She felt the hard dirt before she saw it, landing on her back. The impact knocks the air out of her. She turns to her side, gasping and coughing. Her white wedding dress, which she'd picked out so carefully, is stained in soot and dirt. Strands of her hair stick out of her careful coiffure. As her breathing calms, tears rise to her eyes. Noctis … Noctis … She'd lost grip of his hand. And now she's probably lost him forever. Her body heaves in heavy sobs.
"Get up."
That familiar voice alerts the despairing oracle to the indifferent form of Yeul standing on higher ground. This Yeul adjusts her headdress and the veil disappears to lets her long hair cascade down her back. She looks to Luna with slightly impassive eyes that were a little too mature for her age.
"We have to find Lightning."
"Wait, what, what about Noctis?" Luna struggles to stand on what appears to be a riverbank, "I don't understand… Please, Yeul-"
"Tch…" Yeul's hand sparks with energy that fizzles, like a malfunctioning electronic, "The Crux has been damaged … We'll need another way of travel…"
"What's going on, what was that?! Where is Noctis?! We have to-"
"You and that king have let loose a power that should never have been unleashed again!" Luna realizes suddenly that the familiar voice is Etro's, and it comes from within Yeul's body, "Bhunivelze and the Accursed will stop at nothing to destroy the Fabula universe!"
"…What?" This was all incomprehensible gibberish to Luna. She could only stare dumbstruck. She hadn't even bothered wondering where they were now.
"Well howdy!"
The two Oracles (one is now apparently part goddess) turn to see a curly, light grey-haired adolescent girl with blue eyes. She wears an ecru long jacket with a pink ruffled ascot over a black vest and khaki green knee-length pants and high-laced boots. The stranger smiles warmly at the two. Yeul steps forward, not returning the smile.
"Good day. Might I inquire … what is this place?"
"Welcome to Nine Wood Hills. I'm Enna Kros," Despite Yeul-Etro's brisk demeanor, Enna still flashes a disarming smile, "Are you two visiting from another world?"
"Yes, though I'm afraid we've lost our way."
"Well, that won't do. Come on," Enna gestures for them to follow her, "You two look like hell. Better wash up and fill me in."
The girl with an enigmatic aura walks into the nearby town with in flippant pace. Luna looks to Yeul-Etro, who follows. She does not dally in doing the same. They wander into a seemingly deserted town. Enna welcomes them into an empty café, where she seats them around a table.
"Alright, Lann? Reynn?" She produces two cubes that seem translucent containing a sphere within from her coat pocket, "Show our guests hospitality please."
She blows a puff of air over them and they glow briefly before suddenly releasing two adolescents, who fall on the floor in a pile. The boy sits up first, rubbing his head, covered in spiky strawberry blond hair, which he shares with the girl. Luna glimpses their similar faces and concludes them to be twins.
"What the honk, Enna?" The boy, presumably Lann, groans, annoyed, as he obediently fetches a hanging apron and dons it, "You can't just keep summoning us out like this…"
"Yeah…" The girl, Reynn, arches backward in an effort to stretch her aching back, "At least give us a warning! Last time you just threw us out against that Omega God. Talk about unpleasant surprises!"
Enna chuckles as Reynn hurries to the bakery across the street, "Sorry about the ruckus. It's been a while since anyone's really been in town."
"… What was that? A summoning?" Luna cannot help but ask.
Enna chuckles, "Well, yes, you can call it that."
Lann places three cups of coffee on the table. He hurries away to fetch the sugar cubes.
Luna opens her mouth to speak, quickly thanking the boy for the drink and then ignoring it, "Thank you, really but we-"
"Ah, ah, ah," Enna cuts her off with a wag of her finger, "Lann, do you have any hot cloths?"
"We're not a five-star restaurant!" The boy grumbles and brings two wet towels and two dry ones, "What happened to you? Your dress looks ripped … and kinda smokey."
Luna looks at where his eyes lie. A bit of the cloth covering her bosom is singed and blackened, probably from the explosion. She blushes lightly and turns away.
Lann looks at her sideways, bemused, "Huh? What? Was it something I sai-"
Enna conks him on the head with the edge of her left hand.
"OW!"
"Don't be rude, little voyeur Lann," Enna smiles.
"But I just-! What is a voyeur anyway?!"
"Is there …" Luna interjects, a slightly vexed expression on her face, "Sorry but is there something I may change into?"
"Well, none of Reynn's clothes will fit, that's for sure…" Lann gets hit on the head again, "GAH!"
