ATE: Welcome back! I'm aware that there's hasn't been a lot of traffic in regards to the previous chapter (because let's be honest, not a lot happened in Chapter 1), but the arrival of this chapter will change things a bit. Hope you like it!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Final Fantasy XV or Square Enix. I only own my OCs.

~*~Chapter 2~*~

"…ey…ou okay…?"

…What…?

"…ook…e's…ing up."

What was going…?

Dazed and confused, Victoria had some difficulty opening her eyes, but eventually she managed to do so. Fluttering open, she gave herself a moment before lifting her blue gaze.

What she didn't expect to see was a face invading her personal bubble.

Startled, she tried backing away, only to find that she had nowhere to go as her back met the touch of cold metal. Anxiety decided it wanted to pay a visit as her head wildly turned side to side as she tried to find an escape, but all she could see what crude shapes and dulled colors pass by her at a steady—and occasionally bumpy—pace.

What was going on?

Where was she?!

This wasn't her room!

It looked nothing like her room!

How did she-?!

"Whoa, easy there!" A voice—male from the sound of it—exclaimed as she suddenly felt hands being firmly placed on her shoulders. Her gaze shot in the direction of the person (or man) in front of her, her attention warily on him. "It's okay. You're safe."

Safe?

What did he mean by that?

Was he trying to calm her down?

"That's it. Deep breaths now."

Oh, looks like he was.

Whoever 'he' was.

After a few moments of this man's guidance on her breathing, Victoria felt herself calming down enough to think rationally. She soon found herself taking in the man's appearance—or as best as she could with her blurred vision; she could make out what looked to be auburn hair, an oval shaped face, and light-colored skin, but she couldn't decipher any other details. That, and his outfit was black? He must've been tall due to how he managed to tower over her despite his kneeling position before her.

"…Who are you?" She found herself asking.

Though she couldn't see it, she could certainly hear the smirk in his voice as soon as he spoke.

"Glad you asked, princess." Princess?! "I'm—!"

"Áedán! Quit flirting and get your ass up here!" A new voice (a deep one from the sounds of it) shouted.

Her eyes widened at this!

Áedán?!

Did she hear that correctly?

"Mules haven't been a thing for some time now, Tobul! But I'll be sure to get back to you if and when I find one!"

"This is not the time for one of your wisecracks! We have fiends approaching our transport and they look hungry!"

What? Fiends?!

Victoria looked over her shoulder and through the blurred vision she could faintly make out dark shapes moving along the side of the pickup truck (which she realized she was sitting in the bed of). Her head shot back in the direction of the man in front of her, about to open her mouth to say something before he beat her to it.

"Nothing to worry about, princess. We'll have this problem taken care of before you can even say 'chocobo'." He said, his voice filled with an amount of confidence that was meant to assure her that everything was fine. He then turned towards the direction of the front of the vehicle. "Jenica! Keep our guest safe while we get rid of our new friends!"

The man—she refused to refer to him by his name—looked as if he threw something before suddenly vanishing right before her eyes in a flash of blue light just as the truck came to an abrupt halt. It was during that moment when she felt a hand being placed on her shoulder and her head jerked in the direction where it came from, her gaze meeting the blurred sight of a woman with pale hair tied back in a ponytail.

She recognized this woman as Jenica.

"Don't worry. You're safe with me." Jenica told her, and she could just make out the gentle smile that graced her lips.

She frowned at this.

They—the Kingsglaive, as she now realized—were quick to assume she was worried about getting killed. However, what they didn't know was that she wasn't worried about her own safety, or even their own—she was more than aware that their group could handle things easily. Her worries went beyond their current situation, because she knew she wasn't supposed to be here.

At all.

But isn't this a dream, you ask?

Normally, that would be the case and her vision would be 20/20, all while being in a scenario that was a whole lot safer than the current one. Unfortunately, this wasn't the case as her vision was complete shit due to not having either her glasses or contact lenses. Not to mention she wouldn't be in her pajamas if this were a dream.

Victoria turned around just in time for a fright as a dark shape made a mad dash for the truck, only for a glowing barrier to suddenly appear at the last minute to block the assault. Head whipping to her right, she saw Jenica with her arms stretched out in front of her as she held the barrier in place, only to quickly dispel the barrier to deliver the killing blow to the fiend. Even though she couldn't make out any details of the dead creature, Victoria couldn't tear her gaze away from its form as her mind seemed to solely focus on how still it was. She was more than aware of the fact that it was trying to kill her and that Jenica was only protecting her, but for some reason her mind was having trouble registering this simple concept.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Victoria was snapped out of her thoughts at the hand that was placed on her shoulder and turning to face the owner revealed it was Jenica. She didn't know what to say to such a question, seeing as nothing was okay with the situation she was currently in. Sadly, she couldn't tell her that, so she settled with the go-to response.

