Disclaimer: If I owned Final Fantasy XV then I wouldn't need to make an OC/AU in the first place. But I do own this plotline, my OC, and every word on this page and every page after.
Warning: Prophecies, amnesia, and drama. Yes the protagonist with no memories is a cliche. But it's a key part in my story and I'm not changing it. Since the game hasn't released too much info, I'm winging it. Luna and Stella are separate people in this story. Gladiolus is spelled Gladious here as well.
No Mary Sues here. No whiney, useless damsels either. My advice? Don't like it, move on. Do like it? Hurrah. Just don't steal it. Enjoy. ◕‿◕
Summary: Lady Mae is shown the fate of her daughter by a soothsayer. The Crystals Summoner awakens. Prince Noctis receives a visit from Lady Stella.
1#: Pilot chapter
oOo
Act 002
Pilot
'The road to redemption is steep, the road to inner peace is steeper.'
'True value lies not in thy destiny, but how thy transcends it.'
oOo
The Soothsayer stared calmly at the cool face of the hooded woman in front of her.
Though she had a secure living as a herbalist, the Soothsayer did not turn down those who wished to know their fate...for a price. It had been a while since anyone had been willing to pay that price. A very long time. Over three decades in fact.
So when the copper skinned woman with her luminous cyan eyes and cool aura approached her in the slums of the Market, the Soothsayer had taken quite a while to get over her mild confusion.
When that confusion had left however, it had been replaced by doubt.
The woman was obviously wealthy, as she had presented a pouch full of crystals without hesitation. And when the Soothsayer inquired why she had chosen her out of all the people who practiced divination, the woman had readjusted the hood of her cloak and turned her cyan gaze to the fire separating them.
"Because you are real." She had replied matter of factually, in that husky soft voice of hers.
"Real? Whatever do you mean. You are real. I am real. The people traipsing outside of this tent are real." The Soothsayer retorted dryly, but internally she was intrigued.
Blue eyes lifted to meet the Soothsayers colorless ones. They were emotionless and cold, as was the rest of her face. The fire in the darkly lit tent only illuminated her eyes, making them seem even more intimidating. But the Soothsayer only smirked at her.
"I mean your abilities are real old crone. I came here because unlike the rest of your 'kind', you truly see the destiny of those who come to you. And...and you are immortal like me. There is no one else I can turn to." She said softly, her gaze never wavering.
"And as far as I'm concerned; you have my money. I am the one who asks questions am I not?"
The Soothsayer felt a wry grin inch along her face at the tone of her customers voice, and the clarification of why the womans beauty had seemed so ageless, unnatural really, had finally come to light. There weren't many human immortals in this time and age, but it was none of the Soothsayers business to pry.
This woman was very interesting, and didn't seem to be the type to waste time. Most of the people who had come to her in the past were anxious and fidgety, some even nervous in her presence. But not this time. It was like a breath of fresh air.
"You are right my lady. Just know, that though I can see the strings of fate I do not advise you to...try and alter it. But whatever you do is your choice."
The Soothsayer stood and swept across the tent, her raggedy cloak almost being licked by the flames. She retrieved a cuneiform tablet from a pile full of the blank clay molds. The womans eyebrows furrowed but she didn't have time to ask anything as the Soothsayer came near the fire again and picked up a small wooden rod.
Without a word the Soothsayer used the rod to engrave the symbol of the crane in the center. When she was done, the old woman stood and reached over the fire to pass the tablet to the hooded woman.
"Do you have a blade on you?" The Soothsayer asked after the woman finally took the tablet, albeit reluctantly.
The reluctance quickly turned to confusion.
"Yes. Why?" She asked in suspicion, her cyan eyes quivering slightly. The Soothsayer saw her shoulders stiffen and realized what the woman was thinking.
The Soothsayer laughed dryly, the sound echoing throughout the tent enclosure. The fire seemed to laugh with her, the flames shaking and rising as if it were alive.
The woman raised an eyebrow at the Soothsayers high pitched gales of laughter and waited silently for her to finish. When she did finish however, the Soothsayer simply retrieved her own blade, a rusty piece of scrap metal attacked to a wooden hilt, and tossed it carelessly towards the woman.
The blade shot through the air. It would have pierced the womans chest if she hadn't quickly raised her hand and grabbed the hilt before it could touch her skin. She lifted her chin and sent the Soothsayer a mild glare, but the older woman only smirked.
