{The song of a blade, the orchestra of a thousand.}
Fast. Fast. Faster. The muffled sound of the engine roaring underneath her wasn't enough to quieten her thoughts. There were too many swelling inside her mind with what ifs. What if she stopped Captain Glauca? What if she was guarding the Crystal? What if she was on the decoy ships? What if she wore the Ring of the Lucii? What if she wasn't in the Kingsglaive at all? Her grip tightened on the handlebars. No, no, not now. The thoughts were poisoning her confidence and she bared her teeth in an effort to drain them out with the engine.
"Damn," Reveria cursed underneath her breath as she smoothly tilted her bike in the road's long bend, the distant glow of warm lighting greeting her at the horizon. Lestallum, the warmest city in Cleigne and a refreshing retreat for those who want to expand their culinary palette. Where her and Cor would meet up to avoid any suspicion and where she eventually bought a place considering she felt better in warmer climates. As of right now, however, she was out of elixirs and her healing spell was slowly becoming undone, faint numbing pain reverberating in her ribcage.
Just as her bike straightened out and the bridge leading to the town was incoming, a flare caught her vision in her side mirror but before she could do so much as glance behind her a blast threw her off-course. She yelped as she tumbled onto the concrete, bouncing a few times and finally coming to a painful halt on her side, and her mangled bike skidded just behind her. She clutched her ribs, the trauma enough to set her chest on fire and she struggled to pull herself off the floor and whip the helmet off her head. That's when she saw them, pouring from the metal underbelly of the airship. She inhaled.
They...they followed her. Niflheim actually followed her.
"Ragnarok," her voice trembled but the Void answered nonetheless and her weapon materialised in front of her in a shimmer of glassy red, his back facing towards her; her shield, her protector. Reveria staggered, overbalanced and fell back, "Please, I...I can't…"
"You should have called me out in Insomnia."
"And...take you away from Noctis?" She clambered to her bike and used it as support to push herself upright, "He would―know you're missing. You're sentient and pulsing with Lucian magic. I need your help."
He peered behind him, "Assist?"
"I don't have much."
"One will do."
Reveria panted and managed to outstretch her arm, the air sizzling with foreign arcana as an oversized sigil blinked underneath Ragnarok and slowly rotated in awakening. She spoke, "Equaliser." The sigil pulsed a shimmery gold and his crimson gaze met her own and in an eyeblink he was warp striking a magitek assassin, his impact letting out a shockwave that threw back the rest of the troopers. She could only marvel for a moment as pain rushed back into her system and she doubled over her toppled bike, mouth open to flush out her silent screams, but she needed to move away from here.
Away from this.
Her attention was pulled to the opposite end of the tunnel, the exit she couldn't see but an exit closer if she started moving. Pushing the pain to the back of her mind she stumbled away from the fight, eventually breaking into a hobbling sprint but reducing back into a stumble. She wasn't moving fast enough and a bullet from an imperial sniper floored her in one shot, straight through her shoulder and her yelp echoed through the tunnel, reaching Ragnarok's ears.
She felt him stop. "No," she ordered him through angered tears, "Keep them away from here! They cannot find out that he's anywhere near here!"
But Reveria―
"Please!" It took all of her strength to pull herself back onto her feet, her Kingsglaive uniform completely shredded and weak hands protecting her injuries. So close to Lestallum. So...so close. Roughly wiping her tears away with a leather sleeve she gradually continued on her way, her new wound gravely minimising her movement and making it harder to move altogether.
Reveria, my body. It can't keep up.
"Equaliser: Void. Steel."
You don't have to―
"Not for me. For Noctis. That's an order! I don't care if my body fails me! My mission is your mission! You better not forget that!"
...as you wish. Thank you.
The street lights flooded into her vision and she let out an audible sound of relief, so close. Finally so close to the city. The agony that wracked throughout her body was starting to catch up with her and her pace became sluggish, her feet dragging against the asphalt with the intent of getting somewhere safe with a stash of elixirs in hand. Where in the hell was Cor when you needed him? He would've been helpful and―in the distance, a silhouette. Tall as it was wide, rushing towards her with a hand hovering over their shoulder.
That technique. Common in many eyes, unique in hers.
"Gladio…!" His name tumbled out of Reveria's mouth in a flurry of thankful joy as the last of her strength was used to launch herself at the Shield, who read her movements and caught her in one fell swoop and called for his actual shield to protect the two of them as he knelt down. "Gladio. Thank the Six...oh Six―"
"I gotcha. Let's get you outta here."
"Please." He peered behind him in case there were the rare soldier still aiming to take her out and darted from his place, protectively cradling Reveria as he jogged to the end of the tunnel. The Void mumbled and she spoke of her weapon, Ragnarok fizzing beside Gladiolus with his aura still burning out of overexertion. He mixed Lucian magic with her own and the consequence was taxing to his vessel. Taxing to her. "Ragnarok…"
"I'll be okay," he smiled at her despite the pain she could feel from the Void. "Your safety is prio…" His words drained of sound once it reached her ears and the Void heard her panicking heartbeat. It listened and her body relaxed against Gladiolus.
