Untold Omens

Chapter One: The Missing Act

Winter M.E. 749

For generations, the House of Amicitia served the Lucian Crown as trusted shields. Sons and daughters of the line endured training at a young age in order to fulfill the role as sole protectors of their king or queen. With life devoted entirely to the crown, the Amicitia relied on the Hesters to act as chamberlain, handling and maintaining their daily livelihood.

The current chamberlain, Jared Hester upheld his role for two generations by the time Clarus Amicitia, shield to the current King Regis Lucis Caelum, took over as head of the Amicitia house. While the man intended to continue his role for a third generation of Amicitia when Gladiolus succeeds his father, it was unlikely he would be able to do so due to his health and age. Another Hester would have to take Jared's place and continue service to the Amicitia.

Naturally, the next successor should be his son Alder Hester. However, be it fate or luck, Alder had a daughter close enough in age to Gladiolus thus it was decided that the next successors forge a childhood bond, manner customary of the Lucian Kingdom. Under normal circumstances, their machinations might have worked flawlessly, except… there was nothing normal about the circumstances regarding the sixteen-year-old Aracelis Hester. To those around her, she seemed little more than any small house of aristocracy in service to the crown.

In actuality?

"Ugh, I've reincarnated into an auditing nightmare," muttered Aracelis under her breath as she dragged a hand over her face to cover her mouth. Her dark sable eyes glared down at her grandfather's handwritten ledgers for the Amicitia family.

By the year 749 of the Modern Era, Aracelis has had over a decade of adjusting to her newfound life in Eos. For the most part, she found Insomnia very much like any other major city of her former memory. Tall buildings, dense population, bureaucracy and of course who could forget good old fashioned patriotic bigotry and nepotism. If not for the reigning monarchies and the magical walls around the city, she could very well have thought she ended up in some foreign country back home.

Well… that and the whole going through puberty again bit.

"Stupid muscle-headed Amicitia and their penchant for property damage and weapon repairs!" muttered the girl darkly as she resumed transcribing everything onto her laptop, typing away at impressive speeds.

On Eos, the mundane skill required extensive practice, as the different placement of letters on the Lucian keyboard took her some getting used to.

Her grandfather was far from tech savvy, registering the Amicitia records in the most archaic manner. As the person who will one day take over as chamberlain to the Amicitia house, she remained the prime candidate for the arduous task of scanning and transcribing every file into her electronic systems… not that any of this data entry would matter in six years time.

Who cares about paperwork and numbers when the world is plunged into a decade of endless darkness?

The only reason to bother with the busywork was for the sake of maintaining appearances.

"Wooh, someone's in trouble!" sang a girlish voice playfully before Aracelis drew her attention away from the screen glancing up to the entrance of her grandfather's office.

"...Iris," said Aracelis in dull surprise. She nudged her glasses back up the bridge of her nose to greet the small 10-year-old. "What are you doing here?"

"Gladdy won't be around at all today!" giggled the young Amicitia as she scurried in. The child plopped herself down on the chair across from Aracelis' desk, her small hands gripping the seat's edge between her legs. "Which means you can train me today!"

"We spoke about this already Iris," sighed Aracelis as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "The way I fight is not fitting for a Lady of the Amicitia family."

"But I've never seen anyone that's not dad beat Gladdy!" protested Iris.

"…Kicking him in the nethers is not exactly a fair fight," retorted the older teen dryly.

In her previous life, Aracelis took up Krav Maga as a means of self-defense. At the time, she was not in a position that allowed her to live in a safe neighborhood. Neither a bodybuilder nor a professional athlete, other disciplines would require too many years of training and physical conditioning before useful results. Krav Maga afforded her body a fighting chance against bigger and stronger assailants.

Of course, even with a fighting chance, if faced with more than one opponent at a time she would have to flee. Unlike the Amicitia, Aracelis was not built for combat, be it this life or her last. Her slender physique made it impractical for her to ever be a formidable fighter. If she ever had to wield a weapon, the only logical choice would be guns.

Unfortunately for her circumstance, Insomnia regulated firearm ownership heavily. Permits for a gun application require one to be at least 18 years of age with extensive background checks. Registered members of the Crownsguard and Kingsglaive were the primary exceptions. As the chamberlain successor to the Amicitia House, if she attempted to apply to either group, in all likelihood she would come off as not only questionable, but highly suspicious.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean it doesn't count," protested Iris. "Please Arie! Pretty please! I promise I won't use it on anyone except Gladdy!"

