Blessings of Eos
Chapter 11
Disclaimer: Don't own Final Fantasy.
Noctis slowly returned to consciousness. Opening his eyes, he realized he wasn't where he had been. "What is this place?" He asked, rising up on his hands and knees.
He remembered the attack by the daemon, his dad arriving and unleashing a fury of crystalline weapons at it, but he had no idea how he went from the dark roadside to what appeared to be some sort of forest in daylight. Turning his head, Noctis noticed another boy laying on the ground eagle spread. He was blond, and seemed to be snoring. Touching the boy's leg, he said, "Hey."
The blond jerked awake when he spoke. "Huh?" Sitting up, he took in his surroundings. "How'd I end up here? I was in bed a moment ago…" His voice trailed off as he noticed Noctis, who shifted to a kneeling position. "…what is this place?" The blond asked.
"I was kinda hoping you could tell me." Noctis told him.
A rustle of movement drew their attention as a strange creature walked over to them. It looked like a cross between a cat and a fox, and was white, with what seemed to be a horn on its forehead. It set down the object it had been carrying in its mouth on the ground in front of them, which on closer inspection was a smart phone. "Do you think we can call anybody?" The blond asked as Noctis picked up the phone.
Playing with the phone, Noctis shook his head. "It doesn't seem to work."
A noise emitted from the phone with his statement, as if in protest. It was hard to describe, but it was somewhere along the lines of a chirp and a meow. 'It does work!' Flashed on the screen.
Noctis got the impression the creature was talking to them through the phone. "Where is this place?" He asked.
'It's the world of your dreams. Though you're not just sleeping-you're knocked out cold. To see everyone again, we'll have to find the exit. You-' Seemingly addressing the blond boy '-are kinda along for the ride.'
"If this is his dream world, then how am I even here? I know I wasn't knocked out." The blond asked the creature.
'Dreams have been a way for people and beings to communicate throughout the ages. You meet up with a whole bunch of people when you dream; you just can't remember when you wake up.'
"So I just…wandered into his dream without asking?" The blond seemed distressed at this proposition. "Isn't that like breaking into his house?"
'Not really. It's all just one big dream world, but everyone has their own little corner of it. Don't worry; if you weren't meant to be here, then you wouldn't be.'
The blond seemed satisfied with the creature's answer. "We just have to find a way out then?"
'Yep! As long as you boys stick with me you'll be a-ok!'
"Guess we should get started. Who knows how long it will take to find it, or how much time will pass in the real world." Noctis commented.
'Time moves slower in dreams. That said, you don't want to take too long.' The creature told them.
The blond pumped a fist in the air. "Alright, here we go! Ah…" Losing momentum, he turned to Noctis with a sheepish look on his face. "…what's your name?"
Noctis just blinked. He didn't recognize him? While his face wasn't in the news as much as his dad's, people could still recognize him, between the black clothing and the Crownsguard escorts. Maybe this was a chance to make friends with someone who wasn't going to be friend with the Prince, but with Noctis. "I'm Noct." He answered, shortening his name. 'Noctis' wasn't a common name outside the nobility, and this boy didn't strike him as a noble.
The blond grinned, and Noctis was almost blinded by the warmth in his grin. "I'm Prom! Now down the yellow brick road!"
"Huh? But there's no yellow bricks, let alone a road." Noctis was confused.
"It's something my mom says when we start anything. I think it's from some story, but I don't know which one." Prom explained as they started poking around the clearing they had woken up in.
There wasn't any yellow bricks, but there were yellow crystals, giving off a kind of sparkly glow and floating at the level of their heads. "Do you think these will help us find the way out?" Prom asked.
"It certainly couldn't hurt." Noctis answered, no answer forthcoming from the creature.
Prom touched one of the crystals, jumping when it vanished. "…wanna see who can collect the most?" He proposed with a grin.
Noctis found himself returning the grin. "You're on!"
'Don't forget the goal boys!' The creature admonished.
"We won't!" They answered, following the crystals out of the clearing.
They weren't far from the starting point, when they came across some kind of plate in the ground that reminded Noctis of a button. Stepping on it, both boys yelped when a rock giant appeared, leaning down to peer more closely at them before disappearing.
