BOOK 2: THE TALE OF THE CHOSEN KING

CHAPTER 26 – REDEMPTION

The four friends recounted what had happened on each side over their meager dinner. Prompto's story was the shortest, for someone who had spent many days away, but the others didn't push him to share his part of the adventure. They slept in turns and, after some hours, they continued their way.

The radio they found at the barracks kept updating about the situation in Gralea, which was bleaker by the hour: Civilians had nowhere to run anymore while the army was in shambles, and what little human forces still lived were a diminishing defense against the hordes of daemons and rogue MTs.

The corridors they traversed were at times blocked by access panels, which Prompto would open for them with his tattooed barcode. None said a thing the first time, but the gunslinger grinned at them, joking about how fortunate they should feel about having a walking key traveling with them.

Despite Gladio knowing the way to the Crystal chamber, they explored the whole area in search of any piece of information that might serve them. They also had the faint, unspoken hope of finding the control room from where Ardyn had been controlling the doors and the security system. However, daemons were the only ones waiting for them in the empty rooms.

In one of them, they were ambushed by a red daemon, the same talking beast which had attacked Gladio and Ignis, but retreated as soon as Gladio wounded it. Now it seemed bolder, and determined on killing Noctis, all while raving about the empire spanning all the lands and flourishing under the Crystal's light.

The monster's strength was out of the ordinary, as was its endurance. No matter how many times Gladio tried taunting the daemon, it wouldn't cease to attack Noctis.

But such tenacity would be also its undoing. At one point, the monster pinned Noctis down to the ground, and both Gladio and Prompto used that opportunity to attack it.

But not even Gladio's strength and Prompto's sure aim slowed down the daemon. Ignis, despite his lost sight, approached Noctis while the monster was distracted with the other two to help the king to his feet.

As if happening in slow motion, Noctis saw with horror how the daemon turned around, quick as lightning, and lunged for Ignis' back. He wanted to shove his retainer away from the monster, to warp-strike the daemon and be done with it, but he could only open his mouth and scream a warning. However, before could utter a single sound, Ignis spun around, daggers ready and crackling with magic energy.

Everything lay still for what seemed an eternity. The daemon twitched, claws still outstretched around Ignis and aimed at Noctis. The daggers' points now protruded from the monster's neck, it's thick, black blood obscuring the metal's pristine brilliance.

Ignis pushed the daemon away, which staggered backwards as black particles engulfed it. Noctis bathed in cold sweat when he saw the monstrous face of the daemon contorting, until the flesh formed the visage of an old, bearded man. But what horrified him the most was the sickly voice coming from the monster, claiming that he was to rise as the emperor of the world.

Gladio, normally unfazed, was paler than usual.

"That face," the Shield frowned. "Wasn't that the Emperor?"

"The voice definitely was," Ignis said. "Another trick from our friend the Chancellor."

"No."

Gladio and Ignis turned towards Noctis, while Prompto's eyes were fixed on the pool of miasma. The poor boy looked as if we was about to vomit.

Noctis found it a bit difficult to explain, especially since he had glossed over his ordeal through the laboratory when it had been his turn to recount what had happened, and had learned everything while he was running for his life. The technicalities still escaped him, but to sum everything up, he told them that the Scourge was nothing but an illness which transformed normal humans and animals into monsters.

"So," he said to end his account. "That was Emperor Iedolas Aldercapt."

Far from being horrified, Ignis showed bemusement instead.

"I wonder," he said, scratching his chin. "Would the emperor want the Crystal to cure his infection?"

"We'll never know," said Gladio, approaching Prompto, whom he patted on the back. "You all right?" The gunslinger nodded, pursing his lips and closing his eyes. "Then let's go."

Following the map inside the control room, they reached the hangar, which they had to cross to access the central elevator to the Crystal.

After the numerous ambushes they had suffered, it seemed eerily quiet and empty. Opposite the door they had just crossed were the enormous doors leading to the central lift and, behind them and to the left, smaller lifts leading to the lower part of the hangar.

"Your Majesty, your precious Crystal awaits you."

