Final Fantasy XV-2
Dawn
Chapter 5
Warrior of Light
There have been many times Prompto felt genuine terror, and not the meek apprehensive fear when going up a rather nasty looking monster or when Noctis would brush concerns aside just to show off.
This was certainly one of those times.
Running down the corridor with Gladio and the others, abandoning the Nilfheim emperor and his cronies. Gun held out as he trailed behind the party, occasionally looking over his shoulder to see if they were being chased by them. His heart hammered wildly, fear coursed through him as all sorts of horrible ideas came to flood his mind.
The two guards were nothing but sell-outs, traitors that no doubt must've been planted by the emperor himself. Yet his mind ran wild with worry, who was to say those were the only ones that were disguised as guards for them? Vitae and the other children could be in danger.
'Ignis! God damn it, answer!', Gladio growled as he hung up his phone.
'Where is specs when we need him?', Prompto cursed, as they descended down the stairs and headed for the council room.
His answer came in the form of inhuman yells. Before them were to the two glaives shock were a set of magitek soldiers. Clearly though they've been upgraded, no longer with the green mutant looking faces, instead they were grey as steel with piercing robotic red eyes that glowed. Heavy pauldrens that looked the size of Gladio's head, limbs armoured with black and red steel with spikes around the knees and elbows. Each of them carried long dual edged swords and axes alike.
The moment their empty eyes fell upon them, three of them charged forward, arms dangling behind them. Gladio, without hesitation, leapt before the group with a swipe of his sword. Easily cleaving them in half as Prompto took one shot at them, his bullet flying and piercing right between the eyes of another. Aurora let out a scream of terror, burying herself into her mother to hide her eyes.
'Prompto, get them out of here!', Gladio ordered, evading a wild stroke from the machine man.
Gladio then brought his great sword down and crushed the magitek soldier, shaking the ground around them as he turned and with one thrust, plunged the sword through two. Prompto grunted, looking between Iris and Gladio before he nodded. 'Ok, I'll grab the kids and we'll make a run for it out of the Citadel!', he said, pushing Iris to the stairs that led further down.
'Make sure you come back alive big guy!', Prompto ordered.
Gladio gave his friend a chuckle as they left him to what he did best. As the magitek soldiers' eyes fell to the running pair, Gladio quickly demolished another with a roar. He stood at the stairs, great sword hunched on his shoulder as his amber coloured eyes were alit with fire. 'You want them? You're gonna have to bring a damn army!', Gladio bellowed. Gladio gripped his blade with both hands as his stance shifted into a more aggressive one, the blue light glowed on the sword just like it did after his trial.
"Don't worry Noct", he thought. "You're kid isn't gonna die here".
A combination of guilt and rage boiled within Gladio's heart, he put his king's, his brother's daughter in danger. Careless of himself, he berated how he didn't see through the guise of the emperor or how he didn't let Iris leave sooner. Not again though, he snarled at the magiteks that ran towards him. Insomnia had the pain and sadness of being the final resting place of Regis and Noctis, and he'll be damned if he lets a third Lucis die here.
*?*
Light as a feather, serene and at peace.
Weightless and blissfully unaware of all around, yet safe and secure.
'Hey, mind if I ask a favour?', his voice called, soft but shy.
'What?', they ask, patient.
'Its…nah, forget it'.
'No, you can't do that. Now I'm very curious'.
He sighs good naturedly, running a hand through his hair. In this space and time, despite the years they had spent, they were surprised he still had difficulty opening up them. He turned to them with a look, one they knew was reserved for those he trusted above all else.
'I need you to keep her safe', he asks. 'From everyone or anything that wants to hurt her'.
'The child of Light?', they asked.
'Yeah…', he said sadly.
'She has friends and family to shield her from the darkness, just as you did', they reminded.
'I know…and I know specs and the others will go above and beyond to make sure she grows to be a queen greater then I would be king. But, the things to come', he murmured but his voice grows softer and weaker with each syllabi.
'How could I? I am bound to this place, it is a part of me as the ring is to you', they asked.
He chuckles softly, it was a lovely sound they agree. 'Trust me, there will be a way for you to leave here. But when you do…can you promise me you'll protect her?'.
The trust he displayed for them, it touched what they presume was a heart, a warmth unlike anything this place could grant them. The duty that would be upon them would be much to bear…
'…If it will help…'.
*Citadel*
Quickly, the two parents ran down the hallway that would lead them to the kids, Prompto had to reel himself to ensure he didn't leave the two behind in a panic. As much as he wanted to simply run through with all the speed his aging legs could give him to see his son safe, he still had his niece to protect.
Finally, they reached the room and Prompto all but kicked the door off its hinges in his speed, leaping in to find them.
Yet all he found was an empty destroyed room.
Eyes widened with terror as he looked among the carnage, furniture destroyed with signs of a struggle, and worst of all he spotted a trail of blood that reached the door frame. His blood ran cold as hundreds of scenarios ran through his mind, hands shook with fear. Could the guards that were assigned to this room been traitors too? Or did they try to protect them from the imperials?
He looked to see an equally terrified Iris, who refused to let Aurora see the blood, holding his close to her chest with her face firmly pressed against her shoulder. Prompto began to pace in his spot, hand against his forehead as his breathing started to quicken. "Astrals…Astrals please, don't let the empire take my son from me…", he mentally prayed. Suddenly, he gritted his teeth and with a frustrated yell, flipped a table aside.
