Final Fantasy XV - Kingdom Hearts
Part 39
Summary: Two warriors of Light, the Chosen King and Keyblade Master, face an unseen Darkness.
Neo-shadows fell to the combined ferocity of the advisor and master despite the constant interruptions from the High-Commander striking at them.
Ignis kicks one shadow aside as he flicks his dagger to one leaping at him from the left, his right-hand sparking with lightning. He spins the weapon and plunges it into the chest of a neo sneaking behind him, the lighting from the dagger sparking through it and chaining together and shocking two more. When they faded into nothing, he summons his other dagger and strikes at Ravus.
Riku swung his keyblade upwards as a neo-shadow spun towards him. He slices it mid-section, allowing the two halves to soar behind him while he performs a front flip and plunges his keyblade into the ground. A white shockwave emits from his keyblade that wipes out more shadows around him, but Riku raised his right hand to fire off several violet beams to the air. The single-beam splits into seven and rockets down onto the shadows, exploding into pillars and consumed the shadows.
Clashing with Ravus, each swing of his dark weapon was followed by trails of violet and blue lighting, Ignis kept up the pace with his lighting as their weapons sparked and rang out through the altar. Parrying one strike from the commander and then lifting his reserved gripped dagger in his right arm to block a downward strike from the commander, Ignis kicked him in the stomach to create breathing space for himself.
'Ravus! Come to your senses man! Killing Noct and the others will not put an end to this!', Ignis beseeched, stubbornly standing at the entrance leading to the others. Ravus swung his saber angrily, his dark aura coating him grew fiercer and more monstrous. 'BE SILENT!', he snarls.
He struck at Ignis with more speed, almost as fast as a cyclone with his saber. Ignis tried to keep up with the man possessed by the darkness, yet the man outclassed him both in speed and strength. He landed several hits on the younger man, his saber cutting his side, shoulder, and arm until finally with one swing of his saber Ravus broke Ignis' guard and grabbed him with his darkened arm by the neck. Ignis instantly felt the air being cut off from this, grasping Ravus' arm to desperately keep himself up and struggle against the man.
Ravus lets out a growl of pain when Riku struck at his exposed side with Brave Heart, cutting into him and tossing the man across the field, dropping Ignis. Ravus' boots stuck into the ground as he ceased movement near the edge of the platform, glaring heatedly at Riku as Ignis rubbed his neck, coughing. The silver head ran to Ravus, firing dark barrages at him during his charge. Ravus meets with his strikes by slicing them and cutting them to pieces as he and Riku reached into a clash of steel mixed with lightning and darkness.
Their weapons bounced and clashed like two raging storms fighting for supremacy, even though Ravus managed to land a few swipes on Riku, the boy returned his wounds twofold with the combination of light and darkness. Their weapons locked together, pressing against each other as black flames cloaked the two of them, while Ravus looking more monstrous as Riku's own eyes glowed violet.
'Why? Why do you side with that menace!? Do you have any idea what his family line has wrought upon others!?', snarled Ravus. Riku pressed harder, teeth gritted with effort as he battled. 'Last time I checked Noct didn't take over your home and held your sister as a prisoner!', Riku challenged. Riku broke the deadlock with a step back, making Ravus stagger forward and give the hero a free hit on his shoulder. Ravus curses the boy and while spinning around he swings his saber at him, nicking his cheek but doing little else to harm Riku.
'We lost our home because of him and his line!', Ravus roared, 'His coward of a father abandoned both of us after the empire murdered our mother! What sort of "Chosen King" is that, the child of a coward!?'. 'And what kind of brother allows his sister to remain in the captivity of the empire who destroyed their home!?', Riku shouted, clenching his fist in fury. Part of him didn't even know why he was arguing with Ravus, because truthfully Riku didn't care why or how deep his hatred for Noctis ran.
All the islander cared about is the two lights near the altar and removing Ravus from the realm of light would be a crime he'd live without regret.
Ravus spawns two Anti versions of himself in front of him, taking on what he looked like before his "awakening" from Xigbar. The two Anti lookalikes rushed to Riku, but they were quickly subdued by Ignis lighting dashing around them, slitting their dark throats. When the false versions of the man before them fell to oblivion, Ignis stood side by side with Riku, daggers in his hands as the commander growls in fury. He attempts to spawn more of his minions, but Ignis throws his burning daggers at him before he could call for reinforcements.
The daggers struck the man right along with Ignis throwing eight more of the fire bounding projectiles at him. Homing in on Ravus and striking him several times yet Ravus shook off the pain, the flames didn't last longer than five seconds on his body. Ravus lifted his hand of the dark and from five feet from him, a large sphere of darkness formed in the air, sucking in the air around them. It tried to suck Riku and Ignis into it, Riku stabbed his keyblade into the ground to keep him there while Ignis did the same with his spear.
Riku called upon his darkness, a pool of the dark formed beneath him. He quickly sunk into the pool and disappeared from the other's sites, reappearing behind Ravus. The High-Commander had no time to react to Riku before the boy's left hand was surrounded in darkness. He punched Ravus right between his shoulders, the impact exploding and throwing Ravus from Riku, his suction sphere disappearing from the broken concentration.
Ravus fell onto his side but quickly rolled onto his feet as Riku took a stab at him, just missing his cheek and receiving a backhand from his armed human arm. He turns to see Ignis stabbing at him with his spear, catching the polearm just under the blade of the weapon. Ignis quickly dismissed it and struck at him with his left-hand dagger, narrowly missing his underarm. Ravus strikes him with his darkened limb, punching Ignis to the edge of the platform.
Ravus raised his dark limb and clenches it, suddenly huge car-sized heartless claws rose up around Ignis and then closed on him, slamming him into the ground with a loud thud. The prisoner of the hands lets out a yell of pain as they pressed down on him, holding him. Ravus turned onto his true threat getting to his feet, wiping the blood off his lip as he showed his teeth. Riku crouched down before jumping into the air but as Ravus tried to follow him, he suddenly moves too fast for even an enhanced warrior like Ravus to keep track.
Riku struck at him from behind, keyblade slashing at his back before jumping into the skies again. Ravus turned around to strike at him but Riku just appeared in front of him and kicked in the face before re-doing the same tactic of cut and jump. Enraged at this game of cat and mouse, Ravus turned to the skies and started to strike repeatedly into the air, creating a dome of violet blades striking the air to shield himself from Riku.
After seeing his wild but effective tactic, Riku, while still in the air, charged up his darkness and magic within him. He glowed into a golden reddish light that covered his body, slowly opening himself up with Brave Heart in the air. He grips the weapon in both hands and then dives down, slamming it into the ground. Behind Riku from the air, small meteors rained down behind him and flew towards Ravus. Ravus' wild strikes managed to destroy some of them but three of them managed to hit the ground around him, destroying some of it and the last one he barely managed to split in half.