Ardyn's purring through the speakers always harked bad news.

The hangar's giant doors opened slowly.

"To liven things up I thought I'd take you on a stroll down memory lane. Of course, memories decay with time."

The creature which hobbled into the hangar had been human once. Magitek technology, fed with daemonic essence, had taken root on the Lord of Tenebrae's corpse and reanimated him. The scourge had regenerated his lost arm into a monstrous claw, also spreading the infection through the left side of Ravus' body.

Black tendrils, born from the injured shoulder, extended through the chest and reached the head, where on its left side a curved horn had grown. His clothes were torn and blackened by the scourge growths, and they could see the tendrils piercing the flesh between the ribs, as the black mass over his heart pulsated in rhythm with that of a heart.

As he staggered closer, the four friends could see that the scourge had made the High Commander grow in size, so that now he stood above eight feet tall. Instead of his sword, now Ravus wielded a curved, barbed, black blade, which seemed made from miasma.

The shuffling of heavy feet was the only sound in the hangar, until the creature opened his lips, and black ooze poured out as it rasped: "Kill me… end it…"

It was said that the scourge not only changed the body, but also the mind, so that when the infection was complete what was left was a mindless monster, with no memory of any former life. However, those with a strong enough will could still cling to bits of memories, although they could not defeat the illness. It had happened with the emperor, who dreamed of a prosperous empire under his rule, and it had happened with Ravus, who still retained enough humanity to plead for a swift end.

Nevertheless, the scourge was always more powerful than any human mind and, not sooner those words had been uttered, Ravus roared, his voice suddenly distorted as the scourge finally overtook him.

"Is that… Ravus?" Gladio asked.

"Or… what's left of him," Prompto said, eyes wide with horror and disgust.

However, the gunslinger readied his guns as quickly as his companions summoned their own weapons.

Luna's brother lunged forwards, with inhuman speed. The four friends, taken by surprise, could do nothing but dodge the deadly arc the sword traced.

The Lord of Tenebrae had been in life an expert swordsman. His mastery was such that even the most important families in Niflheim reluctantly admitted that the young lord's ability was to be admired. Now that the scourge had overtaken his body, Ravus joined technique with the raw power that the curse had bestowed upon him.

Finding an opening was nearly impossible and, the only time Ravus held his blade over his head, Gladio shouted a warning to his companions to get away from the daemon. Not a moment too soon, Noctis warped out of reach, but he saw how, at the last moment, Ravus changed his aim and lowered the sword while facing Prompto. A shockwave came out of the blade, in the shape of a vertical arc which ran directly towards the young man. However, of the four companions, the gunslinger's reflexes were the quickest, and he rolled away from the course of the attack. Nevertheless, Prompto sensed a tug on his clothes and, when he looked at the shirt he wore tied to his waist, half the cloth had been cut and seared. Looking at the floor, he saw with a shiver how deeply the shockwave had cut through the concrete. One hit and any of them would be dead.

Noctis warp-struck Ravus at that moment, but the king's blows didn't seem to cause much harm. The daemon jumped away from the assault, and prepared another attack. Noctis warped again in pursuit, but Ravus had gained momentum and jumped again, this time towards Gladio. The Shield withstood the brutal onrush for some seconds, enough for Noctis to strike once again. Ravus dodged the king's attack, and lunged, bringing his sword down. The king parried and tried to counter-attack, but Luna's brother kicked him, sending him at a distance.

His vision blurred for some seconds. Noctis shook his head, trying to get to his feet. He looked around, and saw that Ravus had cornered Ignis and was about to attack him. The king warp-struck Ravus once again, whose guard was completely down. On his rush, he hadn't noticed that both Gladio and Prompto had also rushed in to help their friend, and Ravus saw himself under a combined attack of swords, daggers and guns.

The High Commander faltered and fell to his knees, something that Noctis used to run the monster through with Regis' sword. Ravus roared, out of pain and rage as the scourge kept regenerating his wounds.

Against what the king expected, Ravus got on his feet after being stabbed, a whirlwind of miasma surrounding him. The light of the magitek energy shone with a bluish hue through the regenerated arm and the infected flesh.