"The water closet is just behind the barista's counter," Enna helpfully points to the location, "I think you'll find something fitting in there."
She looks to Yeul-Etro, "Might you need the same?"
Yeul-Etro looks on silently at her drink.
"Thank you …" Luna bows lightly and makes herself scarce, hurrying into the bathroom. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but that Enna girl's aura felt much like an Astral, if not even greater.
To her immense surprise, there hangs that sparkling silvery dress on the wall in the bathroom. She could scarcely suppress a breath of surprise upon opening the door to see that facing her. It was the same dress she wore witnessing the fall of Insomnia with Nyx Ulric.
She slowly closes the door, gazing and re-familiarizing herself with the article. Noctis had never seen her wear it himself. Slowly, she slides out of her wedding dress. As she takes off the half-skirt, then the main skirt with the twin tail lapels, she notices small grazes on her skin. She hadn't felt any pain from the big fight before Etro's door or upon landing. That just reminded her how muddled and distraught she was amid all this.
Taking a breath, she clasps on the black choker and pulls on the two separate sleeves with silver rings. It felt like new, like the day Maria was primping her for her grand exit from Tenebrae to Lucis after years of being jailed by the Empire. She wasn't exactly excited, but she was so hopeful then. Right now, she wished she had the same courage. She clips on the black band across her waist and shifts her legs a bit in her heels. The dress had been adjusted so it didn't wrap so tightly around her thighs. She exits the bathroom, leaving her wedding dress on the hanger.
Enna looks to her as she returns, "Oh, great. It fits."
Luna nods silently in acknowledgement. Who was this girl? How had she gotten this dress? Luna takes her seat beside Yeul, opposite Enna, on the round table. She looks into her dark drink pensively.
"So!" Enna attempts to engage in conversation, "Again, I'm Enna Kros. Who are you weary travelers between worlds?"
Luna remains silent at first, using the towels provided to wipe some stray dirt off her face. Enna smiles, waiting patiently. Yeul-Etro's eyes remain closed as she sips her drink dark, ignoring the girl.
"I'm Lunafreya Nox Fleuret. Please, call me Luna," She also hastily introduces her reluctant companion, "This is Yeul."
"Nice to meet you, Luna. And Yeul …" Enna looks to the recalcitrant Yeul-Etro and winces from the cold shoulder, "… Not much of a chatterbox huh?"
"Enna, excuse my hurry, but…" Luna ignores the drink offered her, "… Where are we exactly? We were thrown here by a large explosion by the Gates of Etro and …"
"… Slow down," Enna sips her drink casually, eyeing Yeul-Etro flatly, "It sounds like you may have crossed worlds. It can be disorienting, so I'll start from the top: This is Nine Wood Hills, a place removed from time, within the Universe of Fantasy. Following so far?"
"How did we get here?" Luna looks to Yeul-Etro, searching her face for an answer that did not present itself, "I came from the world of Eos. Have you heard of it?"
"Hm … It may be outside my current given territory. This universe, you see, is vast. It's essentially a single point of convergence among trillions of trillions of worlds. Your world may be among the googolplex out there."
"… Your territory?"
"Yes," Yeul-Etro puts down her empty mug suddenly and her eyes flash open. She looks to Enna almost accusingly, "Our host is a god after all."
Enna holds her stare, "Well, I guess you can call me god, since I wrote the rules of this world."
"… Are you an Astral?" Luna asks, gazing at the peculiar girl in front of her incredulously.
"Hm? I'm sorry, I'm not sure what you mean," Lann brings a jar of sugar cubes. Enna speaks as she puts cube after cube into her coffee, "But if those are your deities, you can call me that, in a sense. Different worlds host different gods, after all."
"Might you be able to help us then?" Luna looks to her hopefully, "I have to find Noctis. The Accursed still lives, and…"
"Do you know of Lightning?" Yeul-Etro asks suddenly.
"Lightning?" Lann the barista quips, "She's a Champion here. You need to see her?"
"… I assume you do not mean my Champion…" Yeul-Etro mutters in a low voice.
"Huh?" The boy looks at her, confused. His twin returns with a bag of scones. "Hey, Reynn, they're looking for Lightning."
"Really? Well, that's all the way down to the Low Seas, I think. She lives with Snow or something, right?" The girl sets the bag of pastries down on another table, "We can take them, right, Enna?"
Luna looks hard at Yeul-Etro, trying to keep her voice even, "You haven't given me any reason to think Noctis is alright… And you haven't even told me what or who this 'Lightning' is or how this will help our situation…!"