He earned a small yelp of fear from Aurora and a gasp from Iris, his cool was starting to diminish as was his grip on his emotions. The mother couldn't blame him, she was barely holding it together herself and only had more control because her daughter was in her arms, safe. Prompto let out a grunt before he steadied himself using a chair, his body shaking. 'Prom…', Iris said slowly, gently placing a hand on his shoulder.
He didn't look at her but he didn't shrug off her kind gesture, which was a relief to the mother. 'M-Maybe Iggy got here first, or Cor', she offered. It wasn't necessarily an impossibility but it considering Ignis hasn't responded to their calls it felt like a dying hope than anything else. Prompto let out a shaky breath, looking like he was trying to hold himself together as he stood up properly. Turning to his family, he quickly led them out of the room.
Finally, his phone beeped. Quicker than a chocobo on ice, Prompto yanked his phone from his pocket and answered. 'Iggy?', he asked, walking onwards.
'Prompto! Thank the Six, I thought I lost you', replied his brother, relief in his tone. 'Where are you?'.
'I'm with Iris and Aurora! Iggy, the kids! They're not in the room!', Prompto said, getting to the point.
He heard a heavy curse from the other side of the line along with the sounds of battle, accompanied by gunfire. 'Prompto! Take Iris and Aurora to the throne room and hold up until we arrive! I'm already searching for Fulgur and the others!', ordered Iggy.
'Iggy, we hole up in there we're sitting ducks!', Prompto said, stopping his march.
'It's too dangerous to drive out of the Citadel, Prompto! The empire has dreadnaughts closing in on the building, you'll be demolished if you take a car!', Ignis warned. 'Take them to throne room and bar the doors!'.
He hung up before Prompto could argue, making the blond groan. However, once he was by a window, his friend's warning did hold merit when he saw the old ships from the past shadow the Citadel, slowly approaching with reinforcements or worse. Looking at Iris, who was clutching Aurora as tightly as she could with steely determination, Prompto nodded. 'Stay close to me', he instructed.
Turning back to the way they originally came, Prompto and Iris climbed the stairs once more. The top floor was not much farther than he worried, two more floors remaining anyways. They climbed up until they reached the second last floor but before they could round the corner to the next flight of stairs, Prompto suddenly grabbed Iris and yanked her back. A single blade chopped into the wooden rail of the stairs, stuck. Prompto took a single shot to the owner of the blade and added an empty socked to its mechanical head.
'Stay here!', he ordered.
Prompto climbed the stairs to see a massive amount of magitek soldiers slowly approaching them. Must have arrived as backup he thought to himself. He turned to Iris. 'I'll handle these jokers, you get going to the throne room!', he said.
'Prompto-
'No buts!', he said, his voice showing that rare sense of determination and strictness. He looked at Aurora with a gentler look, giving her a smile. 'You've got the kiddo, I've got this', he said. Iris opened her mouth to protest but slowly she closed her lips. He didn't know what it was she was looking at, but it was enough for her to trust his confidence and she readied to run. Quickly he turned and fired at least three bullets at the soldiers, hitting most of them in the right spots to rid himself a few.
While he fired, Iris ran around and up the stairs, just as the soldiers closed on them. But none managed to even touch the first step of the stairs, Prompto fired the remains of the first round of his gun and put the closest ones down first. Quickly reloading his revolver, Prompto aimed at the enemy. 'Sorry guys, that floor is off limits! Staff members and royalty only!', he said with a cocky grin.
Two soldiers ran at him, each wielding an axe. Prompto rolled underneath their swing, landing behind them. He shot one in the back of its metal head and once it dropped its axe, the blond glaive grabbed its axe and cleaved the other one just as it turned on him. Prompto then turned around and fired two more bullets at the group, hitting one in its eye but only grazed another's arm. Prompto cursed as he looked to his left in time to clumsily dodge another attack from a sword.
Landing on his side, he quickly rolled away and as he stood up, he fired one shot at his offending attacker. This time the bullet tore through its elbow, breaking the mechanical joints and severing the limb. Prompto then did a kick to the mechanical warrior, sending it tumbling over the banister and falling hopefully a few floors below him.
He rolled to his left when he spotted from the corner of his eye another soldier was aiming for his neck. Just barely scratching his neck to draw a smidgen of blood, but that was the only victory the glaive would give the machine. On one knee, Prompto took a shot and hit the soldier in the neck joints, breaking enough for the head's weight to break the flimsy remaining foundations and tumble off the body.
His gun clicking, Prompto ran a hand through his pockets for ammunition…to find none. Panic quickly clutched his heart as he looked down in dismay to find he was out of ammo.
It seemed the soldiers sensed his distress as they now suddenly began to charge towards him. But Prompto quickly pulled out one of those old imperial grenades he used years ago. While not the overall same design as previous, his wife made a much better version of it, and better it was. He tossed it and leapt backwards just as the device landed in the middle of the horde.
Seconds later, a large electromagnetic ball covered at least nearly all the soldiers there, a violet dense fog of lightning shadowed them all as the stood rigid, lightning dancing around their metal forms. Once the lightning ceased, the soldiers that were hit by it, all collapsed into lumps of metal, with only two remaining. Prompto wasted no time, he ran towards the machines, plucking the axes their carried and with a yell, he cleaved one in half by slicing its waist and then crushed the head of another.