When he cleaved it in two, Riku was behind it with Brave Heart outstretched. Ravus lifted his dark limb to block Riku's keyblade, the tip piercing into it but it acted like a shield for the man of the dark. Ravus attempts to stab Riku, only for Riku with his black flame covered hand to grab the steel and hold it from tasting his flesh and organs. The two stared down each other as their darkness rose up to the skies like smoke from raging fires.
With Ignis, he managed to pull his arm out from beneath the hands pinning him down, summoning his dagger in the process. He sees Riku and Ravus' in the deadlock, neither one backing down from their struggles as the ground cracked and splits beneath them. Looking at his predicament, Ignis inhales sharply and raising his dagger upward, he cries as he stabbed into the darkened hands just over his side. The dagger sank into the darkness, the limbs stiffening and then slowly they release their grip on him, dissipating into nothing.
He gets to his feet in time to see Ravus creating a dark barrier around him that threw Riku away from him and across the platform, on his back skidding across. Riku stopped short thanks to Ignis catching him and helping him back to his feet. Riku nods in thanks to the man as Ravus dashed towards them, together they met his saber with keyblade and daggers. The three protectors strike wildly at each other's steel, Ravus' lighter and swifter sword counteracting Riku's bulkier and dense weapon but Ignis' precise and concentrated parries and swings covered any open spot for Riku.
Ravus managed to knock Riku's weapon aside and plunged his saber into him, only to have Ignis step in quickly and bring both daggers down on the saber. He holds the saber down to the ground, pinning the weapon. 'Do you realize what ramifications you'll create if you murder Noct!', Ignis accused, glaring at the man. 'Kill him, and everything your sister has done, every pain, every trial she endured, will be for nothing!'.
Ravus roared as through raw power he managed to throw the man off his saber, but Ignis struck at his sword as they dueled, Riku jumping out of the way as the cyclone of steel between the two was held on the spot. 'You kill Noct, and you kill her grace's hopes for this world!', Ignis persisted. 'WHAT HOPE IS THERE IN A FUTURE MY SISTER WILL NEVER SEE!?', Ravus bellowed. Ignis crossed his daggers to block a downward strike from the man. 'Stand aside, or you will join them!', he threatened.
With a cry, Ignis broke through and threw Ravus' blade aside, then he struck him with roaring burning daggers, knocking him back from the altar. Ravus shot his head up, baring his teeth at Ignis as the advisor's patience grew shorter with this man stubbornness and insistence of regicide. 'Noct didn't choose to become King; his ascension was preordained by the Crystal! It wasn't mere happenstance!', Ignis insisted.
'It was a mistake! One that needs to be corrected!', Ravus argues, throwing his dark palm at Ignis and fired a ray of darkness at him. Riku jumps in front of Ignis and with a straight thrust of his keyblade, the beam was halted by him. The beam splits like a star, shooting in different directions. 'Listen to him Ravus! If you don't trust Noct, what the hell makes you think trusting Xigbar or Ardyn is a better choice!?', Riku shouts over the attack. He glances at Ignis and nods, encouraging him to make his move.
Nodding, Ignis summons his spear and adjusts his glasses, crouches and then leaps into the air. His jump went higher than before as he performs a front flip and grabbing the polearm with both hands, he dives down to the High-Commander. Ravus looks up in time to raise his sword to stop him impaling him with his spear. Their collision was far greater than Ravus had feared, Ignis almost broke through and had he not been enhanced by the darkness or wield such a powerful saber, he would have been dead right there and then.
His surprise attack forced Ravus to stop blasting Riku with darkness, but in turn, gave him use of his arm to protect himself from Ignis by grabbing his spear and throwing it and the man off him. Ignis landed on his feet gracefully, flipping around and drawing daggers once more as Riku stared down the High-Commander. All three warriors panted, the day having reached tonight as the rain continued and grew heavy, the ground soaked with rain and salt water as the silence loomed over them all.
Ignis feels the weariness of his body finally tugging his senses, he mustered all his will to keep himself from collapsing or showcase any form of exhaustion. The battle with the older sibling to the Oracle felt as if no progress had been made, their words not reaching this man as desperate as they were, his hate for Noctis blinding reason and sense. The specs wearing advisors glances to Riku, panting but nowhere near likely Ignis' state of exhaustion.
'I'm giving you one last chance boy…stand aside', Ravus threatened, darkness accumulating around him as Riku's own manifested. 'You want them?', Riku growled, 'The only way you'll get past me is in pieces'.
Ignis cursed quietly at this, he could feel the darkness within Riku stir, growing more and more aggressive with each passing moment the battle prolonged. He feared the longer this keeps it, it may not be long before he would end up fighting the boy as well. They already have a man-powered by the darkness, misusing it in a misguided attempt to protect those close to his heart. Yet knowing this also reminded Ignis he is sorely outmatched by the two of them, he could keep up with Ravus for only so long.
Ravus and Riku charged towards each other, dashing mid-air as their darkness covered them both…
'ENOUGH!'.
Suddenly both warriors were trapped in golden domes that halted them entirely and trapping them both. Riku's darkness disappears when he sees himself a prisoner of the light, looking at Ignis in bewilderment while Ravus starts to look around frantically like a wild animal caught in its cage. All eyes fell to Lunafreya, trident returned to her hand as she stood up with her right hand outstretched, glowing in a gentle light.
Despite the obvious strain in her eyes and inhuman exhaustion her body must be enduring, she stood tall like a goddess of light before them, undeterred by the weariness. 'This fight ends right now!', she declares, 'I will not idly stand by and watch two men who should be on the same side fighting to bloody death!'. Riku glanced at Ignis, before turning to Ravus, then to the Oracle before he reluctantly but ultimately, dismissed Brave Heart.
Lunafreya turns to her brother, now striking at her shield desperately to escape. His strikes did nothing other than wear him out, not even his darkness could inflict harm upon her light. He refuses to look at her, eyes dead on Riku as the boy just stared at him with contempt and distrust. Lunafreya marched to the two opposing sides of the darkness, her steps were slow and she is in pain yet like the divinity the world saw her, she held it back.
She stood in front of Ravus, obstructing his view of Riku before she dispelled his golden prison. When his target is no longer within sight, finally Ravus looked at his sister, not with the wild hate or ferocity, but with sadness. The Oracle's face sported a look of grief and pain as she placed a hand on the dome, looking at him with pleading eyes. Slowly with hesitation, Ravus placed his human hand where hers laid.
'Brother…please, stop this fighting', she pleads, 'You know this is my path'. 'Do not ask this of me! Sister…look at you, bloody and wounded, all because of him!', Ravus cursed, his darkness spiking from his anger and hate. Riku almost stepped in for the Oracle but he is held back by Ignis placing a hand on his shoulder. With a shake of his head, the older man turned to watch the two speak and with luck, come to a solution.
'Sister, please don't do this…we can stop this curse without you dying!', he begged. Lunafreya shakes her head with anger. 'You truly thought I didn't think of alternatives? That I spent all my time happily waiting for all this to happen?', she accused harshly. 'This is no longer about my trials or calling! This is about you, brother!'.