"Run the blade across your palm and let your blood run down and fill the engravings on the cuneiform. I can only see outlines of your destiny with my power, but with your blood I can see every detail more clearly. Surely that's what you want Lady Mai?"
The woman paused, a very tiny flicker of surprise showing in her eyes at the sound of her name from the Soothsayers lips. It went away as soon as it came though and the woman, or Mai, glanced down at the tablet silently.
"It's not my fate exactly that I wish to see..." She said finally.
The Soothsayer raised a pale eyebrow. "Oh?" Curiosity laced her tone.
Maes mouth twitched as if she were about to frown, but she continued on anyway. "It's my daughters fate I wish to know. I'm already aware...of what's going to happen to me."
Now the Soothsayers was interested. Her pale eyebrows rose and a lethal smile formed on her pale lips, and for a moment the mask of old age she wore seemed to disappear and reveal her true form. Searching the fate of someone she had never met wasn't something the Soothsayer commonly did. No one who came to her asked for it, and there were more complications when they did.
Of course that didn't mean she was going to refuse.
"Your daughter hmm? Well then, do you have any of her blood I can use? If not I'll still need yours." The Soothsayer said as Mai lifted her eyes to meet her gaze.
The dark haired Immortal frowned slightly.
"No I don't have any of her... blood 'with' me. She...she's not born yet."
The Soothsayers eyebrows were raising nearly off of her head now. Colorless eyes flickered down to where the Maes stomach should be, but her cloak covered her entire torso like a blanket. This was an unexpected development...but it did make things easier. She wouldn't have to work too hard if the woman and her child were still one.
"Well then." The Soothsayer muttered. "I guess I won't have to work too hard after all. Do as I said before, with the blade." Her tone left no room for dilly dally.
Maes blue eyes slid down to the poorly made blade in her hand, and her eyebrows furrowed as she eyed the rust forming on the surface. Distaste showed clearly on her face but when she saw the Soothsayers impatient gaze she sighed. She slowly dragged the blade across her palm, dark red blood emerging instantly. No trace of pain showed on her face as she formed a long thin cut on her skin, and the Soothsayer only watched silently yet sharply.
Quickly before any of it could escape and spill to the floor, Mai pushed her palm down over the cuneiform in her other hand and let the blood fill the engravings. Like a river the redness filled the cracks and formed a shape. When Mai was done she quickly closed her hand into a fist, allowing a translucent blue glow to surround it before it faded. When she opened her palm again; the wound was gone.
And without waiting for the woman to react, the Soothsayer leaned forward and snatched the cuneiform from Maes hand. Mai flinched, but just barely, and tossed her dark curls in silent annoyance as the Soothsayer ran her hands over the cuneiform. The blood began to spread in velvety strands in the air until it surrounded the cuneiform and enveloped it.
Maes cyan eyes widened slightly as the cuneiform levitated into the air and flew into the fire. Loud crackling sounds emerged and the fire rose nearly to the surface of the tent, and the heat spread out in a large intense wave. Mai flinched back, but the Soothsayer simply stood and stared into the fire as it changed from red to gold to white, and finally luminous blue that matched Maes eyes.
"In a hidden land off the coast of Cosmos' sea, there is a clan of a powerful few." The Soothsayer said calmly as the fire began to calm itself. A flicker of recognition sparked in Maes eyes, but she quickly cooled her features and watched the Soothsayer silently.
"These few are the Summoners. The protectors that Cosmos' ordained many millennial ago. The spirit of the future, Amor fati, speaks that one day very far from now the Summoners will be killed off by Etros descendant. I know not his name."
Noting Maes stiffened posture, the Soothsayer abruptly stepped toward the fire and retrieved an object in the middle of the flames. At that very moment the flames rose and went wild, but they did not escape the hearth. The Soothsayer and the womans view of each other was obscured for a few seconds, but when the flames calmed down the woman could see what was in the Soothsayers hand clear as day.
It was an oracle fragment; jagged and appearing to be made of glass or crystal with undecipherable engravings on the surface. The Soothsayer didn't seem to react to the steam rising off of the piece, nor to the heat that was evidently fading as the oracle went from red to its original clear color.
Maes eyes narrowed slightly, but not in suspicion.
