Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy XV. I just own my character.
Summary: Dying had been inevitable. It was something she couldn't stop. But this she'd be able to change. Change her family's fate. That's all she wanted. She just wanted to save her family's lives, who were more important than she ever would be. [SI!OC-as-Luna's-twin]
Hello hello!
Woah, its so weird to be writing for this again and honestly, I'm pretty excited! For all of you who have read it in the past, hi hi! I'm sorry to have made you wait so long!
To the newcomers that are just finding this story recently, hello hello! And I hope you enjoy it and your time reading it!
I'm fired up and so, so ready to go. But I do apologize if my writing seems off or like different from before. It could either be bad or goodbut I haven't written anything in a long time so hopefully it doesn't show to much ahahah.
Let's get on with it!
Luna:.
The tutor's voice is just white noise in the background.
She can't focus on it. Her mind is running thousands of thoughts all at the same time. And no matter how much she tries, she can't focus on anything else that isn't what she was told the night before. It was almost infuriating. She tries and tries to get her mind to do something else, to thing of something else but it's impossible.
Leanna's words echo in her mind, over and over, her voice so grief stricken and sounding years older, "From what I know... Well, remember... Mother dies... A-and so do you and Brother... And in the end, the sun d-does rise again but at the cost of nearly everyone that I now care and hold dear... A-and I don't know how to stop it!"
And so do you . . .
To be frank, it wasn't quite the reveal of her demise that broke Luna. She was always mentally ready to do whatever it takes to stop the Evil that is slowly taking away all the people and the sun. Dying for her calling was never something that frightened her. It was something she always encouraged herself to think, because if it meant that the rest of Eos could live on in peace, she'd die as many times as it's needed.
But no, it wasn't dying that hurt her the most.
It was the knowing that it wouldn't be just her. It would be Mother dying while protecting Brother, Leanna had said, although she didn't say exactly when and Luna's brain had been too busy trying to comprehend everything she was told that she didn't even remember to ask. It would be Brother dying too in the far future, being controlled and infected. And it would be the fact that Leanna would be completely alone, if that ever came true.
Her twin sister, the one person she's been connected to since birth, would have to live on alone if they didn't find a way to save their family.
"I... I was never supposed to exist here," Luna had been told, her sister not quite looking at her, "From my memories, there was never someone called Leanna as your sister... But... But I'm real now! I'm here and knowing that all that I care about and love can be taken away from me... I-It's so painful! And I didn't want to burden you with this! You have so much on your shoulders and you're going to be Oracle and it's just so selfish of me to be doing this but... But I just needed to tell someone... I just want someone to help me because I can't do it... I can't do it alone! "
To think, that there was a version of this world where Luna didn't have Leanna by her side. She can't quite imagine it! She can't imagine not hearing her sister laugh or talk about the chapters History of Eos so enthusiastically or having her cold feet touching her legs whenever they're sleeping next to each other. She can't imagine having dinner and Leanna not be sitting between her and Brother with whatever current book she was reading on her lap, Mother just sighing because she just couldn't stop her from doing that anymore. Not seeing her train in the garden through the window! Just imagining a world without her is so painful.
She doesn't know how that Luna faired without her other half.
Not that it matters really, because it's this world that matter, it's this life and family and she wants to keep their tragic fate from happening.
They tried to think of something, but the amount of knowledge that had been blurted out and Leanna being emotionally exhausted, they didn't get to really plan anything.
But Luna wants to do it. She has her all her classes, yes, and her sessions with Mother, which is something that she knows her sister doesn't have but Leanna never commented on it, but she's not that busy! She doesn't know why her sister would think that knowing about this and helping her would be a burden when it's most definitely not. Luna wants to help. She wants to help save her family, maybe even save herself (although if it ever really came to it, she's ready to give her life for the world and her future King).
But now . . .
"Lady Lunafreya, are you listening?"
She jolts back to awareness and sits up straight, nodding, "Yes! Yes, I'm sorry, I just have a lot on my mind!"
And as her tutor continues her lesson, Luna continues to think of anything they can do to change the future that has been plaguing her sister's head since she was young.
Leanna:.
I decide to make a list.
Perhaps it shouldn't have taken me this long time to make one, with how many details from the memories have been slipping away from me. But as the saying goes, better late than ever. It's not hard to find a blank notebook from the bedroom or a comfortable spot on my bed. Pryna appears at the foot of it, makes a small noise which is the one she usually does when she wants us to pet her and after I do, she curls up at my feet.
And I put the pen to paper and start to write.
- in a few days (week maybe?), niflheim appears when the king and noctis are leaving and take full control of tenebrae in the process.