Dismissing her dome around Ravus, she makes her trident disappear and faces him. 'You tell me to look at what this is doing to me, yet brother, you haven't seen what this darkness is doing to you!', she admonishes, placing a hand on the heartless emblem, 'You throw your heart to darkness for power, yet you use it to harm and murder those who would wish to save our world from the very same darkness Noctis faces!'.
Lunafreya grabs his hand and lifts it to show him. 'How much of your light are you willing to sacrifice for nothing brother? Does your hatred towards Noctis truly bind your heart to this false crusade?'. Ravus opens and closes his mouth as the darkness within his eyes slowly fades, growing fainter and weaker as the words of the one person he strived to protect the most, the person who for her sake he would throw his heart into the darkest depths to protect. The pain caused by his choice, the hurt in her eyes and voice.
'…you would die sister…', he whispered, 'Die for him?'.
'I lived…because of her', Lunafreya speaks. She turns to gesture Kairi still sleeping with the others. 'Had she not protected me, your chancellor, the very man who poisoned you with this darkness, would have killed me if not for her!'.
Ravus looked at the girl, eyes wide. 'The people who you tried to harm, are the reason why I draw breath still', she reminds. 'Yet the people who gave you this power encourage you to put them down, strip down my shields'. Ravus looks away, conflict within him stirs wildly as the words and truth behind his beloved sister struck home, wherein the deepest depths of his darkness his heart felt her light.
'…the more of that darkness you use…the less you there will be'.
The two looked to Riku, one knee bent from weariness as Ignis tended to him. 'You think if you've a strong heart, the heartless wouldn't be able to swallow it, that you're immune to the dark'. He scoffs and shakes his head, facing Ravus. 'But you're wrong. Sooner or later, the very person you're trying to help or protect will be no different from the person you hate so much'. '…believe me when I say this…I know exactly what that's like'.
Slowly with Ignis' help, Riku gets to his feet and stared down the older man in front of him. 'You've still a chance to make things right…don't make the same mistake I did and wait for you to lose your heart'.
'You said you would do whatever it takes to help Lunafreya', Ignis adds', 'Then listen to what she has to say'.
All eyes fell to Ravus, one pleadingly, one encouraging and one showing reflection of past mistakes. The High-Commander looks to his darkened limb, no longer feeling that sensation of power that granted him confidence to be stronger than even Noctis, but now instilling doubt. Gently his sister took his arm and placed his hand in between hers, her light slowly radiating and trailing down the hand to his body, the sensation of gently hug from the cold dark. Lunafreya looks to him, hope glowing within those beautiful blue eyes.
'…very well'.
He concedes, lowering his hand, slipping from her warm palms and sheathes his sword. 'If you truly believe, this is the only way…', he submits. Lunafreya gives him the most joyous smile he hadn't seen in years, a surge of light sparked within the dark depths of his own heart. Riku and Ignis nodded to each other approvingly as Riku managed to stand on his own two feet, the tension in the air disappearing as they knew the fight between them, and the High-Commander had ended.
'We best move then', Ignis suggested, gesturing the trio, 'It is likely the empire will send their men here should Ravus not report in'. 'Right, we'll meet up with Gladio and the others', Riku agrees. The four of them slowly thanks to their wounds and exhaustion approached the fallen heroes. Just when they did, however, a voice called out.
'Iggy! Riku!'.
They both turned to see to their surprise and relief Gladiolus running up to them…alone. 'Gladio, there you are!', Riku waves tiredly at the shield. However, when the shield was close, he frowned in concern as Ignis stepped forward. 'Where are the others? I thought you were with Aqua?', Ignis questioned. Gladiolus said nothing, he instead turned to Ravus standing over Noctis with Lunafreya kneeling to check him.
He approached them, his walk strangely playful and it reminds Riku of someone else. Glancing at Ignis with suspicion, both frowned at the silent shield of the king. 'Well, what do we have here? High-Commander Ravus', he greeted cordially. His voice sounded too low, to mysterious and condescending for the shield, even towards a man like Ravus. Suddenly Gladiolus summoned his greatsword and took a swing to the High-Commander.
Ravus sensed his aggression because he immediately unsheathed his sword and parried the shield's attack, earning a yelp of surprise from Lunafreya and shocked cries from his party. Ravus, however, glowered at him, stepping in front of the Oracle with seethe.
'Ardyn…', he snarled.
"Gladiolus" just chuckled as his weapon disappeared, stepping back from the angry sibling. 'Oh, dear. Was I that transparent?', he asks, bowing as his body and clothes turned into that familiar garb. When he raised his head, hat on and in his normal form, he smirks cruelly.
'Ravus! Protect the others!', Ignis shouts as nobody snipers and imperials rush to the altar behind Ardyn. Riku cursed as he recalled his keyblade, he and Ignis rushing to the front of Ravus and the others, staring down Ardyn and his minions. 'Well look what I've got here', another voice called. A corridor of darkness appeared near Ardyn and waltzing out of it was none other than Xigbar, smirking at the two.
'Long time no see, Riku', he greets with a smirk. Riku aims his keyblade at him with a grunt, yet Xigbar is unphased by this aggressive display, almost amused. 'Pfft, still going the first approach? Attack first chance you see a guy like me?', he taunts. 'Better than wait around for you to make the first move', Riku retorts with spite. Xigbar chuckles in agreement as Ardyn watches with amusement. 'Good thinking…but that's the issue kiddo…you know me too well', Xigbar compliments with some sass.
He smirked as, within his right hand, darkness manifests and grows. 'All the more reason to have this chat without pesky keyblade masters prowling around'. Xigbar disappears and reappears on Ignis' left, upside down and levitating over the ocean and his darkened hand aimed at the man. He fires at him, Riku sees this and shoves Ignis back to Ravus. He was struck in the chest by the darkness, throwing him off the altar and into the oceans with a large splash.
'RIKU!', Ignis cries, quickly getting to his feet. Just before he could rush in to save the boy, he was struck by two imperial soldiers, hitting him in the back of his knees. Forced onto his knees, then onto his stomach as his right arm is restrained by one soldier while the other presses their hand down onto his head. Ignis struggles against his captors as Ravus' voice rings out to his sister as the nobody snipers take shots at the High-Commander while the imperials restrain the Oracle and drag her to the altar, leaving Sora, Noctis and Kairi in the middle.
Thrashing defiantly at his captors Ignis cursed and grunts in futility. He glares heatedly at Ardyn crouched down facing Ignis with that smirk on his face, a dagger in hand as Xigbar gestured his snipers to ceasefire. Ardyn just shrugs to the man's struggles, almost weary of his persistence. 'Come now. Why not follow your liege's lead and stop resisting?', Ardyn offers, patting the dagger into his free hand, sounding a chastising uncle.
'Never!', refused Ignis.
