The Understudy
Chaos reigned in the hall where the signing of the peace treaty should have taken place. The battle that had broken out all of a sudden between the Crownsguard members and the Imperial units had left nothing but dead bodies, blood and devastation. Only King Regis and General Glauca were left and still fighting fiercely.
Ravus stepped over a dead Kingsglaive as he approached them.
Regis' end was near.
The King defended himself with a magical shield, but Glauca was smashing it faster than it regenerated.
"You already have the Crystal. What else do you want to take?" Regis demanded to know. A pathetic, cowardly King in the eyes of Ravus.
As predicted, Glauca broke through the shield. His blade severed the Ring of the Lucii from the King's hand, and the bloodstained jewel rolled towards Ravus. He lifted it from the ground and held it in front of his eyes. The power contained in this small, insignificant-looking accessory had always fascinated him.
"The Ring of the Lucii," he said, turning to Regis, who was struggling to stay on his feet. "I lost my mother, my country, my birthright. Niflheim was the only life I had left. But all that was for this. The ring is mine now."
How long had he waited for this moment. Ravus' conviction was unwavering. With the power of the Lucii, he would become the True King, dispel the darkness and save his sister. He slipped the ring onto the ring finger of his left hand, and out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Glauca raising his sword at him, a split second before time itself stopped around Ravus. Those had to be the powers of the divine. The world was holding its breath to listen to none other than him.
"Hear me, Lucian kings of Yore," he announced. "I am Ravus Nox Fleuret, and none is more worthy than I!"
The space in front of him ripped open and Ravus found himself in another dimension of stars and nebulae. A gigantic, heavily armoured figure appeared in the light, blades fanning out like giant wings behind it.
In awe, Ravus held his breath. He had expected to summon the ancient Kings and knew of the rumours concerning the Bladekeeper's whereabouts, but coming face to face with Bahamut surpassed all his aspirations. Among the Astrals, there was no greater power than the god of iron and war.
Ravus suppressed his awe and quickly regained his composure. The fact that Bahamut answered in person proved that he had been chosen after all. There was no reason for him to be hesitant or wary. With his head held high, Ravus stepped forward.
"Thy call hast been answered, Ravus Nox Fleuret," thundered the voice of the god. "Prove to me that thee hast earned the title of the True King, and thee shalt obtain the power to banish the darkness from this star forever."
After everything Ravus had been through, the god actually demanded more of him.
"I have the ring in my possession. I am here," Ravus argued. "What more must I do?"
"Destroyeth the first chosen True King and the darkness that draws him from his path," Bahamut replied. "Through me, thee shalt be granted access to the power of the Crystal and the Kings of Yore, which thee shalt need to vanquish the defiers of fate. Know, however, that all will be in vain shouldst the first chosen True King fulfil his destiny."
A fiery determination burned in Ravus' heart. He had nothing left to lose but his sister, and he would do anything to prevent her from giving her life in the fight against the darkness.
The Ring of the Lucii burned on his finger. Ravus felt the power of the ancient Kings biting through his skin into his flesh, but it did not hurt him. He stretched out his arm and suddenly held his trusted sabre in his hand.
In a flash of light, Bahamut disappeared and the other dimension faded around him.
Ravus found himself back at the Citadel, and time moved on from one instant to the next. Instinctively, Ravus used his newfound strength to repel Glauca's still incoming attack. With surprising ease, he flung the general back.
"I am Ravus Nox Fleuret," he repeated to himself, lost in thought. "High Commander of the Imperial Army and True King of Lucis."
He only noticed King Regis fleeing the hall in passing, and suddenly his thoughts returned to the present. "Glauca, after him!" he ordered.
The General scrambled to his feet and ran towards the lift, where a Kingsglaive and Luna disappeared alongside Regis. "Luna?" Ravus called out in surprise. "Wait!"
#-#-#
When Luna arrived at Longwythe Rest, the events of the previous night still governed her emotions. Even though she knew exactly where to go and what to do next, the invasion of Insomnia was not easily processed and forgotten. Noctis' beautiful home lay in ruins. The citizens who had escaped with their lives had been forced to leave their homes behind, and often been separated from their families. Luna had travelled from the city limits to Leide along with the streams of refugees, and had so far remained blissfully undetected. Even in secret, she gave comfort wherever she could to ease the people's pain. Her compassion knew no bounds, for the war knew no winners.
Hope drove her on, for there was always reason to hope. Noctis had been spared from the invasion thanks to the efforts of Regis and Ardyn – even though the two had never spoken on the matter – and would be under protection for a while longer due to the news of his death. The fact that the Ring of the Lucii had accepted Ravus as its new bearer was an unexpected twist of fate, but Ardyn had warned her to be prepared for anything to become possible once his rebellion against Bahamut took effect, and chances were Ravus might still return the ring if she got a proper chance to talk to him.