Panting, the blond dropped the weapons once he was sure the soldiers were no longer functioning, then placed his hands on his knees and bent over to catch his breath. It had been so long since he ran this much and combined with fighting for his life, he never felt so winded since the final fight with Ardyn all those years ago.
'I'm getting too old for this crap', he chuckled weakly, wiping the sweat off his forehead. He stood up properly and begun to inspect the soldiers in the hopes of finding some ammunition or other firearms. Much to his dismay he found they carried nothing that could be used proficiently by himself, save for one or two grenades. As helpful as they were, anyone with a brain would know just having grenades on your person wasn't much of advantage.
Prompto, with great reluctance, had to move on though. But before he could, he looked down to see a red dot upon his chest. With a shocked cry, Prompto rolled aside just as a loud "boom" like sound echoed in the empty halls. A whistling sound tickled his ears as the large window at the end of the hall way suddenly smashed to pieces behind him. Hiding behind a wall, Prompto pressed himself against it as he collected his thoughts, sweat racing down his forehead.
Slowly and as careful as he could, he peered to see if the shooter was in sight but all he saw was an empty corridor before him. Puzzled, the blond looked at where the shot flew to and could see little remained on the window frame save for one or two shards of glass, the rest spilled on the floor. Prompto grunted as he risked it all and made a dash for the stairs, needing to get out of the hall before his killer made another shot. He reached the stairs and made a mad run up them.
Yet no sooner did he reach the next floor, a barrage of bullets flew at him just before his feet could stand over the stairs. Prompto ducked behind the banister, bullets whizzing above him. But then, they suddenly stopped. The smells of smoke and gunfire filled the air, and it only made the glaive feel apprehension when he gripped for his empty gun, making him realize just how out-matched he was in his current predicament.
He reached his grenade and took a breath, he was about to take a big risk but he needed to keep moving. Prompto tossed the grenade in the direction of the bullets came from and then ducked behind cover again, placing both hands against his ears and keeping his head low. The explosion was a more powerful type compared to Cindy's except it only demolished the area, and Prompto was fairly certain if anyone actually claimed ownership of this place he'd was certain he'd be in debt for the next seven generations.
When the explosion was over, he peeked to see naught but smoke. Hoping he took out his assailant, Prompto made his way. The stairs sadly ended here and the next flight were on the other end of the corridor, and a part of him prayed he didn't just destroy the structure of the steps.
That was the least of his problems.
Suddenly, he fell forward with a grunt. He turned himself to see his legs were wrapped in some form of wire all the way from his feet to his thighs. Then as if that wasn't enough, the blond was then pulled with immeasurable strength and speed all the way down the corridor. He struggled and tried to grab for something to stop this unwanted journey but the wires pulled him too fast for him to do anything but touch things to grab.
He was pulled right through the glass doorway and he fell right into the old royal gardens. With a heavy thud, Prompto slammed onto the muddy withered ground with a crack. Prompto let out a gasp of pain, his uniform was torn from the glass, pain erupted around his arms in particular. Looking at them, he found several tears in the uniform and the colour was darkening with red, plus his head rang and he felt the trickling of blood rush down from his forehead.
Yet to his relief the wires wrapped around his legs loosened and were easy to remove from his limbs. Prompto tore them off and attempted to stand but he fell on his knee, gasping and grunting with pain. He looked and found his right leg was embedded by a shard of glass, he must have fallen on it. Prompto forced himself to remove the shard, carefully grabbing it with his thumb and finger. Despite the difficulty of the blood making his fingers slicker, the blond managed to pry the shard out far enough to use all of his hand to remove it.
Tossing the red glossed glass aside, Prompto hobbled over to the old fountain. He used to stable himself, giving him time to inspect himself. His leg was aching with pain, any weight put on it was a sure ticket to painsvile, his arms stung but he felt no real damage was done to them to the point of being unusable thankfully. His head felt heavy and the cut was beginning to hurt. Looking behind him, the blond felt his morale drop when he saw how far he fell, at least two floors.
'What I wouldn't give for pair of wings', he groaned.
But his flight would have to wait, because Prompto turned to see the sniper perched upon one of the old pillars. The gender was hard to determine due to the armour but Prompto knew they weren't a magitek, their armour looked more human fitted. Their headset was certainly worth his attention, as it was outfitted with an impressive goggles, three scopes upon their forehead in three sizes like a camera.
Also their gun looked worrisome he found.
The sniper leapt down and a few steps before him, helmet hiding their face. Prompto felt for the grenade in his pocket, knowing it'd be close but if he could toss it at the right moment, he could escape from them.
Yet this was not to be…
Suddenly the sniper pulled out a revolver from their hip and fired directly into his left knee. Prompto let out an agonizing scream, falling on to his side as the blood seeped from his wound and onto the ruined pathways.
The gunner tossed the revolver aside, and approached Prompto, as he clutched his leg, cursing and gritting his teeth. Despite the searing pain, he managed to glare defiantly at the sniper, currently training their gun at him.
