Holy shit guys, sorry this took me almost 2 weeks to get up and running. But I really worked hard and agonized over this chapter to make sure something as epic as Titan met my standards. So I really hope you enjoy this!


Ignis pulled the Regalia on the shoulder of the road when directed by a man in police uniform, rolling the window down when he walked to approach them.

"Sir, I must ask you turn around. All roads leading to the meteor are closed." He instructed.

"May I inquire as to why?" Ignis asked.

"Hunters have reported a higher incidence of blight-infected wildlife in the region, and increased daemon activity at night. For safety we are prohibiting all civilian traffic to the area." He explained, gesturing at the area beyond the road block. Noctis looked up, seeing Ignis's stoic expression shift subtly, pausing for several moments before responding to the man.

"We are no mere civilians my good sir," he started. "We are indeed hunters." He offered after another pause, leaving Noctis with the impression he changed his mind halfway through speaking. He lifted his buttocks off the seat, reaching a hand into his pocket and pulling it out, handing his hunter card to the man. The officer quirked a brow and clucked at it, chuckling like Ignis was a five-year-old who just handed him an ID asking for beer.

"Level one hunters huh? Yeah I don't think a pack of blighted garulas are something you can take down. Just turn around sir." The amused smile on his face faded, and Ignis gave an irritated grunt, stuffing the card back in his wallet and then back into his pants. Noctis glanced over at Aranea, wondering if she would have some miracle solution to pull from thin air but the woman was staring out the window with her body slightly turned, her shoulders tensed and one hand woven into her own hair, drumming her fingers on the back of her head.

"Crowe's card." Noctis suggested after a moment, remembering the last time they were in a similar situation when trying to earn some extra cash through a hunter's hub in Lestallum.

"Ah, right so." He agreed. "Sir, if you ask my friend behind us on the motorcycle for her hunter card I believe you will find it more than adequate." He offered. Noctis debated for a moment just telling the damn man he was the Prince of Insomnia and to just let him through; or better yet point out the Oracle was in their back seat and the blight would not trouble them. But the officer grunted and walked away from the car, his conversation with Crowe inaudible.

"Think this'll work?" he asked his advisor in a low tone.

"I certainly hope so. This wasn't a complication I was expecting." He admitted.

"And if not?" Noctis asked.

"Sneak through." Gladiolus answered. "We need to get to Titan one way or the other."

"Sounds like a good way to get eaten." Noctis mumbled. "But I guess our options are a little limited." He dropped his head back against the seat's headrest and sighed squinting for a moment and wondered if Lunafreya's migraine was contagious.

"Okay," the officers voice made him flinch and right himself, everyone turning their attention to the man. "I'm okay letting her through but the rest of you are barely more than civilians. Any idiot can claim a level-one hunter card." He carried on.

"Look we're really just trying to pass through," Ignis tried. "A group of hunters escorted by a higher level one-"

"And if I let every civilian who begged me through this roadblock we'd be cleaning up a lot more corpses. We've already had to quarantine one hunter camp" the man held up air quotes and stressed the last two words, thumbing over in a miscellaneous direction, "to rule out the blight because they didn't k now what they were doing."

"Are those men blighted?" Lunafreya blurted.

"Uh, luckily no. The animals that attacked them were uninfected best we can tell." The officer explained, lifting a brow. "If you're that worried about the blight then just move on."

"Sir, I kindly request you allow us through," she began. She saw him shift his stance, face scrunching and held up a palm to forestall him, "I am Lunafreya Nox Fleuret." The man hesitated, then snorted,

"And I'm King Regis now get out of here." He barked back, slapping his hand on the roof of the car. Lunafreya's sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. She tried to summon the willpower to move in spite of the sharp pain every motion caused her, thankful Noctis again allowed her the end seat making opening the door and stepping out easier, "Get back in the car ma'am." The officer demanded, his tone level but rapid, the man stepping back from the car and trained his eyes on her. She reached her hand out, and in a flash of blue light her trident appeared, fingers gripping the cool metal.

"I am Lunafreya Nox Fleuret," she repeated, "Oracle of Eos. And I ask of you to let us pass." She locked her eyes with the officer who stalled, eyes widening at the appearance of her weapon.

"I-I'm so sorry." He quickly apologized, fingers curling into a fist as his arm rigidly wrapped across his lower abdomen and he bowed at her, "I was just doing my job ma'am trying to keep the people safe from the Blight." He continued, his tone unsteady.

"Please stand. I didn't mean to frighten you." She realized how intense her display had been, and bit down on her tongue to keep herself from chewing her lip.

"You… you survived." He stammered, righting himself. "The radio said you were killed. Then…" he paused, looking into the car. "You must be…" his brows shot up and he bowed again, face scrunched. At this point his fellow officer had noticed this odd behavior and approached, quirking a brow at his partner,

"Uh Greyson, what's up?"

