{She beckoned the call of the Void.}
"It's time, Your Grace."
Ragnarok bowed his head as Reveria fastened the straps to her jacket and quickly tied her hair back, knowing of the fighting that would commence once she left the Leville. She couldn't help but tear up at the sound of Luna's voice, how she missed hearing it even if it was just a few weeks ago that they last saw each other. She was safe, she was healthy and most importantly she was alive. But that was what made her tear up. What made it worse was the fact that Luna knew, in a way. The Void was always a burden to Reveria, physically marked by the gauntlet around her left hand, but there were times where she was grateful for providing her with transcendent knowledge.
Luna would still be safe. Just...not here.
Wiping the tears away, Reveria took in a deep breath and looked toward Ragnarok for a sign of reassurance. "We weren't a part of the plan, but the Voidwalker is affiliated with Lucis. Whether Nihlheim decides to react to my presence or not is entirely up to them, right now our campaign is to protect the people and make sure the rite is complete. If everything goes to plan, there shouldn't be a lot of casualties." She placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm trusting you to do the former."
"Understood. What about you?"
She smirked, "The Void will answer that question."
Reveria crashed through the windows and scrambled to cover behind a dresser as a Niflheim dropship hovered into view, a few metal assassins leaping out to take out their target. "How are we holding up down there?" she asked as she was forced to retreat down the hallway, the Tidemother's surges sending sentient streams of water to rush through the building. With everything that was happening, Reveria was glad that the covenant was formed.
"We're almost done here," Gladiolus answered through her earpiece, his own grunts sounding as she threw Ragnarok into the arch and dropkicked an incoming magitek trooper. Reveria spun on her heels and whispered a Key underneath her breath, a familiar revolver shimmering into her hand in silver glass and had to cover roll away from a deadly swing from an assassin. "Think we can meet up?"
"Yeah. Gimme a sec," she replied as she rolled back onto her feet and kicked an arm blade away, staggering back as another swung for her midsection. "Gotta recover my magic…" There were only three assassins but their rapid combos and fast reflexes made them annoying to deal with. Oh, if elemancy was a magic she could use, she would easily cast Thunder whilst another gush of water washed through the assassins and use the stagger for quick headshots. But the Void answered and the revolver was surrounded by several white sigils before the intricate detailing on the bodywork lit up. They stood unnaturally still as Reveria backed away slowly, keeping her iron sight up as she moved around the partly smashed table to retrieve Ragnarok when one of them suddenly burst forward.
"Equaliser," she called out before deflecting a blade off the revolver and spinning around to land a heavy back kick. The force threw two of the assassins off their feet and into a rushing tide but the third dodged easily and attempted to complete a combo but was interrupted by rounds from the revolver, Reveria snapping her aim from its left blade to right blade to confuse its own movement. It wasn't enough as it reeled back and drove the tip of its blades into her shoulders, forcing a scream to claw out of her throat and her balance to be overturned.
Gladiolus and Prompto sounded their concerns through the earpiece but she was too distracted by the adrenaline surge and the burning that spread down her arms. She ended up on the table, gritting her teeth as the magitek pressed deeper into her wounds but the Equaliser Key finally reset and her gauntlet began sizzling. "Get the fuck off me!" She yelled and managed to snap one of the blades before she kicked out with her enhanced strength, the magitek flying headfirst into the wall parallel but Reveria made sure to use the blade still dug into her shoulder to stop it moving altogether by throwing it straight into its chest.
Reveria collapsed to her knees, panting and wheezing and a hand up to cover her new injuries and the sounds of a different gun brought her attention to Gladiolus who dealt with the other two assassins, and Prompto who jogged straight towards her with an elixir in hand. "Here," he said as he crushed it over her wounds and she let out a sigh of relief as the wounds sealed over almost instantly. "Thought you could use the help."
"Thank you." The Void hummed and Reveria hissed as her gauntlet slowly rebuilt itself, the charred metal on her fingers glossing over a new glimmer of silver and Prompto noticed, watching in fascination. She noticed. "It's gonna be some time before I can use my Keys again. Like Noct, I draw my power from an external source but the only problem with mine is that it's sentient."
"Like the Crystal." Gladiolus chipped in and she shrugged.
"You could say that but in my case, the gauntlet keeps me tethered to Eos. Without it, my magic would eat me alive." Prompto widened his eyes in shock.
"Seriously?!"
"I wish I was joking. It sizzles, it burns, it cracks, but it stays on. The Voidwalker's weakness is herself."
"But...but you've got us now, Rev, so you have nothing to worry about."
She hummed as she was helped onto her feet and smiled, "Rev. Sounds nice when you say it. Rev."
Prompto rubbed the nape of his neck and laughed uncomfortably when he thought about an answer but Gladiolus heard more ships flying over them and darted towards the balcony door, Prompto and Reveria following behind and she gasped when she realised that Titan disappeared. With Noctis finally forming a covenant with Leviathan, the Archaean could only be summoned for some time before vanishing into the astral plane and with Noctis currently out of commission, it would mean Nihlheim taking him, the Oracle and the Ring of the Lucii into custody. Something neither the Crownsguard nor the Voidwalker could afford to lose. "This is bad."
"...do you copy?" Prompto tried to reach Ignis through the earpiece, who was somewhere battling on the other side of town, but the silence said enough about what the Advisor was feeling.
"Ain't a hard question, Iggy," Gladiolus helped by yelling into his own earpiece. "Do you copy―yes or no?"