Sweat ran down his forehead, throat tightening as millions of thoughts and memories rushed through his mind, realizing this was his final moment. His fist clenched, mustering up his courage to face his demise with pride, Prompto gave his killer one final glare as the gun cocked…
*BANG*
And down went the sniper with a heavy thud. Behind them, was a shaken Vitae carrying the same revolver that took Prompto's leg. His skin pale as milk as his shoulders shook with shock, the gun slipped through his shaking hands and landed with a clatter to the ground.
Prompto let out a breath of relief as he struggled to get back to his feet, but the pain and adrenaline wearing off was too much for him, body wrecked with fatigue. Vitae however ran to his dad and knelt before him. The boy looked close to crying, whether it was seeing his father in such a bad state or the fact he just shot someone, Prompto wasn't sure. He shakily held his father but Prompto pulled him into a tight hug.
'Prompto!'.
He looked to see Gladio racing towards him, the old guard no better looking than he. His uniform was in tatters and practically destroyed, his torso completely exposed with only a shred of cloth around his left shoulder and arm, pants thankfully faired better. But Prompto spotted a new deep cut upon his left bicep, bleeding but nothing vital, a fresh cut on the shoulder too.
Immediately seeing his friend's leg, Gladio quickly knelt down to inspect it. 'Shit, this doesn't look good', he grunted. 'Gonna take a lot more than a potion'.
Prompto waved him off regardless, turning to his son. 'Vitae, where are the other kids?'. At this, Gladio looked at the boy, his eyes concealing his worry when he realized none of his daughters were with him. The boy gulped before he spoke. 'W-We heard gunshots from upstairs, but the adults wouldn't let us out'.
'Did they say why?', Gladio asked.
'No, but Fulgur said their accent was off and he didn't recognize them', he added.
Prompto wouldn't put it past Ignis to allow his son to see who he'd employ or interview for the guard duty. After all it would help teach Fulgur how to memorize people or teach him how to look out for dangerous people. 'So what did he say?', Gladio inquired.
Vitae then pulled out an old Lucian key, despite the design looking by-gone Prompto could see it was still in perfect condition. 'He showed us a secret door in that room, saying Ignis choose that room specifically for us', he said. Although the fathers were relieved that Ignis would think ahead and had a secret way for the kids to be safe, it still perplexed Prompto why he wasn't informed of this. But regardless, Prompto had other concerns.
'Well, where are they?'.
*Throne Room*
Iris had no memory of the throne room despite her many visitations to the Citadel, which are plentiful, but entering here, it felt like she was entering sacred grounds.
The room was in such pristine condition, no doubt due to the maids Ignis hired for this specific room, even the throne looked like how Gladio used to describe it to her all those years ago. Thankfully the two managed to get to this point without being attacked by the empire's forces, and no sooner did she made sure Aurora was safe, she used whatever she could to barricade the doors. Mannequins of armour, old weapons and any movable furniture would slow them.
Panting, the adrenaline finally wearing off and after running at least four flights of stairs up, Iris all but collapsed against a wall and slid down to rest. Sweating and lungs burning, she berated herself for not bringing a weapon to defend herself and Aurora.
Speaking of which…
She turned to see her daughter staring at the old monument below where the throne rested, hand pressed against the marble. Iris slowly stood back up, though wearily, and joined her daughter. The child hadn't moved from her spot, eyes keenly fixed on the etchings on the stone. Iris' own eyes watered when she sees what it is that held her daughter's attention.
'Noctis…Lucis Caelum the CXIV…?', Aurora said aloud.
Hearing the name of her daughter's father on her lips sounded so loving but heart wrenching at the same time. But that wasn't the end.
'Mama…who was he?', she asked.
Iris turned to meet her own daughter's eyes, alit with confusion and sadness. 'Why is all this happening? And why are those people after me?', she asked. Iris' own eyes darkened as she clutched her arm, her heart raced with terror as Aurora's eyes bore into her like she was staring into the ocean of secrets her mother had kept from her all these years. 'They called me "princess", why? Am I a princess?', she persisted.
'Aurora…', Iris tried but the child stepped forward, her eyes watery as if Iris' hesitation was physically breaking her heart. 'WHO AM I!?', she cried. 'WHO WAS MY FATHER!? ARE YOU…!'.
Iris felt her heart wrench and stomach warp in pain, her own eyes felt moist and almost ready to allow the dam break. Yet Aurora's questions ceased when she unclenched her fists and the fire in her eyes were doused with genuine fear, as if she didn't want to know the answer to that question that was on the tip of her tongue.
'A-are…you even my mama…?', she whimpered.
The throne room had never been so silent, not even the passing of Noctis' could rival this. Iris felt all the breath she had just regained escape her and a numbness washed over her unlike anything she had ever experienced. Her heart shattered to pieces at this question, one she had prayed, pleaded and begged to never be uttered by Aurora, one Iris knew she could not answer without lying to her or breaking her own little heart.
Aurora seemed to take her own silence as a sign as she wrapped her little arms around herself, shaking as the tears ran down her cheeks uncontrollably. Iris felt her own eyes leak out her sadness, looking down at the marble floor in misery.
'…Your father, is Noctis Lucis Caelum'.