"This is the Prince and Oracle!" he answered quickly, and the second officer went through the same startled expression and bowed, nearly hitting his head on the driver's door mirror in his haste, mumbling the same frantic apologies.

"Uh it's fine." Noctis mumbled. Gods he hated this type of formality. It was one of the things that drove him out of the Citadel to feign a civilian life. "We just want to get through." He explained. They stood back up, alternating between the Prince in the car, and the Oracle still standing tall with her Trident in her left hand.

"Of course." They declared, nearly in unison as they stood up and walked over to the barricade and opened the makeshift gate that was blocking the road. "Please, be safe your Highness, my Lady." Lunafreya got back into the car, too exhausted to refute such formality her trident vanishing into a flash of blue. She lolled her head back against the seat, trying to fight the urge to bury her face into her palms as Ignis shifted the car into gear smoothly, and continued their way through the road.

"Should we have asked them to keep their mouths shut?" Gladiolus inquired, looking into his side-mirror to ensure that Crowe and Prompto were behind them without further incident. They drove through the rode as the roadblock vanished behind them. The sparse grass thinned and gave way to large boulders, great swirls of rock as if someone had thrown a rock into a pond and the resulting splash solidified into stone. Between the tall arches of stone were grooves into the ground, revealing the granite below. The road narrowed, leading through a natural tunnel in the rock and when they emerged on the other side, into the meteor proper, Ignis couldn't help a gasp that drew everyone's attention.

"Oh man, I bet Prompto is hating the fact he's on the bike right now." Noctis thought aloud as he took in the sight around him. Gashes bored like narrow canyons into the red basalt. The crystalized quartz of the meteor loomed overhead. Large shards of white were swirled with black, the various lines and patterns more discernable from up close. Dimly reflecting the little sunlight that peeked through the abnormal formations of stone were swirls of blue, in places overtaken by the deep obsidian more reminiscent of the ground at the foot of Ravatogh. "This place almost looks more like something near a volcano." He added.

"Guess the meteor is both blue and gray." Gladiolus added, pointing up to the towering crystals. They all looked up, murmuring various sounds and words of admiration for the area, and mused why there wasn't more tourism to see something so striking. Noctis flinched when Lunafreya yelped from beside him, her shoulders hunching as she buried her face into her hands, whimpering as her fingers curled into her hair,

"Luna?!" He asked, his hand hovering over her shoulder.

"Shit… are you okay?" Aranea asked from beside her. Ignis was maneuvering the car to a stop, keeping it as close to the side of what remained of the road, the path ahead growing too narrow for a car to continue.

"Lady Lunafreya?" Ignis asked, Gladiolus echoing the sentiment. Lunafreya whimpered again, each of the four voices gashing deeper into her head. Colors exploded behind her closed eyelids, white-hot pain shooting through her scalp, her fingers unfurling to press her palms in a fight against the pressure from within. The patterned throbbing from within was becoming more distinct, and she took a shaky hand to point at the car door. Noctis exchanged a look with Ignis for guidance, but for once his friend was lost for direction. He opened the car door, wincing at every small sound he made, turning to offer Lunafreya some assistance. Aranea shifted behind her as the Oracle attempted to leave the car, watching carefully, expecting her to collapse back at any moment.

"The Oracle must bring forth the Archean from his slumber." A familiar voice whispered. Noctis spun around, fingers extending and tingling as he felt his Engine Blade sheathed in his pocket, but released his breath and flexed his fist several times when his eyes came upon Gentiana. He whispered her name, and she nodded her head simply. She stood tall with her hands tucked into her sleeves, stepping towards the car. Lunafreya staggered out, Noctis trying to offer her support. "Please." Gentiana asked, nodding towards the woman. He chewed his lip, looking down at her for a moment and nodded to the black-haired woman.

"I…" Lunafreya tried to reassure him she was okay, but the pain wasn't subsiding. Colors danced in her vision and ate away at her limbs. She wasn't sure which was up, or down, if she was leaning to her left, or if it was the right side of her body that tilted over and collided with the car. Was it two hands on her or twenty? She felt palms on her cheeks, and a shattering numbness ate through her veins, her muscles tensed at the shock, and for a moment everything went white.

And the white faded, the colors in her vision coalesced into objects and she could distinguish her surroundings. The deafening roar in her ears and the patterns ceased, replaced instead with the musical whistling of the wind through the unnatural rock formations, and the voice of Gentiana as she spoke to her,

"The Lady shall stand next to her Prince and bring the Archaen back to Eos once more." She stated. Lunafreya smiled, trying to catch her breath as the pain in her chest gave way to desperate air hunger. She gulped several large mouthfuls of air, hiccupping several times before regaining control She could hear various calls of her name, questions of if she was all right. She nodded, not protesting when she felt Noctis trying to help her stand. She squinted for a moment, briefly confused at the return of her vision and turned to thank Gentiana, but found that the woman was no longer there.