'Don't worry about him! He's a big ol' softie!'
"Yeah, except it coulda swallowed us in one gulp!" Prom exclaimed, Noctis nodding feverishly in agreement.
'Don't you think you're exaggerating a little?'
The next plate was split between a sun and a moon, and stepping on it made the sun speed across sky to dusk.
Following the crystals, the pair found another plate, marked with a sun, clouds, and rain with arrows between them making a triangle. "Maybe it does weather?" Prom suggested. "Since the other one made it nighttime?"
Noctis shrugged. "Can't hurt to try." He said as he stepped on it, hiding the sun behind clouds.
Prom stepped on it himself, and the skies opened up. "Ah man, I hate rain. It's always cold." He made a face up at the sky.
"It doesn't bother me so much; everyone's lazier when it rains, so they complain less when I doze off." Noctis said, stepping off then back on the plate to end the rain.
"It's not so bad when you don't have to go out in it, and there's no thunder and lightning." Prom conceded, walking off the plate to continue on.
Just past the plate, things that looked like goblins suddenly appeared, making them jump. The creature leading them jumped between them and the goblins. 'These guys look like trouble. Better take care of them!'
It jumped up into the air with a flip, emitting a reddish light. When it cleared, Noctis found himself holding a toy sword in one hand and a hammer in the other. It looked like one the ones you'd use at a whack-a-mole game. Prom had a toy gun and a mechanical sling shot. "What, you can't take care of them yourself?" Prom asked as the boys leapt into battle with the goblins. The phone chirped, but it wasn't until the goblins were gone that they could see the response. "'Conflict builds character.' What does that even mean?" Noctis scratched his head in confusion.
"Sounds like its being lazy." Prom said.
The emoji that appeared in response wasn't one they recognized. "…maybe it's a frustrated face?" Prom wondered.
While the creature headed over to a glowing circle in the water, the boys followed the crystals off to the side first, at the end of which was another plate. Stepping on it didn't seem to do anything at first, until with a rumble something rose from the sea in the distance. It looked like some kind of sea serpent, and Noctis said as much as they watched it fly over their heads and dove into the water that held the glowing circle.
Looking at him, then to the circle, then back to him, Prom finally said, "Down the rabbit hole?"
"Now that one I do know; Alice in Wonderland right?"
"Yup!" The pair took a running leap into the circle.
They landed in what seemed to be a pet's water bowl, in a well-furnished room. Taking in how they were about the size of mice, Noctis said, "Maybe you shouldn't have said anything."
"Hey!"
The room was one Noctis recognized from the Citadel; one of those countless rooms that don't really have a name or permanent function but he had claimed to some extent as a play room. He liked it because the stuff he built generally stayed undisturbed until he changed it.
"Talk about fancy." Prom commented, taking in the surroundings as they wandered the floor.
"I guess…" Noctis said, not paying attention as he walked over a plate with a car on it.
With a poof of smoke and stars, a truck took his place. "Noct? Where'd you go? Noct?" Prom called out, before poking the truck that had taken his place. "…Noct?"
With another poof, Noctis reappeared. "Woah!" Prom leapt back in shock. "You turned into a truck?"
"I think so." Noctis looked at the plate, then to Prom.
Grinning, they leapt onto the plate at the same time, resulting in two trucks. Somehow honking a horn, the Prom-truck started over to a distance corner, the Noct-truck close behind. They poofed back to themselves when they reached the corner. "That was so cool! Almost like one of those racing video games." Prom exclaimed.
"You play video games?" Noctis asked as they began to poke around the stacks of books.
"Yup! I like first person shooters the best, but the Kingdom of Hearts series is pretty great even though it's not a shooter game." Prom answered as they encountered another group of goblins.
"Kingdom of Hearts? It seemed kind of stupid when I saw the commercial on TV." The boys had fallen into a rhyme, Prom shooting where the goblin seemed weakest and Noctis following up with a knockout blow.
"I thought so too, but my dad thought it looked interesting and got it. Probably because of the Disney parts. It's way cooler when you're actually playing it." Prom explained.