- in the midst of all of it, mother dies protecting ravus and both he and luna stay in the empire's grasp. (hopefully, we can't get them all out along with regis and noctis?? maybe get sanctuary in insomnia??)
- not long after, luna becomes oracle. (if we do escape with them, maybe mother stays as oracle and luna won't go through the astral's awakening at the cost of her life?? bad side of that, mother is the one having to do those instead which isn't ideal at all)
- there's something with pryna. prompto finds her at some point when he's young and by helping her, he comes in contact with luna, who asks him to befriend noctis. (let's hope that all still happens, if we do manage to change stuff because prompto's friendship with noct is important for both of them and the rest of the timeline!!!)
- years later, the treaty comes to fruition and luna and noctis' political marriage is arranged. regis sends noctis with ignis, gladio and prompto out of the city and not long after, insomnia is taken over and destroyed and regis di
I stop myself from finishing the word, eyes locked on it.
Would there be a way to make sure Regis doesn't die, I wonder? Highly unlikely. This is from the movie, which isn't exactly completely clear in my memories. Before, I had watched it like only once before being able to play the game. Which... complicates things. I know Luna was in the Crown City in the movie, which is where she gets the ring in her possession and keeps it safe, finding her way out of there. Someone helps her, I think but they don't survive? Or did they?
Should've watched the damn movie more times, I can't help but grumble.
It would've made things easier, that's for sure.
dies. luna escapes the city safely, with the ring. (will all of this change, if we do change things here and there?? will luna still be in the city to get the ring in her possession?? will i be there instead, i wonder?? this is troubling shit)
- where and what will i be doing in all of this?? everyone has their roles and paths, which will eventually change if we do things differently but i don't know what i should do fuck. stay with luna?? keep her safe in the city?? or maybe stay with the boys instead since luna will have gentiana after she does escape?? maybe both of us go with them?? and ravus?? where will he be in a this?? no longer as commander of imperial forces, most likely so maybe in the crowsguard, if we do manage to find out way out of tenebrae??
- should i join the crownsguard???
Underlining harshly under the word, I take a look at the entire thing. None of this, of what I know, is certain now. Things could be so much different than what I remember the story going.
Fuck. I fall down onto the pillows behind me with a groan.
Six, it's hard trying to understand where everything is going and what's going to happen when you want to change early events, that will lead to everything changing and no longer as I remember it.
Dammit.
Pryna makes a soft sound and I feel her snout touching my cheek. Opening my eyes one by one, my hand goes through her fur.
"It's okay," I tell her, even though I'm probably getting screwed over when everything after this starts. "I'll figure it out."
Somehow.
I have to.
"What are you doing?"
I stand up from my position to give my brother a big grin. "A pillow fort!"
And it is one. Well, I have never made one like ever but I think this is how it's supposed to look like? Normally, I'd probably do it in the bedroom but I found it to be easier in our large living room space. The couches are the best supports for the sheets and the chairs I got from the kitchen help tremendously. The sheets are a mix of blue and white and some black in there and there's blankets and pillows of every sizes and while I may be biased, I still think it looks perfect.
But Ravus doesn't sound or looks impressed.
And yeah, maybe it was a bit childish for doing such a thing, but we're all still kids. And I think we should all take the time we have to be exactly that, with the future events that will come.
"But why?" Luna also questions, although she looks much more interested in the whole thing than our brother and I love her for that.
"Because it's fun!" I tell her excitedly, leaving the warmth behind so I could join them, "And we need a bit of fun every now and then. And I know, my last plan for fun didn't end well but, this is as safest as it could get! We're inside and out of any sort of danger!"
"And does Mother know about this?" my brother asks, giving me the look.
The look that clearly says that he already knows the answer, but not this time because, "I actually asked her about it and she said it was actually a good idea!" I stick my tongue out to him and he rolls his eyes, lips twitching as he fought back a smile, "And His Majesty also knows and agreed for Noct to join us."
"... I can join you guys too?" said boy questions from his place in his wheelchair. His leg is much better, although it's not advised for him to put pressure on it quite yet.
"Of course," I give him a smile, "There's plenty of pillows and it's comfortable enough, I think, for your leg so it should be fine!"
Luna has a smile on her face too, clearly liking the idea more and more, "And what are we going to do in there?"
"That's the beauty of it, twin of mine, because we can do anything we like! Play games, read or just talk with each other about anything!"
Her eyes basically sparkle with that, "Can we play Go Fish?"
Oh no. I can just see where this is going. And from the looks that the two boys have, they apparently agree with me.