"Luna." She turned, meeting Noctis's gaze wondering how many times he had chanted her name over the last several moments. Minutes? Hours? How long was this all? She looked up to the sky, hoping to discern the time but found her efforts in vain.

"I'll be all right." She reassured, and gave a test-tap to the side of her head. "The pain is gone." She explained. "Gentiana did something to make it stop. I don't know how long it will last, so we best hurry."

"Do you need to rest first my Lady?" Ignis asked, stepping around the car. "Or another Ether perhaps?"

"I have a flask in my pocket for emergencies if ya need that type of pick-me-up." Aranea suggested.

"Heh, I like the way this one thinks," Crowe thumbed at Aranea. Lunafreya shook her head at them.

"I feel good actually." She explained, and bit down on her tongue to keep her thoughts to herself, wondering what the rebound to this magic would be. The pain had vanished so quickly she feared what its return would feel like. "We should move."

"Are you sure you don't want to rest?" Noctis asked, and she could almost hear the plea in the question to just sit for a damn minute. But she shook her head, sure that they couldn't waste much more time. Aranea exchanged a glance with Noctis and shrugged, grimacing a bit at the stubborn woman.

"Is that lady going to pop up every time we're near an astral?" Crowe asked, recalling their incident with Ramuh.

"I dunno, but I hope so." Prompto answered. "Got Luna feeling better so I'll just give another point to the win-counter,"

"So the score is thirty-three to two?" Gladiolus asked.

"More like thirty-three to three. Give us some credit." Prompto countered. Lunafreya was already walking away with Noctis, Aranea, and Crowe tailing just behind. "Should we bring anything?" Prompto asked.

"Food and water is probably a good idea. It's like the inside of a furnace in here." Gladiolus complained. He hadn't noticed the heat with the distraction of the odd woman named Gentiana. He shrugged off his jacket, dropping it into the trunk of the Regalia, bringing a hand over the back of his brow. "This water will probably taste horrible in about an hour." He noted. "You want to stash your shirt in the trunk before I shut it?" he asked.

"Naw, not all of us like to run around with oiled pecs like you big guy" Prompto slapped his friend hard on the back, jogging to catch up to Lunafreya and Noctis .

"I too will decline that offer." Ignis agreed. He helped Gladiolus stuff some rations and water into a duffel before jogging to catch up to everyone. They were forced to walk single-file after five minutes of walking as the rocky trail began to narrow out, their pace greatly slowed. The heat grew more intense the deeper into the meteor they traveled, and before long they were pulling out the first water bottle to pass around.

"Gods what's up with this place?" Prompto asked. "Why is it so hot? It even feels like my shoes are gonna melt to the rock!"

"Yeah, there's obsidian everywhere like this is a volcano and not a crater." Aranea observed, looking around at their surroundings. Lunafreya looked around, feeling deeply unsettled. She wanted to move quicker and get to the center of this formation, or yell just start jumping in place to burn off this nervous energy. She paused when the path before her narrowed out and dropped down, and she started bouncing in place, fingers drumming on her thigh. She looked around at the black stone, grimacing.

"I don't think this is obsidian." She observed. The black that wove through the stone was dark, but lacked the shine of the volcanic glass. She saw a vein of it to her left, reaching out with her palm, fingertips hovering just over the stone, Noctis's hand clamping over her wrist.

"Stop!" He urged. She turned around, meeting his concerned gaze. "Guys I think she's right. Look closer." He added. "It's like in that icy cave." He looked around, the webbing patterns were interrupted by the oddity of the rock formations but as he paid closer attention he could see that they were there. It was almost impossible to recall the unnatural cold of that cave, or the cool ice within, while surrounded by the overwhelmingly acrid air.

"Noct." She stated in a level tone, looking down at the hand that was gripping her wrist. "It won't hurt me." she insisted. He let go of her, blushing and shaking his head, mumbling an apology. She reached out to touch.

"Dude this is creeping me out." Prompto was bouncing on his own heels, hugging his arms to himself as he stared at the stone wall. "How do we get down there without touching the walls?" he asked, then stared at his palms. "Shit I've been running my hands on the rock the whole time!" he began to frantically rub his palms against his pants, grunting with the effort.

"Prompto, do settle." Lunafreya asked. She wondered why she couldn't feel the blight running through this place, knitting her brows together. She could feel it in people, why wasn't she sensing it here? Maybe you're overreacting and it is just a very impure obsidian. She mused. "I can aid you should this prove to be a vein of blight," she added quietly. Her fingertips touched the wall, eyeing Noctis to ensure that he wouldn't reach out to grab her wrist again. As her fingers brushed against the stone she flinched, a throb puling in the back of her eyes. She withdrew her hand quickly, Noctis reaching out to tug her towards him as she began to stagger back,

"Whoa!" he shouted, "Careful, it's really narrow here." He asked, helping her right herself.

"Sorry." She apologized with a flush. "We should keep moving." She suggested.

