to get to the upper levels and search for Prompto.
The elevator doors opened with a loud squeak. Beyond, there was a narrow, half-lit corridor. Everything was eerily quiet.
"How does it feel to be powerless?" Ardyn purred through the announcement system. The sudden noise made Noctis jump out of his boots. "Can't help your friend if you can't help yourself."
Noctis set his jaw and continued, trying not to listen to the chancellor. He tiptoed his way through the corridor, turning each corner very carefully.
"Can't you simply taste the air of foreboding?" The chancellor asked, almost giggling, to then laughing openly.
Noctis shook his head. That bastard was only playing mind games with him, trying to distract him.
As he suspected, when the laughter died, he thought he could hear a faint, grinding noise, like a rusted piece of metal on a construct. He edged quietly towards a corner and peeked around.
Ardyn stood at the end of that corridor. There was a fallen MT at his feet. Noctis saw how the chancellor walked away, and the soldier got up with jerking movements. Something was wrong with that trooper: It dragged its axe behind it, and the plate and the mask were missing, revealing only two red dots of light in what should have been a face.
The Ring wouldn't help him with that one. Imps were weak, but MTs were far stronger. Seeing that the axeman wobbling towards him, he hid in a crevice in the wall. There he saw the axeman limping past him. He stood there, quietly listening to any change in the sound. The axeman had gone quite far from where Noctis hid and had turned a corner. Now it was getting louder again. It shuffled past him again.
Noctis held his breath, feeling his heart pounding on his ears, and waited until the axeman returned and shuffled past him, to then sneak and run as fast and silently as he could.
"Must be tiring, having to run all the time. That magic is a royal disappointment."
He stalked his way through the corridors, straining his hearing for the shuffling of feet and the grinding of metal. There was yet another soldier patrolling the corridor ahead. Using the same trick, he outsmarted the rogue trooper and opened a door.
Beyond that door he could see a catwalk over a deep void. Said walkway led to a circular base where other catwalks converged, each one leading to other parts of the complex.
"It's all coming down swimmingly, isn't it?" Ardyn laughed softly.
Noctis observed that he had come from the east door. The north and west were closed. The south catwalk was strewn with dormant MTs. Tiptoeing his way past them, he walked into another set of corridors.
Hearing footsteps, he peeked around a corner. It was Prompto, running away from something.
"Hey, Prompto!" Noctis yelled, running after him and throwing caution to the wind.
He didn't notice the fallen MT ahead until its claws wrapped around his ankles, knocking him down. The king struggled, trying to free his legs. This MT glowed all over in a way Noctis knew too well.
Kicking the trooper away, he scrambled to his feet and hid behind a crate just in time for the MT to explode.
He kept going, maybe too hastily to what would have been prudent, and despite the many dormant MTs scattered through the area. Noctis could only focus on Prompto being there.
The path ended after another turn. An active MT shuffled its way around, as if patrolling and, ahead, there was a door. Noctis hid the best he could until he could open that door and climbed the stairs beyond, hearing Ardyn's soft laughter.
He caught a glimpse of Prompto at the top of the stairs, but his friend darted away.
"Poor Prompto must be feeling the heat right about now."
Following the corridor, he found that metal bars blocked the path to the room beyond. The cell door was closed and, just out of his reach, slumped on a chair, was Prompto.
He tried following another corridor, since he had spied another door leading to that room. There were more MTs he had to dodge and hide from, until he reached a room he thought connected with the one Prompto was trapped in. Noctis had thought about searching for some tools and breaking-in, but then he discovered a narrow space between two walls for him to crawl. When he was inside that space, he heard Prompto's voice, muffled as if someone was gagging him, but it definitely sounded as if he tried to scream for help.
Squeezing his body out of the crawling space, Noctis came upon a storage room full of crates. Hastily climbing his way over them, he could finally see Prompto.
Noctis' hand trembled slightly when he tried to reach for his friend's shoulder, trying not to think about how still Prompto was, or that he didn't seem to be breathing. His shoulder was cold to the touch when the king's hand closed over it but, when the gunslinger's body slumped to the floor, it was the carcass of a MT what fell instead.
"Another trick! Back to square one!" he yelled in frustration.
The bars door opened on their own, or so it seemed. Ardyn was surely in some control room, playing cat and mouse with Noctis.
"That's one of my personal favorites." Ardyn giggled as Noctis stomped his way out of that room. "You should have seen the look on your face. You'd best hurry. Next time, it might really be your friend."
Try as he might, Ardyn's was slowly getting into his skin. Noctis clenched his teeth and kept walking, trying to ignore the chancellor's voice. He had to reach the fifth level, no matter what, to reach the lift.
"Are you certain it wasn't the real thing? Wouldn't want to make a mistake."
Noctis returned to the catwalks. Now the one leading westwards was accessible, leading to a small lift. The king let go of a sigh of relief when he saw that it probably would take him to the fifth level.
"Your heart's desire, so close now. Soon it will be within your grasp. I suggest you take the central elevator. It will take you to your goal."
"Aren't you helpful now," Noctis said bitterly, stomping his way along the catwalk towards the lift.