Enna raises her hand and the room is suddenly instilled with an air of calm.
"… If you wish, Reynn and Lann seem to know of who this person is you seek, though I feel you two may be talking about a different Lightning. But first," She flashes her smile, "You should get comfortable."
"Thank you for your hospitality," Luna starts, "But we shan't…"
"Jrush graffah pathri…" Lann speaks through a mouthful of pastry. He swallows, "They oughta keep you full for the road. Enna, we got a Threshold there, right?"
"Oh yeah, that's just by the other side of the tailor's shop! Let's go! Not a lot of chances to stretch these days …" Reynn looks to the Oracles, "Let's go!"
Enna shoves the whole bag of pastry into Luna's arms and hurriedly ushers them out the door. "Have a nice trip!"
"T-Thank you…"
The white-haired girl watches as the four disappear down the road. She looks to the sky, her expression suddenly neutral.
"Something … bigger than the Cogna looms near the edge of the Googolplex …"
…
"Here we go!"
Luna and Yeul-Etro emerge from the gate to face a small village. Small, chibi-like people amble about in their daily lives. The sun is in the midst of setting, bathing the houses with a warm, orange glow.
"… oh my."
Luna looks down. Her body has shrunk to that of the resident's, with a large head and tiny body. The bag of pastries is now balanced miraculously on her head. Yeul-Etro has changed to a similar form.
"Yeah, don't worry about it," Lann smiles. He and Reynn have taken on these funny looking forms as well. "They're all Lilikin here."
"Lilikin …?" With the day's events jumbling about, Luna was really having trouble keeping up. Yeul-Etro seemed taciturn about it all, like it mattered not.
They walk through the town in their new forms, Reynn and Lann leading.
So it seems other worlds live much like our own, Luna thinks quietly.
"Well, here's the place!"
They stand before a small, simple house. It has two stories and three windows, with the door on the lower right corner of the front face. Yeul-Etro seems very displeased.
"… This isn't Bodhum. There's no way Lightning could be…"
"Reynn? Lann? What're you two doing here?"
Yeul-Etro turns in surprise to that curt voice. Luna looks in the same direction and sees a pink haired chibi, dressed with a white cape and skin-tight black chestpiece. She has an ornate shield on her left arm, and a red sword in her right hand. She looks at the group with stern eyes.
"Lightning! It's been a while!" Reynn smiles, "We bought you guests. They were looking for you."
"Huh?" Lightning looks over the disapproving Yeul-Etro and confused Luna, "Uh, sorry but I don't … Have we met?"
"No," Yeul-Etro's voice is firm, "You are not Lightning. Or at least … not the one we need."
"Wha-? Y'mean there's another Lightning or something?" Lann seems shocked.
"Simply put, yes. She lives outside of this world. Or this universe for that matter, maybe," Yeul-Etro mutters the last part, "The two of us must have crossed into your worlds by mistake through the Crux."
"W-Well, Tama did say something about this world being connected to a Googolplex of other worlds …" Reynn seems to ponder the thought, "We've never left this world though. Enna would have to help with that."
"Aww," Lann sighs, "We're goin' back already?"
Yeul-Etro looks to Lightning, "Tell me, do you know of Pulse? Or Bhunivelze?"
"No, never heard of 'em. Some sort of Cogna?"
Yeul-Etro shakes her head wistfully, "You look like Lightning for the most part. But that is all. We really must be moving."
Luna is a little flustered as they start to leave. She hurriedly bows lightly to Lightning, careful not to drop the pastries and catches up with Yeul-Etro and the others.
"Yeul. Yeul! Uh, Etro!" Luna sighs, exasperated, "Please, tell me what exactly is going on here. Who was that who attacked us before Etro's door? And exactly who is Lightning?!"
"… Bhunivelze was a god, the Creator, who was vanquished once by Lightning, the Savior, and my Champion," Yeul-Etro sounds tired, like she has told of this many a time. Perhaps it was just the Goddess inside, "He has returned, possessed by the Accursed of your world, and he seeks only to conquer and control as he had before, the Divine."
"But … Ardyn was defeated …" Luna could remember the moment clearly, "It was finally over … We were married … and the Astral …"
"You saw yourself. The Astral were no match for Bhunivelze," Yeul-Etro's face turned to slight disgust, "Ardyn was from the same line as Noctis. The same tendency to become demonic lay in him as well."