"…I'm fine." She replied.

She couldn't make out her expression, but she assumed Jenica was satisfied with her answer before she stood up and turned to face the returning members of her team, and she could make out the female Glaive placing her hands on her hips.

"You missed one, Áedán!"

"Still got to job done. I knew you had it covered so I wasn't too worried." The redhead shot back lightheartedly.

"Don't listen to him!" The deep voice of Tobul sounded as she saw him approach the driver's side of the truck. "The hopeless flirt was too busy showing off that one slipped by us."

"Hopeless? I like to think there's more to me than that!"

"Sure. I guarantee there'll be more words for me to add to the list."

Victoria watched as Áedán's form vaulted over the side of the truck to get in the bed while a third person climbed in from the rear. At first she didn't know who it was, but as soon as she saw the color white she knew that it had to be none other than Delilah. Everyone got settled in the back of the truck and Áedán informed Tobul that everyone was on, allowing him to start the truck before taking off to their destination (which she assumed was a nearby haven where they set up camp).

"How's our guest, Jenica?" Áedán asked.

"She's doing well. Maybe a little shaken up from our close call earlier, but I think she'll manage." Jenica replied.

Áedán must've been satisfied with Jenica's answer since he changed the subject, though what she didn't expect was for his attention to turn to her.

"So, princess! I think it's high time for introductions, seeing as we weren't able to get around to it thanks to our earlier skirmish. You probably figured it out already, but I'm Áedán. You already know Jenica, but the guy driving is Tobul, and lastly, we have Delilah. Now it's your turn."

"I'm Victoria." She told him.

"Victoria, huh? Got a last name to go with that?"

She anticipated this happening, and thankfully she managed to figure out an alias as far as her surname was concern since her real one would be considered too outlandish for the denizens of Eos.

"It's Peregrinus."

"So…Victoria Peregrinus." It looked like Áedán went to lean forward in his spot across from her. "That's a bit of a mouthful, so I'll just call you 'princess'."

…What!?

"You can just call me 'Victoria', you know." She offered lamely.

"Nope, still calling you 'princess'!"

She could just imagine the stupid smile that was likely on his face with how happily he said those words. It also didn't help that he sounded like Johnny Yong Bosch—or did he sound more like Joe Zieja? She couldn't tell which one, but his voice certainly sounded like it was one or the other!

"So what were you doing out in the wilderness without any weapon? You are aware of how dangerous it is out here, right?"

Victoria wasn't expecting his sudden question, and she knew better than to reveal that she came from a place where all of this was nothing but a video game. Yeah, that'd go as well as someone drinking sour milk and believing they won't get sick (which was a strange analogy to make but still got the point across). Oh yeah, he was expecting some sort of answer!

"I was out looking for supplies."

"In your pajamas? And barefoot?" She could clearly hear the skepticism in his voice.

Not good…

"Desperate times. To be fair, I didn't think it'd take me that long to search, so I didn't bring anything with me."

Áedán was quiet, and she couldn't help the anxiety she felt knowing he was aware of her lies. Again, she couldn't just tell him the truth without being considered crazy, so what else was she supposed to do?

"Where are you from originally?" He then asked.

Okay, this was definitely something she was prepared to answer.

"I used to live in Insomnia with my parents…but I got separated from them when Niflheim attacked."

A partial lie, but true only because she was separated from her parents. Thinking about it was making her homesick.

"Really? I don't recall seeing you before."

"You do realize the population of the Crown City was massive enough for anyone to hide in plain sight, right? As far as you know, we never crossed paths until now."

"True. But even if we did, I think I'd remember someone as cute as you."

Victoria's face heated up and she could hear the other Glaives groaning in response to Áedán's words.

"That's it! The word 'shameless' is being added to the list!" Tobul exclaimed.

"That's what I'm talking about, Tobul! I knew you could do it!"

It was only then that she was aware of how cold it was as she started shivering; the presence of a warm sun being blocked by cloudy gray skies while the breeze of the truck's movement brushed by them. She found it baffling how she hadn't noticed this earlier, but maybe that was because the shock of being in a different world and the danger from the when they were attack by fiends.

"Hey, princess. You alright over there?"

Victoria was confused by what Áedán meant, only to realize that he must've noticed her shivering. She opened her mouth to speak, but just as she was about to answer he suddenly stood up (much to Tobul's complaints) and before she knew it, something large was being placed around her shoulders. The first thing she noticed was the warmth that emanating from it, followed by the fact that Áedán was crouching in front of her missing his coat—

Wait, coat?