This is going to be brutal.
It was actually worse than brutal.
It was an massacre. In all five games of Go Fish we played, Luna won all of them. She's so good at the game that it should be illegal. We didn't stand a chance.
So I decided we could try and play an harmless Poker game, with the snacks that Maria brought us instead of money.
And it was then I also decided that games overall are something that Luna should stay far away from.
Because yes, she won. Again.
Six, if we were in Hogwarts, I have a feeling she'd be a Slytherin because her cunning and just ambition to win at those games is insane. And the way she manages to fool us while we play...
It's official. No more games for Luna.
This is a dream, I think to myself.
It's not a nightmare or a memory. There's no death, no familiar scenes, no burning. It's a forest instead, vast and green and almost shimmering. I come to on the floor, the blue sky between leaves the first thing I see. It's not a familiar place, I understand immediately. I don't recognise it at all. There's no familiarity, but it's safe. That at least I can feel it.
It's a safe place to be in.
"Hi!"
Frowing in confusion and looking down, there it was
Small and white, the only color on it being the red gemstone on its forehead. Its long ears twitch when I look at it and it sits down, tail moving slowly behind it.
"Carbuncle?" the name leaves my lips automatically and it seems to perk up at the sound of it.
"Yes!" it says, although I'm not sure how I'm understanding what it's saying, "Haven't heard anyone other than Noct and his ancestors saying it in a looong time."
I kneel down, reaching out with an hand. Although, after thinking about it, I stop before my fingers can brush against its head. Would it be alright with me touching it? Carbuncle is as a messenger as Pryna and Umbra are and they loves pets, but maybe they're not all like that.
But I get my answer when the little fox comes a little closer and it brushes its snout against my fingers, "You seemed hesitant in petting me, but you can! It's totally fine."
"I... I wasn't sure," I reply, smiling. It's fur is really soft and it does remind me heavily of my dogs, "I didn't know if you'd find it offensive or not."
"Of course not," it says excitedly, "I love pets. Noct gives me loots of them when he dreams. I think I'm a bit spoiled now."
I can't help the small giggle at that. Yeah, its - he, maybe? She? I'll go with he, I think, - exactly the same as Pryna and Umbra. These messengers are just so spoiled.
Although, despite all of this, I'm still wondering...
"What exactly am I doing here? And how exactly can I understand you?"
Carbuncle tilts his head as if confused, "Why wouldn't you be able to understand me?"
"Well, Pryna and Umbra are messengers like you, right? And I can't understand them."
"Well obviously. They're dogs. And be grateful that you don't understand them. They can be quite noisy."
I try not to smile wider, "And you're a fox and here we are."
"... True," the fox makes a sound like he's thinking outloud, "Hmm. Maybe they just prefer to act as the animal they became with you guys? Or maybe they just don't want to talk? Which weird because they love to talk. Because the descendants of the Oracle, most of them at least, can almost always communicate with the Six and messengers."
Well, that does make sense. It doesn't even surprise me the confirmation of our dogs actually talking with the other messengers. Gentiana was one of the Six and she lives with us, communicates with us at times and it's the same with Pryna and Umbra. But Shiva only decided to stay with House Nox Fleuret after Luna and I was born. She hadn't had any contact with Mother, I don't think and she's the current Oracle.
And about Pryna and Umbra, maybe they just grew accustomed to being animals and not talking.
Six, all these Gods are so confusing. I can't understand what could they possibly want.
No, that's not true. I know Ifrit wants the humans to be destroyed, Shiva wants to save the world (at least I think that's what she wants?), Leviathan is a little prick who even when Luna had summoned her, she wasn't adamant in forging the coven with Notcis. And there's Titan and Ramuh, who luckily were the easiest to get along and talk? to from what I can remember.
And then there's Bahamut: the mostly useless one, if I can think honestly about him.
His only concern is to explain to the Chosen One what the price to save our star is and to harness the Light he will need to do it.
But really . . . I still think there has to be some other way, other than spend ten whole years inside a crystal just to harness Light.
Still don't know what it could be but, I intend to find out.
"Well, at least, whatever it is that allowed me to come here has let me meet you, Carbuncle," I tell him, petting his snout gently.
"Yes! I wanted to meet you too! Pryna and Umbra are always talking about you and your sister," the little fox tells me excitedly, "And the Noct talked about you guys too and about how he felt really comfortable in the mansion with you and--"
"Lea?"
Speaking of the young prince. I turn around, Carbuncle doing the same and there he was. Surrounded by the tall trees, he seems somewhat smaller that normal and I notice that he doesn't have to use the wheelchair, probably because of the fact that this is all a dream.