Aurora looked up at her mother, a little gasp escaped her when she saw her mother's tears running down her cheeks but she was smiling in such a heart breaking way. 'He was the prince of this city, but he gave his life, so save everyone from the Starscourge', she explained. Sniffling, Iris wiped the tears from her eyes in a vain attempt to compose herself. Aurora remembered Ignis' lessons about that incident, history lesson he was adamant to give.
Aurora was amazed Clavam and Fulgur were around that time, but they both looked so sad whenever it was brought up. Her memory managed re-collect a little bit of what her uncle said, that the sun was non-existent and there were daemons all over the place, and it was because of a brave man the light was restored to the world at a terrible cost. Her mother told her she was born at the end of the scourge.
'You…you were a gift from the Astrals, born from Noctis…and Lunafreya Nox Fluent', Iris said, but with each secret unveiled Aurora could hear the pain her mother was suffering from, to the point where she approached her. Tearfully she gave her a pleading look, as if begging her to stop but Iris just smiled sadly and continued, regardless of the pain.
'You were gifted to your uncles by the Messenger of the Astrals, and they, they wanted to let you have a life outside being a princess…but the council wanted to announce you to the world in order to establish a government, and let Insomnia have a ruler again'.
Iris hiccupped and choked back the sobs, kneeling down hug her daughter. 'B-But we wanted to let you have a normal safe and happy childhood, until those nightmares got worse', she said. Aurora placed her head upon her mother's shoulder, the words that filled her mind. 'I'm so sorry…I'm so sorry I lied to you…', Iris cried.
She broke the hug to face her daughter, *her* daughter, with a look that Aurora had never seen before. It intense, strong and fierce but sheltering a warmth and love she knew in her heart only her mother could show her.
'I love you, as my daughter. No matter whose blood made you, I want you to believe me when I say I loved you the very moment I met you', she promised.
No trace of a lie in her amber eyes, even tear stained cheeks just showed the pain but Aurora felt a surge of warm radiating in her heart, unlike any other feeling she could remember.
Suddenly the mother quickly grabbed her and turn around so that her back faced the door as she clutched Aurora in a cocoon like form. The doors exploded open, the objects barricading the door flew off into pieces as the smoke leaked into throne room. Iris shot back up to her feet and kept her daughter behind her, eyes steeled.
Typicus entered the room, followed closely by his magitek soldiers and Vocem. 'Ah, there you are', he said with a smug tone matching his face. Aurora hid herself behind Iris, the mother glared at him with disdain. 'Ah ah', he said, raising a hand and instantly the soldiers had their rifles trained on the two, particularly Iris. 'One false step my dear, and that child will become an orphan', he warned in a malicious tone that was attempting to guise as sympathy.
It only made her skin crawl with disgust.
'Now then, hand over the princess and you'll be spared', he said dismissively, as if waiting for a coffee.
'Over my dead body', Iris seethed.
'Iris see reason behind this!', Vocem said, joining the emperor's side. 'We can rebuild-
'You shut your mouth!', shouted the mother. 'You brought them here! All this is happening because of you!'.
If Vocem held any semblance of guilt or remorse for his actions he did an amazing job at hiding them, but Iris' outburst had certainly silenced him entirely. Typicus merely chuckled as he raised his hand to give the signal. 'Iris my dear, I only need the child. I'll still sleep if I add one casualty to my task', he said.
However before the emperor could give the order, something extraordinary happened.
In but a few seconds, the air in the entire room became colder to the point where everyone's breath could be seen in a plume of white smoke. Even Aurora had to wrap her arms around her to keep warm while everyone else looked at their visible breaths.
Yet it all paled in comparison when suddenly, a wall of pure ice formed in front of the emperor and his group, completely blocking their fire. Typicus looked at this wall, seeing Iris through the ice looking just as confused and surprised as he.
'Iris!'.
The mother turned around to see Fulgur and Calli pushing open a secret door just on the right side of the steps that climbed up the throne. 'Hurry!', he said, gesturing the exit. Quickly, Iris grabbed Aurora and ran into the passage way, looking over her shoulder one last time to see the enraged emperor.
Inside, she turned to see Clavam and Forex by the steps that led further down while the boys closed the door behind Iris. 'Think that'll stop them?', Forex asked, her voice was high with fear. 'I dunno, do you think a bomb can break that wall?', Fulgur asked, looking at Calli.
' I-I dunno, I never made a wall that big before', panted the blond haired child.
Iris turned to the blond, eyes alit with surprise but then shifted into worry when she saw him shaking with obvious exertion and weariness. His skin was pale too and he was sweating up a storm. 'C-Calli, was that wall "your" doing?', she gasped. Calli weakly nodded, before he almost fell down but was saved from plummeting down to the ground by Fulgur.
'Can we worry about that later!? We gotta get to dad!', Clavam said, gesturing the passage way.
'Where does this lead?', Iris asked.
'I dunno! I've been following Fulgur!', replied her niece.
'Father said if we follow the instructions', he explained, showing Iris his phone with the notes his father had added to it. 'It will lead us outside the city and to a haven'.
Iris nodded, letting Aurora stand on her own two feet as she carried Calli, knowing the boy was not able for the task at hand, and they couldn't afford to slow down now. 'Let's go then', she ordered. The company ran down the stairs, Fulgur calling out which direction they were to take with each turn and corner, pathways and stairs. Being down here in these old paths reminded the mother of her childhood, all because she chased a cat.
