I do not own Final Fantasy XV or any of the characters.
Rescue
Nyx held out the hair pin. It was the same Crowe had originally meant to give to her, one that had a new tracking device installed.
"She meant to give you this," Nyx said.
"For me?" Lunafreya asked.
"Keep it, "Nyx said. "She would want you to have it."
"I will keep it with me always," she said.
Nyx nodded, returning to staring straight across the area they were in, once again ignoring the fireworks as he kept his attention focused on Crowe, Niflheim's emperor, King Regis, and Drautos, who they still were not allowed to make a move against. Lunafreya understood that the conversation was over, though on respectful terms, and turned, walking away. Crowe was assigned to watching her and Drautos more than anyone else, so he wasn't worried that he couldn't see her. The rest of the party passed slowly. Tensions were understandably high and pleasantries were strained, but things remained peaceful, if nothing else. Finally, it was time to call it a night. Nyx and Crow escorted Lunafreya home, then took up post outside her door. After a few hours, King Regis finally arrived, Nyx and Crowe both bowing.
"No need for all of that," Regis smiled. "How is she?"
"Sleeping, I think," Nyx said.
"Good," Regis nodded. "Take turns guarding the door. One of you may rest in the room down the hall to your right, second door to the right."
"Thank you your majesty," Crowe said.
Regis nodded and Nyx gestured for Crowe to go and rest. She nodded and did so without complaint. After several hours of silence, Nyx walked down the hallway, keeping the door to Lunafreya's room in sight, and knocked on the door Crowe was sleeping in. After a moment, she opened it, stepping out as she pulled her mask down and took his place in front of Lunafreya's door. Nyx lay down on the bed and passed out instantly. What felt like seconds later, Crowe was shaking him awake.
"She's gone!" Crowe said urgently but quietly.
"What!?" Nyx gasped, jumping up and sprinting to Lunafreya's room, looking around. The balcony doors were open, but there was no way anyone could get there without climbing the wall of the castle for several hundred feet. He turned to Crowe.
"What happened?" Nyx asked.
"It was time for her to leave for the signing of the treaty, but when I went to make sure she was awake, she was just gone," Crowe said.
"We have to tell the king," Nyx said, both of them sprinting through the castle toward the throne room.
As they ran, Nyx checked his watch, which had a built-in receiver for the tracking device in Lunafreya's hair pin. Sure enough, the coordinates were outside the city. Nyx called another Glaive, the one that usually was in charge of recon, and had him scan the coordinates. After a minute, the Glaive reported having found an entire imperial fleet waiting there, twenty miles south of the city. Nyx and Crowe sprinted faster, bursting into the throne room and dropping into split-second bows before Nyx stood, stepping up beside the king.
"Princess Lunafreya was kidnapped from her room," Nyx whispered. "No one went in the front door, so we aren't sure how they captured her. We sensed no magic being used inside the room. However, we know where she is. She's twenty miles south of Insomnia, along with an entire fleet of warships."
Regis remained silent for a moment before nodded, turning to his advisor. "Have guards posted outside the treaty room."
"That'll be seen as a lack of faith in the treaty," the advisor warned.
"Which we all harbor," Regis said. "Have it done. We may well have to take Emperor Aldercapt captive."
"But that would go beyond another declaration of war!" the advisor gasped.
"We're still at war," Regis said. "Just do it. And you, Nyx Ulric, how soon can the Kingsglaive deploy?"
"Oh you word, your majesty," Nyx said. "At once."
"Then do it," Regis said. "Save her."
Nyx nodded and he and Crowe sprinted out of the room, calling the Glaive Nyx had been speaking with earlier and telling him to prep the Glaives for deployment. As soon as they arrived, Nyx and Crowe began to strap on their armor, quickly filling the Glaives in on the situation.
"What if it's just a distraction?" one of them asked.
"Not likely," Nyx said. "The Tenebrae princess is there."
The Glaives finished grabbing their gear and Nyx stepped up in front of them, looking around carefully, happy he didn't see Luche.
"We've got two jobs," Nyx said. "Save her, and stop those Nif ships from flying on Insomnia."
"We go in teams," the smartest of the group of Glaives present said. "Standard infiltrate and extract. Nyx, you command. We'll follow."