With an exaggerated eye roll and comical shrug, Ardyn says: 'You and Riku risk lives and limbs to safeguard the "King of Kings" and two warriors of the key, only to bear witness to them failing in such spectacular fashion. I can't imagine how disappointed you must be feeling'. Ardyn saunters to the sleeping prince, allowing Ignis to see Ravus was restrained by two imperial soldiers. He could see several patches of marks on his human flesh, likely thanks to the sniper nobodies. Two of which were training their odd weapons on him.
Further behind them, he saw Lunafreya being held hostage by more imperials, a total of two this time. Lax certainly but compared to the rest of them in the context of combat prowess, and understandable plan. He turned his gaze back to Ardyn, crouched down to Noctis, studying him with a frown. The dagger shining sinisterly to the man of the king, making him thrash more desperately. 'Don't you dare lay a hand on EITHER of them!', he demanded.
'I know I am certainly disappointed in him', Ardyn sighs, ignoring the advisor's warning. 'Oh…what good is a world that only lets you down? Why not just let it all end here and now?', he asks to no one. Eyes widening with horror as the dagger within Ardyn's hand slowly raises above Noctis' head, the man of no consequence grabbing his hair to hold him in place. 'No…you can't…', Ignis gasped.
Ardyn readies himself to plunge the dagger into the King of King's head, ending there the line of Lucis here and now as Ignis cried his brother's name.
No sooner did Ardyn's dagger nearly touch the boy's forehead, a blast of darkness just misses him and eradicates a single imperial soldier near him. The mechanical body breaking apart at the seams like a puppet being ripped asunder. Ardyn glanced to see Ravus striking down the soldiers and nobodies holding him, glaring at Ardyn and Xigbar. Behind him the Oracle erects a barrio around herself, repelling the soldiers keeping her captive into the seas.
'Oh wow, looks like those two became fast friends', Xigbar taunts with mirth. 'Hey Ravus, this is considered treason ya know? You *truly* wanna side with the sleeping prince over there?'. Ardyn chuckles as he drops Noctis to the ground with a light discarding toss, the prince rolled onto his stomach while Xigbar marches to Ravus with Ardyn.
None of them noticing that the single relic of the Lucis line clattering close to Ignis.
Ravus draws his saber as the two beings of darkness approached him. He attempted to strike them both, or at the very least take one of them down for Ignis. He barely raised his sword arm high enough to attack, Ardyn's right hand glowing with blight-based fire. He swiftly placed his hand on Ravus' chest and an explosion of darkness forced the near-heartless Ravus flying into the Oracle's shield, the force of Ardyn's attack destroys the nobodies and imperials nearby. Ravus smashed into Lunafreya's shield with incredible force that even the Oracle's shield cracked and near broke from the attack.
Lunafreya cries his name as she lowers her shield to care for him, leaving the two men to sneer at the vain attempts of playing hero from Ravus once more. Xigbar sighs and crosses his arms. 'And here I thought you'd be the perfect vessel…but looks like I made the wrong call again', Xigbar said dismissively, like Ravus was an afterthought. 'Oh well…back to the original plan then'. 'Ahh, but before we do so', Ardyn interrupts with a smirk.
'If you would permit me to make a rather beneficial suggestion:', he starts, turning to Ignis, 'instead of following this flotsam away to nothing but a watery grave, why not come with us?'. Ignis looks to his fallen comrades, weighing the situation in his mind. Three of their friends were out of commission before him, Ravus is wounded and likely unfit for any more fighting, he had no clue if Riku is even conscious within the waters.
He is both outnumbered and outmatched and far from fit to continue in his condition against someone like Ardyn and even less so against Xigbar. If he could stall them for a while for Aqua and the others to arrive then perhaps, they could turn the tide yet, but who knows how long it may take them to even find a way to the altar.
The offer could perhaps be the last chance to save the others if it meant they just take him…but one look at the others only brings doubt and fear of what they may do to them. Worst yet, what if they try to turn him like they nearly did to Ravus or even make him a full-fledged nobody? Looking to the Oracle's desperation to heal her brother, thinking back to Riku and their journey to reach their friends, he recalls something the boy mentioned.
"I'd rather do all the heavy lifting it means keeping them safe".
Heavy…the burden his friends carry, not just his liege but those of the keyblade. Perhaps, for this man not born of royal blood, it was time he helped carry that burden for them.
Ignis roars, pushing his body and relishing in the adrenaline rushing through him. The combined determination and strength helped him push the guards off him and with two swings of his arms, made them back off but keep their guns trained on him.
Ardyn frowns with amusement as Xigbar claps his hands. 'Guess that's a no?', he mocks, 'Fine by me'. He summons his Arrowguns as Ardyn aimed his dark hand at the advisor as Ignis staggers and falters in his stance, but the willpower shining in his eyes showed more than just a fierce will to fight. There is that loyalty developed from the time he spent serving and befriending Noctis, the years he gave up, to guide his brother.
'I swore an oath to stand by Noct and keep him safe. Whatever it takes, I will protect him!', declared Ignis. Ardyn lowered his hand when he sees just what sort of methods this man before him would indeed do to fulfill that promise. In his right hand between his finger and thumb, is the Ring of the Lucii. Lunafreya from the distance could only watch in both admiration and horror as Ignis slips on the ring on his middle finger, blue light shines around the ring as Ignis clutches his hand.
Agonized screams spewed from his throat as he grips his wrist in sheer pain, staggering and crying out in pain. 'Ah-ah-ahhh, I wouldn't do that if I were you', he chastised playfully as Ignis raised both hands to his head. The man knew the risks and price of wielding the ring, it costed Ravus' arm, it killed people in the past, and if neither, it would certainly scar them for life, physically and mentally. 'Ignis! Remove the ring!', Lunafreya cried, pleading to him.
'Don't be a fool boy!', Ravus shouts.
Yet despite their pleas with the unholy amount of pain he is facing, Ignis refused to abide by their commands. Clutching his hand, Ignis gritted out: 'I may not be of royal blood, but if a Glaive can harness its power, then so should I!'. With another agonized yell, Ignis raised his head. 'Kings of Lucis, lend me your strength!', he begged. After his pleas, Ignis grasped at his eyes, crying out in pure pain.
The world around him burned, black spots appearing in his vision as they expanded and multiplied, his final sight he would ever see is the sight of his king and the two children of light before his world went dark.
Ardyn and Xigbar watched with contempt, Ardyn more so with fury as Ignis' body was caked in a thin sheen of blue light, almost like the Lucis line would possess, his hands were covered in violet flames akin to the blight but with light instead. On his face the two sees fresh burning scars take place, glowing in purple fire as the advisor raised his head to face down those who would harm his charge and companions. Even his eyes were glowing violet too.
Xigbar looks at Ardyn with a smug look, almost taking pleasure in that barely concealed look of hatred within his eyes. 'Well…', Ardyn starts, his smug smile turned dark as suddenly he warps to Ignis, staring him down, 'It seems they have shown you their favor, after all'. He lifts his right hand to envelop them in a miasma of darkness, only to have Ignis warp away from him as he clenched his fist.