A dream. Huh, hard to believe I can still have those.
"Hey, Noct," I greet him, the fox leaving my side so fast and slamming against the boy's legs. Which, of course, doesn't do anything but it still brings a grin out of me, "He's very excited, as you can obviously tell."
"Noct!" Carbuncle cheers, tail waggling happily, "You're here!"
I know the way he communicates with Noctis, so I'm not surprised when the boy takes out his phone, that had emitted the sound of receiving a message, from his back pocket. And then a small smile appears, "Yes, I'm here. How are you, Carbuncle?"
"Good! I was waiting for you, but instead I found Leanna and brought her here. She's as nice as you said she was!"
The fact the he knows my name doesn't even unsettle me in the slightest, the little fox being a Messenger and all. So I focus instead with amusement on the pink that showed up on the shy boy's pale cheeks when he reads the new message that appeared on his phone.
I decide to spare him from Carbuncle's teasing, "Well, you are very nice yourself. It was lovely meeting you."
"Wait, you can understand him?"
"I was surprised as well," I shrug and give Noctis a smile, "I don't understand Pryna and Umbra, so it was quite a shock to hear a Messenger actually talk."
"Which I find weird since they are preeetty chatty in our realm," Carbuncle says, coming back over to me. And I immediately start petting his fur. It's so Six damn soft. It reminds me of the dogs' fur.
"Oh yeah. Carbuncle?" the fox makes a small sound to let me know he's listening and I continue, "Are the others here too? My siblings?"
"Oh!" his little eyes seem to light up, as he rushes away from me towards the trees, "Yes! They're all here, but they're asleep. I wanted to talk to them too, but they're too deep in their dreams for me to reach them today."
Noctis looks up from his phone, a small frown marring his face, "Then why isn't Lea sleeping?"
"She was in the beginning of a nightmare," Carbuncle says as he guides us through the forest. It's not hard to catch up to his small legs, "I just got her in here before she could get totally grasped in it. It wasn't that hard!"
"Did you..." I hesitate, not quite sure if I want to know really, "... Did you see it?"
One of the Messenger's ears twitches as his little snout turns to face us, "No, it didn't have time to reeeally start, you know?"
Well, thank Six for that because I don't know what I would do if he had seen any of the nightmares that plague my head most of the time.
Wouldn't want that on his conscience and possibly the other Messengers, thank you very much.
It doesn't take long for the trees to disperse and for us to get to a clearing. It's pretty open and even bigger trees are nearly covering the blue sky above. And in the middle, lying on scarlet blanket, is my twin and older brother. Luna is curled into something, which makes me wonder if it's me in the real world and Ravus is right beside her, on his back and more relaxed that I've ever seen him.
"Here we go!" Carbuncle runs ahead and sits down, right beside my sister's bare feet, "They're not going to awake, but I was at least able to bring them somewhat here. I thought it would be a good thing for all of you to be together."
That was a lovely surprise from him and I'm really thankful for it. I reach him and pet his little head some more, "Thank you, Carbuncle."
His tail just wiggles even more in happiness. I sit down beside Luna's form and take one of her hands in mine. Like the fox explained, she doesn't even twitch. Her and Ravus' chest rise and fall steadily but other than that, there's no sign of movement.
The little prince sits beside me with only a small moment of hesitation, as if he wasn't sure he should perhaps, and Carbuncle curls up in his lap, as if it was normal for them.
And although I can't take pictures, I will still take the picture of the two of them to my grave.
" ... Luna told me that I'm the Chosen King," the boy says quietly, hands buried in the fox's fur.
Although I'm surprised that he is the one starting the conversation, I try not to show it and focus on what he said instead. And really, I can't say I'm too surprised. I knew it would be her that would eventually say it, but I wasn't exactly sure when it was gonna happen. Turns out, it was sooner than I thought.
" And how do you feel about that?" I ask, genuinely curious.
Had anyone really asked him what he felt about the whole thing? He wasn't too keen on being prince and the obligations that came with the title in the first place, so learning something like that mustn't have been easy.
"I..."
"It's alright if you don't like it," I decide to tell him, noticing his hesitant behavior. Noct's head raises to stare at me and I give him a smile, "You're free to feel however you like about it. You never asked for it. Heck, you never asked to be a prince either. And I don't know if you were ever told this but, you can not like it. You can hate it, even. I understand if you do."