"What is that?" She asked after a moment of silence.
The Soothsayer studied the oracle fragment silently, ignoring Maes question. She muttered to herself as she turned the piece over and over, the curious gaze of the woman not seeming to bother her one bit.
"All of the summoners will be killed off. Stripped of their immortality, and most will be forsaken to the land of the dead where Etro resides." The Soothsayer repeated softly, her eyes lifting to Mai. "All except one. Your daughter will be spared. Not because of Etros mercy, but because of the Summoner elders mercy."
Maes face began to change as the Soothsayer continued to speak, the changing colors of the fire washing over the room. Her cold mask seemed to melt off as she stared hopefully at the Soothsayer; hanging onto her every word.
"She will be put into eternal sleep and hidden away during the massacre. Trapped...in a tomb made of crystal. There she will stay for many thousands of years, frozen in time while the world goes on. Etros descendant will search for her but will never find her. Until..." The Soothsayers voice trailed off, and her eyes slid shut as if she was concentrating on something.
As the silence dragged on, Mai began to look irritated and even a little desperate.
"Until...?" She asked impatiently, her eyes flickering between the oracle and the Soothsayer. "Until what?"
The Soothsayers eyes did not open, so she didn't see Maes face pale at her next words.
"When the crystal of Cosmos begins to die, and when the sun itself abandons the sky. When those who desperately search for a sign, a light, a savior and when all hope is forsaken...then your child will awaken. And many will come after her."
oOo 25,000 years later oOo
"This is a fantasy...based on reality."
ooooOoooo
All was dark...and cold... and empty.
Emptiness...was so painfully vexatious. But...eventually the emptiness soon gave way to awareness. And the awareness soon gave way to consciousness. She felt it...the desperate hum of something...something calling to her. Slowly her eyes opened, and light erupted all around her. In her ear she heard frantic whispers...Calling to her...strange words...what did they mean...
'Chaelau...Crystal...Danger...Awaken...C-Chaelau...Chaelau? Chaelau!'
Darkness once again surrounded her.
She remembered nothing.
Present day
oOo Lucis Palace oOo
Loud and hurried footsteps echoed throughout the grand palace hall. A young woman with short golden hair walked along the corridors, her eyes firm and determined.
Stella Nox Fleuret was a woman of few words to those she didn't know; the complete opposite of what she had been as a child. During her ascendance to womanhood she endured many changes. The death of her mother, The abandonment of her father, her rise to the power as Duchess of Tenebrae... and her slow but steady friendship with the Prince of Lucis.
Noctis was his name, though he had insisted that Stella call him Noct at their second meeting. During their first meeting however, Stella had done all the talking. In the palace garden to be exact, during a political visit between her father and Noctis' father.
Quiet and apathetic, Noctis hadn't known how to react when the upbeat little golden haired noble girl invaded his space. In the palace garden no less, the one place where no one bothered him. In her white dress and with her bright innocent smile, Noctis had thought her to be an angel at first. But he quickly realized his mistake once the girl opened her mouth and introduced herself as the Duke of Tenebraes eldest daughter.
And thereafter issued a scene in which Noctis laid quietly in the grass of the palace garden while Stella tried in vain to become his friend. Two eight year old royals surrounded in nothing but politics and wealth, and who would never endure the feeling of normal life.
Strangely enough, no matter how much changed in life there was always things that never did. In time, Stella did become Noctis' friend. She'd also become friends with Prompto, Gladious, and even Ignis on a more subtle level. But even now with her maturity and quiet strength that had become apart of her- mainly due to the prince, Stella was still in the same position she had been as a child. That same girl who only wanted to be a friend to someone who so desperately needed it.
The only difference was that now their problems had become more serious. When Stella was a child, the biggest crisis to her was not being able to go horse riding with her mother during the spring, or having to endure wearing gowns and slippers instead of going out to play with normal children. Now she was always watching her back, and her comrades backs, and avoiding wars and political disputes.
When her father handed over the title of Duchess to her and left Stella and Luna for good, Stella began to consider her comrades as her family. King Regis welcomed her with open arms, and Noctis had said more than once that she was one of his most trusted friends.
Coming from Noctis, that was a grand compliment. And so, being loyal to the Lucis family, Stella had prepared for departure immediately when her spies had alerted her of disconcerting news dealing with the kingdom of Niflehiem.