In the end, however, it was all up to Noctis. Luna's task was merely to pave the way for him. Ultimately, only he had the possibility to gather the Hexatheon around him, and it was his decision against whom he used it.
Ever since she had spoken to the Chancellor for the first time, she had thought much and often about his words. Her own life and Noctis' appeared to be a small sacrifice in order to rid the world of the Starscourge once and for all. People would no longer have to live in fear of the night or the disease that gave rise to the daemons. But on the other hand, she wanted to see Noctis live, and the thought of people knowing true independence and peace for the first time without Bahamut's influence was equally enticing. But could mankind manage on its own to find a cure for the Starscourge before the darkness eclipsed the sun?
Regardless of Noctis' decision, Luna was ready to support him. She opened the red notebook Umbra had brought her a little while ago.
We left Insomnia a while ago. Can't wait to see you again. The Chancellor's is a royal pain in the neck.
Noctis' remark amused her a little in these difficult times. "And I'm looking forward to seeing you too," she said softly as she closed the book and slid it back under the strap around Umbra's chest.
One of the doors to the motel rooms at Longwythe Rest opened and a middle-aged woman approached her. "Lady Lunafreya, is it really you? I prayed that you might escape the city alive."
She looked so distraught. Luna held the woman's pleading hands. "I thank you very much, but I am currently travelling in secret. The Imperial military is still searching for me."
"I am so sorry, Lady Lunafreya, I really do not wish to impose myself on you, but ..."
"What troubles you?"
"It is my husband. I fear for him, and I had hoped you might ask the gods to take mercy on him."
Luna suppressed the urge to sigh as best she could. She urgently needed to travel on to the Archaean, but she had never been able to ignore a plea for help, and there were so many in need of help since Insomnia's fall. "Please do not worry. I will help however I can."
The woman guided her into the room she was staying at, where a man of about the same age lay on the bed. He was unconscious, but moving restlessly in his sleep. Luna would have expected to find someone who needed a doctor more urgently than divine assistance, as many had been wounded in the battle for Insomnia. This man, however, showed obvious symptoms of the scourge. Judging by her experience, he had to be in the middle to late stages, and while the healing would not wear her out completely, she would probably need a bit of rest afterwards.
Luna knelt by his bedside and took one of the man's hands between hers. His fingers tightened around her palm as though he was unconsciously seeking out his last hope. She closed her eyes and turned her thoughts to the gods in prayer. A familiar warmth entered her hands.
„Blessed stars of life and light, deliver us from …"
The warmth faded, but not out of her own will. Something was not right. An unpleasant cold seeped into her fingertips. When she opened her eyes, she saw, with horror, the darkness flow from the man's body and sink into her hands. It gathered under her skin, in her veins, turning them black and the back of her hand ashen. Something like this had never happened before. The sensation alone, while not painful, was immensely frightening.
"It's a miracle," the woman next to Luna uttered in a breath. The man's firm grip loosened and his breathing grew calm.
Luna, on the other hand, suddenly felt uncomfortable, though she could not tell if it was because of the fear that had sunk deep into the pit of her stomach, or the disease she had absorbed, or both. As she stood up, she rubbed her hands, trying to drive out the numbness and cold, but she also did not want the woman to see that something was wrong.
"Thank you so much, Lady Lunafreya," the woman said and bowed before her. "We are forever in your debt."
"I have merely fulfilled my duty as the Oracle. I would stay to see him wake, but I must urgently continue on my way."
"Please travel safely," the woman said as Luna left the motel room.
In the parking lot outside, Gentiana was already waiting for her. Luna was about to ask her about what had just happened, but when she glanced at her hands again, the darkness had disappeared and colour returned to her skin.
Gentiana offered to take her fingers between her own.
"In fulfilling her duty, the Lady has become tainted with the scourge," she said. "Her powers, originally granted by the Bladekeeper, become a heavier burden to bear. Another vessel for the darkness has been chosen."
Upon hearing those words, and sensing Gentiana's sympathy, Luna swallowed hard.
What could be more tragic than uncle fighting nephew, or brother fighting brother? Have a brother fight his sister, of course.
Luna becoming Ardyn's replacement is already part of the "Dawn of the Future" novel, and I find that Ravus, given his obsession with the prophecy, makes perfect sense as a replacement for Noctis. He also seems like the kind of person who might be easily manipulated, which serves Bahamut well.
(By the way, Bahamut speaks a weird kind of half-hearted Shakespearean English ... Let me know if you prefer normal English instead and I'll replace it.)
Please bear in mind that I have seen only clips of the Kingsglaive movie, but not all of it.
As for canon divergence, (or non-divergence), I would not put it beyond Nyx to have found a way to defeat Glauca even without the ring.