"Come back to bed, Noct," Stella said softly.
They were in a hotel that was vacant if they excluded themselves. It was close enough to Lucis for his enhanced eyes to see the faint shape of his palace in the distance . It was a bit of Stella's family pulling the strings and Noctis's presence that emptied it out. Death hung around the prince. He couldn't recall the exact number of people he had killed today alone, but it was enough to make ignorant want to avoid him. He was surprised Stella could be in the same room with him, yet she had touched him with joy in her face. He supposed that was the effect of love. It warmed his very essence.
He stood nude in front of the window, straining his eyes on the outline of his home. He had no worries about anyone seeing his revealed body; the streets were empty, and like an instinct, strangers would avoid him without even knowing they were when he returned after battle and reeked of death. It was also a couple of hours before the first lights of dawn, and most people were still asleep in the homes.
In all this war, Noctis only wanted to make the life of one person better. When he rescued Prompto, he envisioned making him a part of Insomnia society. Instead he had a man he had to lock up because of the plague. Prompto deserved none of the misery he suffered. His heart was kind. Yet Prompto's very presence jeopardized the health of others. Every time Noctis saw Gladiolus and Prompto together, he couldn't help but see Gladiolus's corpse. He felt he should have done more to keep them apart, but when he saw how happy they looked together, it let him believe that maybe life wasn't a force that fed on unhappiness. Maybe there were happy endings. Maybe Prompto would miraculously be cured, and he and Gladiolus could live a joyful, long life together.
He longed for the war to end and to lock away his swords. They were close. Soon he would be free from the curse that having the crystal brought.
"I will," Noctis promised without moving.
He heard footsteps behind him, and then felt warm arms wrap around his torso and bare breasts press against his back. He placed his right hand over the pair she held him with.
"Who are you looking for?" she asked.
"Someone back home. Sorry, I can't say more that." Not even Stella could know about the plague carrier in Insomnia.
She placed a kiss on his shoulder before laying her head there. "You'll make your self sick watching to see if people die."
"Yeah, probably."
Gladiolus once asked him if he believed in Etro. Though at the time he wasn't sure, now he knew he didn't. He couldn't believe there was some bigger being out there when this world was so horrid. He saw supposed proof of her everyday, but Noctis knew just enough about the world to understood nothing made sense, so gods could surely be mortal or science.
When a person died, a bright light that most couldn't see shot up from their bodies. According to legend, this was Etro welcoming their souls into her warm and loving embrace. All Noctis knew was that light came from the dying. He had grown used to looking out at the horizon and seeing beams of light. Overtime it had dulled from shock to acceptance. If it was someone he knew, he would recognize the unique intensities of the light as belonging to them.
For awhile, no one said anything. Noctis almost lost himself in the warm embrace of his lover.
A light came from the palace. Noctis felt his knees go weak, and Stella stopped him from falling to them. She held him as he sobbed.