"Your dad plays video games?" Noctis had never encountered a grown-up who willing played video games.
"Not often; he and mom are like uber busy, but when he is home it's either video games or building stuff with me."
Noctis couldn't help feeling a little jealous. "Lucky, my dad doesn't go for video games. About the only time I really spend time with him is in his car. Or at dinner, but that's all formal-y"
"To be honest, it would be nicer if they could be home for dinner every night. The table is huge by myself, and I can't use the stove or oven." Prom admitted. "Why would dinner be formal?"
"I actually have to 'mind my manners' like they say and remember what all the forks are for." Noctis explained. "Especially when there's guests."
"Dude, never invite me to your house for dinner if it there's gonna be more than a knife, a fork, and a spoon." Prom told him. "That sounds like a pain."
"Yeah, it is. But he's too busy to really see him other times." Noctis mused.
The subject was dropped with that. Noctis was glad he didn't have to elaborate more on why dinners would be formal. "So Kingdom of Hearts is a lot better than the commercial makes it out to be?"
"Uh-huh. If you do play it, you're better off not healing Donald; just let him come around on his own. And the music's really pretty." Prom came across a particularly thick book. "I didn't think books came that thick."
He tilted his head to read the title. "'Encyclopedia of the Tale of Genji'? What's that?"
"I think it's some really popular story from a thousand years ago. My mom loved it according to dad." Noctis said, brushing a hand on the spine with a wistful smile. "She died when I was three, so I don't really remember her. There's some home movies, but it's not really the same." He admitted.
"At least you have something. My dad was an orphan and my mom lost a bunch of stuff from when she was a kid in a huge house fire thirteen years ago, including grandma. So they don't really have anything to remember their parents by." Prom said.
"Yeah…"
They found their way over to the table the creature was waiting for them, greeting them once they climbed up the books and blocks to the table top. 'Doing ok boys?'
"Yeah." Both nodded.
'I think we're near the ultimate exit.'
"Do you know what exactly we're looking for?" Prom asked.
'We're looking for where you feel safest. But I think there's one more area to cross before we reach it. So chin up boys, and don't forget the fun you were having. Dreary thoughts will make the travels harder.'
"Okay. So…how many crystals have we gotten?" Noctis asked.
'Noct: 65 Prom: 66.' Came the answer.
"I'm winning! Yay!" Prom cheered, pumping a fist in the air.
"Not by much, so don't get too attached." Noctis warned as they raced through the exit.
The boys found themselves in a city. Noctis wasn't sure what city it was, just that it wasn't Insomnia from the looks of it. Looking around, Prom said, "I think this is Altissia, cuz they have terraces right?"
"I guess so. I just know it's not Insomnia." Noctis answered.
Turning in a circle, Prom said, "I wish I had my camera, all this stuff looks so cool!"
'You could have your camera, but the pictures wouldn't follow you when you wake up.' The creature said, twining through their legs much as a cat would.
"Ah man…" Prom groaned. "I'll just have to find my way to the real Altissia when I'm older."
"I hear there's a lot you have to do to get an entry pass, though. Worse than trying to go from Gralea to Insomnia." Noctis informed him.
Prom blinked at him. "Gralea?"
"Niflheim's capital city?" Noctis prompted.
"Oh yeah…I didn't realize they let people from the empire in the Wall." Prom said as they started up the steps.
"It's not a lot, but doctors have free passage between states in conflict, per the Eos Convention. And I think they do send ambassadors; just not much gets accomplished." Noctis explained.
"Your dad works in the Citadel, then?" Prom asked innocently, as they came across a plate marked with a question mark.
"You could say so…" Noctis stepped on the plate, and soccer balls bounced out.
Prom picked up on, rolling it in his hands. "I'm no good at soccer; I keep tripping over the ball."
"I had hoped my dad would play with me when he got me a soccer ball, but there hasn't been time." Noctis said, idly kicking one of the balls.
"Maybe he'll have time when you wake up?" Prom said, a hopeful look on his face.
"Maybe…" Shaking his head, Noctis moved on from the balls.
After another encounter with goblins, the creature spoke up. 'You guys make a pretty good team!'