The daemon roared again, and a magic explosion created a shockwave which send them all tumbling backwards. While he was on the ground, Noctis saw Ravus, still shrouded in dark power, nailed his blade into the ground at his feet.

Just as the dark metal pierced the concrete, Noctis felt a surge of magic just under him. Rolling away just in time, he saw a giant, black tendril shooting upwards on the spot the king had been mere seconds before.

Like with the emperor, Ravus' fixation with Noctis was his undoing. At the same time that the black tendril failed to hit Noctis, Gladio brought his greatsword with both hands over his head, making it fall like a hammer on the daemon's back. The previous outburst had weakened Ravus, and he fell again on his knees. Noctis warp-struck as his three friends attacked with everything they had.

A could of dark miasma surrounded the High Commander again, and the four companions jumped out of its reach. The magic shockwave didn't affect them this time, but Ravus now lunged at Gladio, slashing with his sword and with the black tendrils which now grew out of his left hand.

Despite his show of power, Ravus had grown weaker, and Gladio had less trouble parrying his attacks, despite the Shield's own tiredness. Prompto shoot at the tentacles which threatened to ensnare Gladio, cutting them; Ignis, unable to see or sense neither his friends nor their enemy, shouted: "The Ring! Use it!"

Noctis then remembered. Of course! But, could it serve against someone as powerful as Ravus?

The king concentrated his energy on his hand and directed it at the dark form the creature that had been once Luna's brother. A white light shone on the king's hand and above Ravus, whose dark body suddenly started to contort in pain as he turned around towards the source of holy magic.

Neither Gladio nor Prompto had ceased on their attacks and, when Noctis felt his own magic power draining, he lowered his hand and warp-struck Ravus for the last time.

Regis' sword pierced Ravus' body through the heart. Noctis was forced to look into Luna's brother's face, ravaged and disfigured by the scourge. Black ooze poured from his mouth, but his facial features suddenly relaxed, as if during his last moments he could regain what little humanity the curse had left in him.

"Curse… you… Ardyn…" Ravus rasped, before collapsing on the ground.

The Lord of Tenebrae was dead.

"A sorry end for the High Commander," said Gladio after a long silence. "Or for anyone. He was a man with hopes and dreams."

"It's horrible…" Prompto murmured.

"What kind of fiend makes daemons of men?" Ignis wondered.

But that question was a rhetorical one, Noctis thought. Ravus, whose body was now being slowly engulfed in a cloud of dark particles, died cursing Ardyn. Somehow, the chancellor had played an important part on what had happened to Luna's brother. Of all the endings, this was the worst the king could think for him.

The black cloud thickened and instant, and then dissolved, leaving nothing behind. Noctis made a point to build a memorial for Ravus, now that he couldn't have a proper burial.

"Look alive!" Gladio yelled all of a sudden. "Company!"

Daemons spawned all around them, cutting every exit, and the giant doors of the hangar were closed shut.

With barely time to recover themselves, the four friends were thrust into battle once again. Strong daemons like the giant spiders were a problem, but it was the swarm of lesser critters what could pose a real problem for them. And, as time went by, they had the sinking realization that, no matter how many they destroyed, more kept coming.

"Noct!" the king heard Ignis shout to him. "You must go alone!"

"What?"

"If you can obtain the Crystal's power, we may yet be able to turn the tide. Elsewise, we are all like to perish here."

"Iggy's right," said Gladio, hacking through a horde of goblins. "It's our only chance."

"But what about you?"

"We'll manage somehow!" said Prompto, in a display of uncharacteristic bravery before a naga. "Just get moving!"

Ardyn's voice could be heard again through the speakers.

"You could still get to the Crystal… if you went on your own. Your friends will have to stay behind."

The hangar doors were closed shut, but the small lift to the lower part opened as an invitation.

Noctis closed his eyes, as the last image he caught of his friends was of them fighting against the daemons.

He took the lift to the lower part and kept running, dodging daemons and not knowing exactly where he was going. He only knew he had to follow the doors that opened.