"What was that?" He asked.

"I'm not sure yet. I need time to think." She answered. "Though I do believe these rocks are blighted." She looked down at her hands, shaking her head. "But I think you're safe because you're with me." she added, seeing the way everyone tensed up.

"How can rocks be blighted?" Gladiolus asked.

"We saw this back in that ice cave." Noctis reminded him.

"And it made no sense there either." He snapped back.

"We can debate this later." Ignis suggested. "It's bloody sweltering in here! I would rather we keep moving." He asked.

"Did… did Iggy just swear in fancy?" Prompto asked with a snicker.

"I'm hot!" he snapped defensively.

"Even the wind is hot! It's like when you open and oven and all the hot air rushes out." Prompto agreed.

"He has a point." Noctis agreed. "We really should keep going before we all die of heatstroke."

"This may be harder than we thought." Lunafreya pointed to where the narrow path ended to a three meter drop before it continued again. She sat down on the edge of the path, turning around and hugging the edge of the path to lower herself as best she good, her feet finding a good hold and began to climb down the sharp incline. Halfway down the rock became too smooth for any foot or hand-holds, and she did her best to leap down while hugging the inner edge of the rock. She hissed a sharp intake of breath as her arm brushed against the rock on her way down, wincing and looking at the new abrasion that was welling blood.

"Shit! Luna!" Noctis called over the wind, then leapt down impulsively. The narrow ledge caused him to lurch forward to avoid rolling off to the side. He heard Lunafreya grunt as he landed on top of her, and he winced, trying to pick himself back up.

"I'm fine." She insisted, shifting to sit with her back against the rock wall and brushing at her legs. She looked up at the others and called her reassurances to them as well to try and keep the concerned shouts at bay and prevent someone else from leaping down on top of her as well. Likely Crowe. She can be as bad as Noct as times. She appreciated that they cared for her wellbeing, but being treated like glass was grating on her nerves. "Please more careful Noct…" She stood up, brushing dust and pebbles from her clothes and skin, looking up at Noctis who was reaching out a hand to help her stand but she pressed her palms on her knees and stood on her own, "I don't wish for you to fall." She added, gesturing at the lethal drop.

"I… sorry. I was worried." He apologized, the hand extended out to her reached to the back of his own neck and scratched at the skin. The pair looked up at the others pressed up in a single-file line and gave them a thumbs-up to answer their concerned calls.

"Well?" Lunafreya called up. Crowe sighed, followed the royals and giving Lunafreya a rough pat on the shoulder and getting a nod at the question hidden behind the act. Each of the retinue leapt down, waiting for everyone to make their way further down the path to make room for the next jump, ready to jerk them away from the edge of they landed too close. They all landed with the occasional abrasion or bruise, but they had safety gotten down onto the continuing narrow path.

"Want me to go ahead Luna?" Noctis asked, but she shook her head.

"I'm okay Noct." She tried to reassure, biting her tongue when her tone echoed in her ears and the frown that replaced his small smile. "I hail from a land of floating isles. Do you think my btother and I never ventured a dangerous leap before?" she added with a smile, and glad to see his return. She continued to lead them through; they had to leap down several more times, some places felt like there was no path at all and in others it was wide enough for them to feel less consistently nervous.

"Is it getting even hotter?" Prompto asked as they neared the end of their descent. They rounded a tall spike and it was then that Titan came into view for the first time, the swirling arches of stone finally ceasing to obscure their view.

"Holy shit." Aranea whispered.

"Second that." Crowe echoed. The others in the retinue simply stared up at the Astral. He was hunched over with the meteor on his back. Shards of stone and crystal had broken off and bored into his skin. One eye was closed, the other had a large cluster of crystal impaled through his face, ancient blood staining half his face. Odd patterns of lines of white stained his sandstone colored skin.

"That hasn't been wind this whole time." Ignis observed, watching the subtle shifting in the titanic Archeans respirations, dust disturbed with each exhale.

"So you're about to piss that," Prompto pointed, "off by waking it up? He's gonna just swat us!" he admonished.

"It is the path of the Oracle to awaken the Astrals so they may join in covenant with the Crystal's Chosen King-"

"To purge the blight from our star." Gladiolus interrupted Lunafreya. "Doesn't mean we have to like the idea of the two of you being flicked like a bug halfway across Eos." A sad smile graced the Oracle's features,

"The gods never ordain to us a task which we like." There was a sadness to her tone as she looked upwards at the sleeping Astral. She flinched when he felt a hand firmly grip her shoulder, her eyes meeting Gladiolus's,

"If he's too hard on you how about we kick his ass?" He offered, giving her a thumbs-up with his free hand.

"I have a feeling this is precisely the test he might have in mind." She answered back. She was the first one to break the daze that seemed to overtake the group, again taking lead as she continued down the now widening path, wiping the back of her head to clear beads of sweat off her brow. Crowe jogged several steps to catch up to her charge, and Gladiolus walked over to his own.