Prom grinned and ducked his head, blushing. "You think so?"
"I say we do." Noctis declared. "I don't think I'd want to fight these guys alone."
Prom was bright red, scratching the back of his head. "If you say so."
'Okay, we need to find a long hallway. Once we do, the safe place should be on the other side.' The creature told them, scampering off.
"So I like taking pictures with my camera and video games, what about you?" Prom asked.
"Napping. Fishing is fun too." Noctis answered.
"I tried fishing once, for like five minutes. I got too bored." Prom admitted.
"Normally waiting for something makes me sleepy, but not when I'm fishing. Don't why tho'." Noctis told, seeing a long hallway past the fountain.
Prom paused at the threshold. "…is it weird that I kinda don't want this to end?"
"Why?" Noctis was curious, since the boy had pretty much been a bundle of energy this whole time.
"I don't get to hang out with kids much outside school. And there everyone was already friends with everyone else when I started there, so even when I hang out with them, I feel out of place. There's no kids in my neighborhood either. So…this is…as much fun as I've had in a while." Prom admitted.
"I don't get to hang out with kids either. I have tutors, and when I do meet other kids, it doesn't seem like they want to hang out with me specifically."
"Cuz your dad's the king?"
Noctis jumped. "You knew and didn't say anything?! I thought I was being sneaky about it."
Prom just blinked at him. "The black was kinda a giveaway. But should I have?"
Noctis paused at that. "…I dunno."
"Besides, it's not like matters much here that you're the Crown Prince. If this was some fancy gala or something it might, but I wouldn't be at one of those anyway." Prom stretched. "This is a dream, anything's possible. Even for a plebe like me to hang out with the prince."
"Do you live in the Crown City?" Noctis asked.
"Yeah, why?" Prom asked.
"When I'm older, my dad's saying he might let me go to public school. So maybe I'll find you in real life, and we could hang out there. I mean," Noctis stopped, deflating slightly. "If you want to."
Prom thought about it for a moment. "…Insomnia's a big place."
'The very fact you were drawn into Noct's dream speaks for the connection already between you.' They turned to the creature, who sat between them. 'You'll encounter each other again. Whether you take that step to be friends when you do is up to you.'
"What do you mean?" Noctis asked.
'Some things are predetermined, like two people meeting. But the results aren't. Life's full of choices, and the results of choices are what make things interesting.'
"You sound like Miss Aerith." Prom said.
The only answer was a smiling chocobo on the smart phone.
"Miss Aerith?" Noctis asked.
"She saved me when I was younger. She said Her job was to make sure people were in the right place to make choices, regardless of what the choice was." Prom explained.
"You mean like a Messenger?" Noctis asked.
Prom just shrugged. "Well, I guess we should go on now."
"Yeah…" Noctis followed Prom and the creature down the hallway into the light.
They ran out onto the steps of the Citadel. 'Your safe place is close. But something doesn't feel right…' The creature wandered down the steps.
"He's-Its'-whatever's- right. Something isn't right here." Prom agreed as the boys followed.
A black void opened up in the circle below, and an Iron Giant rose up, lunging towards them. The creature leapt up to intercept, being patted away.
"No!" The pair shouted, frozen in place.
'Something doesn't want you to wake up…' Standing, the creature took up position between the boys and the Iron Giant. 'Don't worry! I'll protect you through your darkest dreams!'
Suddenly, Noctis heard his dad's voice. This one will protect you through your darkest dreams. But remember Noct; in the world of your dreams, you are king.
Feeling empowered, Noctis steeled himself. "I'm not afraid." His form wavered, and in a shower of crystal shards, an adult Noctis took the place of the child.
"Noct? Is that you?" Prom asked as he ran forward, summoning his sword to engage the Iron Giant in combat.
Prompto stood with clenched fists on the stairs, watching Noctis fight the Iron Giant. He wanted to help, but his toy weapons would be useless against a real daemon. "What can I do? It's not my dream."
'That's where you're wrong.'
Prompto turned to look down at the creature. "Huh?"
'When I said you were dragged along for the ride, I was lying. The Lady felt your despair over what you cannot be rid of, and when She Saw the Prince fighting against the darkness that would claim him as their own, She Saw a Chance for you to face your daemons head on.'