"I don't hate it. It's just..." he trails off, unsure, "I know I'm the prince and that I have responsibilities and I don't hate it. I don't, but... Mom is gone and now the fate of the world is dumped on my shoulders and I want to help! I do, I told Luna as much! That I wouldn't let her down - let you both down - but..." Noct brings Carbuncle closer to him and I'm suddenly hit with the reminder that this boy is a child, a nine year old child. And he shouldn't have to deal with any of this, "Is it selfish of me to want... to want to be normal? To just live my life, go to school and not think about meetings and royal stuff and maybe even make some more friends and..."
"No," I stress the word, reaching out with my free hand to grab his. And he interlocks our fingers, holding tightly and looking back at me, "No, it's not selfish at all. Like I said, you're completely free to feel however you want about it. And you just said that you wouldn't let us down, which means you have accepted your destiny somewhat, right? But it's okay to not want it. I wish we could all have normal lives, that our Star was clean and our world safe."
And that a certain man didn't exist to torment you and Eos, I think but don't say out loud.
"But unfortunately, that isn't the case," I continue, "It is your destiny, but you're not alone. You have me, Luna and Ravus and your dad and Ignis. We won't let you carry this burden all by yourself. We'll be with you every step of the way."
"Yeah, yeah!" Carbuncle adds and his sudden voice makes me jump. I was not expecting him to say anything, "Me too! And the other Messengers, we're all here to help you!"
I'm not good with speeches, I don't think. Even Carbuncle seems to be a natural at them. And it was always more Luna's thing and I know she'll be fenomenal with them in the future.
But with the way that my hand is being squeezed gently in thanks makes me think that I did a somewhat good job this time.
Regis:.
Realistically, he knows his son is safe.
He's with Sylva's children in the living room and they're possibly already sleeping, but call it paternal paranoia or just full on protectiveness - whatever it is - but Regis still makes his way downstairs, too see for himself. It's been quite hard ever since Aulea died. She would probably be teasing him and calling a 'chicken' with the way he's acting.
Six, he misses her.
Her smile, her laugh, everything. She'd been his pillar of strength, a never-ending source of support and losing her had been such a shot in his life. She was no longer here to help him in meetings, to support him whenever there's a hard decision to be made.
And he misses her terribly.
And so does his son, he knows. After Aulea died, Noct closed up and it had been quite hard for Regis to reach out and comfort him, himself hurting as well.
But here in Tenebrae, his son seemed to have opened up a little and brighten up.
His mother's death most likely still haunts him, as proven by the night terrors he's keen to have, but mostly, Noct seems to be starting to live again.
And Regis can't thank Sylva's daughters enough for reaching out and taken his son out of his dark place.
He turns a corner, walks into the hallway leading directly to his destination and steps into it.
The fort that greets him makes him smile. They must've had a lot of fun making it, he thinks. And moving one of the blankets aside to look inside, the relief is instant. His son is sleeping soundly, not sign of nightmares plaguing his mind, hand tight around the Carbuncle figurine. The other kids are sleeping just as soundly, all nearly curled up together with plenty of other blankets covering them all and he can't help but notice the hand of one of Sylva's daughters curled around his son's.
Huh. Regis' smile widens. That's new.
"Some tea, Your Majesty?"
And for Six's sake, that nearly makes his heart jump out of his chest and from the look on his friend's face, the Oracle is just quite amused with the situation.
"I ought to punish you for all the times you do this, Sylva," it's his reply and her lips twist into a bigger smile.
"You've been saying that for years, old friend," she replies, still quite entertained as she usually is, "And it never happens."
And she's very much correct, which is why he can't quite find a retort to that.
"Would you care for some tea?" Sylva asks again and it doesn't take long for him to follow her, leaving his son to rest, relieved that everything was okay.
Is this another filler? Basically yes. It's my way to get used to this story again after so long away from it and I think I still have some more getting used to do.I'm happy with how it turned out, but I also have the feeling that it's not my best work.
Nevertheless, I'm quite proud of myself for managing to finish it and post it.
Regis' POV was a choice that I don't know if I regret or if I liked it so much that I'll do it again. I'm indecisive. I wanted to show some perspective to him, I suppose. Maybe I could've done it better, but I did my best. His characterization was always quite difficult for me to grasp.
Carbuncle is a sweetheart and I maybe wrote a bit to chirpy but I love him and I would die for him. He's adorable and I really wanted Leanna to have a moment with him.
I'll do my best to not take as long to write the next chapter, but I do have to let you all know that, I've been having ideas for other fandoms so if I post anything else other than this story, don't worry. I'm still working on this!
Okay, I'm done. It's 5am and I need to go to sleep lmao.
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I'm sorry for the delay! I'll see you all next time!