"She'll get through this man. She's too damn stubborn to do anything else." He offered to his friend. Noctis forced a chuckle, but the smile didn't touch his eyes and started walking after her without another word.

"We'll all get through this." Prompto tried to encourage Gladiolus, but he too marched onward and he dropped his arms. He, Ignis, and Araena pulled up the rear of their retinue. The path turned in the same clockwise wind that they had been walking for near an hour when it ended abruptly. Lunafreya and Noctis peered over the edge,

"It's not much worse than the leap from earlier." Lunafreya observed, and turned to drop herself like before but Noctis grabbed her,

"You need to keep your strength. Let me warp you down." He suggested, but she shook her head,

"You need your strength too for this covenant. Save your magic. I can survive a small jump unharmed." She smiled. But he didn't return it, chewing his bottom lip trying to think of an argument for the stubborn woman.

"Let me go first, I'll catch you." Gladiolus stated, "No more arguments." He stated and before either royal could protest he stepped around them and leapt down, rolling when he hit the ground and brushing the gravel off himself before looking up, holding his arms out and gesturing with his hands to follow. Noctis let go of Lunafeya's wrist so she could leap down next, Gladiolus catching her and gesturing for Noctis to follow. He did so, his friend helping to catch him and right him back to his feet,

"Not so bad, huh?" he asked, slapping him hard on the back. Noctis nodded, and his gaze turned back up to Titan.

"Holy hell…" he muttered. Titan was even more imposing standing mere meters away, the great Arachean hunched over unobscured. Black wrapped around his limbs, and even in sleep his face was pulled into a grimace. His muscles were taught, a slight tremor to his arms that were wrapped behind him to hold the meteor on his back and shoulder. The heat was the most overbearing here, each breath an effort. I feel like I'm drowning on the air.

"He already looks pissed off." Noctis remarked, and knew he sure as hell would be if he was stuck in this broiling nightmare. Lunafreya walked up beside him, reaching out to twine her fingers with his and gave a tight squeeze. She turned, ensuring the entirety of their retinue was in the sinkhole that sat at the bottom of this oddity of geology. Crowe walked up to her and gave her a hard slap on the back,

"Ready Sparkles?" she asked, then looked up at Noctis, "Should I be more worried about him fainting?" she asked.

"Like before I fear he may not like what he is about to witness. Please ensure he, nor you, interfere." She insisted. From this close to both people she could smell the acrid body odor, and suspected she smelled no better judging by the dampness under her arms.

"So what's the scoop, you just kick his feet until he wakes up and dodge the resulting slap?" Aranea asked. Ignis pushed his glasses back up his nose and tried to control his sigh though his nose but sounded instead like he was trying to clear his sinuses. "I think I broke sexy glasses here…" she winced, biting down on the corner of her lip.

"I…" Lunafreya paused, unsure how to quite describe what she did without sounding silly. "I sing, in the language of the Astrals." She explained, turning to hide the blush in her cheeks that her explanation was so simplistic.

"Sing huh?" she asked, lifting a brow. "Normally you do that to make someone fall asleep. Must be pretty tone-deaf if it wakes em up." She teased. Lunafreya snorted a short laugh, and shrugged.

"I think you just discovered the secret to this." She took a deep breath and let it out, her left hand extending out to call her trident. Noctis reached out to brush her cheek, leaning down to place a kiss on her lips, lingering for several moments before drawing back,

"I trust you." He stated simply. He stepped back, the rest of their friends stepping into line with him and watched as the Oracle walked closer to Titan. She closed her eyes, found that magic resting deep inside her and opened her mouth to sing. A mournful note broke through the hissing exhalations of Titan, and Noctis felt goosebumps rush down his arms. Her voice had such an ethereal sound when she sang like this, and his eyes stung as he felt the power behind it. His heart began to race, flexing his hands at his sides. His shoulders began to ache from the tension with which he held himself, remembering Ramuh. Her headaches. Trying not to succumb to the fear gripping his heart.

"Shit Gladio…" he muttered. "How am I going to watch this again today, then four more times?" he repeated his fears. The hot wind stopped for a moment, replaced with a deep groan. Noctis flinched, then bellowed, his hands covering his ears. Sound penetrated his every cell. His chest ached as he starved for air, the deep thrumming constricted his chest keeping him from gasping for the air he craved. His heart hammered, desperate to fuel his burning muscles. Pain tore through his hand, and after several seconds the grip on the rest of his body released, replaced only with this intense pain stabbing through his skull. Gods this… Luna endured? His own thoughts were disjointed, placing both palms on the ground, trying to squint through the pain and look back where Lunafreya had been standing.

She was on the ground, her hands clutching her head. Her Trident had fallen to her side, and blood dripped steadily from her face. He tried to call her name, but his throat was dry from his desperate gasps of scalding air. He swallowed hard, feeling a hard tug on the back of his shirt. He looked up, Gladiolus staring down at him,

"You okay man?" he asked. Noctis nodded. Fight the pain man. She didn't do this for fun.