It didn't take her long to realize that the thing wrapped around her shoulders WAS Áedán's coat and that she had a clear view of the t-shirt he wore underneath said coat!

"Wait, this is your coat!" She exclaimed.

"Yeah, so?"

"I can't take this!"

She tried shrugging off the coat, only for a pair of fingerless gloved hands to grab ahold of the collar to keep it closed around her form—preventing her from taking it off.

"Yes, you can."

"But—!"

Victoria's words were cut short when she realized how close Áedán was. Even with her nearsightedness she could make out some of his facial features, such as his green eyes, chiseled face, and the deep scar that ran along his right cheek at an angle (going from the middle of his cheek to the middle side of his nose). There was also the fact that he clearly had an athletic body if the way his shirt seemed to cling to his chest and the appearance of his arms were any indication. It didn't take long for her to become flustered at his close proximity—much to his amusement if the smirk forming on his lips was any indication—and she presumed he was more than aware of his own attractiveness.

"Something wrong, princess?" Áedán ask, acting all innocent despite the knowing smirk on his face saying otherwise.

"N-no! N-nothing's wrong!" She stuttered, her face becoming increasingly warmer by the second.

The auburn-haired Glaive merely chuckled, having won the little disagreement over his coat. His hands released the grip they had on the collar of the coat before taking a seat right beside her, his arm brushing against her making her acutely aware of just how close he was sitting to her and the warmth that seemed to radiate off his form; she had a feeling he was sitting next to her so he could run interference if she tried to remove the coat.

Despite the embarrassment Victoria felt, her thoughts were soon distracted by the confusion she felt when it came to Áedán himself. Back home he had merely been another avatar she created for Comrades to invest time in. Now that she was here that was no longer the case, and not only was he an actual character but he had his own sentience to go along with a personality she never would have anticipated.

He was seemingly easygoing, having a confidence that made her a little envious (but only a little), not to mention being very flirtatious—possibly to the extent of being shameless, if Tobul's words were anything to go by. But there was still a level of concern and kindness he'd shown her, such as helping her calm down when her anxiety was getting the best of her and giving her his own coat because she was cold. Aside from all this, she didn't know who he was now that he was a real person.

'Is this how a writer feels when it comes to seeing their main character for the first time on the big screens?' She wondered.'Or maybe when they're brought on set of a movie based on their first novel as a consultant and meet the cast?'

Either way, this situation concerning Áedán was proving to be a very surreal experience.

The truck suddenly came to a halt before its engine cut off. At first Victoria was confused as to what was going on until she heard the telltale sound of a door opening and shutting, indicating someone leaving a vehicle (Tobul); looking around she saw Jenica and Delilah were getting out as well. Beside her Áedán had gotten up and she thought he was going to leave, for him to soon offer his hand to her.

"C'mon." He told her.

Victoria didn't hesitate to take his hand so that he could help her to her feet, and as soon as she was up she noticed just how big the coat was on her (coming down past her knees) and how she was practically swimming in it. She didn't have time to think much on it as Áedán guided her to the back of the truck (that she saw was upon once she got close enough to make that detail out). Letting go of her hand, he was the first to jump out before turning to face her; thinking he was going to help her down from the truck bed she held out her hand so he could do so, but what she didn't expect was for the auburn-haired Glaive to suddenly pull her out and practically cradled her in his arms.

"W-what are you doing?!" She exclaimed, shocked by the sudden turn of events.

"Carrying you, of course." He replied simply.

"Why?"

"Simple: you're barefoot and that won't work so well with this terrain. You could trip and easily scrap your knees or something."

"But-!"

"Just accept it, princess. I'm carrying you no matter how much you complain."

Victoria opened her mouth to say something but fell silent as her face went red. She was worried about being too heavy for him to carry even with all the weight she'd recently lost over the last few months, so naturally she was going to be self-conscious when it came to that topic. So far Áedán hadn't made any comment regarding that, but it was possible he wasn't saying anything in order to score some brownie points with her.

That still didn't stop her from worrying.

"Where are we?" She asked, deciding it was high time to change the subject.

"We're at a haven. Can't you tell?"

She was silent, unsure of what to say. She couldn't tell, seeing as her vision was so blurred that all she could really make out was a vague shape in the distance…and did she see lights? The Glaive came to a stop, seeming to have gone tense, and out of confusion she looked up at him to see that he was regarding her.

"…What?"

"Can you make out the scar on my right cheek?" He suddenly asked, his voice having lost the playful tone it had earlier.