"The higher you climb…"
He should have seen it coming. A giant daemon landed on the small elevator's platform when Noctis was halfway there. It looked like a massive metal statue and wielded a gigantic sword. With a single strike, it smashed the catwalk, and sent it all coming down.
"… the further you fall."
xxxxXX-0-XXxxxx
When he woke up, Noctis found himself at the base of the elevator tower. Somehow, the magic of the Ring had protected him from the fall. Or that was what he wanted to believe.
Looking around him, the king saw his father's sword nailed to the ground. Attached to the handle, and still gripping it, a prosthetic arm, dripping magitek fluids. Ravus lain at its side. Dead.
Upon touching the hilt, the arm came loose and fell on top of the Lord of Tenebrae's corpse. Noctis knelt at his side to inspect him: Ravus showed signs of a struggle, as if he had fought to the death. Word was that he had been executed but, somehow, he had survived long enough to see the empire fall.
Taking Regis' sword, it shone with its own light and entered the new king's body. At long last, all the weapons of the Kings were with him and, to his relief, he could summon the sword of his father.
Scattered all over Ravus' body and around it, there were handwritten sheets of paper with the Royal Seal of Tenebrae: Letters, written in an elegant calligraphy, from Ravus to Luna. On the first one, he urged his sister to return to the Manor (no doubt after she had escaped from Insomnia), and warned her of the empire being fearful of her covenant with the Archaean. On the second one, Ravus insisted that Noctis wasn't worthy of her sacrifice and of King Regis' sword, despite attaining the Storm's blessing. The third and last one advised her to seek refuge in Altissia. He had already come to terms with her sister seeking the covenants and the price to pay, and promised that, should Noctis succeed in claiming the power, Ravus would gladly restore King Regis' sword to him.
What Luna's lady in waiting told him back at Tenebrae was true, and not an exaggeration born out of loyalty. Ravus tried his best to defend Luna, going so far as to try and defy the gods' will. Everything to protect her. Noctis pursed his lips. Had he known before, things might have been different. But he was too focused on his personal vendetta against the empire to see anything else. Or to even care.
He closed his eyes. How long have you been in the dark? Those had been Ardyn's last words before Prompto disappeared. How long, indeed?
"Rest easy," Noctis murmured to Ravus. "Your work is done."
He left Ravus where he lay, making a mental not of where it was to return later. No matter how much enmity had been between the two, Luna's brother deserved a proper burial.
The king followed a catwalk which lead to an open door, praying that it could lead him out of that labyrinth, and that the MTs scattered along his path weren't dormant, but deactivated.
He felt a sudden pain on his ankle. All around him the MTs shivered into life, their red eyes fixed on him.
Kicking the one restraining his leg, Noctis jumped back and summoned his father's sword.
"Well Dad," he murmured with a grim smile. "Let's see what your sword can do."
Having a weapon in his hand felt more reassuring. The first seconds he had to test his own balance and strength, but the sword seemed to adapt itself to him. Plucking up courage, he hacked at the robots with all the pent-up rage he had.
When the last MT fell, he followed what he thought would be the exit. After traversing through more corridors and finding an access to the other side of the upper platform, he heard Ardyn's voice again.
"You really are helpless without your friends babysitting you."
Noctis finally reached a side elevator that took him to a different side of the level he had fallen from. The corridor he followed was devoid of MTs or daemons and, after a turn, it ended on a control room with three more doors. All closed except the one in front of him.
"The empire made considerable inroads into the science of daemons. Well, after I showed them the way, of course."
Opening the door, Noctis saw what looked like a laboratory. Uniforms were scattered here and there, as if the owners had thrown them there. A faint sense of dread sat on the pit of his stomach.
"We'd managed to make daemons… right here."
Reaching to the control panel, Noctis saw a number of switches and cards. Over his head, a diagram of the eight rooms surrounding the one he stood in. The green lights signaled open doors, and with a combination of switches, he could continue forward.
"Your head can do more than wear a crown. Use it."
Solving puzzles had never been too difficult for him, but being under stress and suffering the constant harassment of daemons made things frustratingly slow.
The door accessing he second room finally opened with a swishing wound. As soon as he approached it, Noctis had to cover his mouth a nose to fight the nausea. There were cages lined up along the walls, all filled with decomposed carcasses of wild animals.
"Ever wonder where daemons come from? Once upon a time, they were children of nature… beasts and men. Aw, you've killed so many."
Slowly, the king approached the nearest one. There was a wolf inside, or what appeared to have been a wolf once. Its fur had fallen in places where lumps shone in red and black, and the body had contorted unnaturally before its dead. A hole in the head and a pool of black ooze still seeping out suggested that the beast had been put down out of mercy.
That black ooze was the same daemons left behind.
All the other cages had animals of different species, but similar fates. All deformed, all contorted as if suffering a great agony. All sacrificed before whatever cruel experiment reached fruition.
With slightly shaky hands, Noctis unlooked the rooms one by one, trying not to listen to Ardyn, but it was impossible.
