He hated how he looked like, with his skin as yellow as crinkled sandpaper and his eyes as light as wintry skies, so hollow with no emotion. His hair was a mass of dark blonde, greying at twenty-five years of age, a grim lip made him look even older. His physique was tall and burly.
Overall Prince Daemon looked like a monster, as his father called him, and if he wasn't one with royal blood, he would have been killed on the streets due to his extreme ugliness.
Daemon hesitated outside Ashe's room, his half sister. She was a miracle and a jinx in his life. At first when she was young, she was so frightened of him that she used to cry when she saw him. He only wanted to play with her, and one day, he accidentally suffocated her with a large pillow. King Raminas had given him such a harsh beating that Daemon felt uncomfortable around Ashe to this day.
Although she has been kinder to him, through pity or sisterly acceptance, Daemon didn't know why.
"Ashelia?" he asked, clearing his throat. Due to his hideous features, no king wanted to hand their precious princess over to him. He found Raminas' news for Ashe's marriage to Prince Noctis quite incredible.
Sighing, he ran a hand over his face. If Ashe was to leave then the only person who will accept his company was Basch but he was moving with her as Dalmasca's Ambassador.
Ashe opened the door, gasping lightly before throwing her arms over his muscular neck, her feet almost leaving the ground.
"Brother, I have not seen you at my birthday party. Where have you been?" she said, letting go and giving him such a sweet smile, he wanted to melt into a puddle before her.
"Now is not the time, Ashelia. Father has important issues to discuss with you," Daemon uttered. Ashe wasted no time in holding his arm and strolling down the corridors to her father's chamber. Daemon almost stumbled after her.
'Beauty and the Beast', the lords and ladies would snigger at them, laughing at his hideousness and admiring her fateful beauty. Daemon lowered his eyes to the floor as realisation hit him that Ashe will be leaving soon, to a country where no other Dalmascan has ever been to. His stomach twisted into a knot.
They halted outside Raminas' door until he ordered them to enter. Basch was standing at the window, gazing forlornly into the distance while Raminas was seated on a luxurious chair made of ivory gold and sequined iridescent gems.
Raminas greeted his daughter with a warm embrace, flashing a cold, hard glare to Daemon before sitting back on his seat. Daemon kept his focus on Basch, the man who said little but offered much wisdom. The knight nodded at him in greeting, smiling gently with eyes that reminded the prince of sunflowers.
"My daughter, Ashe, there comes a day when you must leave Dalmasca. But leaving her is like you are serving her and spreading her legacy to wherever you go," Raminas began. Daemon saw Ashe's eyebrows rise higher. Her eyes held disbelief. She shifted awkwardly before politely asking Raminas to stop talking in riddles.
"My sweetest flower, I have made an alliance with the country of Caelum and you are to wed Prince Noctis within a couple of days -"
"What!" Ashe cried suddenly, her hands clenched into fists. She shivered and her face paled. Daemon caught her safely into his arms as she swooned back and forth. Basch was also by her side in an instant, concern spread across his face. Daemon turned his back against the knight, almost possessively while the latter returned to his spot close to the window.
Raminas' eyes were brimming with guilty tears. He looked up at Ashe, appearing much older than before and apologised.
"It's the best for Dalmasca. This marriage will save us from Archades."
Ashe slipped from Daemon's tight grasp. The prince stared at the empty space in the cradle of his arms before glancing at his half sister.
"But this Noctis is of the country Caelum! That – That is sacrilegious and wrong! I cannot marry one who practices Etro's black arts!" she yelled, her cheeks reddening with anger.
"The rings have been exchanged Ashelia. There is nothing more I can do," Raminas stated, "I believe it's about time that Etro and the Occuria join forces."
"No!" Ashe screamed loudly, taking a step back. Daemon watched her scurry over to Basch and shook his shoulder.
"Basch, please tell him not to do this. Please, you know what happens in Caelum! Tell my father to take back the alliance!" she implored, angry tears trickling down her cheeks. Basch looked away, a sadness glowing in his eyes.
"I'm sorry..." he replied. Ashe shook her head slowly, her tears turning into sorrow. An icy silence followed.
"Ashelia, stop this nonsense, this is what a princess has to do," Raminas cut in, his voice more solemn then before. Daemon moved across the room and draped his arms over the princess who trembled in his grip, hiding her face onto the hollow of his neck.
"Father is right Ashelia. Basch is going with you and I have full faith that he will not let anyone hurt you," he soothed, running a large hand through her hair.
Ignis pushed his glasses deeper onto the bridge of his nose. His neat dark hair and suit was covered in sweat due to the sweltering heat of the Ozmone plains. Groaning, he removed his blazer and tied it around his waist before holding the reins of his chocobo again.
Another man and his chocobo caught up with him, his long dark brown hair swaying with the speed. He was much burly than Dino and had a prominent scar across his face. The man grinned wildly.