"Pft," snorted Aracelis in amusement. "Even if I teach you, you're not going to be able to do anything to your brother until you grow at least a couple of more feet."

"…You got that right!" A confident voice declared from the entrance.

"Gladdy!" yelped Iris in surprise as she scrambled to sit properly in her seat. "I thought you were going to be gone all day!"

"And you are supposed to be studying," retorted Gladdy or more commonly Gladio, with his arms crossed as he entered the room. "Not bothering Arie to teach you any of her weird stuff."

"As if you don't teach weird stuff yourself Gladio," countered Aracelis with a roll of her eyes. "Shouldn't you be training the prince today?"

"You were going to see the prince today?" Iris chimed in.

"Prince Charmless played hooky." His voice rumbled in annoyance.

"…And you're letting him?" Aracelis cocked her brow.

"He wishes," scoffed Gladio. "I need you to access his expense reports and narrow down where the hell he spends his time."

"And… what makes you think I can do that?" frowned the bespectacled-brunette. "I only work with your family accounts, I don't have access to the prince's expense reports. The prince is a privileged and sheltered 14-year-old boy. Where do you expect him to go? He's probably at the movies with his friends or bombing his allowance money at the arcade and—"

A grin crossed Gladio's face when Aracelis groaned in realization.

"…You need a list of all the theatres and arcades by the prince's school now, don't you?" sighed Aracelis. Her hand slid beneath her glasses, rubbing her face in annoyance.

" Yup. I knew I was right coming to you." Gladio grinned resting an arm on the doorframe. "You're smart. I knew you'd figure something out for me!"

"Oh yeah? Maybe you should do it yourself." Aracelis suggested.

For Aracelis, she'd known Gladio her whole damn life on Eos. As children, he sometimes attempted to lord over her with his position as her future employer. She resorted to simply ignoring the boorish child, at least until she was able to physically toss him over her shoulder. If Gladio learned any lesson from his experience, it was to be wary of Aracelis' methodical disposition. Simply put, she was an excellent planner so Gladio often relied on her skills and good sense for practicality.

"You know how to do it better, organizing the most efficient route to hit all of them in record time." Gladio reasoned.

If Aracelis had to describe her relationship with Gladiolus Amicitia in a single word, she would say it's vexing. Not because she hated the older teen, far from it. It's more the simple fact they knew one another too well.

"Have a heart Arie," teased Gladio, intent to annoy her with mock puppy-eyes.

"Gaah! Arie make him stop! He's being creepy!" giggled Iris as she jumped up and ran behind the older girl.

"Hey!" shouted the older Amicitia with feigned indignation.

"Well you are!" squealed the small girl, sticking her tongue out playfully.

"She's got you there," noted Aracelis in dry amusement.

"Whatever, can you get me that list or not?" He grounded, seemingly drained of all good humor. "Or just show me how and I'll do it myself."

"Fine, fine," sighed Aracelis in resignation, determining it faster to do it herself than to instruct the muscle-headed older teen.

Due to past experience with web mapping services, it took Aracelis little to no effort to create a markup route of the city center, tagging all the places where he would most likely find the wayward prince.

"Here, now get out of my face," shooed Aracelis after she handed him a printout.

"…Thank you, my faithful chamberlain." Gladio intoned in jest before he glanced over the sheet. "Ugh… how come there are so many of these places? You wanna come along and help?"

"Look. The prince is your responsibility, not mine," cemented Aracelis.

"I know that. It'd be faster if you man the car while I run in and search. It's going to be impossible to get around with public transportation and still get the prince back to the Citadel in time." He explained.

"No," refused Aracelis, all but done with him.

Gladio crumpled the sheet in his hand before he turned his heel to leave the room. "Fine, be like that," growled the older teen storming away.

"What a grumpy butt!" exclaimed Iris, cheeks puffed up in indignation. "Come on, Arie. I guess now we can start my training!"

"Hmm…" Aracelis frowned as she watched Gladio's retreating form.

"Arie?" Iris tugged at the older girl's sleeve.

After a little consideration, Aracelis realized it really would take a lot of time for him to do everything by himself, especially with rush hour coming in. Besides, she might as well use this ploy to get out of training Iris Amicitia for today.

"Let's… do a rain check on training Iris." Aracelis patted the little girl's head.

"No fair! But you promised…" Iris cried.

"We'll train next time, okay?" The older teen assured her before she circled around the desk to make her way out the door.

Down the hall, Aracelis spied Gladio studying the sheet printed out for him as he briskly made his way towards the garage. With a resigned sigh, Aracelis shook her head and sprinted to catch up with the older teen. Gladio paused when he heard her coming close and glanced back with a questioning gaze.

