Without faith, what do you believe in? I wonder…

Their last car ride together was peaceful and enjoyable. They made small talks and recollected some of their fond memories in this car. Before they realized they were already by the Wiz Chocobo outpost.

"This is it," he announced, turning off the ignition.

"For better or worse, this is it," she affirmed, unbuckling her seatbelt.

"Let's go meet Mr. Wiz Chocobo," he stated, getting out of the car.

"Why don't you go ahead? There is something I need to do," she requested, looking slightly distracted.

Leon wondered what it was but decided not to ask. 'She needs to have her space too,' his mind rationalized.

"Okay, fine. Join me at that table when you are done. We will grab something to eat before we venture out for Ramuh," he proposed. She nodded in response.

They had consolidated all their stuff in two bags, which Leon carried with him as he headed for the Chocobo ranch.

Leon handed over the car keys to Wiz and rented two Chocobos.

After taking care of all his chores, he sat at the dining table to look at the menu. "Hmm, this Green Smoothie looks nice. Lightning Resistance +90%, this is perfect for the upcoming battle."

He waited for Luna for 10 minutes or so, but she did not come. Fearing for her safety, he decided to go look for her.

Just a little distance further from the car, he saw Luna sitting on the ground with some sort of book in her hand. He noticed that dogs were back by her side.

'Seriously? Reading a book? Now?' he couldn't help but give a facepalm.

As he approached her, Umbra saw him and pounced on him. "Hey there, I've missed you too buddy," he said, playing with Umbra.

Luna suddenly looked up when she heard his voice. She quickly wiped off her tears with the back of her hand, hoping he won't see it. Unfortunately for her, Leon saw it. He sat in front of her. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes, everything is fine," she replied with a forced smile. However, Leon saw right through her fake smile.

"So why were you crying?" he cut to the chase.

"No, I wasn't," she denied it.

Leon just rolled his eyes, and she knew that he was on to her. Leon saw the book in her hand and it was unlike anything he had seen before, so his curiosity got the best of him. "What is this book?"

Luna closed the book quickly and brought it close to her chest defensively. "It's mine."

Leon was taken aback by her reaction.

"I am sorry," she apologized, realizing her mistake.

"It's okay. You don't have to tell if you don't want," he suggested.

"It's fine. This is the diary I share with Prince Noctis," she spoke softly, slowly extending her hands towards Leon offering him the diary.

'Hell no. I don't want to read a diary between the girl I love and her lover.' A voice yelled in his mind.

Leon gently pushed back to the diary. "No, it is your private diary. I don't want to see it."

Luna nodded and appreciated his sincerity. "I usually send him some pictures and flowers and he sends me stickers. It is silly, I know."

"Everything we do looks silly to someone else," he commented while standing up, and she followed the suit. She tucked the notebook around Umbra's collar and instructed him, "Wait for him here. When he comes here, give it to him." Umbra seemed to understand what she said and ran away in the woods. Pryna too followed Umbra and disappeared behind him.

"I had sent Prince Noctis a message when I left Tenebrae. He had replied saying he couldn't wait to see me," she revealed, as they made their way to their table. Leon looked at her from the corner of her eye and saw how happy she was talking about it.

"Since we are at the cusp of awakening Ramuh, I thought I should leave him another message here," she added.

'Ask her what she wrote,' urged his mind. 'No, that is a stupid idea, DO NOT ask her,' warned his heart.

'Dude, you gotta know everything about your competitor. What's wrong in that?' Argued his mind. 'Stop it. I don't want to know. The more I know the more it hurts,' countered his heart.

Luna noticed that Leon was distracted and was back to his emotionless face. Just to keep the conversation alive, she added, "I wrote to him that my prayers are with him."

'She didn't write that she loves him! That's a win for us. Woo-hoo. Party time!' Screamed his mind. 'Shut up.'

"I left a little leaf symbol too," she mentioned, hoping for some sort of response from Leon.

"Why?"

"It is like a nature stamp. It's our code to let him know that I am okay," she conveyed, taking her seat at the dining table.

"Still doesn't explain why you were crying?" he stated, matter-of-factly with no emotions in his voice, as he took the opposite seat to her.

"It's just that," she paused slightly before continuing. "Some old memories resurfaced, that's all," she whispered, hoping that would be the end of this topic.

Luckily for her, the waiter came just as Leon had opened his mouth to say something. "What can I get ya?" asked the waiter.

"Gysahl Chips and two Green Smoothie please," Leon ordered.

"Good choice, Sir. I'll be right back with your order," said the waiter courteously and left.

Luna gave him a quizzical look for not even asking her what she wanted. Leon understood that look and responded, "I had already checked the menu. Those are only two things we can eat here."