Drawing his two daggers, both caked with violet and blue flames, Ignis holds them in reverse grip as Xigbar joins his partner in crime. 'Oof... looks like somebody needs a change of shades after this', he mocked, using his gun to gesture Ignis' eyes. 'Least I won't have to wear an eye patch', Ignis rebukes, 'But how about I make your eye match the other!'. Warping into Xigbar, Ignis swung his blazing daggers at the former nobody's face. Even for someone as agile as Xigbar, his speed nearly claimed his last eye.
Though he managed to keep his eye, it didn't stop Ignis from adding another scar to the man's face from cheek, over the nose and to the other cheek. Xigbar cursed the blind dagger-wielder, lifting his guns and fired a barrage of violet beams at him. Ignis deflected them all with his daggers, the sparks of steel and magic running around his weapons with such blazing speed even unmatched by those of the keyblade.
Ardyn ambushes him during his deflection and roundhouse kicks the man in the back of his head, causing him to fall to his left. Ignis, unfazed, simply speeds around the battlefield, leaving lightning bolts where he stood as he reappears behind Ardyn and stabs him in his side, earning a grunt from the man. Then he zips around the field again, a bolt of lightning striking the chancellor in the back as he turned his head to Xigbar.
He had teleported himself to the top of the building leading to the altar, combining his weapons to create a make-shift sniper rifle. 'Gotcha now!', he bragged. He fired a power burst from his gun at Ignis, the man zipping away from his spot. The bullet left a small denture in the stone ground, but Xigbar kept shooting at the advisor as the man zipped and dodged his shots via his lighting evasion or warping.
Xigbar fired another burst at Ignis after calculating where he would zip to and just like he predicted, the man had indeed reappeared on the spot. What he didn't take into consideration was Ignis swinging his right dagger into the bullet nor did he even think he'd be powerful enough to deflect right back at him. Xigbar sidestepped the attack as his bullet zipped into the skies before vanishing into nothing. He turned back to the empty playing field, but then felt the presence of another from behind.
Ignis swung his left dagger upwards along Xigbar's back, burning him and throwing him off the building. Xigbar fell but teleported again just as Ignis dived down to chase after him. He tumbled and rolled onto his feet as Ardyn struck at him with his darkness with his leg. Ignis evades it by sidestepping, striking home on the user of the darkness by slicing his shoulder with his left dagger and as he spun around, he plunged the right dagger into his right shoulder.
He gives Ardyn a taste of his own medicine and kicked him in the stomach to pull his dagger out as Xigbar teleports above him upside and rains down bullet-hell on Ignis. The advisor warps through the hailstorm of bullets and reaches Xigbar. The two fought in the air with Xigbar using his guns as clubs to block and parry Ignis' attacks, but it was certainly clear who excelled in close range combat because Ignis broke through his pitiful attempts of close-quarters fighting.
Punching the man in the stomach with dagger still in hand to debilitate him for a moment, Ignis warps down to the ground and performs his fire bound attack, throwing blue/violet flames as opposed to his usual color of fire at the one-eyed sharpshooter. All ten of them struck Xigbar and brought him down to the ground with a thud as his robes were starting to catch fire. Ignis recalled his daggers but not fast enough to stop Ardyn from striking Ignis below his neck with darkness.
The attack explodes with darkness, throwing Ignis into the building where Xigbar previously stood upon, slamming into the stone and leaving a body-shaped print in it. Ignis hacked and coughs blood, but he pulls himself from the building without so much as a grunt before he turned to Ardyn, smugly smiling at him and without so much as a strain on his body. "How is that possible?" thought Ignis, he was positive his strikes from earlier should've at the very least staggered him or at least harm him to limp.
'I do hope you realized by now, young man, that if you don't pick up the pace, then you'll be more liable to die here', Ardyn taunts. Ignis grunts as he zips across the battlefield again, appearing to Ardyn's side. Ignis coats his right-handed dagger in a deep chilling frost before he stabs it into Ardyn's left thigh, piercing it all the way through. Ardyn yells in pain as his leg and pants turn frosty white, freezing the blood within his limb also.
Ignis quickly dismisses his dagger and flips to the left, avoiding more Xigbar's bullets. The man combines his guns and fires off a blue energy arrow that charged to Ignis, who narrowly flips over it in time before it skewered his legs. The arrow ricochets off the building behind Ignis and flies back towards him, cutting his side and ripping his shirt. Ignis yelps in pain, clasping his wound as blood leaked from it.
'Got ya this time, smug bastard!', Xigbar mocked, aiming his guns at him and starts to create wormholes around Ignis. The near-blind man senses this and changes his daggers to violet/blue flames as the bullets rained down upon him like he was caught in the middle of a storm. Ignis stabbed his daggers into the ground while crouching, the daggers erected a huge dense pillar of scorching heat that protected the man by incinerating the bullet beams into nothing but dust.
Ignis then quickly changed his daggers to use ice and instantly freeze the fiery pillar. Now in a pillar of ice, Ignis warps upward to the top of the pillar. When his feet touched the rim of the circular tower, he warped struck Xigbar too quick for him to react in time. He stabs one dagger into gun arrows, rendering it useless and then flips the dagger in his right hand proper and swipes it at him. He cuts Xigbar's chin, marking him with another scar to add.
Xigbar teleports from this empowered Ignis, creating space for him to take shots at him despite only possessing one functioning gun. Ignis parried and deflects his shots as best as the man possibly could, however, two of the shots struck his left shoulder and stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Ignis stumbled back, clutching his shoulder in pain as the price of using the ring had slowly began to catch up to him. The immense pain from the first use had returned with an unholy vengeance, it was so great he felt sick and his legs shook to keep him up.
Yet he refused to bend knee and bow to defeat, even if his body was broken and battered beyond repair, he will still fight on.
The spectators of this fight could only watch on as Ignis dueled the two, slowly but certainly, the man is reaching the end of his rope. The Oracle healed Ravus to the best of her ability given her wounds and near-death exhaustion. The older Fleuret got to his feet, clenching his fist in helplessness as Ignis took another kick from Ardyn and just avoided taking a bullet to his face. Even with the ring, the man is facing insurmountable odds, and it wouldn't be long now before he falls.
'Brother…', Lunafreya gasped, on her knees from the exhaustion. Looking at his darkened hand, Ravus shakes his head in fury. He isn't strong enough, not against someone like Xigbar or Ardyn. Fortunately for them, they have someone more than comparable to those monsters. Ravus turned to the ocean…
He couldn't move, he couldn't breathe, he could barely keep his eyes open…
Riku could feel this horrible familiar sensation grow as his eyes were slowly feeling heavy and his vision slowly blurred. The darkness that had hit him thanks to Xigbar weighed him down like an anchor and paralyzing him, it is as if just drowning wasn't enough of a horrible way to go for him. Still, he persists in fighting on, forcing his limbs to act upon his command to stay on this mortal plane for a little longer.