"You owe me," muttered Aracelis, under her breath.

"Sure." He agreed flatly, an amused grin broke on his face as they made their way to the garage together.

Once there, Aracelis took the wheel. Though she was technically underaged, Gladio had acquired special permissions for her to take driving exams earlier for her 15th birthday. Of course, the car she used belonged to the Amicitia family but between her and Gladio, they managed to convince Clarus it was a necessity.

"Doesn't the prince have minders?" She asked, driving away from the Amicitia estates and out towards the winding highway.

"He gave them the slip," muttered Gladio, eyes on the map she printed out for him.

"How?" frowned Aracelis.

Ironically, in all her years on Eos, she has never formally met Prince Noctis, concluding it illogical to do so. Bad enough she had no clue how she ended up in this fantasy world, but knowing everything to come made things worse. Jared Hester is fated to die because of his affiliation with the Amicitia family. She'd hate to see how much bigger the target would be on her or her family if she dared to involve herself further in the prince's life beyond mere affiliation.

As she cannot join the ranks of Crownsguard nor Kingsglaive, it's best she remains a stranger to him. Even more so now since he entered high school. This is the year the prince develops his closest bonds to his future Crownsguards. She didn't dare risk any disruption. The fate of the world depended on them after all.

"He learned how to warp and phase a while ago. The little shit's been using the warp to escape his guards," sighed the older teen.

"Sounds like he needs better guards," commented Aracelis as she drove off Insomnia's bending highways and onto the local streets.

"More like a thorough ass whooping," grumbled Gladio. "As a prince, he needs to know every action he makes has consequences. He can't just act like a child."

"Ignoring the fact that the prince is a child," noted Aracelis dryly. "Corporal punishment is rather archaic don't you think?"

"Sometimes the classics are the best teachers," dismissed Gladio casually before he sat up and tapped the dashboard. "Stop here, I see him."

"Hmm?" The brunette drew her attention briefly away from the road to follow his line of sight.

Ever true to his word, Aracleis spotted the prince of Lucis ambling down the street as if any other misfitteen. In haste, she double-parked the car allowing Gladio to run out after the boy. When the larger teen planted a hand on Noctis' shoulder, the young prince barely glanced back. At the sight of his shield however, a dark scowl crossed his face. The two began a cold exchange as Noctis dismissively shrugged the older teen's hand from his shoulder, willing to cause a scene. Her eyes narrowed watching them with growing uncertainty. Something wasn't right…

Aracelis frowned as the wrongness continued to grow with each exchange. Gladio has lamented countless times to her regarding the prince's slothfulness, but this seemed closer to lethargic depression. She never gave it much thought, interpreting his words as exasperated fondness. Seeing them together for the first time, Aracelis found herself reevaluating her initial assessment.

From what she could recall, Noctis and Gladio were prone to butt heads with one another from time to time. Yet, the longer she observed them, the more she noticed a genuine iciness between the two. Back straight and chin raised, the Amicitia teen towered over the younger boy with the stance of an authoritarian. In turn, Noctis seemed like he could care less for Gladio's existence.

Gladio forcibly steered the immovable prince towards the car. Ripping the back door open, he waited just long enough for the younger boy to tuck his legs in before slamming it shut and taking the front seat.

"Your highness." Aracelis greeted the prince for the first time. The dark haired boy snubbed her in favor of resting his chin against his hand to gaze out the window.

"Ignore him." Gladio snarled as he buckled in. "Just head back to the Citadel."

Aracelis spared a glance at the solemn prince once more before she merged back into traffic.

There was something familiar about the way Noctis sat in the backseat with a forlorn gaze cast out the window.

A sense of déjà vu came over her amid the wrongness of it all. She focused on driving to distract herself. By the time they reached their destination, dusk had begun to set with a soft orange hue tinging the Citadel's stone surface as the sky darkened to night.

"Thank you for the help Aracelis." Gladio spoke cordially once he got the prince out of the car.

"…Sure," muttered the brunette studying him with furrowed brows.

Gladio never refers to her by her full name unless they are in formal company. The only other person around now was the prince, but it made no sense for him to act like this around Noctis.

Unless…

"Will you need a ride back to the estates later?"

"I can make my way back on my own." Gladio replied. "You can head back first."

"If the prince requires a ride as well, I don't mind coming back to pick you up," offered Aracelis, drawing a scoff from Gladio.