They finished their meal in awkward silence. They seem to have a pattern of swinging between intense closeness and extreme avoidance.

"How do we get to Ramuh from here?" Leon asked, getting up from their table.

"To awaken the Stormsender, we must locate and gather three runestones scattered across Duscae. The first runestone is up north from here across the forest in a canyon."

"All right, let's do this," Leon said, as he pulled out Chocobo whistle from his pocket. Two Chocobos came running to where they were. One Chocobo was white and another was of sky-blue color.

"Oh. My. God. They are so cute," Luna spoke with palpable excitement. Leon couldn't help but smile seeing her child-like enthusiasm.

"Which one is mine?" she asked eagerly.

"Whichever one you like," he replied with a shrug.

"I want the white one. No, wait, I want sky-blue one. Oh, this is so exciting. I get to ride a Chocobo," she gabbed, tightly grabbing Leon's hand.

"Okay, I'll take the white one then," he affirmed. Luna nodded in approval. "Shall we go now?"

"Wait! We haven't named them yet," she said enthusiastically.

"Luna, they are rental Chocobos. Why would we name them?" he argued.

"Why wouldn't we?" she countered as if it was the most obvious thing to do.

"They are rental Chocobos and they probably already have names. We can just ask Wiz," he proposed.

"Leon, they are not just some rental property. They are like our pets. We share a bond with them," she pleaded her case.

"But-" he tried to say something, but she cut him off. "No," she declared without giving any further explanation or rationale. "We are naming them and that's final."

"Fine. Go ahead," he surrendered.

"No, I am going to name my Chocobo and you name yours," she proposed, petting her Chocobo. "Let me think, what should I call her?"

After a few moments her face and her eyes lit up, "I got it. I am going to call her Sant' Angelo di Roma."

"That's a long name," he noted.

"What are you going to name yours?" she asked eagerly.

"I am going to call him Boko."

It was her turn to facepalm now. "That's it? Just Boko?"

"Yeah, back in my world, I had a Chocobo named Boko," he revealed.

"You never said that you owned a Chocobo in your world. All you said that they were rare. There is a lot you need to tell me about your world, mister," she said in a mockingly threatening way, wagging her finger.

"Yes, I will tell you all about it on our way to Ramuh. Now, can we go?" he asked.

"Mhm," she nods.

"Good, I'll go grab our bags."

"I'll feed the Chocobos meanwhile."

Once everything was in place, they were ready to being their journey.

"Here we go," he said, mounting on Boko. "Do you need some help?" he asked, looking back at her.

"No, I got this," she said while mounting on her Sant' Angelo di Roma.

"Let's ride," he declared, adjusting the bridle of his Chocobo. "North from here, through the forest and into the canyon, correct?"

"100%" she affirmed. "Keep up with me rookie," she taunted as she rode ahead of him.

"Trash talking from Luna. Did not see that one coming," he admitted, and followed her.

He quickly caught up with her as they entered the forest.

"You are good at this. Where did you learn how to ride Chocobos?" he asked.

"Ravus and I used to ride Chocobos every day in Tenebrae when we were little," she revealed, recollecting fond memories.

"You talk a lot about Tenebrae. How come you have never taken me there?" he asked.

"Because it is so far away from here. You can only get there by train or an airship. I would love to take you there," she said, looking at him with a smile.

"I would love to see the place where you grew up. Meet all the people there and find out all embracing stories about you," he said with a straight face.

"Hey, not cool," she gave him the look. He just laughed in response. "Now tell me about Chocobos in your world."

"What do you want to know?"

"Everything."

Leon was still giving her history lesson when they had passed through the forest. As they rode along, they noticed the Digythe Haven campground on the other side of the road. After crossing the road, they continued through the woods.

They continued making small talks as they rode towards their destination. Leon couldn't help but wonder how Luna can find so many things to talk about. He was certain that he had spoken more in the past few days with Luna than he had spoken in last one entire year.

As the woods cleared, they could see the canyon now.

"Where do we go now?" he asked, looking around.

"Gentiana said that there should be a large boulder with a path next to it," she stated.

After exploring the area for a few minutes, Leon found the said landmark. They continued down the path through the small canyon until they spotted a large tree-like object being electrified.

"What is that?" he asked, pointing at the tree which seemed to burst with electricity.

"That's our first runestone," she replied with a smile.

They both go off from their Chocobos and carefully approached the lightning tree. "Do you think it is safe to touch it?" he asked, eyeing it carefully runestone.

"For Oracle, it should be," Luna said confidently.

"But what if it's not safe?" he asked concerned.