If today had to be the day he had to fall to his final sleep, he wanted to save those two first before then. Seeing those two the way there were, Kairi nearly being lost forever to them, Sora so tired and wounded he would have been easy pickings for the heartless. Riku feels the weight of the darkness pull him further down into the dark depths of the ocean, his desperation to fight back was the only thing keeping from succumbing to despair and allowing it to consume him.
"Sora…Kairi…", he thought as his strength finally waned. Slowly he feels his eyelids descend as a blurred figure swam towards him…
He opens his eyes to find himself descending into the dark depths, no more feeling the anchor tugging on his heart or that lull of sleep calling to him. A single beacon of light was shining down on him, ethereal visions of his light stretching their hands to him, calling his name. Riku reaches out for them, his right hand outstretched to grasp them, to hold onto that hope. Together the two hands clasped around his one, a mix of his darkness with their light as they smiled at him.
*Altissia*
Laying Riku on back flat after giving him CPR, Ravus looked to his sister as she knelt before the boy, looking at the darkness that still swirled around the boy's chest. 'This darkness hasn't reached his heart, how is that possible?', Lunafreya questions.
'What matters is he lives, and we can save him from whatever Xigbar had planned for him', Ravus counters. Lunafreya nodded in agreement, thinking it'd be best to thank the gods for the fact the boy lives as opposed to falling to the dark or dying. The Oracle raises her hands to begin the healing, only for Ravus to stop her by placing a hand on her shoulder. She looked to her brother's resolute and firm look, shaking his head. 'Let me save him, there's little your light can do for him', he reveals.
Slowly Ravus placed his dark hand on Riku's chest, glowing violet and red as the darkness covering Riku begins to seep into his arm. Ravus grunts and hisses in pain as he absorbs the darkness from the boy, allowing it to migrate into his own heart, cursing and grunting in pain while his neck tenses and a vein appears on his forehead.
He extracts the darkness from Riku with an exhale as his darkness begins to spread all over his torso, effectively turning him nearly ninety percent heartless by this point with all but a shimmer of light residing within his heart. Lunafreya's tears run down her cheeks as she witnessed her brother absorbing the darkness and further distancing himself from the light, and worst of all even the Oracle wouldn't be able to bring him back from it.
'Brother…', she whimpers, reaching out to touch him. Yet Ravus stands up, turning from his sister. He walks towards the battle, darkness seeping from his body and covering him like a horrible cloak bound to him. 'Brother!', Lunafreya cries, 'Don't do this!'. He stops his walk, the rain growing heavy as he lifts his head to the skies with one single take of breath. 'Sister, you would have given your life to help Noctis, would you not?', he questioned.
He turns to her with a smile, the smile only her eyes had ever seen. The smile of her brother, before their lives, were forever changed for the worst. Even in his heartless state, she could see his light was as strong as it ever been. 'All I ever wanted, is to see you happy. To see you fall in love, and to live your life', he expressed. 'By doing this, a pawn of the dark means I can make that future come true, then it is a price I will pay'.
Ravus looks at Riku, then to the other sleeping heroes before to Noctis. '…Don't falter now, your majesty', he says with respect.
Ignis finally falls backward from Xigbar's gun, landing on his back in defeat as the ring's toll finally took him. No strength remaining, not even a smidgen of power to even lift his head. Ahead of him, a completely unharmed Ardyn stood and casually brushed off dust from his clothes while Xigbar, far less than unharmed, hunched over in pain and tiredness, huffing. 'Damn that blind bastard…', he cursed, dreading his newly acquired scars. 'So much for the ring killing him off the bat'.
'Indeed, but no man outside of the royal blood may wield such power without a price', Ardyn remarks, clapping his hand. 'Now then, shall we finally put an end to this?'.
'Gladly', Xigbar says, grinning sadistically. He raised his arrow gun at Ignis' still form, but before he pulled the trigger, Ravus dashed before him and gave the man a solid punch into his face with his darkened fist. The attack sends Xigbar through the building Ignis' body once occupied and into the ocean. Ardyn didn't have time to react because Ravus plunged his saber into his stomach and wrapped his darkened arm around his neck.
Ardyn glared at the interfering commander, his face slowly succumbing to the darkness within his heart as his eyes glowed yellow. 'Interesting look, High-Commander, although I'm not much of the hugging type', Ardyn chastised as he tried to break free of the man's grip. 'My time is short, but I shall not traverse beyond alone…Ardyn', growled Ravus, 'We'll go together!'.
His final words chosen, Ravus' body shines in dark light as he threw his head back with a cry. Darkness explodes around him as the entire area is encased in darkness, destroying much of the field and the shockwaves splits the oceans and even buildings from a distance felt Ravus' sacrifice.
Lunafreya erects a barrier to protect Ignis and the others from a distance as the darkness rushed through, covering the entire platform and altar in dark fire, consuming all the light did not touch.
*…*
Flinching from pain, groaning as he rolled onto his side, Riku gasps as air rushed into his lungs for what felt like years since he tasted oxygen. Shaking his head as rubbing it, he looked up to see the battle Ignis must have fought had truly be chaotic with all the destruction that had been wrought.
The tall archway buildings had all been reduced to rubble, much of the platform is submerged in water with purple flames scattered around the field, licking the stones in darkness. Riku slowly got to his feet shakily, panting and groaning with pain, stumbling while walking to find his friends. He just hoped whatever it was that caused all this destruction it left Sora and the others unharmed.
He stumbled onto his knee, weakly gasping in pain. He looks at his bare arms and sees new cuts and bruises adorning his tanned skin, hands carrying cuts too. His shirt had been torn completely, rendering it useless unless the fairies magic could patch it in this state. His pants were ripped apart with his knee to ankle on the left completely ripped apart. He really, *REALLY*, hoped the magic clothes could fix this.
He pushed himself to move onwards if he was this bad without partaking in whatever fight took place here, who knows how bad the others were.
Reaching the middle of the platform, he sees Ignis on his stomach. Quickly running to his comrade, Riku knelt before him and rolled him onto his back. He gasped in horror when he glimpses at his face, the fresh burnt scars marking him and likely his eyes were damaged. 'Ignis! Ignis, wake up!', he shouts, shaking his friend. The older man groans painfully out, weakly moving his head as he flinches and hisses in pain from his newly obtained scars.
'R-Riku…?', he gasps out, turning his head to the sound's direction. 'I'm here buddy! Holy hell what happened to you!?', he demanded, almost panicking at this very point. Ignis coughs harshly, lifting his left hand to touch his face to assess the extent of his injuries. Riku looked around for Ravus or anyone else while his friend did this, but then he heard Ignis' breathing quickening with panic. 'Riku…the ring!', he gasped.
'W-What ring?', Riku asked as Ignis grabs for Riku's shoulder or arm. When he sees his friend starting to panic, he grips his hand to stop him. 'Ignis!', he shouts. 'The ring of the Lucii! Where is it!?', he demanded. Riku looked around them to spot the ring, but with so much destruction and fire around them, he shakes his head frustrated. 'I dunno! But we need to find the other first!', he states, slowly helping Ignis to his feet.