"Okay," Nyx nodded. "Now, the most important thing about this mission. It is completely top secret. No one, in any form, is allowed to tell Captain Drautos about this mission. Also, if you see Luche Lazarus, kill him."
Murmurs of confusion spread through the crowd quickly. Before Nyx could explain, Crowe stepped forward, lifting her shirt enough to reveal her bandages.
"Luche Lazarus is a traitor," Crowe said. "When I was sent on a mission to Tenebrae by the king, Luche Lazarus shot me in the back and left me for dead. If you see him, kill him. Because he will happily kill you."
The murmurs remained silent and Nyx nodded.
"Move out!" Nyx commanded, the Glaives springing into action instantly.
Nyx stared down at the ships in silence. Six. All identical. The Glaives moved in, deploying to the ships in teams of three, one team per ship. However, just as the second team was moving to deploy, the ships began to take off. Nyx signaled for all of the teams to deploy and waited, being the last to move. he hurled his blade after his chosen ship, barely making it after his fourth teleportation. Crowe knelt beside him, helping him up and he sighed, looking to their other teammate, Pelna, the Glaive that had discovered the airships.
"You okay?" Nyx asked.
Pelna nodded. Crowe helped Nyx stand and kissed him, holding it for several seconds before pulling back.
"For luck," Crowe said.
Nyx smiled and nodded, kissing her again before turning his communicator on. "All Glaives, clear your ships first. Finding the princess is the main priority. Once you've cleared them, take them out of the sky. Engage enemies as a last resort, but do not hesitate if it's necessary."
Several of the others rogered up before Nyx and the others quickly slipped into their ship, splitting up. "Nyx reporting in. Six ships confirmed heading for Insomnia."
"Nyx," Pelna's voice said. "This doesn't feel like a war fleet."
"You're right," Nyx said. "Keep searching. And whoever said this might be a diversion, I'll give you twenty gil if you turn out to be right and we survive this."
Nyx stopped as he found the ship's engine room. It wouldn't be hard to take it down. One well-placed lightning spell would do it.
"I think I might have found her," Pelna said. "I've got a guarded door here. Two Nif troops. What's the play here?"
"You're clear to engage, but keep it quiet and confined," Nyx said. "Be careful. Crowe, what's your status?"
"Nearing the bridge," Crowe said.
"Roger," Nyx said. "I'm in the engine room. Three troops. Standing by to take this thing down. Pelna, watch yourself. I doubt they'd have the princess guarded by only two Nifs."
"Roger," Pelna said, going silent for several seconds. "Target confirmed. She's unharmed."
"Good job," Nyx said. "Now get her out, Pelna. Quickly."
Nyx climbed higher int he engine room, onto several pipes above the machinery.
"Things are about to get ugly in here," Pelna warned.
"Get out of there Pelna, it's a trap!" Nyx warned, launching a ball of lightning into the machinery, blasting it to bits before teleporting to a doorway on an observation level above him, sprinting through the hallway. He sprinted as fast as he could toward Pelna's location, but just as he skidded around a corner, Pelna was grabbed by a massive black tentacle. Before it could do much, however, Crowe appeared, slashing the tentacle and making it drop him, then hurling her blade, teleporting with Pelna and the princess both to Nyx's side, all three Glaives blasting the tentacle with lightning, lightning arcing along its body, a painfully loud shriek of pain echoing through the halls. Nyx grabbed Lunafreya's hand and turned, running through the hallways, Pelna and Crowe following.
"Thanks for the save Crowe," Pelna said.
"Yeah," Crowe nodded, wincing, holding a hand to her gut. "No problem."
"Is it open?" Nyx asked.
"Not really," Crowe said. "Maybe a little, but mostly teleporting just makes it hurt."
Nyx nodded just as the ship shuddered hard, pitching to the side. Nyx swore. He had thought they'd have longer. They continued running, the ship righting itself slowly.
"Who brought you here?" Nyx asked.
"General Glauca," Lunafreya said. "He just appeared on my balcony and grabbed me, then jumped off of the balcony. I fainted before we landed."
"You were bait," Nyx said. "Us coming here was all part of Niflheim's plan." He turned on his communicator. "All Glaives, destroy the ship if you can, but get back to Insomnia! It's under attack!"