She was surprised how his demeanor seemed to change all of a sudden, but silently she complied as she looked at his right cheek where she knew the scar was. It turned out she had the squint, but even then she could only just make it out without having to get closer to his face.

"Barely." She admitted.

He let out a sigh.

"Your vision is shit."

Victoria couldn't help but laugh at this, and Áedán seemed to relax a bit in response. She hadn't expected him to say something like that, but it seemed to have helped put her at ease despite knowing she was in a different (and dangerous) world. Even though she knew this was a temporary reprieve from her worries, it was something that she needed in a world she knew would eventually be covered in darkness.

Small moments like these would be very vital in the coming days…

"Out of all the thing you could've said, that's the one you want to go with?" She asked.

"It got you to smile!" He shrugged before he continued walking towards the haven. "Anyways, we know that you're practically blind, and unfortunately we didn't see any glasses when we found you."

'Of course you wouldn't. Last I check I had placed those on my nightstand before going to bed, and I know better than to sleep with my contacts in.' She thought.

"I guess seeing an optometrist is out of the question, huh?"

"Pretty much, seeing how much things have changed recently."

So it was likely a matter of resources, and even she knew it's be a waste to use said resources to make her glasses. And even if they could, it sounded like there wasn't anyone to examine her eyes to give her the prescription she needed for any pair of glasses.

"Can you tell me why we're stopping at a haven?" She asked.

"Due to the nature of our job, our missions tend to take up an entire day to complete." Áedán explained. "So we set up camp when we arrive on site, complete our task, and then return to Lestallum the next morning while it's still light out."

As they got closer, Victoria noticed that there were bright lights set up around the circumference of the raised ground that the haven was established on. Soon enough Áedán was climbing up a slope and she could just make out the tents and equipment set on, along with realizing that the bright lights were, in fact, flood lights whose beams were projected towards the world outside the circle. She recalled how the lights themselves had been a thing when she played Comrades, but she didn't think much of it at the time; now that she saw them in person, she couldn't help the confusion she felt as the auburn-haired Glaive lowered her to the ground before going off to get some work done (whatever that might've been).

Curiosity got the best of her as Victoria knelt down to examine the runes close to one of the flood lights, tracing the foreign symbols engraved on the rocky surface of the haven. Upon closer inspection, she noticed how the blue glow of the runes seemed to be dimmer than they should've been (especially so, seeing as the sky was gradually getting darker as the evening progressed), At first she thought this might've been due to this section of the runes being close to the flood light and when over to a different section away from any artificial lighting (even the smaller lights that were scattered around the inside of the campsite), only to find that the result was the same. Victoria wondered why this was, only for her face to go pale as realized something…no, remembered a very important detail!

Lunafreya was dead.

If she remembered correctly, one of the Oracle's responsibilities being to create and maintain the runes that gave the havens their ability to ward off daemons. And the fact Ardyn had killed Lunafreya meant there was no one to reinforce the power of the runes.

The runes were starting to lose their power.

The remaining Glaives and Hunters knew this fact and in response set up the flood lights as a preemptive measure to help keep the havens safe.

Having played Final Fantasy XV, she was more than aware of how dangerous things were at night, but now that truth was even more terrifying since she was no longer hiding behind the safety of a TV screen.

And her nearsightedness put her at a clear disadvantage.

"Is everything okay?"

Victoria's head shot in the direction the feminine voice came from and saw the form of a woman standing over her, and from what she could tell it looked like she was wearing dark clothing. She also noticed that her hair looked short as well, though she couldn't make the color.

"Y-yeah. It's just…things have been a bit stressful lately." She replied.

"That's understandable. It seems stress has become more prevalent over the last six months due to the nights getting longer, and that's not mentioning the skies gradually getting cloudier lately." The woman told her. "I'm Monica, by the way."

Monica?! As in the Crownsguard Monica?!

'Crap!'

To be fair, she should've expected this to happen since Monica was one of the characters that would show up to cook food for the Glaives after missions. How could she have forgotten this detail?

'You forgot because your stupid anxiety and Áedán's shameless flirting has been distracting you this whole time.'

Okay, there might be some truth to that…

"…I'm Victoria." She introduced herself.

"I heard. Áedán mentioned his team finding you on their way back from their mission today. Every now and then we encounter refugees and bring them to Lestallum."

"So you're taking me back to Lestallum, then?"

"That is the plan. I'm sure you're must be hungry, so why don't you join us for dinner tonight?" Monica suggested, offering Victoria a hand to help her stand. "I'm aware that you can't see much, but perhaps you can help me set the table."