She grabbed Leon's hand reassuringly, "Leon, I cannot let the fear of 'what if' hold me back. The only thing I am truly afraid of is doing nothing and losing everything."

"The only thing I am afraid of is losing you. Let me try first," he insisted.

"No, this is my calling and I must do it," she replied calmly.

"Fine. I'll be right next to you." He was still reluctant to let go of her hand.

"You always are," she replied with a reassuring smile and then tugged him along, still holding his hand.

With the trident in one hand, she offered a silent prayer to Ramuh and dared to touch the runestone. The electricity started flying all around her, but it faded just before it would touch her. The runestone seems to concentrate all the energy into itself as lightning danced around it and eventually exploded in a brilliant flash. The release of energy caused a thundering roar that could be heard for miles.

"Luna!" screamed Leon.

"I am okay. Just blinded by this lightning," she reported, still covering her eyes.

"Thank God you are okay. I was worried for a second," he stated, placing his hand around her shoulders.

"You worry too much, Leon. No wonder that frown never leaves your face," she said with a smile.

'Silly girl, you are all I have in this world,' his heart confessed. 'Eww, that sounds so cheesy,' retorted his mind.

"Whatever," he said, folding his hand and looking away, which always made her laugh.

They both made their way back to their Chocobos to continue their journey. "Where do we go now?" he inquired.

"The second runestone should be north of Alstor Slough and the nearby Coernix Station," she recollected instructions from Gentiana.

They ventured out of the canyon and followed the dirt road. They could see the lights from Coernix Station from a distance.

"What was that thundering sound at the runestone?" Leon asked riding his Chocobo.

"It must be a sign from Ramuh. He is God of thunder and rain after all," she noted, riding next to him.

"Speaking of that, look there," he pointed at the sky.

"Cumulonimbus clouds," she remarked, looking at the sky.

"Just a few minutes ago, there was not a cloud in the sky, but now there are cumulonimbus clouds everywhere," he observed.

"Yes, this type of cloud is thunderstorm clouds. This must be Ramuh's doing. Interacting with runestone must have caused this reaction."

"The Astrals in your world are a lot more powerful than mine," he admitted, still trying to comprehend how one Astral can change the entire weather with its power.

"How so?" she asked with curiosity.

"Maybe we should discuss this at some other time. Looking at the clouds, it's only a matter of time before thunder starts. Also, the wind has picked up too."

"Yes, let's keep moving," she affirmed.

Once closer to Coernix Station they crossed the road and continued to ride along the northern wall until they came across a chain-link fence.

"Where do we go now?" he asked.

"I think we need to go further west from here," she suggested, navigating her Chocobo in that direction.

Eventually they came across a small opening in another canyon.

They dismounted and made their way inside the opening on foot. Based on their previous experience, they were at ease approaching the tree. Luna touched the second runestone and electricity started emanating from it. Sparks of electricity engulfed Luna, but it did not touch her. It looked as if there was some invisible barrier that kept it from touching her. The intensity of the sparks picked up and reached its crescendo before exploding in a blinding light. The resulting thunder echoed all around.

Once everything was settled, he asked, "You okay?"

She nodded and said, "One finally runestone before the Fulgurian reveals himself. Deep within the heart of rock lies the runestone, the portal to power."

"Location?"

"The third runestone is located in a dungeon called Fociaugh Hollow above the Malacchi hills back to the east of Wiz Chocobo Post."

As they were making their way to their Chocobos, Leon's ears picked up on a familiar sound. His eyes shot up towards the sky and it was as he feared, "Damn, it's the Empire." Empire's airship was coming towards the runestone. Leon noticed that it was hovering at a low altitude, which meant they were ready to deploy soldiers.

Leon grabbed Luna's hand and said just one word, "Run."

Hand in hand, they ran away from the Empire and towards their Chocobos. "What are they doing here?" she complained.

"Probably investigating. Two thundering noises and a sudden shift in temperature would certainly raise some flags," he presumed, while running.

They were barely a few feet away from Chocobos when Leon suddenly stopped in his track, causing Luna, who was running behind him, to bump into him. "What happened?" she asked.

"Do you hear that?" he asked her.

"Damn. Another airship!" she noticed an airship coming towards them from the direction they were running towards.

"Come on, we need to move quickly," he urged, getting on his Chocobo.

Leon quickly assessed their situation. There were airships on either side of them so he had to come up with a new way. "That way," he pointed towards the dense forest. "We will go through the forest; trees should reduce our visibility."

Once Luna was properly seated on her Chocobo he asked, "Ready to ride?" he asked.

"Always," she promptly replied.