"Don't die on me," he prayed aloud, the image of his friends still flashing before him.

The path he followed led to the central elevator, after all. Ardyn kept guiding and taunting him. Ever since he had arrived at the Keep, Noctis had successfully avoided Ardyn's taunts provoking him. The last musings from the Chancellor, as the central elevator slowly took the king to the Crystal, made Noctis clench his fists.

"Do you suppose your dear friends are still alive? Those who died for you… do you ever wonder what went through their minds? Can you even recall their final words?"

That was the taunt that made Noctis almost cave in. No matter how much he tried putting it at the back of his mind, what kept him awake at night since the destruction of Accordo was seeing the faces of those who had died for him, starting with his father, and ending with Luna. They had all fought for the future of the world while Noctis was kept blissfully ignorant of everything happening around him. No more. His friends wouldn't perish as well.

"I'll come back for you all," he murmured through gritted teeth. "I swear."

The elevator doors opened, and Noctis saw a long catwalk leading to a strange, giant sphere with a single, small aperture: The Crystal chamber. The insulation from the thick walls prevented the radiation from the Crystal to seep into the Keep and ruin all the experiments in the labs, or destroy all the MTs patrolling the complex.

Noctis ran as fast as he could along the catwalk and into the chamber until he could see the Crystal: A giant blue geode, bugger than a man, and held in place with chains nailed to the chamber walls.

Standing in front of it, he extended his arm and prayed.

"Please… Help me stop the daemons," he said.

He expected the Ring to shine again, or to hear some voice, or to seem some sort of energy being transferred to his body, like when he acquired the power of the Astrals. Instead, tendrils of light emerged from the Crystal, enveloping him. He felt power, but not inside him. The Crystal was pulling him inside of it.

He struggled in desperation. It wasn't supposed to happen that way!

"Unharmed by the Light," a voice said behind him. "The Chosen King, indeed."

Noctis turned his head as he tried to yank his body free from the Crystal. Ardyn slowly strode along the catwalk towards him.

"Allow me to regale you with a tale," the man said as he smiled. "In an age long past, an incurable scourge ravaged mankind. A tiny menace that twisted men into monsters, the likes of which you've seen. In Lucis lived a savior that could cure the afflicted. His body would come to host myriads daemons, that countless lives be spared. But a jealous king, one not yet chosen by the Crystal, ostracized and demonized this healer of the people, making a true monster out of him. I gave you my name earlier, but you should know that it was not the name given to me at birth.

"Ardyn Lucis Caelum is my proper name. You'll never guess whose name Izunia was."

Ardyn made a pause, enjoying the look of shock in Noctis' face as the king tried, in vain, to free himself from the Crystal.

"Noct, killing you as a mortal will bring me scant satisfaction," Ardyn purred. "Claim the Crystal's power. Arise as its champion. Only once the Crystal and King are no more… can I know redemption."

Noctis felt himself almost entirely engulfed by the Crystal. His sight was blurring, and he let out a roar or rage, as the last thing he saw was Ardyn's smug smirk.

"Come back soon," the man said merrily as the last lock of dark hair disappeared in the Crystal's light. "I shall keep your friends company until you are ready."

Noctis couldn't see Ardyn laughing. Neither could he see his friends arriving at the chamber, battered but unscathed.

They found Ardyn alone and, thinking the worst, they unleashed their rage upon him. Gladio slashed him across the face with his sword, and Prompto shot him point-blank on the back. The Chancellor fell heavily onto the metal floor, his black fedora rolling some paces away.

But as soon as his body hit the floor, the Chancellor got to his feet, dusting his clothes with indifference. He took his hat as he walked away, without ever missing a beat, leaving the three friends behind, unharmed and bewildered. It wouldn't be any fun to torture them if Noctis wasn't there to watch.

Had Ignis been able to see, he would have been witness to Ardyn's true form: His skin was pale as a corpse, and black miasma poured from his eyes and mouth. His eyes had a black sclera, and his irises were bright gold.

Ardyn had gone away, his mocking words of goodbye still resonating in the chamber.