Victoria couldn't help the smile that formed on her lips as she followed after the older woman. Finally, she had something she could do instead of sitting around doing nothing! Thankfully, Monica was patient with her as she pointed out where things were within the larger tent that was acting as a temporary kitchen (all while steering clear of the communication equipment that was set up). It didn't take long for Victoria to get the table set up and soon enough dinner was ready to be served.

"It might not be must, but it's the best we can do with the food we can scavenge." Monica told her as the two took plates over to the table just as the Glaives were coming over.

Even if it had been a game, Victoria knew the implications of the food shortage that was going to happen. Natural wildlife was in danger, plant life was slowly dying…all these things would only get worse as time went by, and there was only so much canned food that could go around. Knowing this, she would do her best to avoid complaining.

"When life gives you lemons, right?" She quipped.

The evening passed without much incident as everyone ate and talked with each other. Despite not knowing what it was she was eating, she didn't complain since food was food, and she didn't want to come off as ungrateful. Eventually it came time to for everyone to head to bed and Delilah was nice enough to share a tent with her that night.

At first Victoria's dreams weren't anything out of the ordinary as she found herself in a beautiful green landscape with the sun shining brightly in an equally beautiful blue sky. Everything was fine, but soon she noticed how things started to change. The sky had gotten dark as clouds covered the sun, causing the land to turn dark as well, but what she didn't expect was for the dark clouds to become an ominous red hue that bled into the rest of her surroundings. The area changed, the once green land became barren, and things became worse as she spotted forms emerging from pools of darkness coming from the ground, ranging from sizes small to large. Fear overwhelmed her as the forms started to stalk towards her, but before she could find what the forms were, she found herself waking up within the tent she was sharing with Delilah, the female Glaive herself sound asleep. She could still feel her heart racing as she slowly realized she was awake.

What the hell was that dream—that nightmare—she had?!

She tried her best to calm herself down, but just as she was making progress, she heard strange noises that made her freeze in fear.

What was that noise?

Why did it fill her with so much fear?

Hesitantly, Victoria crawled out of the tent carefully so she wouldn't wake up her tent mate, and as soon as she was outside her dilated eyes were assaulted by the brightness of the flood lights and forcing her to cover them with her arms. Once her eyes managed to adjust to the lighting she lowered her arms before cautiously looking around her surroundings for the source of the noise, but it didn't take her long as she heard it once more.

It wasn't just one sound, but multiple, and from what she could tell she could hear…hissing? Growls? Moans? She couldn't tell, but it was enough to make her look out at the horizon outside the haven. There didn't seem to be anything—!

There!

Beyond the reaches of the bright beams of the flood lights were what appeared to be glowing lights, but they were too far to make out anything else. But something else that caught her attention was what looked like a large glowing slab, its color making her think of fire.

Wait…was it moving?

It didn't take long for Victoria's eyes to widen in horror as she realized it was actually the flaming sword carried by red giants!

If her poor vision was only able to make out the blade of a red giant, just what else was roaming out there beyond the safety of the flood lights?! For all she knew, the possibility of there being more daemons hiding in the darkness was very high. There was no doubt that they were more than aware of the humans camping within the protection of the haven, so close yet so far out of their malicious reach. If anything, the noise coming from the daemons had gotten more vocal since she emerged from the tent, as if acknowledging that they knew she had become aware of their existence lurking in the darkness and wouldn't allow her to forget that detail if they could help it.

Almost like a dark promise.

Victoria fell to her knees, covering her ears in an attempt to block out the noise.

'Lemonade from lemons.'

She was around people who were capable of keeping her safe.

'Lemonade from lemons.'

Things will get better once Noctis comes back 10 years from now.

'Lemonade from lem—!'

She let out a quiet gasp. No matter how much she repeated mantra to herself it did little to reassure her. Her anxiety was getting the best of her despite her efforts to reign it in. She knew Noctis would return 10 years later, but there was no guarantee she'd survive that long.

There was no guarantee she'd return home.

She'd never see her family again.

She used to worry about things such as (but not limited to) finding a job, paying taxes and making car payments. But now that all seemed so trivial in the face of the living nightmare she'd been dropped head first into. She was doomed to live in fear in a world that was slowly dying before everyone's eyes with the only thing keeping anyone safe from the daemons was artificial lighting.

Was this what it was like to feel despair?

'...I want to speak to life's manager.' She thought helplessly.

ATE: Thanks for reading this chapter!

The name Peregrinus is Latin in origin, basically meaning "traveller", "foreigner", or "pilgrim". This name was picked on purpose for obvious reasons.

If you're wondering what Áedán looks like, search for Aerith-The-Evenstar over on deviantart and look under the the folder labeled "Fan Art - Final Fantasy XV".

Leave a review and let me know what you think of things so far!