They dashed through the forest all the way back to Wiz Chocobo Post. The street lights whizzed past them as they made their way past Killiam Haven towards the mountain slopes. They dismounted from their Chocobos and tried to figure out where to go next.

"Where do we go now?" he asked.

"There should be a cave here somewhere," she said, looking around.

Everything looked ordinary with no cave or any sign of Ramuh in sight.

"Hey, look at the sky," Leon pointed out.

"Nimbostratus clouds," she observed the clouds above. Nimbostratus clouds cover the sky in a dark gray layer. The layer of clouds was thick enough to block out the sun.

"Ramuh is certainly reacting to the runestone," he commented, walking away from her, looking for this mythical cave.

"It looks like the sky is about to tear open and engulf all in a torrent," she predicted, still fixated on the sky.

"Then we'd better find this cave soon. I don't see any entrance around here," he stated, inspecting the area.

"I guess prayer is the only remedy now," having said that, she closed her eyes and communicated to the Astral being.

'Oh, the wise Fulgurian, I entreat you to grant me an audience with thee. I, Lunafreya Nox Fleuret, the blood of the Oracle, aspire to assist the chosen King to restore light to this world. Without your blessings, such aspirations are but a fickle dream. Aid me, oh the merciful one.'

Her prayers were immediately answered with a crackling lightning bolt splitting the earth.

"And thus, Ramuh revealed the Fociaugh Hollow to have an audience with him," she said with a smile looking at bewildered Leon, who was only a few feet away from where the lightning struck.

"So, Gods do hear your prayers."

"Not just mine, everyone's prayers heard equally," she assured, making her way towards Leon.

"Then how come some prayers are answered and some don't?" Leon asked the Oracle, giving her hand so she could climb on the ledge he was standing at.

She grabbed Leon's hand and pulled herself forward. "All the prayers are heard, but only prayers meant for uplifting our souls are answered. Let me ask you this, if a small child wants to touch the fire, do you think parents would allow that?"

"No, the fire will burn the child."

"What if the child cries and throws a tantrum to touch the fire?"

"Parents still won't allow it. A small child might not know the dangers of the fire, but parents do."

"Similarly, our desires are like that fire. If our desires can be detrimental to our soul in a long run, then the gods would not answer those prayers. Like a good parent, they will protect us from that fire, even if we cry or throw a tantrum." She narrated as they made their way towards the entrance.

"Why do gods get to decide what's good for me and what's not?" Leon suddenly realized that their backpacks were still on their Chocobos. He jumped off the ledge and made his way to Chocobos.

"We humans can be very short-sighted. We can only see what's in front of us. We can't see the butterfly effect of our actions in the future. Gods can see past, present and future. Hence, they are best equipped to judge which wish to fulfill and which to avoid. We can pray and let our desires be known, and then trust God to fulfill it or not as they please. To trust that every situation God puts me through is for my own benefit; that is all faith is about." She explained while Leon retrieved their backpacks from Chocobos.

Leon often forgets that the girl he is speaking to is the spiritual leader of the whole Eos. "It's hard to keep faith when your prayers don't get answered."

"Any prayer done with pure hearts or intent is always answered. In my travels, I have learned that often our prayers are selfish, materialistic, or for a quick fix solution to our struggles. But it is in our struggles that we grow the most, but ironically, it is that struggle which we want to avoid the most."

"What's the point of praying if we are going to struggle anyway?" It just dawned to Leon that this is perhaps the first time she has spoken to him like an Oracle rather than Luna.

"Gods have mysterious ways of working. Our prayers are often answered, just not in the way we desire. A wise man one said that if you pray for patience, then God does not zap them with patience, but instead put them in a situation which requires them cultivate patience. If one prays for courage, then they are presented with an opportunity to be courageous. If one prays for closeness with the family, then God does not zap them with warm fuzzy feelings; Instead, the God give them opportunities to cultivate that bond. In looking for instant miracles, we often miss these opportunities presented to us. Unfortunately, it's the lack of this understanding which turns people away from the God." They were already by the entrance while chatting.

"Ready?" he asked, looking at her. She nodded in response.

They ventured into the pitch-dark cave, thankfully their flashlights lit up illuminating the way further. It took a few seconds for their eyes to adjust in this ambience.

"Let's walk slowly. We don't know what danger lurks here," he offered, leading the way.

Leon was careful with every step he took. His eyes constantly scanning the surroundings for any threat. They walked through a long straight corridor before coming to a more open area.

"It feels odd that we haven't encountered any enemies so far. Perhaps it's Ramuh's doing?" he asked, but got no response from Luna. He quickly glanced at her, but she did not make an eye contact. He decided not to probe it further and rather focus on the task at hand, so he continued further.