"But that can't be. Noctis was the Savior. He sacrificed himself to vanquish the Tainted one. King Regis …" Luna is struck by that vision of an omen Regis had written to her about. A demonic Noctis who would kill her… and set Eos afire …
"Perhaps killing the tainted only tainted him in turn. I am not entirely within the circle with those other gods. Either way, when I gazed upon the two of you, I saw the slightest shred of demonic energy that would have toppled everything. And now … it's happened …" Yeul-Etro sounds wistful.
"… And who are you in all this Yeul – I mean, Etro? You and that man were at the gates …"
"Caius Ballad was protector of the Yeuls, who were the Seeresses. They were blessed with my eyes and, simply put, they became the guardians of the dead in the Chaos."
"Seeresses? You mean, like an Oracle?"
"Yes. You can call them that. However, they have fates to die tragically young…" The Goddesses voice trails off, "I myself was the guardian … until I was relieved of my duties in that world."
"You were the patron goddess of Lucis. Etro, the goddess who guides the dead, who made man of her blood …"
"…" The Goddess falls silent, "Bhunivelze is my father. I'm afraid he is my charge now. That is why we must find Lightning. She defeated him once. She can do it again."
Luna falls silence as she digests the information. Unbelievable. In death, she and Noctis may have just condemned their world to destruction by Ardyn once more? Of course, she wasn't going to simply swallow all the supposed Goddess just told her. Nonetheless, she kept quiet.
They return to the small village through the same Threshold they came in. Reynn pushes the door to the bakery open eagerly. The bell hanging in the frame jingles lightly.
"Enna?"
"Oh, welcome back."
Enna sits with another girl at the coffee table. The new stranger has paler white hair than Enna, though it is more straight like Reynn's hair. She's wearing a long, black dress with a hood and thigh-high fishnets with knee high boots. On her head is a small white fox-like creature with a large tail circled by a crown. The two turn to look at the target of Enna's greeting. The girl's grey eyes land on the foreigners.
"Wyn! Tama!" Reynn and Lann run to embrace the two.
"Reynn," Wyn embraces Reynn while Tama and Lann immediately start chatting, "It's good to see you."
"Oh," Reynn notices Wyn's gaze, "They've apparently gotten lost from their own world. That's Luna and Yeul."
"Oh … Pleasure to meet you," Luna nods slightly. Yeul-Etro remains impassive.
"So? What happened?" Enna clears her throat and looks to the twins.
"Oh, well. Lightning had no idea who they were," Lann scratches his head, "Apparently, it was the wrong Lightning."
The fox creature, addressed emphatically as Tama, quips, "Enna! They definitely smell of the-outer worlds! And Yeul - she smells of the-g-"
"Thank you, Tama," Enna cuts off the fox curtly. She looks curiously at Yeul-Etro, who seems not to have heard a single word Tama said, "So … you didn't find what you're looking for."
"Time is of the essence. And we are wasting it here," Yeul says flatly, "We must return to our own world, as soon as possible."
"… Please," Luna adds, a little meekly.
"Hmm, I see."
Enna folds her hands on top of each other, in thought. The twins, Wyn and Tama look to her expectantly.
"The Girl Who Forgot Her Name …" Enna finally murmurs, "We'll have to go see her. And I'll have to use it … The Deus Crystal."
"Wahooo!" Lann exclaims, "You're seriously gonna use it! Now I'm honking excited!"
"Lann!" Reynn elbows his side. She looks to Enna mischievously as her twin cringes, "Sooo, can we come, Enna?"
"Why not?" Enna waves her hand and suddenly the twins have returned to being cubes in her hand. She smiles sweetly, "The more the merrier."
"OH HONKING-"
Enna pockets the cubes. She looks at the two guests who have reverted to their original bodies, "So, shall we be off?"
She looks also to Wyn and Tama, "Tama, I'm afraid we'll need a few lives to conduct this exchange."
"Aww!" The little fox grabs her tail and hugs it close, "Well, as long as it's not all of them …."
Enna smiles mischievously, "Kidding!"
Hauyn smiles as Tama calls Enna a meanie. She looks to Luna and Yeul-Etro, "Where are my manners? I am Hauyn, summoner of the Farnas."
Another summoner? The term was beginning to change in meaning for Luna. Back in Eos, she was considered a summoner, being able to commune with the Astrals and call their presence. But here, she couldn't so much as call her trident, though perhaps that's because it was with Noctis. Enna had used those strange cubes to summon the Twins, but that wasn't anything like calling an Astral.