"To where? By the time he's done with training, it'll be his curfew. He won't be able to go anywhere," noted Gladio in confusion, before a teasing glint relit his eye. "Unless… you want to come pick me up."

"Hmm… maybe not," replied Aracelis airily. She enjoyed the confusion on Gladio's face and Noctis' hasty attempt to hide a snicker behind a well-timed cough. "I hope you have a good evening, your highness."

"Night." Noctis bid her farewell with a lazy wave as he turned to head into the Citadel.

Aracelis steered her car through the roundabout and out the front gates. From what she observed, it seems like the prince is still living at the Citadel instead of his own apartment, contrary to what she remembered.

Not yet a glaring concern, as it is quite possible he moves out at a later date. Yet, the exchange between the future shield and prince perplexed her. Fidgeting, she began to tap an irregular beat on her steering wheel.

Rather than drive through heavy traffic and torment herself further with worry, Aracelis decided to try a quieter path back home through the local streets. Except… she probably should've sat through the traffic on the highway. The street lights were much dimmer on the quieter streets and there were no pedestrian sidewalks in the residential area. When a hapless jogger came across the headlights of her car, she barely managed to slam her foot on the break in time. A look of panic crossed the blond's face before he tripped over his own feet and hit the ground.

"Shit!" whispered Aracelis, her face white with terror as she yanked up her brakes. With her car secured, she kicked her door open then scrambled out of her car to check on him. "Hey! You okay?"

A hefty teen sat barely a foot away from the front of the car, stunned and shaken by the close call. At a quick glance over, he didn't seem hurt, but she rather not risk a lawsuit.

The wide-eyed young man turned his attention to her.

"Y-Yeah," stammered the teen. He waved away her concern and attempted to recompose himself. "I'm fine."

"Thank goodness." Aracelis breathed in relief offering a hand to help him up. "Well, I'm glad you're okay. Maybe next time you should wear some reflectors if you decide to jog at night. You know… less likely someone would hit you."

It took a moment before the teen chuckled sheepishly and took hold of her hand.

"Umm… I guess I probably should've done that. I usually run down this block because cars rarely go through here. Guess I should've been more careful…"

"Are you going to be alright? I can drive you home or to the hospital if you need it."

"No, no, I'm fine! You don't have to go through the trouble to—" dissuaded the teen.

A local resident in the neighborhood stuck his head from his window to check on the commotion.

"Is everything all right?" demanded the old man as he eyed the blond, the car and Aracelis in turn.

"Everything's fine!" yelped the nervous teen, rubbing at the back of his neck. "Just a little acci—I mean misunderstanding! Nothing happened."

"Hmm?" The old man frowned, scrutinizing Aracelis and her vehicle once more. "…Are you sure, Prompto?"

"I'm totally sure!" The blond continued, doing his best to dissuade the local resident from getting needlessly involved.

Any other time, Aracelis would readily admonish the nosy old man to mind his own business, yet she stood transfixed by the hefty teen she nearly ran over.

The man called him Prompto, the prince's gunslinger high school friend turned Crownsguard. Blond hair, blue eyes and glasses were a bit too general of a description to accurately identify someone, but what were the chances of someone with those identifiers to also be named Prompto? Not to mention, this Prompto seemed like a good 30-40 pounds heavier. He is not obese, but not exactly battle ready either.

"Um… miss?" Prompto waved a hand in her face to regain her attention.

"Excuse me." Aracelis said with a shake of her head. "If you don't mind me asking, do you happen to attend Mysidia Academy by any chance?"

"Oh, uh yeah!" confirmed the blond in surprise with a confused tilt to his head "…Why do you ask?"

This kid really was Prompto. From the looks of things, the younger teen wasn't friends with the prince yet. The sense of wrongness returned again, this time more daunting than with Gladio and Noctis previous.

"Just a passing curiosity." Aracelis fought back a grimace as she took her next actions.

"Hey listen, I feel really bad for nearly running you over, so…"

She returned to her car, rummaging through her bag.

"Here's my card, feel free to call me if you need something." She offered making her way back to Prompto. While it was rather odd for someone her age to carry around business cards, she enjoyed the convenience of not having to write down her contact information whenever she needed to share it.

"What?" Prompto stared in confusion before he waved his hands frantically to decline. "No! It's okay, I don't need anything."

"I insist," pressured Aracelis.

Grabbing hold of his recoiling hand, she curled his fingers over the card and held it in place until he relented. Judging by his skittish behaviour, she doubted that he would ever bother, but this gave her an excuse to approach him at a later date if need be.

Something was sorely wrong with this world, and she had to figure out what.