Floating.
In a broken sea of time, there she was. Floating in a void, a black hole, seemingly trapped in a dream she cannot leave. Adorned her body was a white, lacy jumpsuit with a train that wrapped itself around her waist and legs. Shards of glass were scattered around her, shards of the memories she couldn't recall and the memories that haunted her fragile mind. The figures that also floated with her were her allies, her friends that stood by her side. Noctis. Gladio. Ignis. Prompto. Ragnarok. All dressed in dapper suits with dark ribbons that stopped heavenly light from reaching their knowing eyes.
Her peaceful face twitched in remembrance, a face flashing for just a second, and that second alone summoned devastating arcana that burned black and a fearsome light to ignite in her tampered soul.
A mission. She had a mission. She has a mission. Yet here she was, floating in chronostasis. It was just a matter of leaving this void, leaving her slumber to start her campaign. She would have to start slowly, the vessel she was provided was a tricky one to master, so her eyes slowly opened to gaze blankly at the shimmering nothingness that surrounded her. It was glazed over with a fuzzy film, the absence of life rotting her pupils to the core, and her eyelids fluttered momentarily to wake them up. She took in a deep, calming breath and lazily stretched out her hand, her palms glowing red.
Wake up.
Reveria's eyes shot open, her vision slowly focusing on the yellowish ceiling of one of the Leville suites and exhaled slowly. The first thing her body registered was pain through her ribs and she hissed as she brought a hand up, noticing the lack of her Kingsglaive jacket. Or whatever remained of it. Her injuries healed completely, possibly with help of an elixir, but the phantom pain still throbbed and ached, and Reveria strained herself to sit up. A shushing sound caught her ears and were accompanied by a pair of gloved hands that appeared from her left, her eyes hazing over to emeralds and glasses. "Ignis…" she muttered as he helped her into a sitting position against the headboard.
"Your injuries were severe," he told her as he plucked her jacket from the bedside table and handed it back to her, folded and pressed, and she held it against her chest. "Your jacket was almost irreparable...if it wasn't for Ragnarok. You've been asleep for some time; if I'd known you'd recover so fast I would have prepared a light dinner."
She smiled faintly, "You don't have to do that, Ignis. You've already fixed my jacket. Also, any food you prepare for me is always worth eating."
"I'll be sure to make note of that."
"...does he know?"
Ignis sighed, "Gladio made sure of hiding you on the way here but it would be wise if you tell him the truth. He doesn't know the real you and I think he would need you as much as you need him." It was Reveria's turn to sigh as she hid her face in her jacket, memories of what happened coincidentally flooding back in vivid colour and her grip tightened. Ignis was right, as much as she wanted to keep the fight away from Noctis she was there to witness the Fall of Insomnia. She was sure Niflheim plagued the streets and rotted away what was once life that thrived and blossomed and the Voidwalker couldn't do nothing but run away instead of run toward the chaos. Some legend, huh.
Reveria straightened up and swung her legs off the mattress, unfolding her jacket and easing herself into it before strolling to the foot of the bed and putting on her knee-high boots. She turned towards Ignis, "I have to tell him what happened, whether he wants to hear it or not. He probably won't even listen to me."
"You're all he has left. He wouldn't dare."
"Anything can change in the space of a few years, Ignis…" she shrugged. "Even me."
"But only you have the power to change everything. You can at least help ease the pain of Noct's heart. As someone who shares the same blood as him." Reveria stared at Ignis, his words cutting deep holes in her chest. Maybe Noctis was still the same Noctis she remembered years ago, or maybe this Noctis was different, but she knew regardless she had to tell him. She had to tell him. She turned on her heels and was about to head out of the room when her attention fell on three figures who entered the room with huge smiles on their faces, that gradually dropped once their eyes were on her.
She panicked and blinked out of her occupied space, leaving a dusty purple on departure as she appeared on the balcony and hiding away from one face in particular. Her heart was racing, her anxiety suddenly bubbling at her stomach as the one person she wanted to see had a face of shock just before she warped away. "Rissa?" he called out to her but she winced away and tried at an attempt to calm her breathing. "How are you here? I thought you were on a campaign."
"I am…" she responded after a calming exhale washed away most of her anxiety. "I am. Just...a lot of things happened―"
"What, the empire claiming me, my father and Luna dead? You don't think I know that?" Reveria blinked back at Noctis' angered tone and stepped forward, Gladio's casual posture tightening at her sudden reappearance.
"No, no you don't know. You don't even know half of what happened. After all this time, all my training, I promised your father that I would protect you, me! It's part of my mission...but it was the only way."
"You're not making any sense," Prompto butted in this time. "Noctis was a part of your mission...?"
