Chronicles 20: The Summit, pt. 1
"Everyone ATTACK!"
"Retreat!"
"ATTACK!"
"RETREAT!"
"What are you doing? Get back on your feet!"
"But there so many of them, Aurel!"
"I'm sorry. I thought this was your speed, Tidus!"
"But, but…!"
"CATO!"
"Huh, big bro?"
"Have Ventus take the lead!"
"Yessir…"
December 11th, Altissia, the Leville…
"BA-DA! BA-DA!" Aurel shouted.
He hopped up and down on Noctis' lap, the sleepy King and his family traveling to the summit with the other nations' leaders. Due to guilt of leaving them when traveling to the Mist Continent, he decided to bring the children, much to the Kingsglaives' chagrin. When they arrived, Lunafreya immediately went to perform Oracle duties, visiting the church and going around Altissia on behalf of the Lucian Royal Family. Ignis, Gladio, and Prompto also joined, being his close bodyguards and brothers.
But, Prompto went with Lunafreya to both guard her and take pictures for Meteor Publishing. Ignis went with Minister Tot to go over the finalizations of the seating arrangements, food, and drinks with Secretary Claustra's staff. Gladio, with Cor, finalized security, leaving Noctis alone with the three babies-becoming-toddlers.
The King had tried to sneak in a nap, as they took an airship from Insomnia to Altissia, which had opened their first airship port on one of the uninhabited islands. But the children had decided that their nap on the ride there was adequate and that their father had to play. Or that was Aurelius' thinking.
Ventus began playing with a Moogle plushie Prompto bought him from Lindblum while Regina had a sylph doll. They were much quieter, looking as if they were playing Justice Monsters with the toys, while Aurel had started to get demanding. It was a bit odd, as Regina was notorious for that.
"What do you want now? Seriously, can I get a nap?" Noctis asked.
Aurel shook his head and the man's eyes widened, shocked that the baby seemed to understand him. The boy buried his face into Noct's chest and the man told him, "You're really not going to play with the other two, are you?"
Aurel babbled something while muffled and Noct sighed, wondering if blissful sleep was forever out of reach. Laughing and Noctis saw Ventus floating in the air…again. That was the fourth time that month and he wondered how soon was too soon to train the trio. Regina hiccupped and her body turned into flames. Noctis tossed a Blizzard spell her way, dousing the flames and returning the baby to her usual, laughing self.
"Did Luna give birth to humans or Astrals…? I dunno…." Noctis muttered.
"Dada! Ha-ppu!" Aurelius said, or at least tried to say.
He finally bounced off his lap and crawled towards the window. Within seconds, Noctis tossed another Blizzard, creating a wall of ice. But he didn't expect the baby boy to clap his hands and turn the ice into a mist. Eyes wide and somewhat awake, Noctis jumped out of bed and rushed for the open window, which led to a balcony.
Grabbing Aurel as he tried to escape, Noctis said, "No! No! No! No, no, no, no!"
"WAAAH!" Aurelius screamed.
The mist turned into water and was dumped on the royal, soaking him. Aurel stopped crying, staring at his father. Ven and Gina began rolling over in laughter, with Regina turning back into the "fire-daemon-baby" the staff in the Citadel so eloquently pinned. Aurelius seemed guilty and Noctis glowered.
"Why did I agree to bring you guys…?" Noctis muttered.
Accordo Secretary's Estate, dining room…
As Noctis had fallen asleep, Aurel became bored. Teleporting out of the Leville and finding himself on the rooftop, the baby boy looked around, not realizing that he had teleported so far. He looked around for a few minutes, trying to lock onto Unca Iggy's aura. He found him at the estate, teleporting again and arriving at the balcony of the estate's dining room.
The baby in black got to his feet, bouncing up and down as he tried to open the window. He reached for what looked to be the window's handle and fell onto his backside. Determined to find Unca Iggy, the dark-haired child reached again and water coalesced around the handle. He then made a pulling motion, the water following his command, and opened the window.
Crawling inside, Aurelius saw the opulence of the room, but didn't care. He just wanted to find Unca Iggy and maybe get a snack or…or maybe even three. He was quite hungry and his Dada had fallen asleep when it was lunchtime for Aurel and his siblings. Crawling underneath the table, he saw the staff come in, shuffling around and putting stuff on the long table. One of them noticed the window open and asked, "Uh, did someone leave a window open?"
"Not me. Not me. Nope," they said.
Aurel managed to get from underneath the table and to the open door, leading to the hall. Getting to his feet and wobbling as he tried to walk more than five feet, Aurelius managed to not get caught as he was in the hallway. But, where was Unca Iggy?