Now here again with children, running for her life and protecting her own daughter.
Fate has a strange sense of humour.
But it can also be very cruel…
The ground shook as a low booming sound echoed in the distance with enough force to shake the party to fall. Unfortunately for Fulgur, his fall caused the phone to slip from his hand and bounce into a grate just a few steps before him, slipping into the darkness. Cursing, Fulgur scrambled to the grate but all he could see was darkness and the sounds of running water going into the lower depths of the waterway.
'Crap, the heck was that?', Clavam asked, getting to her feet and helping her sister.
Looking at the boy, he gave them a look of dismay, shame in his eyes. No phone meant no map, and no sure pathway to safety. Hope diminished from the group when they heard yelling and a clamour of metallic footsteps fast approaching them.
While Iris paced and tried to think of the old pathway she used years ago, her daughter turned to see down another path was that little boy again. The child gestured her to follow him urgently, blue eyes wide with fear for them. Now the child was well-aware and versed in never trusting strangers, child or adult, but there was an oddity to the boy Aurora couldn't help but feel a sense of trust for him.
'Mama, look!', she said, pointing at the boy.
Her mother followed her gaze but only caught the running child for a fraction of second. 'This way!', Aurora ordered, following the boy in a sprint. Followed closely by the sisters, Iris grunted before, with great hesitation, followed suit with Fulgur trailing closely behind them.
The mysterious boy led them from a great distance worryingly enough, as no matter how quick the princess ran she could never even get close enough to see his face entirely. It was like chasing a chocobo on foot, the boy seemed to know where he was going without slowing down. Apprehension filled both Iris and Fulgur though, the mother was literally playing a game of hide and seek with the empire in a maze like dungeon.
Over the course of the run, they found themselves standing before an odd door. The door was made of stone with old Lucian inscriptions and lines that all together formed the royal sigil of the line of Lucis. 'What is this?', Fulgur asked, never seeing nor hearing of such door from his father. Even Iris wasn't aware of this door, even though Gladio had gone into great detail about the castle years ago, and even recently just as a heads up for her.
But their thoughts were stopped when they turned to see Typicus, Vocem and the soldiers arriving and holding them all at gun point. The emperor was panting, seemingly exhausted from the chase they caused, but upon seeing the door, his breath steadied as a look of victory seemed to wash over his face.
'This is it', he said, eyes fixated on the door. He gestured two soldiers to keep their arms on the children, forcing the kids to back up against the wall in fear as Aurora ran to her mother. But the emperor grabbed her arm before she got too close and yanked her away from Iris. The child shrieked in fear but one harsh glare from the emperor silenced her. Iris felt her heart leap into her throat, a sense of terror she hadn't felt before took hold of her form as she watched helplessly her child being dragged to the door.
'Open it', he ordered.
Aurora looked at the door and then at the emperor before she slowly and timidly, pressed both palms against the door. The door's runes begun to glow into a blue light, much like Noctis' old magic and slowly the light filled up the lines until the sigil shined in brilliant radiance of light. Slowly the doors opened apart with several bits of rubble breaking apart from the ancient doors.
Typicus dragged Aurora and ordered his men to bring Iris along, forcing her to leave Calli with his friends as they watched the emperor take away their friends into the chamber. Inside with only a handful of guards, both Vocem and Typicus forced the princess forward before an old blackened stone that somehow levitated above the ground between two pedestals, above and below it. Typicus glared at the stone before turning to the princess.
'Do you know what this?', he asked.
She shook her head, too afraid to open her mouth.
He smiled in a manner that sent shivers down her little spine, he then gestured the stone. 'This is remnants of this country's crystal, an object with power that made Insomnia the sole land untouched by the graces of my father's empire', he explained.
Iris looked at the stone in disbelief, unable to see even a figment of the original pure blue crystal in such a decaying state. If what Ignis told her was right, then the crystal should have been no more after Noctis was absorbed by it all those years ago. In that sense how did it even get here if all that took place within the Niflheim capital?
'Of course it has long lost its potency, thanks to your father', he said. 'But, if it can perform miracles, like say create a child from two divine beings like your mother and father, then who's to say what other miracles it can perform, under its rightful master?', he asked no one in particular.
He turned to the child, eyes darkening as his smile became more sinister. 'But now that we have what we need…you're not needed anymore'. 'Would you like to meet your father?'.
'AURORA!'.
They all turned to see the magitek soldiers being severed and struck down by Cor and Ignis, arriving just in time. Typicus turned on the spectacled man, now standing before him with daggers in hand and eyes burning.
'Well now, arriving in the nick time as usual, Scientia', he sneered.
Ignis' gaze narrowed as he held his daggers closer, his usual stance when he was about to strike. Typicus smirked as Cor dealt with the remaining soldiers after he knocked Vocem out cold. Eyes fixed on the emperor once he saw his friend dealing with the forces, Ignis stared down at him. 'You will leave Insomnia, either alive or as a corpse, it's your choice', Ignis said darkly.
'Oh? Whoever said I was leaving?', he asked. 'I intend to finish what my father started and have all of Eos be under the banner of the Niflheim empire'.
The emperor stretched out his arm and suddenly red crystal like shards formed and materialised into a sword. But not an imperial make, but Lucian made…
The Engine Blade, Noctis' sword.