As they went deeper into the first chamber of the cave, suddenly they were greeted by a colony of bats. The horde of bats flew over them as they instinctively ducked.

"First rule of exploring caves, stay in the center and avoid corners," he said.

Walking further eventually, they came to a dead end. "Dead end so soon? I thought this cave went deep. There has to be a way around." Yet again, he elicited no response from Luna.

He touched the wall of the cave and the stone was solid and cold. Looking at the condition of the cave, he figured it must have been years since humans set foot in here. Even in his time at Hunter's there was no knowledge of this cave's existence. He looked around for an alternative path and eventually saw a narrow passage in the rock wall.

"I think we should be able to slip through this gap," he suggested, looking at Luna who did not respond.

"Are you okay?"

"Mhm"

"Okay then, follow me," he offered, and made his way through the narrow gap. The opening was so small that they had to go in sideways and move like that until they came out on the other side.

"Wait. Do you hear that?" Leon asked. Before Luna could reply, several Imps ambushed them. As Leon fought with the Imps, more joined the party. One of the Imps managed to attack Leon from the back and poison him.

Leon quickly glanced at Luna, who was supposed to be watching his back. She stood there motionless. "Luna, heal me," he yelled, but she seemed frozen.

Creating some distance from the Imps, he quickly used the antidote and continued the fight. An Imp was about to attack Luna but was slashed in half by a mighty strike form Leon. He cleared out all Imps and checked on Luna. "Luna, are you okay?"

"Mhm"

"You sure?"

"Mhm"

Leon facepalmed before speaking again, "What is going on? Ever since we entered the cave, you haven't spoken a word."

"I-I am-m scared of d-dark and c-close spaces," she confessed. "I am sorry I wasn't able to help in the battle."

"It's all right. You should have said something sooner."

"I didn't want to be a burden on you. I thought I would be able to brave it, but I was wrong."

"Didn't you tell me once that relying on others is not a sign of weakness, but it's a sign of trust?"

"I am sorry."

"It's all right. Just stay close to me." Without waiting another second, she grabbed onto Leon's hand as they moved forward.

'I think it might be a good idea to have a conversation with her. It would help take her mind off from her fears. But what can I talk about?'

"I wonder how come we have more Astrals in my realm than here," he asked as they walked further into the cave.

"What do you mean?"

"We have 24 Astrals in our realm. 16 of them, we can summon directly. Six of them appear randomly during battles or are summoned with items. Two of them I have only encountered in possession of sorceresses."

"24 Astrals!" The tone in her voice indicated that this was a subject she enjoyed discussing very much.

"But I think Astrals here are a lot more powerful. They can cause quakes or cause thunder and rain. Hell, they can even wipe out the whole town from the face of the map if they choose. At least the Astrals in my realm had no such power."

"Then what kind of power do they wield there?"

"We mainly summon them in battle, but the execution of their power is limited to the foe."

"Astrals with such limited power. There has to be more than that."

"Perhaps. Astrals here are part of people's lives and cultural lore. Their actions can affect people's lives directly, which I find fascinating."

"So, in your realm, Astrals are nothing more than tools of war?"

"Yes."

"That is sad. Astrals are beings with will and intelligence beyond human wisdom. I wonder how they must feel to be just a tool for war."

"I don't know."

"What about messengers? Do they not convey the will of gods to you?"

"As far as I can tell there are no messengers in our realm. At least not in the sense you guys have it here."

"Then who conveys Gods will to the people?"

"No one. Now that I think about it, we don't even worship any gods."

"I find that very disheartening. I take it that you don't have any Oracles either?"

"Yes, we don't have any Oracles in our world. We have sorceresses, though. They are the only ones who can wield magic naturally."

"So, in your world, I would be a sorceress?"

"Yes. However, a sorceress in our world is often frowned upon and people are scared of them."

"So, if where to come to your world, I'll be a sorceress. An enemy of the world."

"Even if you end up as the world's enemy, I'll... I'll be your knight," Leon said.

"That is very sweet of you," she said. Thankfully, it was dark, so no one could she her blush.

"Strange," he said, seeming lost in thought. "I feel like I have said these exact words before."

Author's Notes:

This was one of the harder chapters to write as Luna is a spiritual leader of Eos, so I wanted to highlight that side of her in this chapter. I had to read up a lot of theology for this chapter.

I am posting this chapter on 12/22/2019 - so Happy Holidays everyone :)

Please leave a comment if you have enjoyed the story so far. Would love to chat with some of my readers. Or at least say 'Hi' so I know someone is readying this. Thanks :)