"The infantry units you callously dub MTs all began as babes in this very facility." He explained nonchalantly, as if he was a tour guide. "Imprinted with serial codes an incubated until they were strong enough to fight. What a pity. Innocent souls fated to suffer… at the hands of a foreign king. Well, not so MT after all are they?"
That made no sense at all. The MTs were robots, right?
Still… there was that sound they made when they were "killed"…
At long last, he could unlock the room leading him out of there and into another corridor, which led to an office. It was a tidy room, at least.
"The most fascinating tidbit about your dear Prompto…"
"What?"
"Turns out, he's not empty either. He's got quite the skeleton in his closet."
Noctis shook his head. Why Ardyn had that fixation with Prompto?
There were some reports left over a desk. They were from some weeks prior. Apparently there had been a daemon outbreak and many MTs, yet to be correctly programmed, had gone rogue. On top of that, all the patients at the infected area had disappeared.
Infected area?
Did that mean that what he had seen in the room with the cages was actually an infection? Did the Scourge work like an illness?
Following the next corridor, he came upon an archive room. Instead of rushing his way out, Noctis searched, almost feverishly, for any clue about what happened in that place.
He finally found a report from some days prior, roughly from around the day they had lost Prompto. It read like this:
More than half the keep's inhabitants are now daemons. There's no hope of neutralizing them, not with lost control over the MTs. Outside, the city swarms with yet more daemons… former citizens. There's no escape.
Noctis reread it several times. Aranea, with her nonchalant conversation, didn't get near all the horror this last log evoked. Maybe she was just happy to have run away with all the survivors she could rescue and didn't want to remember anything else.
The next room was small and untidy, yet he could find a keycard which let him access the small lift to the fifth level.
Going back on his steps, he discovered that the door he had used to enter that level was now closed shut, yet another one nearby had opened. This one gave access to a shaft, not very different from the one where the main elevator was, but in this one there was a circular room at the central platform. It was closed, but that wasn't what caught Noctis' attention: the shaft's far walls were covered with boxes made of dark metal. Small, red lights flickered at the top of each one, and a shiver ran down the king's back when he realized they weren't very different from coffins.
"Bet there's something here." He muttered, redirecting his attention to the closed door. "Which means it's locked. And if it's locked, there's a key."
Trying to ignore the grim spectacle around him, he went to a control panel on the other side of the platform and inserted the key card. The platform moved and began ascending.
"Things are lookin' up," he dared to say aloud.
"How will this story end, I wonder."
Not sooner Ardyn has finished his musing, and before Noctis had any time to roll his eyes in frustration, a loud alarm started blaring as a computer voice issued a warning.
"Intruder alert. Mobilizing dormant magitek infantry."
The caskets along the far walls opened, and MTs jumped into the platform, ready for combat. Noctis reacted rather quickly, but he noticed with increasing unease that it would be a matter of minutes until he was overwhelmed.
"Were are your friends? You don't think they ran off without you? You still haven't found Gladio?"
Noctis slashed through one MT's armor, cutting it down. He still couldn't use his warping powers, but his father's sword was very effective.
"Only a matter of time before Ignis bumbles into a trap."
Tripping an axeman, he sent it plummeting into the void.
"You must feel very much alone right now."
Noctis' sword sunk on the plate of a trooper, then slashed at another. He ducked as an axe swished near his head.
The platform kept its slow ascending while he fought. Ardyn's laughter sounded over the noise of the alarm, and it only served to fuel Noctis' anger.
When the last MT fell, he sunk against the outer wall of the chamber, sweating and short of breath. His father's sword acted like all the weapons from the Kings of Old, feeding from his energy. He should have been more careful, but he had no choice. It wasn't until he reached for one of the potions he stored that he realized how tired he was.
The platform stopped, and the only open exit would lead him through a catwalk to the north. All along the path and well into the corridor, MTs were scattered on the ground. Noctis stopped for a second, as if hesitating, then closed his eyes and sighed. Clenching his fists and jaw, he continued his way forward. Around a corner and along the next corridor, there were even more MTs on the floor. Far ahead, he could see two consecutive frames from opened doors, as if they were security barriers of some short. The small portion of corridor they left in between was full of dormant robots. And, at the far end, what looked like a control room.
"In case there was any doubt: It's a trap."
Noctis ran as fast as he could, dreading the doors to close and trapping him in between that space.
With a snap, the doors activated. In between the frames, electricity beams crackled as if they were bars from a cage. The MTs woke up, and the frames began moving, closing the space he was trapped in.
"Hurry. While you dawdle, people are dying."
The king started dealing with the robots, which were the most immediate threat. He noticed with horror that these ones were far more resilient than the ones he fought back at the elevator. Desperation started welling up as the trap closed on him. There was still room enough to move and fight but if someone didn't disable it he would be electrocuted in the end.
"Noct? Is that you?"
That was Ignis' voice. He didn't answer, tired of Ardyn's mind games.
"Hey! Noct! Can you hear us?"
That was Gladio's voice. It came from the control room Noctis had wanted to access earlier. Beyond the electricity arches, the king saw two human silhouettes which didn't resemble robots, but he had to pay attention at the last active MT lunging at him.