"What the…? How did you get here?"
The voice was that of Miss Roni, the lady Mama hired to watch Aurel and his siblings. The dark-haired, hazel-eyed woman in all black picked him up and asked, "How did you get here, Aurel? Where's your dad?"
"BAH!" Aurel shouted.
Roni shushed him and said, "Why are you here? I thought the summit was for the King."
"Iggy! Unca!" Aurel babbled.
Roni looked around, carrying him and getting a few stares from Secretary Claustra's staff. She made it to the kitchens, where Ignis was busy making sure that the Altissian staff did everything right. Despite not being able to see, Ignis could tell if something was off, almost like telepathy or something. But due to his blindness, Roni was brought in to make sure he didn't miss anything.
"UNCA!" Aurel shouted.
The staff stopped in their tracks and Ignis said, "Oh no…How did you get here?"
"It isn't what it looks or sounds like. I found him in the hallway, trying to walk again," Roni told him.
Ignis gave a questioning look and the staff resumed their duties. He then grabbed Aurelius and said, "This isn't good. Not at all. Those at the summit will think the Lucian King is neglectful of his children."
"Well, they can't help it. They can teleport, y'know," Roni said as they left the kitchens and headed for the estate's entrance.
There, they found Gladio and Cor, who were surprised to see the dark-haired baby. Gladio offered to take him back to the Leville, but Aurel instantly cried when the burly man attempted to hold him. The child flailed and garnered suspicious looks from passing staff of the other summit attendees.
"What's wrong? We have to get you back to Noct. So, no crying," Gladio said, getting punched and kicked by the tiny human.
"He's a baby, so he's going to cry," Cor muttered, glowering.
Roni took him back and Aurelius stopped, babbling, "'Hungie'! 'Hungie'!"
"You're hungry? Um, that's a lot just to get something to eat," Roni told him.
The boy slapped her in the face, demanding food and Roni glared. Apparently, it was enough to scare him as he went silent and stopped trying to hit people. Ignis sighed and said, "I'll see what I can whip up."
The Leville…
Panicking as he had lost a child, Noctis practically destroyed his hotel room trying to find Aurelius. After placing Ventus and Regina in their crib, the man began tossing pillows and covers, checked the closets, the balcony, the roof, and even the halls. Terrified and embarrassed, Noctis thought to check in with the staff. But, if he did, he could see the headlines: "Neglectful Father, King Noctis, Loses Crown Prince Aurelius". Vyv would probably make so many sales off that story…
And if Luna found out, well that would be his funeral. And then his ancestors and parents…they would probably make the afterlife like the Inferno for him. And the Astrals, they would eternally shake their heads at him, disappointed that he couldn't keep watch over his own kids for a few hours.
His phone buzzed and the man was relieved as he saw Roni, with Aurelius in her arms. The baby was munching on apple slices and she told him, "We found the prince, Your Majesty. And don't worry. I'm in one of the rooms on a secure line."
Noctis sighed in relief, only to jump as he heard, "AURI! AURI!"
Ventus and Regina had followed him outside. Seeing holograms of light in the halls told Noctis they had phased out of the crib just to follow their Dad. Both worried and impressed, Noctis asked, "How soon will you come back with him?"
"Maybe an hour. Ignis is making lunch for you all, as he figured that you'd fall asleep. Seriously, why do you sleep so much?" Roni said.
Noctis was certain that he had caught the woman taking a few catnaps while looking after the children, but…
"Just…make sure that…" Noctis started, calming down as Aurelius was safe.
"There's no veggies for you? I can try. But you really need to eat more vegetables. It helps with high blood pressure and diabetes," Roni said.
Rolling his eyes, the man mentally swore he would never again have vegetables. Maybe those Gyshal Pickles, but nothing else. Almost as if reading his mind, the dark-haired woman grinned, telling him, "You did eat those pickles from Lindblum. So, that's a start."
"Who told you?" Noct asked.
"Prompto. Took a picture of the nearly clean plate club as evidence," Roni grinned even wider.
Aurel raised his hand and said, "Pickie!"
"Pickie! Pickie!" Gina repeated, bouncing.
Ven began sucking his thumb, indicating he was hungry and Noctis asked, "Can you come here sooner?"
"I'll try. But please, don't fall asleep like that again," Roni told him, reprimanding him.
"Yes, 'Mother'," Noctis said, making fun of her being quite motherly, despite barely knowing them.
Roni scoffed and said, "I'll be there with the food and His Little Highness soon."
And Noctis has learned that falling asleep with active babies is a recipe for disaster.