"This Girl Who Forgot Her Name …"
"Ah, she always has it at the tip of her tongue and loses it. Or so I've heard …" Hauyn smiles reservedly, "There are secrets and mysteries all around her. I've never met her myself, but I've heard she commands the power beyond time and space."
"How interesting …"
"Alright, kiddos," Enna calls to them, "Let's go to the Tearoom."
…
Instead of a Threshold, they stepped through a large white door that seemingly should lead nowhere. However, it actually led them to a dark space, illuminated only in a few places. A little girl in a Lolita dress with gray-white hair in pigtails with two blue butterfly adornments on either side sits alone at a white table. Lying before her are trays and cups and a pot of tea with honey and cream. The other two seats at the table are empty. Luna can't help but notice the gigantic clock to her right.
"Ah!" The Girl jumps at their approach, "It's nice to see you, Enna Kros Alexa-"
"Just Enna," Enna cuts her off, gesturing to the company behind her, "We're in front of some special guests."
"Oh, hello! What a surprise. My name is, um … oh dear …"
"You weren't joking …" Luna whispers to Hauyn on the side. Hauyn only nods silently.
"So you seek a way back home?" The Girl cocks her head to the side, looking at Luna, "Something great lurks in your world, no, your universe. Noctis, your beloved … you want to find him?"
Luna flinches slightly. The Girl seemed to be reading her jumbled mind! The Girl looks to taciturn Yeul-Etro and then to Enna.
"She's like you, Ale- I mean, Enna," She catches herself, "I can't hear her dreams."
"Dreams…?" Luna whispers. Perhaps that's how this girl was invading her thoughts? Yeul-Etro was likely immune due to the divinity factor.
"So! I trust you've been keeping the Deus Crystal in good shape! Hm," From her pockets, Enna produces a handful of glimmering shards, "This looks like about enough Arma Gems."
"I should gather so …" The Girl looks apprehensively at the gems, "This is going to be a rather taxing Intervention, seeing as it's not even an Intervention. We're not just fishing for Champions anymore or just injecting them …"
"Well, always bet on the power of Fantasy…" Enna walks over to the large clock and smiles to the two guests, "So! Let's try, shall we?"
"What …?" Luna looks up to the clock face with unease, "Exactly what do you mean? Is this a portal?"
"I do sense an immense energy from the apparatus," Yeul-Etro's eyes flash, "It's not unlike a Crux."
"Enna has been using the Crystal as the means to observe other worlds for a while now. I believe that much of the things we have here …" Hauyn pauses tastefully, "She 'borrowed' from other worlds she saw sifting through the Crystal."
Enna grins, "Guilty as charged."
"The Crystal is able to enter worlds and universes, even timelines, that may not line up with our own world logically. Laws of Time and Space bend to the whims of Fantasy," The Girl puts her hands together over her chest, "We should be able to permanently eject you from here, back to your world."
Perhaps that's how she seemed to know of this dress, thinks Luna silently.
"May I suggest the coordinates then?" Yeul-Etro asks without really asking permission, more like a command, "Send us to the world where you saw Lightning … Claire Farron."
"Hm, now that's easy said and done. I still remember when I first saw her. I knew at once I wanted her as a Champion."
Enna taps the body of the clock, and the body pops open, revealing a complex machine with crystalline parts. The Arma Gems in Enna's hand glow and pulsate in sync with the Crystal. They fly out of Enna's hand, forming a circular formation in the air, as tall as the clock. Incantations form midair from the shards and open a huge Gate. The portal swirls with blue hues.
"… Once we find Lightning, she will be able to set everything back to normal?" Luna looks to Yeul-Etro, "… And me and Noctis?"
"… If the boy's still alive …" Yeul-Etro looks only into the swirls of the portal, "… He's tainted."
Luna says nothing. Noctis had to be alive. And there was no way he was becoming like the Accursed. They'll find rest together. She's sure of it.
The two step through the glowing portal. Once they disappear, the magic circles and glowing lights and shards are instantly sucked back into the clockwork. The panel slams shut and the clock hands run in all sorts of ways for a few seconds. They finally stop abruptly at the twelve o'clock position and there is silence.
"Tick Tock… Tick Tock …" The Girl turns back to her tea table, "Transaction acknowledged. Overlapping spatial planes for Fabula Universe."
She starts to act as the clock's chime, "Bong … Bong …"
Hauyn and Enna look on as a few blue butterflies, like the ones in The Girl's hair, flutter through the empty space idly.