"Yes, I copy!" Reveria and Prompto exchanged looks of relief hearing Ignis's voice: with Niflheim wreaking chaos in Altissia, his voice was a piercing light through the clouds.
"Then speak up next time!" Gladiolus softened a bit, "Look: I'm just as worried as you are, but we can't go losing our heads. If we wanna save Noct, we've gotta keep it together."
"Yes…I suppose you're right."
"We'll keep moving," Prompto encouraged him. "Hang in there, Iggy!"
"I will…thanks."
"Okaaay, guy and gal, let's―" The Void sang in her ears and Reveria suddenly held onto Prompto's hand and he looked back into her amber eyes, his once surprise expression slowly twisting into worry as he watched the mark on her cheekbone slowly light up. It wasn't like before, when she fought the Ayakashi, this time was entirely different. "Rev?"
"It's the Crystal." She craned her neck. "I'm...it's the Bladekeeper. But...I can't..." Reveria peered down as an unknown sigil shuddered underneath her and rotated quickly, Prompto stepping out of it as she was lifted off her feet but she kept her grip on the gunslinger. She didn't want to leave the two of them behind but her decision was made the second King Regis bestowed the power of Bahamut unto her. Ultima Rage.
Thus it was written.
"We'll be okay, we always are." Prompto patted her hand with his other and Gladiolus sauntered over to hold her free hand. The Void whispered and two separate sigils appeared for the Crownsguard and Reveria closed her eyes as she embedded Lucian magic into her dark arcana, her Equaliser Key rolling off her and onto them with a gold shimmer. With them now both protected, Reveria let out a little sigh.
"We're counting on you, Voidwalker," Gladiolus teased her with a smirk and she winked in response as she let go of their hands, before twirling in the air and violently warp-striking the nearest Niflheim ship, the Swords of the Wanderer sparking at the blades as she drove it through the body and the Bladekeeper's swords that floated behind her in purple glass moved accordingly. The Void listened earnestly as Reveria placed Keys on every magitek engine she warped to, using Noctis' elemancy to channel thunder through the ships and strike them out of the sky.
"Guide me, father," she muttered to the swords and the Void rippled. Clearing the first wave of Niflheim engines, Reveria noticed a boat closing in on the altar and narrowed her eyes at a dropship heading straight towards it. Bahamut's blades reacted, four of them stabbing into the side with enough force to knock it off course and she snapped the royal arm apart before warping for yet another attack. Although she was late to stop the ship from hitting the boat and tossing out the driver, when she realised who was commandeering, a flurry of glass blades parried enemy bullets with ease as she flew over to Ignis. The Voidwalker didn't bother reacting to Caligo Ulldor's taunting when she offered her hand. "I got you, Ignis."
"Right on time," he said as he was pulled out of Altissian waters and carefully placed back onto the boat. "Where are the others?"
"On their way, but there's still one more district that needs to be cleared of magitek. With Equaliser activated, Prompto and Gladio should regain control soon." He noticed the swords that levitated around her reminiscent of Noctis' Armiger and her disregard to gravity as she casually stood in midair. Her crimson hair was out of her ponytail and whipping behind her and her leather attire was bloodied and partly torn. Even for someone as powerful as the Voidwalker, seeing her at her limit and still fighting showed how human she could be despite her birthright being anything but. "I'll protect the altar from the remaining engines for as long as I can―"
"Surrender now, and I'll ensure your end is as painless as possible," Caligo interrupted her and taunted the twosome from the belly of the dropship, climbing in what appeared to be a new mech designed for aquatic movement. What angered her more was that this was their plan all along: invade the rite and take the King of Lucis with his Ring to magitek territory.
"Go! I'll take care of him." Ignis assured Reveria and she exchanged a nod before blasting into an upwards arc over the dropship and releasing a few blades into its exposed engine. She had no time to land a hit on the mech Caligo was operating as it leapt from the burning aircraft in pursuit of Ignis but her attention was fixed on the several ships that circled around the altar. Once she soared to meet the ships, she listened to the Void for an answer. The Void spoke.
"Ultima Rage: Overdrive." A large, glassy sigil pulsed once behind her and she outstretched her arms beside her as the Bladekeeper's swords increased by tenfold, but she held back a groan as her gauntlet began to crackle at the overexertion of two different arcana synergising. Once the Key was complete, she threw a hand in front of her and the blades whizzed through the air in sparkles of purple and gold, the Astral's might proving destructive as she easily eliminated the last remaining forces that threatened the eerie peace at the Altar of the Tidemother.
The Void screamed.
Reveria brought her hands to her ears as the screeching muddled her senses and shattered her new Key. The mark on her cheekbone dimmed and the swords around her disintegrated into dust, but the Void continued singing and Reveria couldn't stop it. All those Keys were now overlapping and her gauntlet was burning, emitting purple smoke that blurred her thoughts. With no sense of self, Reveria fell from the sky. "Bahamut…" she tried to call for the Astral in the hopes that the noise would fade away but she had already hit the water and it was then the Void stopped screaming.
A power greater than even that of the Six, purifying all by the Light of the Crystal and the glaives of rulers past. Only at the throne can the Chosen receive it, and only at the cost of a life: his own. The King of Kings shall be granted the power to banish the darkness, but the blood price must be paid. To cast out the Usurper and usher in dawn's Light will cost the life of the Chosen. Many have sacrificed all for the King; so must the King sacrifice himself for all.
Now enter into Reflection, that the Light of Provenance shine within.