"Crowe get her back, I need to try to form this covenant." Noctis asked. The woman didn't need to be asked twice to help her charge. They ran over to her together, and the Prince only had a moment to fuss over his beloved before Crowe grabbed one of Lunafreya's arms and pulled it around her neck, standing to pull the girl to her feet, and half-dragged her back to where the others were waiting. In the moment before another throb of his own headache left him doubled over he could see the blood staining the lower part of her face and the top of her shirt.

Foreign words replaced the nonsensical deep throbbing in his chest, and he managed to look up into Titan's face, and stepped back in surprise. The one functional eye appeared half-loosened form its socket, and lips pulled back into a sneer.

Little Flea

Noctis tried not to collapse to the ground and drill his fingertips into his scalp at the sound. He instead looked up at the Astral, the great form shifting the meteor on his back to free one fist,

"Oh shit…" he mumbled, scrambling to get to his feet. He felt the tug of his weapons and grit his teeth, calling his Engine Blade and his fingers curling around the familiar hilt. He shifted his weight on his feet and watched the slow moving arm, eyes trained on his. His heart throbbed in his ears as it raced. Titan's balled fist opened to a flat palm and reached out, and Noctis warped away as it slammed into the ground. Noctis struggled to his feet with the rumble in the ground as he tried to land from his warp, grunting as he stumbled into the red dust. He righted himself quickly, warping away again as the palm slammed into the ground once more.

Lunafreya watched with wide eyes as Nocits warped, again and again. Hardly having the time to right himself and correct his stance for the next warp before Titan's palm would reach out and slam into the ground once more, causing them all to stagger to keep upright. Prove your worth she whispered under her breath. How was Titan supposed to expect him to put up a fight alone against an astral? She was still reeling from her own effects of the summoning. She was pinching the bridge of her nose with one hand, trying to stem the blood flowing from it. The muffled sounds in her ears had her concerned of fluid in her ears as well, and the others hadn't hesitated to mention how alien she looked with the whites of her eyes obscured red with blown blood vessels. Her skin was peppered with red dots as the capillaries under her skin ruptured, and the pain once centered in her head now rolled through her entire body. A slight tremor shook her limbs, but she tried to keep her focus on Noctis as he warped about.

With Titan's arm extended rather than wrapped around the meteor Lunafreya could see the extent of the webbing black patterns on his arm, and there was no mistaking that webbing for shadows. Her breath caught in her throat, and she blinked away a series of throbs behind her eyes, gasping and pressing a palm to the side of her head.

Little tick! I …. I….

She squinted, looking at the blue shimmers and could see Noctis's curled expression, his jaw tense and muscles standing out in his neck.

Swat. Pest. Disturb… I… this… the crystal, that crystal? I feel the presence….

The throbbing was becoming disjointed, she could only make out occasional words that made little sense. The attempts to discern what it mean were fruitless. He can't do this alone. She thought, her brows knit with concern as she watched her beloved struggle just to dodge these blows, Titan's movements quick, jerking, like she was watching a movie missing some frames. How can he be expected to do this alone? My Prince… who has collected so many loyal to him, our hearts with him. Why must he do this alone?

"No." She declared, biting down on her bottom lip and shook her head. "He will not be doing this alone."

"Luna?" Crowe asked, quirking a brow and nearly yelping as the woman dropped the palm she had pressed against her head, reaching out to summon her Trident, letting the rag pressed to her nose fall to the ground. "Whoa whoa, you're still bleeding." She tried to insist, but Lunafreya shook her head.

"I'll be all right. But he needs help." She insisted. "I don't think Titan is of his own mind. I need to somehow get close enough to touch him without being swatted. If I can clear just a bit of the blight perhaps he will regain his mind." She explained.

"Wait, did you say Blight?! That black shit actually is the Blight?!" Crowe startled.

"Shit… what did I get myself into." Aranea mumbled. She reached to her hip, pulling out a sleeve of metal and with a click and flick of the wrist her polearm extended itself, "well count me in. Getting bored sitting on the sidelines watching a light show." She continued, pointing it where Noctis's warps were beginning to stutter.

"Noct!" Lunafreya yelped, reaching her palm out and trying to find her magic to shield Noctis from Titan's fist coming down over him when his warp failed halfway though and he rolled onto his back, holding his blade above his head. She grunted with the hard impact, the shield shattering immediately, but it had stopped Titan's fist long enough for Noctis to roll away and take a slash, his blade making a small chip in the side of the Astral's palm. Hot wind blew around them as Titan bellowed in pain, rage, amusement? They couldn't tell what the abnormal sound was supposed to be.

"If he's blighted then how the hell can Noct make a covenant?" Gladiolus growled, teeth grit together. His great sword was drawn and held with a white-knuckle grip, the muscles in his neck standing out as he watched the one-sided fight.