Another black void appeared, a Naga shooting out. The same one that haunted his nightmares.
Staring at the Naga, Prompto felt a sense of peace fall over him, that same weird bravery from his first days Outside coming to mind. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath, and stepped forward.
Noctis bit back a curse he really shouldn't know yet at the appearance of the Naga. Pausing to size it up, he felt a hand on his shoulder as the Naga lunged, a loud gunshot erupting as the Naga's lunge was interrupted. Turning his head, he saw Prom, now the same physical age as him, holding a very real revolver. He was also now dressed in Crownsguard fatigues. Prom turned to look him, grinning. "I got your back."
Bumping fists, Noctis returned the grin, returning his attention to the daemons. Somehow, with an adult Prom at his side, he felt even more confident, building on the confidence he gained from his father's words.
Re-engaging the daemons, the rhyme from fighting the goblins coming with even more ease. Prom couldn't do the same amount of raw damage Noctis could, but he could hit the tiny weak spots, making them grow and giving Noctis enough of an opening to cause more damage.
The Iron Giant fell first, collapsing into darkness with a thud that shook the ground. The Naga was trickier, so Noctis switched to magic, the fireworks he had gotten earlier now fire-loaded magic flasks. The fire pinned the Naga into a small enough spot for his sword to cause damage, even if he wasn't hitting exactly what he targeted. Prom stood back, picking at weak spots with a calm efficiency. The Naga's thrashing slowed, and Prom was able to get close enough to switch his revolver for a shotgun, taking aim at the face to finish it off.
They poofed back to their child selves once the Naga vanished back into darkness. "We don't get to stay grown-up? Not cool!" Prom complained.
"Guess we'll just have to wait to grow up in real life." Noctis told him.
"Have I mentioned I hate waiting?" He whined.
The creature ran past them to a new plate. The three stood around it in a triangle, looking down.
'Just have to step on that and your safe place will appear.' The creature told them.
Noctis looked across the plate to Prom. "How am I gonna find you in the real world?" He asked, his turn to hesitant at the end.
Prom bit his lip as he thought. "I'll put a chocobo keychain on my school bag. I don't think I'll need help to find you."
"Probably not. But I don't think I'll be in public school until I'm eleven or twelve." Noctis admitted.
"So sixth grade then?" Prom asked.
Noctis nodded. "It's a promise then." With that, he stepped on the plate.
A familiar car appeared. 'I get it now! Your safe place is your dad's car, since that's where you get to spend time with him!' The creature exclaimed.
"So if that's Noct's safe place, what's mine, if I have one?" Prom asked.
'For you, it's not so much a safe place as a safe person.' A lady appeared in the back seat, opening the door and waving.
If Noctis thought Prom's grin was blinding before, it was practically a supernova now. "Miss Aerith!" He exclaimed.
'Everyone's waiting for you guys.' The creature told them as they walked to the car, 'Miss Aerith' sliding over to give them room.
"Thanks." Prom said. "See you again?" Noctis asked.
'You bet! In you go!'
Pausing halfway in the car behind Prom, Noctis turned back to look at the creature. "Hold on, I remember your name now."
"Huh?" Prom stuck his head back out.
"You're Carbuncle, the dream guide." Noctis said.
There was an explosion of fireworks on the smart phone, the creature beaming at them.
Closing the door behind him, Noctis turned to Prom and Miss Aerith with a yawn.
"How are we falling asleep in a dream?" Prom asked through yawns, curling up to lay his head on Miss Aerith's lap.
"Dunno." Noctis replied, a welcoming smile from Miss Aerith leading him to curl up next to Prom, his head also in Her lap.
Drifting off to sleep, Noctis was dimly aware of Miss Aerith starting to sing.
Deus dormit
Et liberi ignem faciunt
Numquam extinguunt
Ne expergisci possit
Omnia dividit
Tragoedia coram
Amandum quae
Et nocte perpetua
In desperatione
Auroram videre potest
Mane tempus expergiscend
Maybe if I put this story in crossovers it'll get more reviews?