She tried a glance back at Ignis, who immediately read the expression on her face, and started to walk towards her. "She was given the task by King Regis which highlighted two objectives. One: to protect the prince; and two: to ensure his ascension is successful. In order to do this, she changed her identity and fell into the ranks of the Kingsglaive." A gloved hand on her shoulder calmed her racing heart but her gaze was casted downwards, afraid to look up into disgusted eyes.
"I agreed to stay with your father when Niflheim made themselves comfortable in Lucis but, knowing they would do such a thing...I couldn't prevent it. Even when I saw the man who took your father's life, I―"
"That's enough!" Noctis' chilling yell sent a shock throughout the entire room, enough for Prompto to flinch and Gladiolus to look at the prince in surprise. That tone of voice was rare to experience by all the party members, so much so that the Shield let out a sigh and patted Noctis' shoulder.
"Noct, calm down. She didn't mean any harm."
"Rissa, you―"
"That's...that's not my name, Prompto," she muttered. "Averissa Leonis was a pawn in the mission, it made being a Lucian easier than I thought. And acting as Cor's daughter was just as simple." With a word that sang the floor pulsed with arcana, everyone stepped out of the way as she slowly outstretched her arms beside her and with a fuzz of purple, her clothes completely changed. Compared to her Kingsglaive drabs, this attire was a familiar one. There was more leather and straps but her cowl was kept off her head and her left gauntlet hummed with incredible magic; the one thing that trademarked her was the accent colour of royal purple. The colour of Vaeza.
Noctis' angered expression changed into one of shock. There was no way, no way she was who he thought she was. After years of building her name in all of Eos and she was standing in front of him, the Chosen King of Lucis. It wasn't just the clothes that rang a bell, no. It was the mark on her cheekbone now visible to the naked eye, dark red and spanning just underneath her eyelid. At first glance even Ignis would know by this particular characteristic but, judging by the Advisor's gaze, he already knew. "My name, my real name, is Reveria Vaeiz Inkheart, the Voidwalker..."
"Rev?" Prompto echoed, the nickname sending his thoughts to wander. As soon as he realised, Gladiolus had beat him to it.
"You're the Voidwalker...you didn't even have a face. A mystic saviour that fought everyone's fight. Took your sweet time, didn't ya?"
Reveria shrugged, "I guess you can say that." Then she averted her gaze to Noctis, "Been a while, hasn't it?"
Noctis was at a loss for words. The girl standing before him, he thought he would never see again, considering the last time they were together as Reveria and Noctis, and not Averissa and Noctis, was 13 years ago. How he never put two and two together was startling, but her overall persona, even her voice, was not a familiar one considering they were kids. Averissa was the embodiment of Reveria, only with a mixed accent and vanilla hair. He never would've thought she'd changed so much, his flesh and blood. Someone that was shy and frail, uncertain of her future, had become a person the entire world knew: the Voidwalker, a dangerous title capable of ripping the universe to shreds with words alone and granted a personal blessing by Bahamut. His younger cousin, the last official tie to his bloodline. "I...I thought you were―"
"Me too. After Cor told me you left for Altissia, I knew I had to come see you again." She smiled, "I know, I'm so sorry, Noct. You have every right to be mad at me, hell, I would be mad at me."
Noctis chuckled once, "You've spent most of your life protecting me. Is there a sound reason why I should be mad at you?" Just as Reveria was about to justify his inapparent anger, the lights went out with a loud pop. Instant worry fluttered in everyone's chests as they turned in darkness and Ragnarok, who was minding his own business, made a confused sound and stood from his place. "What the hell's going on?"
"Oh no." The Voidwalker darted to the balcony, having to brace herself on the railing, and watched in fear as the street lights popped one by one and the patrons of the town stopped whatever they were doing to witness such an irregular event. Within moments a chorus of cries stained the Lestallum streets, and she was joined by the Crownsguard behind her. "Shit. They called for reinforcements. Trying to kill me at the tunnel wasn't enough for them?"
"Niflheim just can't wait their turn," Gladiolus scowled, bringing his arm above him and summoning his greatsword, Ignis thinking alike and letting his own daggers materialise in his grasp in a shimmer of blue glass.
"With no lights, the daemons would be drawn here," the tall man adjusted his glasses.
"And with so many people…" Prompto trailed off.
"We'll split into two teams. Gladio and I will head for the plant, we can only assume Holly may need our help. Prompto and Reveria, with Noctis. You are to evacuate the civilians to the city square and have Reveria set up her protective key in the city centre. With the Voidwalker now present, this should be a simple task."
"Now I'm excited," she smirked. "We don't have time to waste. We've got minutes at best before daemons start spawning in. Let's go." With a voice that rang, Ragnarok whistled into her grasp with a soothing hum and she peered at her blade before stepping up onto the balcony and jumping off. Without a second thought, the band of four followed suit and landed on a large golden sigil that trembled upon impact.