The second she had rode up to the palace in her carriage, Stella had abandoned her royal guards at the Courtyard and headed straight toward the Princes palace bedroom. Ever since becoming the Duchess, Stella had also become apart of Noctis' inner political circle. Tenebrae and Lucis were allies now, and as such Stella made sure to share any important information with the him and his father.
Turning the corner of the grand hall, Stella quickly readjusted the large scrolls bundled up in her arms and swept her gaze around the enclosure. The palace hadn't changed since the last time she had been there. Its walls were still decorated with elegant portraits and torches adorning the blue magical fire of the crystal lined the walls.
Noctis' bedroom door was at the end of the hall, and Stella didn't falter when she saw the two large muscled guards standing there. When they saw her approaching, their hands stiffened on the pole arms they held. But on closer look of her face both of them relaxed and bowed respectfully.
"Good day, Lady Stella." They murmured simultaneously as they stood erect once more. Stella nodded politely to each of them and tucked a blond strand of hair behind her ear. She'd seen these guards before, mostly when Gladious wasn't around, and had even chatted idly with them a few times. Vertus and Verum were their names.
"Good day to you as well. Is Prince Noctis present in his room? I have an urgent matter to speak with him about." Stella asked with a small smile.
The guards glanced at each other silently before Verum, the more laid back of the two, returned Stellas smile though it was partially hidden beneath his helmet.
"Yes Lady Stella, His Highness has been expecting you for some time now. Please come in." The guard replied as he pushed the double doors open.
A wave of mild confusion swept over Stella at the word that Noctis had been expecting her. She was so surprised in fact, that she almost forgot to thank Verum as she walked inside. The doors shut behind her as she did so, and Stella automatically swept her gaze around the overtly large room.
Books and scrolls littered the Princes desk, and the white drapes adoring his window were pulled open; allowing large gusts of wind to blow inside. The breeze blew Stellas hair behind her, leaving her face bare and her skin cold. It didn't take long for her to spot Noctis, and when she did Stella halted in her tracks.
He was sitting idly on the large futon in the center of the room, the drapes separating his sleeping courters from his reading courters pushed apart, allowing light to shine brightly into the room. Beside him and speaking in hushed tones was Ignis, the tall and broad shouldered bespectacled adviser of the royal family.
Both of them shifted their gazes to her when she entered the room, and for a moment Stellas voice caught into her throat. She hadn't seen either of them in months. It was understandable since they were all so busy with their responsibilities. But when she met the serious blue gaze of Ignis and the soft and brighter gaze of Noctis, she realized that she wasn't sure what to say. And so she stood there quietly, her mouth opening and closing in hesitation.
Noctis frowned slightly at Stellas frozen position near his bedroom doors and stood up from his futon, Ignis following suit. His gaze swept over her, from her neatly combed blonde hair to her simple blue sundress, and finally to the small assortment of scrolls nestled in her arms. His gaze paused at the papers and stayed there for a moment. Ignis as well allowed himself to study them before lifting his eyes to the young Duches.
"Lady Stella," Ignis acknowledged politely, pushing his arm to his chest and bowing in respect. Relief filled Stella that he had made the first move, and after readjusting the files in her arms she curtsied in response.
"Sir Ignis." She replied when she finished her curtsy. She nodded her head to Noctis, who began advancing toward her in long strides.
When the prince stood directly in front of her and pulled her into a loose hug, Stella found her discomfort evaporating. The embrace was brief, but it still made Stella smile as she pulled away and took in his profile.
His dark hair was combed away from his face, leaving his firm jawline and cheekbones exposed. His eyes still had the appearance of the sea at rest, and his skin wasn't as pale as it used to be. Apparently he hadn't changed from his morning attire, as the white dress shirt he wore was loose and unbuttoned. He seemed so much more...carefree than he usually was. He wan't smiling at her, but she could see the comforting familiarity emanating off of him.
But even so the strong, princely atmosphere he always inhibited was there. Knowing him as long as she did, Stella could always tell the differences between his emotions. But at the moment all she saw was calmness radiating from him.
Stella smiled inwardly. He hadn't changed a bit.
It made her sad that she had to give him the news that would ruin the start of his day.
"Noct... Ignis...I have some bad news."
oOo