"You need to get me close enough for me to purge it, even just enough for him to think straight." Lunafreya answered, her palm held out again with her next shield to protect Noctis.

"Can you even do that?!" Prompto asked, his voice almost squeaking and he coughed into his fist. "I mean this isn't just some random dude. It's a freaking Astral!" he threw his hands up. "Also, you're kind of bleeding all over the place…" he trailed off. She had stopped bleeding from her ears, but the steady nosebleed was continuing, staining the front of her clothing after she had dropped her rag to summon her trident and her shields.

"I…" she hesitated, looking up at the black patterns on Titan, with his stuttering words, and the throbbing that accompanied them adding to the mounting pain throughout her body. The adrenaline puling through her was the only thing keeping her from collapsing, and she was sure the rest of this pain was going to catch up to her. "I can push it back." She insisted, righting her shoulders and gripping her trident tighter. "Just help me get close enough."

"Guess that means all this blood is just war paint." Aranea suggested. "Got your back there magic-lady. Let's kick some ass!" Her lance was unsheathed and extended, Ignis stepping up beside her holding his daggers in his hands, Prompto his guns. Crowe shouted her agreement and stepped up beside her charge, slapping her hard on the back and wincing as she was forced to jerk her back by the back of her shirt to keep her from toppling over.

Prompto's guns echoed in the rock-lined hole they were in, and was enough to cause Titan to halt his attack on Noctis, attention turned to the rest of his retinue.

"If you're gonna make Noct prove his worth then judge him by the people loyal to him!" he shouted with the large blue eye trained on him, though his own vision was stuck on the protruding crystal and the fluids weeping from the ruined eye socket. Prompto winced, curling his lip and holding out both his guns to fire off two more shots. Lunafreya looked for her chance, wondering how she could get close enough to Titan to attempt any degree of healing against the blight. Could Noct warp me while his friends keep Titan's focus? She pondered for a moment before settling on that plan. She wiped the back of her hand under her nose, looking down to find she was very much still bleeding, groaning and moved to step towards Noctis only to find it sent a pulse of agony through her body, shooting up her legs, through her back and down her arms until it rendered her hands numb, causing her to drop her trident. She groaned, feeling the tremor in her limbs as she sank down to her knees, pressing her hands over her eyes, get up. Get up! She groaned, getting herself back to her feet and reassessed the battlefield.

Titan's attention was now less focused, his eye flickering between the six combatants before him, struggling to find any single target. He swiped for Crowe, only for Aranea to slash Titan's arm, leaving an opening for Ignis to throw his daggers, falling back behind Prompto and Gladiolus while Aranea vaulted with her lance to land on Titan's arm, burying her weapon in a chip made in his stony flesh to free Ignis's weapons, flipping backwards to counteract the jerking motion as Titan swung his arm to either shake her off or swat again at Noctis, Lunafreya couldn't tell. Her vision was blurred, and the nonsense of Titan's attempted speech pounded her head, and she groaned, driven to her knees once more. She felt a hand on her shoulder, flinching and looking up at Gentiana's gentle smile.

"Titan calls to the Oracle for help, to purge the darkness from his flesh and mind. To allow him to join with the Crystal's Chosen." She affirmed. Lunafreya nodded, pressing a hand to her knee to stand up,

"Gentiana…" her voice trailed, and she squinted with a new throb. She turned her attention back to the battle at hand, "We will do this. The Oracle and her Prince." she called her trident, not sure when she had let it vanish. She wiped a hand under her nose again, trying to push back the concern at how much blood she felt or the crimson smear on the back of her fist as she charged into the fray."Noct!" she called. He turned, and his expression widened,

"Luna!" his tone jarred her, and she threw a shield over herself, wincing with the impact of Titan's fist coming down on top of it, deflecting it just enough not to crush her as her shield shattered. Noctis had run up to her by then, reaching down to pull her to her feet,

"Are you crazy?!" He asked, then warped them away from another attempted blow, nearly colliding with Crowe. The woman yelped at their sudden appearance, but recovered quickly to keep her attention on Titan who appeared to be growing increasingly frustrated at the difficulty of so many targets. Both royals winced as they shared a deep throb in their heads, the pounding of the once-words replaced with garbled nonsense neither could make any clarity of. Lunafreya wished she was back on the sidelines with Gentiana, for just a moment, so she could ask the other messenger what it was Titan was trying to ask. Titan calls to the Oracle for help she was reminded, and bit down on her bottom lip.

"Noct you have to warp me up there. I need to purge this blight from Titan."

"Okay, I ask you again. Are you crazy?!" he huffed, grabbing her and warping away as the mad Astral seemed to have decided on focusing on the two of them rather than madly swat at the dashing humans chipping away at his stone-flesh.