'A remarkable weapon, though not to my taste but even I cannot disregard its quality', he mocked, eyeing the sword.
The very weapon his majesty used, a final gift from his father, a weapon that had saved their lives on so many occasions. The weapon of his brother, and here it was being sullied and carried by this traitorous scum.
Ignis snarled and attacked him.
Typicus duelled the right hand man of the former king, the engine blade was a heavy weapon yet in the emperor's hands it felt as if he was merely swinging a stick in terms of weight. Ignis slashed and swung his daggers in such a precise and calculated arcs that the emperor himself was amazed by how he was backing him into a corner.
Once caught in a deadlock, the emperor retracted a revolver from his suit jacket and aimed at the advisor. But years of sparring with Prompto had taught Ignis the ins and outs of a revolver, but more importantly how to deal with such. He tossed one dagger at the emperor, forcing him to dodge the blade. With his aim off, Ignis took this chance to deliver a kick to the emperor's stomach, knocking him backwards.
He fell and the sword flew out of his hand, flying across the ground and right before Aurora's feet. Ignis approached the emperor but to his annoyance he got back up and attacked him again, this time with a knife hidden within his sleeve. He managed to cut Ignis' arm with the surprise attack, forcing him to take a step back from the wild swings of the emperor.
As the fight continued, Aurora kept stepping back away from the fight, unaware as a magitek soldier, though severed in half but still functioning with what little it had, raised a gun at the princess. Iris' eyes caught the soldier as it steadied its arm…
BANG!
The entire antechamber fell into silence as the echoing of the gun ceased, all eyes fell to the source of the sound. The soldier was then decapitated by Cor in a fit of rage, but it was too late. His eyes fell to the direction of the shot…
Aurora was frozen on the spot, unmoving as her eyes widened. In her mother's embrace, slowly weakening as she begun to slump on her daughter's small form. 'M-Mama…', she whispered.
'I-I'm so sorry…Aurora…', gasped Iris.
Slowly, the Amicitia woman, Aurora's mother, fell to the side with a quiet thud. On her back, a red pool of blood begun to spread. Aurora staggered backwards, eyes never leaving her mother's form as her hands shook, skin ashen.
Typicus took this chance to finally deal with Ignis, as he turned and elbowed the horrified man in the jaw line and kicked him aside. With him out of the way, he aimed his revolver at the child, full intent on finishing what his machine had started.
The gun fired straight for the girl, but it never reached her.
A crystal barrier suddenly formed around the child and crystal, like shield. Aurora shook and fell to her knees, before she let out a cry of pure anguish. Her cries rang so loudly, the stone begun to crack and break apart, rays of brilliant light begun to pierce the stone cocoon until in a flash of light, destroyed its shell.
The crystal of Insomnia had been restored, and then, the entire room was bathed in a blinding light…
*?*
In this embrace again, this sense of safety and serenity that should put her soul at peace, felt like a thin veil of illusions.
She couldn't stop crying, breathing laboured and she coughed a few times in doing so, clutching onto this support for dear life.
'Oh Aurora…my dearest', the voice said in such a soft manner yet Aurora could hear the pain and loss within it this softness.
Aurora looked up to see Lunafreya once again, this time her own eyes were gleaming with loss and grief. Everything hurts, she mused, her heart felt like it was taken out of her, stomped into dust and then shoved back into her again.
'Mama…mama's…', she whimpered but couldn't bring herself to finish, instead she bawled into Lunafreya's stomach. A wave of sadness she never felt before, like a tidal wave crushing her and never letting up. Her mother's eyes dimming as the life was taken away from her, those beautiful amber eyes she'll never get to see again, to see the light up whenever she saw her daughter playing or smiling.
'I'm so sorry my dearest, Iris was…is such a wonderful person', she lamented, brushing her hair with her delicate fingers. Aurora sobbed and sobbed, unable to stop. 'Child, look at me, please', Lunafreya said, pleading.
Taking a deep breath, the princess slowly raised her eyes to her…mother's. Gently she placed a hand on her cheek. 'I'm so sorry. I'm sorry we kept so much from you', she said. Aurora wanted to be angry, this woman was her true mother, she was lied to all these years and now she lost Iris…yet she couldn't bring herself to be angry. Not even resentful, she felt a wave of guilt radiating from Lunafreya, a pain that felt like it was scarring her heart over and over again.
'Why?', she asked.
'Your father and I…we were doomed from the start to save our world from the darkness…it was only because of him, we were able to conceive you, to give you life', she explained. 'It tore my heart apart, watching you grow up but never being able to be there, teach you, protect you…loving you'.
No lies, only the purest truth she could feel in her words. 'Your father wanted to meet you for so long, but he cannot right now', she resumed. Aurora laid her head upon her shoulders, letting this woman, her mother, comfort and bring her safety. 'I know this pain is horrible, and it will not heal quickly, but do not let it control you, my dearest', she said.
Slowly the embrace broke as Lunafreya formed a small orb of light, gently placing it into her daughter's hands. 'Close your eyes, and feel', she explained.
Slowly with uncertainty, Aurora followed her mother's instructions. A warmth spread across her body, like a burning sun exploding from within. A joy that words could not describe, a light that only existed in fairy tales, a love that only a mother could replicate.