"Come on, man, stop running off on me all the time," he said.
Ignis sighed before wiping the sweat off his forehead, he took in the dark patches on the arm-pits of his shirt, feeling slightly disgusted.
"Gladiolus, you need to know when to shut up," the slimmer man complained. Gladiolus threw his head back in laughter. Ignis scratched his back; he had an urge to remove his shirt but didn't want Sonny to see what was underneath. Gladiolus' muscular build put his thin one to shame. It wasn't as if he was unfit, he just wished his muscles were better sculpted at times. Gladiolus could have easily been carved by some Michael-Angelo...
"We're two men from the country of Lithium but here we are roaming the lands of the Occuria. Etro wouldn't be too pleased with us, would she?"
"We're roaming here for a reason. We have to find the three crystals of nethicite held by three Espers in order to retrieve the Fabula Nova Crystal that has been shattered in Lithium," Ignis replied intelligently.
It was true that Caelum was the only country of goddess Etro that held the Fabula Nova Crystal. Ignis and Gladiolus decided one day to retrieve three stones of nethicite so that they will emerge under the goddess' power and mould into a new Fabula Nova Crystal. In that way, Lithium will once again gain power like it did three hundred years ago.
The chocobo screamed, breaking Ignis' thoughts and thrust him off towards the ground. Gladiolus fell down beside him, tumbling away before crashing against a large stone that was rooted to the earth. Ignis watched him laugh but he sensed something wasn't right. The two chocobos that they hired from Rabanastre ran back towards the Giza Plains.
"Oy! Come back, you shitty birds with no brains!" Gladiolus yelled, waving a large fist in the air. Ignis narrowed his eyes and surveyed the area cautiously. His comrade tugged at his shirt, shouting expletives angrily.
"Don't just stand there! The amount of gil we had to pay for those bitches!"
"Sonny, shut up!" Ignis bellowed. Someday, he was sure that his ears would split and bleed. As he expected, Gladiolus didn't close his mouth but cursed more vehemently than before. Suddenly a strong gust of wind blew him back to the grassy floor and a large winged bird flew over them.
"Looks like we attracted another bitch!" Gladiolus gasped, his hands clenched into fists, taking a large spear that was left behind by the chocobos. He attempted to strike at the large wyrm only to miss and fall back to the ground. He groaned, rubbing his backside in agony.
"Damn that piece of Seeq-shit! It's a damned Zu!" he huffed, getting back on his feet. The Zu screamed loudly, deafening them momentarily before swooping down to crush Gladiolus with its beak. Gladiolus yelped and somersaulted to the side but the Zu still administered a powerful blow against his shoulder.
"Allow me," Ignis said, reaching for two pistols that materialised into his hands. He ran towards the bird and threw himself to the floor, sliding on his elbow and shooting with impeccable accuracy. He blew some smoke off the hollows of his guns.
The Zu wasn't affected much. It dashed at Ignis, crashing a large wing against him. The slim man cried in pain, clutching his chest and glared at the bird.
"Do you have the Libra technik activated on your license board?" he asked Gladiolus whose face scrunched in thought.
"Uh...What's Libra?" he uttered meekly. Ignis slapped a hand over his forehead. For all the muscle that Gladiolus possessed, he lacked in brains.
"I have an idea; let's take this bitch to the ground!" Gladiolus yelled, "Aero!"
"Gladiolus! No-"
Gladiolus slashed his arm at the air as if he was performing a Kung Fu move as a swirling gust of wind surrounded the Zu, engulfing the bird whole along with the soil and grass it whipped out of the earth.
Gladiolus smirked and praised his shrewdness. When the debris cleared away, the corners of his lips drooped back down as they watched the Zu still standing strong.
"You idiot! That bird is an aerial wyrm! Wind elements can't harm it all!" Ignis shouted irefully while shooting at the Zu once again. "Let me to end this..."
The guns in his hands effervesced into tiny atoms of light, his surroundings faded into stars and a dark purple cosmos. The Zu was hanging above him; its tongue writhing outside its mouth. Ignis felt a surge of energy leave his body as the cosmos consumed all his magic points.
"I call upon the power of the Mist to help me perform this Quickening!"
He moved arms in a circular motion; a wave of molten lava emulated the actions of his arms behind him. The fiery wave expanded larger until it was well over forty-five feet. Ignis stepped his foot forward and thrust his clenched hands in the direction of the Zu.
The wave followed his motions, washing over the stars and crashing into the Zu. Ignis' glasses reflected orange light as he watched the wyrm screaming in agony; its steel-like grey flesh singed and blackened. The ashes of the birds remained on the floor as Ignis' surroundings faded back to that of the Ozmone Plains.
Gladiolus' jaw was hanging open. Ignis picked a large grey feather that was visible in the ashes and showed it to his overwhelmed comrade. He smiled faintly.
"This could sell generously for a few gil. Let's head over to Jahara?"
"Y-yeah man, let's go!"