No one responded, but just after he had said this, a massive black tentacle exploded up from the ground behind them all, Nyx jumping and spinning sending a fireball blasting into it and making it retract. Then, they were all thrown into the wall as another of the ships engines exploded and it crashed into theirs, blasting the hull wide open, both beginning to fall. Nyx grabbed Crow and Luna, wrapping his left arm around both, both clinging to him, then began to hurl his knife, teleporting to it each time, Pelna following. They crashed down on a third, undamaged ship, and Pelna began to gasp for air. Just as they did, several Glaives ran out, one of them being Tredd, a skilled fighter with red hair who had been displeased with the treaty as well, though not as much as Luche.
"What's going on?" One of the Glaives asked.
Just as he did, another stabbed him in the side and Tredd slit his throat.
"No!" Crowe shouted. "You traitors!"
"Very observant," Tredd smirked, twirling one of his blades. "Alright. Time to die."
Before either traitor could do anything, a ship crashed into the tail end of theirs, knocking both traitors to the ground, Nyx's group already being there. Nyx stood just as a massive tentacle broke out of the top of the ship, grabbing Tredd's accomplice before another grabbed Lunafreya. Nyx grabbed for Lunafreya's arm but she was yanked away from him before he could catch her.
"Another one?" Pelna shouted.
"Pelna, Crowe, get to the ground and head for Insomnia," Nyx said.
Then, he grabbed Tredd, leaping into the hole after Lunafreya. As they fell, Tredd pulled back his arm to stab Nyx, only for his arm to hit the edge of the hole, breaking. Nyx shoved Tredd instantly and a broken piece of metal speared him up through the chest instantly, stopping his fall as Nyx turned, staring down at the massive cargo hold of the ship where a gigantic black creature that looked like a ball with a mouth full of sharp teeth but with several tentacles extended out of it was sitting. Nyx hurled a knife, teleporting to it in time to land on a platform over the creature, watching as several Glaives leapt at it from around the room, only to be batted aside by its tentacles. He hurled his knife, stabbing it into the tentacle holding Lunafreya and teleported to it, instantly hurling a fireball at the monster before grabbing Lunafreya's hand and hurling his knife away. He hurled another fireball before teleporting, catching the edge of a platform and swinging Lunafreya up onto it. The fireballs exploded against the creature's body, the creature roaring in agony as they did.
Nyx lifted Lunafreya up onto the platform, climbing up after her just as a Niflheim troop transport, a blocky ship with doors on the side that opened like draw-bridges. The side closest to them opened and Pelna poked his head into view, beckoning. Nyx grabbed Lunafreya, hurling a knife and teleporting to it. The monster grabbed the transport, trying to pull it in, so Nyx hurled a fireball into it, making it release them again as Crowe, who was the one flying, flew the transport away from the ship. However, before they could get far, the creature leapt out, latching onto the ship, making them begin to fall. Nyx set a hand on Crowe's shoulder and she jumped into the copilot's seat, Nyx taking the controls. He steered toward a tower with an antenna on the top. The ship scraped on the antenna, but the creature was impaled on it, screaming in pain. Nyx pulled up, hard, leveling out just as the ship they had just left exploded into the tower. Above them, the last two ships also crashed into each other, both exploding in midair.
"You have to take me back to King Regis!" Lunafreya said.
"For what!?" Nyx asked. "Are you insane!? Insomnia's a war zone!"
"I have a duty that I must fulfill," Lunafreya said.
"I can't believe this," Nyx growled. "You better pray this rig makes the trip!"
Debris from the exploding ships began to fall around them exploding into the city below them, several scraping against the sides of the ship. The right side was completely ripped off and Nyx shouted, yanking the controls away from the debris. Finally, they were nearing the castle.
"You're going to fast, you need to land," Lunafreya said.
"Yup, you're going to have to give me a minute on that one," Nyx said.
"There's no time," Lunafreya said. "I'll do it myself."
"How are you going to do that?" Nyx asked. "You got wings under that dress? You'll need a miracle. You can't do magic."
"Not all miracles are made by magic," Lunafreya said. "I don't fear death. What I fear is doing nothing."
Then, she leapt out of the transport as they were passing a balcony. Except, that they were moving way too fast for her to hit the platform. Nyx swore, hurling a knife and teleporting to Lunafreya, catching her and landing in a roll on the balcony a second before Pelna and Crowe both teleported to it.
"You can thank magic for that one Princess," Nyx said, standing and helping her up. "Let's go."
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