Aurora sees the past through the eyes of Iris, watching herself grow and play, from the day she spoke her first word, to her first steps, to the day she called Iris "mother". The happiness she gained from it, the love she created, it was…magical.
When the sensation ended, she was in Iris' embrace once more. 'I'm sorry Aura', Iris whispered.
'Don't go mama…don't leave me', she pleaded, voice shaking.
Gently cupping her chin to face her, Iris gave her a smile. 'I'm always with you, and you will never be alone. I promise', she said.
Slowly the embrace broke as Iris begun to fade into the light as Aurora floated away, her smile would be the last thing she would ever see from Iris.
Tears ran down her cheeks but soon she felt the embrace of someone new. She didn't care who it was, she needed someone, anyone to be there with her.
'Hi kiddo', the man said.
Aurora never heard this voice before, but it held no terror for her. It was gentle yet protective, old and wise. The embrace was something that reminded her of uncle Gladio, but not as big or firm. Instead it felt like she was somewhere safe, that nothing in the world could harm her. Gently strokes of her hair with confidence and fondness, soft but strong hands.
'I'm going home soon, right?', she asked sleepily.
'Yeah, your family's waiting for you. Let me just, take care of the bad man, ok?', he said.
He sounded so familiar to her, like a long lost friend she hadn't seen in years but it felt closer than a friend. Like family.
'Ok…', she yawned.
*Antechamber*
The light diminished and the crystal was no more. Aurora was laying on the pedestal, clutching something in her little hands as she curled into a ball.
The emperor turned on her once his sights was restored, eyes boring into her. The crystal was gone, there was nothing left in this place…but a potential threat to his rule.
'SHOOT HER! I WANT THIS BRAT TO BE THE LAST OF LUCIS BLOOD LINE!', he roared. His soldiers took aim as Cor still fought of what remained of the axe wielding soldiers, unable to get close enough to stop them.
Typicus had Ignis at gunpoint also, stopping even him from protecting his niece. The bullets soared but the barrier from before appeared, this time in the form of crystalized weapons. Behind the crystalized weapons, appeared a ghostly apparition of the Chosen King.
Noctis faced down the emperor with contempt and hate, slowly raising his hand and with that, the weapons flew up. 'You will not lay one hand on my daughter', announced his majesty. With a cry, Noctis flung his hand forward, the weapons flew in dazzling speed they seemed invisible to the naked eyes, piercing and demolishing the magitek soldiers until they were nothing more than scrap metal. He turned to the emperor, eyes alit with horror as Noctis approached him. Typicus fired at the king but his bullets simply went through him, harming nothing.
Noctis stood before him, then smirked. 'Like father like son, failure to the end', he taunted. Typicus sneered at him. 'Without the crystal or your magic, your brat is nothing BUT a child!', he reminded. Noctis nodded, but then slowly raised his ghostly hand, and like that, his former weapon begun to levitate in the air. Spinning until it turned into a crystal like form, and like Aurora's father before her, the weapon flew into the child's sleeping form without harming her.
It bonded with her just like it did with him all those years ago. 'By the power of Lucis, I named Aurora Lucis Caelum my successor and rightful heir to the Throne of Insomnia', he announced. 'I leave my will and power to her'.
A brilliant light shined from his grace, flying towards his daughter and enveloping her in a bright blue barrier of crystals, forming around her heart. Once the task was done, Noctis lowered his hand and faced his advisor once more.
'Noct…', Ignis said dumb founded.
He gave his brother one last smile, before he slowly faded out. 'Thanks, Iggy'.
With the king no more, Typicus turned on the girl, with one bullet remaining and took aim.
And paid the price.
Suddenly, his gun hand flew up in the air, just cutting above the elbow with the gun in hand. Typicus bellowed in agony as he clutched his stump of an arm, falling backwards. He looked at Cor but the man was on his knees in exhaustion, sword sheathed. Slowly, he looked in front of him to see a woman.
Wearing a set of blue and white robes similar to the robes the Kingsglaive wore with no motifs or anything relating to the glaives, she is tall woman just an inch below Ignis, hair dark blue like the crystal with eyes shining like sapphire. In her hand was a long katana that was made of crystal, bright blue brilliance and see through, the hilt was shaped like a skull with crossbones.
She glared down at the disgraced emperor before she sheathed her blade. 'Leave this land, and never return', she ordered. Typicus scrambled to his feet, and with a cry of rage, ran out of the antechamber. The blue haired woman turned to Aurora, approached the child and gently carried her in her arms. Ignis looked at her, picking up his weapons as she joined him.
Her eyes lost the steel she had for the emperor, they were softer and more gentle, as she looked down at the sleeping child. 'The light of the King and Oracle has passed onto her now', she announced. 'The power of Kings has been reawakened and the forgotten magics will return'.
'Who…are you?', asked the father.
'I am…Ante…that is the name he gave me', she explained slowly.
Ignis looked ready to ask more questions but they died on his lips when he looked at the child's clutching hands. Worried, he carefully opened her hand up…
And found the Ring of Lucill.
A/N:
…Soo this was a LONG ONE.
So I apologize for delay, but as you can see a LOT of time went into this one.
Now then, where does this tale go from here? You'll see in time.
Thanks to everyone whose still sticking by this story, you all really help make this work. Thanks for reading, and as always, stay awesome but more importantly stay safe!