'Riku…you don't-
'I know what that ring is important! But my friends, *our* friends are more important than some fancy parasitical ring!', Riku argued, throwing Ignis' arm over his shoulder. Riku's angry and frustrated looks slowly softened with realization dawning on him, looking at Ignis' face. '…y-you didn't wear it, did you?', he asked, despite knowing full well the man had indeed. '…better to do the heavy lifting yourself, to keep others safe', Ignis parroted.
'Ignis…', Riku gasped, shaking his head as a lump formed in his throat. Inhaling sharply, Riku adjusted them and carried his friend further into the destruction, keeping his eyes out for the others. Near the broken exit, he spots something stabbed in the ground, and then and there, he knew just what had transpired while he was out of commission. Like a marked grave, Ravus' Soul Eater saber was left there, clean of the darkness that had been tainted by the heartless.
'Riku?', Ignis asks weakly, noticing they had stopped moving. '…Ravus, he's…his sword is just left here', Riku explains, voice heavy with remorse. Ignis exhaled sadly, nodding shakily.
'RIKU!'.
'IGGY!'.
Riku raised his head to the ledges of the altar, he sees the others jumping out the boats and landing on the shore of the altar. 'OVER HERE!', Riku shouts, waving the hand not carrying Ignis, 'WE NEED HELP!'.
Aqua quickly dashes towards them, leaving the others behind and reaching the two protectors in time. The master had seen her share of fights likely on the way here, her clothes damaged and dirty with dust, oil from the magiteks and cuts on her cheeks with her hair wet and sticking to her face. He worried how the others fared on the way here. Aqua's eyes widened as she claps her mouth in horror, likely he guessed after seeing Ignis' eyes or how torn up the two of them looked.
'Oh my god…w-what happened?', she gasped.
'Later, Iggy…Iggy needs help', Riku grunts, helping the woman hold Ignis as the others reached them, as he expected they all had looked like they were put through the worst of it all. 'Holy shit Iggy…', Gladiolus cursed while Prompto squeaked in dismay. Aqua helped settle Ignis on the ground while Donald quickly took his staff out to begin healing the man while Goofy gave Riku a potion but he shook his head and rejected the potion.
'No, no! Not me, Kairi needs it!', he says, shaking his head feverishly. 'I, I need to find them!'. Gladiolus nods to yells for everyone not tending to Ignis to find the others. Before Riku ran off, Gladiolus grabbed his shoulder and stopped him. 'Take breather first, clear your head', he instructed, 'We'll find them, alright?'. Riku opened his mouth to argue with this man, but ultimately given how hurt and tired he is, he nods in submission. Gladiolus nods in approval before jogging off to look for the others.
As the sounds of the ocean waves and rainfall washed over them, Riku closed his eyes, feeling the rain pelting his body and cooling him. This fight had taken more from him, more from Ignis, then either could have expected. The destruction of this city would forever haunt him, the sacrifices made to gain the blessing of some arrogant sea-serpent felt unjustified, the agonies that the team endured felt undeserving, especially someone like Kairi and Ignis.
As he opened his eyes and looked to Ravus' blade, he approached and gently gripped the handle of the saber. There is a ghostly sensation trailing from it, where Riku should've felt rage and other feelings that lure in the darkness, he feels a sense of honor and courage from this sword. Feelings of acceptance and love for a sibling, his final wish to give the only person closest to his heart a future where she could be happy.
Ravus' final wish and gift.
"Everything you did…the sacrifices you made…all that, for someone who became your light", Riku thought, bowing his head in respect for this man. A single tear ran down his cheek out of admiration for someone who, in many ways, was like him.
He yanked the sword from the ground, lifting it as it glowed and shifted into a small key chain for Riku. "If you're willing to tag along, lend me strength to help make the world for Luna", he prayed. He stuffed the item into his pocket in time to see Gladiolus carrying Noctis towards the others, looking very relieved but worried at once at the sleeping prince. 'I've got Noct, where are the others?', he asked.
'Fellers! Over here!'.
The team looks and sees Goofy assisting Lunafreya to walk while in Prompto's arms was Kairi shivering in her sleep. Riku raced to the girls, potion Goofy had given him and approached Kairi. He checks her temperature and sure enough, she was freezing, saltwater mixed-blood staining her face as Prompto helped place her on her knees, taking off his jacket and wrapped it around her. 'She's in pretty bad shape', he whispers, scared out of his wits.
'I know, but maybe Donald and Aqua could do something for her', Riku says. He held back the "I hope" part, pushing that doubt away and keeping real hope for his companion. He looked to Lunafreya and sees her cheeks stained with tears, the loss of her brother weighing heavily on her. Standing up with Prompto carrying Kairi, Riku said: 'I'm…sorry about your brother'. Lunafreya shakes her head ruefully yet with a hopeful smile. 'He died so that we would live to see this to the end', she whispers, 'He was stronger than Ardyn and Xigbar had believed'.
Riku smiles in agreement with a nod, however as he looked around, he sees there is still one more person missing amongst them. 'Goofy, Prompto, have you found Sora?', he asked. 'No Riku, we looked everywhere too!', Goofy says worriedly. Panic stirred within the boy before he turned to Gladiolus, shaking his head with a frown. Riku grunts and hoped the boy didn't fall into the water or worse got crushed by the debris.
'Riku? Does Ignis still have the ring?', Lunafreya asked, breaking his train of thoughts. He shook his distractedly, more focused on Sora's whereabouts than that life-sucking piece of metal.
'Looking for something, your elegance?'.
All eyes fell to the entrance to the altar and in horror, they see Ardyn standing there smugly. Not a scratch to be seen on himself or clothes, he looked as if he had just arrived at the scene. Lunafreya just stared in aghast and dismay as the man placed his hat on his head. 'Quite the performance, congratulations to all of you for such a display!', he praised with such callous and mockery it infuriated the group. Riku snarled and summoned his keyblade as Goofy placed Lunafreya behind him, shield out and after placing Noctis down with Ignis, Gladiolus joined them.
'You bastard! How are you still alive!?', Riku demanded, thoughts of Ravus' demise, his sacrifice, rushing through his mind. Did that man throw his life away for nothing but to merely hinder Ardyn or worse annoy him? Ardyn chuckled at Riku's question with a wave of his hand. 'Maybe fate has not decreed my time yet, or perhaps, something else is keeping me alive my boy', he muses playfully, the answer within him.
'But it is all in the past now, after all, need I remind you, Riku, he would have struck Sora and Kairi down without a second thought?', he teases. Riku grits his teeth as his darkness manifests within him, this man mocks the sacrifice of someone who he manipulated and twisted into a horrible creation. Acting so casual over it, it sickened him. 'But oh well, I'm disappointed, but luckily for me, I won't be leaving empty-handed'.