"It's the only way we can do this!" she answered him. She tried to evaluate their surroundings, and saw black liquid on the ground. She squinted, trying to identify it, when another small blotch of black appeared. "Titan's bleeding?" she asked to herself, and focused her attention on the others. Their actions were far less haphazard than she had thought. They were spread out, but it seemed they were focusing their collective attention to a particular area between Titan's thumb and forefinger. They're trying to sever the tendon she realized. Crowe was throwing her fireballs at Titan's eye, the bring lights forcing him to squint and growl in frustration. Ignis was throwing his daggers, creating an apparent target marker for Aranea to vault with her lance, burying her weapon in the deepening chip from their collective efforts before kicking free her counterpart's weapons, jerking her lance and leaping away. This alternated with Prompto aiming his guns in the growing gap, and Gladiolus pirouetting to swing his sword in great archs while bellowing Tempest! And Prompto quickly teasing him for sounding like an anime character.

"Hey! We both know you love anime even more than I do!" he shouted defensively. Gladiolus grunted, but failed to provide a counter-argument. "Crowe, can you throw more fireballs?" he asked instead.

"You have an ether up your ass? I've had two and can feel myself wearing out again! Throwing continuous magic isn't as easy as you think!" She answered, biting down on her lip and hurling another ball of flame towards Titan, the Astral squinting to protect his eye as the fire impacted the growing soot coated stone surrounding his eye.

"Shit…" Gladiolus cursed. "Ignis you got one?" he hollered, the man reaching into a pocket and throwing a can. Gladiolus reached to catch it but his fingers tipped it off course, and it landed on the ground and rolled away. Crowe cursed as well and chased after the drink, realizing the can was cracked and leaking. She scoopped it up, closing her lips around the crack in the can and opening it, chugging it quickly. She let out a belch, tossing the empty can aside,

"Gods it's like that year of college I did." She mumbled after a belch. She summoned another fireball, and resumed her barrage. "Wonder if I'll sleep for a week from exhaustion or stay awake for a month because of caffeine!"

"They're growing tired Noct, our time is limited." Lunafreya declared, looking up at him. She could see the nervous expression in his face, and steeled herself. She had to be the confident one. Show him you believe you can do this. She told herself.

"I don't know how much more I can warp…" he admitted, halting to catch his breath.

"I don't think that will be much of a problem" she pointed at how Titan had switched his focus away from the blurs of blue, and back to the five that were determined to slice his hand wide open.

"Okay." Noctis answered her, his voice lacking conviction. Be more confident Noct. You need to earn the will of the Astrals. She felt his arm wrap around her waist and eyed his friends, waiting for their cycle of attacks to begin anew, warping just after one of Crowe's fireballs. They landed first on Titan's wrist, the crook of his elbow, his shoulder, then atop his head. The Astral shook his head as soon as they landed, and Noctis tried to bury his sword for leverage, but barely made a chip in the stone. "Hurry," he pleaded with Lunafreya, unsure how long they could stay up there until they were knocked down, or burned by a stray fireball.

A powerfully acidic burn roared through Lunafreya's veins. The sudden sensation caused her to sneeze, a splash of blood staining her shoes before she could clamp her hands over her mouth. She fell to her knees, forcing her hands away from her face, and placed them on the ground. Her vision was growing blurred, and her stomach lurched. The bile in the back of her throat threatened to upturn her most recent meal but she shook her head and placed her palms flat on Titan's head and began to whisper her prayer. The throbbing, desperate, agonizing throbbing began to fade.

Little… Oracle…

The throbs began to pull back into words.

Purge… star... To purge our star…

She poured her magic, her whispering prayer morphing into a chant, the warm blood from her nose dripping onto the backs of her hands, Noctis's voice pleading from somewhere near her.

To purge our star. Join with the Crystal. The little Prince must prove his worth.

Titan's eye shot open, his palm slammed into the ground, but did not lift again.

You have these little companions. They are strong. They chipped through my flesh. You climbed my body. The Little Oracle has placed their hands upon me. The Crystal… has chosen well.

Lunafreya nearly laughed, slumping over. Her eyes flicked about to search for Noctis, his presence detected when he lifted her into his arms and warped back to the ground in stages. He nearly dropped her when he got to the ground with his third warp, falling to his knees. Pain exploded in his head, and he looked up at Titan, whose gaze bored into him as the pulsing throbs echoed into every cell in his skull. The webs of black seemed to have drawn back from Lunafreya's light, but it was beginning to crawl up his limbs again.

Join… the others… Little Prince

Blue light sparked throughout Titan. The others had ceased their combat, rushing to the royals, but their eyes were focused on Titan. He exhaled hard, everyone wincing and covering their faces from the hot dust blown about. The meteor began to shift on his back, and both royals heaved heavy breaths as the deep throbbing faded away from their heads. Lunafreya gasped at the sudden cessation of pain, panting at the shock. They watched as Titan faded with their agony, silence filling the space of the relentless patterns.

"Uh guys…" Prompto worried, and pointed up, "I think the meteor is coming down."