Thanks again to darkpaladin89 for their many reviews of this fic. Now the babies have shown abilities odd for the Lucis Caelums, what else could happen?

-miano53

Chronicles 19: Explanations

Standing in front of her kids in the Citadel's throne room, an older Lunafreya yelled, "Leave my children alone!"

She saw the invaders, a pale-skinned, silver-haired man dressed in tattered regal clothing of black with bits of silver along with his retinue of black-clad warriors. If she didn't know better, she would've thought they were Lucian. And if she was lost in grieving, she would've thought that the man…or being before them was her deceased husband. The imposter glared, red eyes glowing with terrible fury, and said, "You would give up your life for cheap sentiment?!"

The dowager Queen nodded, telling him, "Yes. I would. They're my children and I will not let you or those imposters harm them!"

A sad expression on his face and he asked, "'Imposter'? Is that what you think of me…Luna?"

"How do you know my name?" Lunafreya asked.

"I know everything because I am…"

October 2nd, 769…

Lunafreya opened her eyes, dozing off after feeding the triplets. It was bedtime in the royal chambers, with Noctis knocked out in the bed, exhausted again after finalizing the summit with the northern and aerial island nations. The parents had taken a few days off, wanting to rest and be with their babies. Speaking of which, the babies were quiet, full off milk and the Caem carrot-Tenebrae apple mixture Roni made for their lunch. She went to their cribs, seeing them snoring quietly.

Ventus had his pacifier in his mouth, eyes closed and looking at peace. Regina held onto her favorite chocobo plushie, gripping the neck tightly. Aurelius simply had his little blue cover with images of stars and planets on them, as he seemed to be interested in the moon and stars. Smiling, and hoping that the recent nightmares wouldn't come true, Lunafreya sang in the Tenebraen dialect a small prayer for her children.

Regina started kicking in her sleep and Ventus hiccupped but remained asleep. Aurel was just as motionless as ever, like his father in the other room. Luna rubbed the pair's bellies and said, "I hope that the nightmares I've had since waking from that coma would never come true."

Aurel coughed a bit, finally turning on his stomach. Remembering that he could potentially suffocate in that position, Lunafreya repositioned him and sang again. It was an old Oracle prayer, one from Aera Mirus Fleuret. It was a prayer of hope for the world and for darkness to never overtake the planet.

She eventually picked the sleeping Crown Prince up, whispering, "If my visions are right, a terrible storm is coming…"

Hugging him and kissing his forehead, the Oracle-Queen suddenly had another vision, seeing a destroyed Citadel, surrounded by monsters and flames. The monsters were like the daemons, but…something was off. Most of them were humanoid and looked like a horrible amalgamation of humans and various animals. Three of them had been surrounded by them…one of them looking oddly familiar in her red and black Crownsguard-like attire. They summoned weapons to their hands, just like any Lucis Caelums and their retainers. But the blonde of the trio wielded his weapon, a machete-like sword, backhanded. The raven-haired one in glasses had a spear that looked like the Oracle's and the lone female had summoned a spiked ring blade that floated at her side.

The monsters seemed to wait for a command and the man in glasses asked, "Why aren't they attacking us?"

The creatures turned their attention from them to her and Luna gripped Aurelius tightly to her chest. The trio was confused, as they didn't see Lunafreya. But the monsters did.

The first one, an Arachne, leaped into the air and Lunafreya fell onto her backside, screaming as she was unarmed and holding one of the babies.

"Luna! Luna! LUNA! Wake up!"

Noctis shook her awake and Luna found that she had fallen asleep in between Aurel and Regina's cribs. Her vision was quite vivid this time, as if she had returned to that fallen world. Shaking and shuddering, Lunafreya asked, "N-Noctis…? Am I…?"

"You're here. You're home. At the Citadel…" Noctis said, embracing her.

He helped her back to bed and Luna trembled. Noctis sat next to her and the two said nothing for several minutes. Luna debated on whether to tell him what she had seen, as it was a similar vivid vision like the one that put her in a coma. A hand on hers and she saw her husband looking worried.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

Luna continued to debate, wondering if it would change anything. The woman she had met in that hellish world…she gave her the crystal shard, one that had appeared in the Ring of the Lucii. The original crystal shard detached when Ardyn elected to do his original duty, and he used its power to channel the light, purging himself and gaining enough power to destroy the Scourge. After his and the other Lucii's sacrifice, the shard became dust and Noctis only wore the ring as a memento. Until the shard that was given to Luna in the vision appeared.

Just before she decided to tell him, Noctis said, "I already know."

"What?" Luna asked.

"I already know that you put in another shard in the ring. And ever since, I've been having odd dreams too. One where someone that looks like Roni, fighting me in the throne room…And another with this old man, looking like something straight out of vampyr movies," Noctis told her.

He added that his third dream was of twins, one very quiet, but cunning and the other quite sadistic, taking pleasure in fighting Gladio, Ignis, and Prompto. The trio in that dream helped Noctis defend the Crystal as best they could, but it always ended the same. It ended with their losing the crystal and everything going black.

Luna pressed her lips together, not willing to reveal her dream. Noctis kept quiet, almost as if he knew that she was going to spill the beans. After several moments, she did, muttering, "I…I thought it was all just a dream."

She then told him everything that happened when she fell into a coma. She told him of meeting the woman that helped her back and gave her that crystal shard. She also told him of the hellish landscape Eos turned into, a burning one covered in darkness thicker than the Starscourge and patrolled by many Cerberi, the three-headed beasts the Scourge summoned after being separated from Ardyn. Her escort led her through the ruined Insomnia, telling her about the one who destroyed it, a Goddess of Death and her weapon, the Chaos Dragon whose name was a curse to say and her escort wouldn't tell her.

When they arrived in the Citadel's crystal chamber, the woman gave Lunafreya the crystal shard and told her to run as the darkness had reached the doors. She headed for the crystal, seeing the darkness filling the chamber and the woman attempting to fight it with fire. The light of the shard blinded her and Lunafreya woke up in that hospital bed, still holding onto the shard. When Noctis asked for her savior's name, Luna couldn't remember if she ever told her.

"WAAH!"

The familiar sound of Regina crying filled the room and Luna was somewhat grateful that they could get off that subject and back to reality. The two returned to the children's room, seeing Regina standing up in the crib, grinning as she was successful in getting her parents to come. Hopping up and down, she babbled, trying to play.

"I'm too tired…" Noctis whined, grabbing her.

The baby girl didn't care, her demeanor demanding for her father to play. The man groaned, muttering, "Why did we ever have kids…?"

"Well, we can't take them back, can we?" Luna told him.

Noctis sighed and the other two woke up, wanting to play as well. Wondering if they had a complete disregard for a human's need for rest or if they simply wanted to join in, Luna picked up the boys, asking, "So, sleep deprivation is a foreign concept for you three?"

And it's revealed, somewhat, on what happened to Lunafreya during her time comatose. And now Noct's been getting strange dreams as well. But, what do they mean? Should they brace for the worse? And will they ever get a full night's rest with three babies that have no concept of time? Stay tuned!