With a flick of his finger like a magician performing a trick, he unfolds his fist and opens it up to show the team his prize. Lunafreya's blood ran cold as her skin turned white as a sheet in horror. 'No…', she gasped.
In his hand, lies the ring of the Lucii.
'At long last, the ring is back to where it should have been all this time', Ardyn muses, smirking evilly at the heroes. 'But I'm afraid any attempts of reclaiming this ring will have to take place at another time!'. With a click of his fingers, neo-shadows appeared from the dark pools of the dark, creating a line of defense for the chancellor.
'If you think a bunch of shadows are enough to stop us, then you're in for a rude awakening Ardyn!', Riku shouts. 'Oh worry not Riku, I have no doubt this is nothing more than a minor annoyance to you all, but our fight is for another time', Ardyn said dismissively, turning around and walking away down to the altar. 'Get back here you coward!', Gladiolus roars, running into the fray with Riku following close behind him. The shadows swarmed the shield and master, all food for their blades, nothing more as Ardyn had said.
But that wasn't all the man was taking from the team.
When Riku struck down a shadow, he glared at the direction of Ardyn, then raised his head the stairs and sees Xigbar opening a dark corridor behind him. Riku's heart stopped as time seemingly stopped all around him. Levitating near him completely at his mercy, unaware of what is transpiring was Sora.
'SORA!', Riku roars.
No…not again…
With his rage unhinged, Riku tore through the heartless, running as fast as his nearly broken body could go. Riku sliced all the heartless that tried to delay him, they met their fates quickly to Riku's keyblade. Desperation within him reaching a new height, Riku kept cutting his way through the horde of darkness. Riku jumped on top of a shadow's head and leaped off it, turning his hand to them and firing his final dark firaga to burn away the dark beings.
Landing at the start of the stairs of the altar, Riku runs up the stairs, skipping four steps at a time as he raced to the summit of the stairs. He jumps to Sora, hand outstretched to reach for his friend while he was being pulled into the dark corridor. Riku's hand could only grab that crown necklace as Sora was yanked away from the older boy, his chain breaking and leaving the only thing for Riku and his companions.
Riku tried to run for him, only to have Ardyn stand in front of his and blast him with an invisible force that threw Riku off the summit of the stairs. Riku slammed onto the ground at the end of the stairs, raising his head to see Sora being swallowed by the darkness as Xigbar and Ardyn smugly smile at him before they too ventured into the dark realm. The corridor disappeared as Riku raised his hand to desperately stop them, all in vain.
As his strength waned and body finally submitting to exhaustion and pain, hearing the voices of his friends, their cries and yells became duller and duller to the boy as darkness took him…
*Present Time*
Sitting on his bed, head in his hands as the information is poured into his mind, Noctis could barely hold his tears back. The sense of failure striking him from all sides, failure to be strong to keep his the brother of his bride safe, failure to keep the sacred heirloom of his family within his hands, but worst of all, among all his shortcomings, his greatest fails stems from failure to protect his friends.
Ignis, now blind, sat on the stool beside the bed, having retelling what has transpired after the battle with the Tidemother. Noctis had been the first between him and Kairi to awaken, the princess of light had yet to awaken from her slumber. He assured Noctis the moment they gave her to Donald and Aqua, they healed her stab wound and gotten her medical help from the secretary's men to replenish the blood she had lost.
'What about you? Can't they heal you?', Noctis whispers, his voice hoarse and weary. Ignis sighs, likely he's been asked this from almost everyone else. 'They've tried…but the ring of the Lucii, is above their powers', Ignis reveals, 'Aqua is insistent they keep trying, however, perhaps she may find a solution'. Noctis looks to his feet in defeat, before he took a deep shuddering breath. 'Luna?', he whispers.
'She has been bedridden, the events that had transpired have taken a toll on her grace's mind…', Ignis confesses. 'But I believe it would do her wonders if her fiancé would come visit her'.
Dryly swallowing his nerves and grief, Noctis manages to throw himself out of the bed and grab his boots and jacket. Slowly they leave the room, more so out of courtesy to Ignis' new disability, the cane clicking throughout the corridor as several Accordo guards patrolled the area and many of them awkwardly saluted the prince while Ignis tried to memorize where his moving and going.
Just before the two entered the room of the Oracle, suddenly Noctis froze.
A horrible chill raced through his body as his body felt an unnatural sensation coursing through him, a tug on his heart and soul threatened to rip him apart. Noctis choked clasping his neck in pain as he fell to his knees, this sensation of having something ripped out of him felt as if someone had stabbed him with a great sword and slowly painfully pulled it out of him.
'Noct? NOCT!?', Ignis shouts, hearing his prince's weak breathing and chokes. The door to the Oracle bursts open with a Prompto exiting the room quickly and panic painted on his face. He sees Ignis and Noctis in the corridor, rushing to them. 'Noct? Noct what's going!?', he asked. 'What's wrong with him?', Ignis demanded.
'P-Prompto…', he wheezed. 'What!? What is it!?', pleads Prompto.
'S-Something's…wrong, I…', gasped Noctis, nearly throwing up.
'Prompto! Get them in here!', Gladiolus' voice boomed from the room. Quickly Prompto helped Noctis and guides Ignis into the room, where inside the prince sees his fiancé sitting upright in bed, looking as if she was just told the world was ending right now. The rest of the party were all standing in the room, questions erupting from everyone bar Aqua who is trying to calm everyone down before they all exploded in full-blown panics.
Their voices stilled when Lunafreya turned to her Messenger, Gentiana standing by the window as the day slowly shifts into night. 'Gentiana? What's happening?', Lunafreya gasps. The woman turned to the Oracle with a smile full of sadness and despair.
'…the age of the Eternal Night…has begun, my lady', she whispers. Slowly the woman's body begins to break away into flutters of ice, everyone could only watch in horror before the woman disappeared from their sights as the day turned into night.
As the heroes could only watch in utter bafflement and horror. Lunafreya placed a hand on her chest as Noctis, held up by Prompto, watched her in complete confusion and fear. 'Luna, what did she mean by that? What happened to Gentiana!?', he questioned.
'…the end, Noctis…', she whispered.
A/N: Sorry this took so long…but its worth it I promise!
Episode Ignis and Riku is done! Tragedy abounds, the loss of a redeeming man, Ignis being awesome and now the team must deal with the loss of their hero! (I'm sure I've infuriated a lot of followers…)
Also, some of you think this is where the tragedy ends…it's only going to get worse.
So, I've got a question and a good point pointed out by this lovely guest!
Guestboiz: Sorry for the confusion, I'll try and go back to previous chapters when I get time and change that around. Also, thank you for pointing out the differences!
MY questions :3
Q1: How did you like this chapter?
Q2: How was Xigbar and Ardyn?
Q3: Did you enjoy Ravus?
Q4: What do you wanna see in future chapters?
Q5: Are you gonna miss Sora? I am!
As always, thanks for reading! Stay awesome but more importantly stay safe!
