Chapter Four: Unwanted Prophecies

March 28th, Lord Morris' room…

"Is…Is that…?" Lord Morris asked, seeing his son Reginald and his tiny grandson.

Reginald saw his father and the various wires and machines he was hooked up to. The man was surrounded by staff, his doctor and nurses, and certain people dressed in white. Reginald looked at the ones in white with disdain as he knew who they were and what they were there for. Lord Morris smiled, looking at Nero, who turned away and buried his face in Reginald's shoulder.

The child seemed scared of his grandfather, which was understandable as the man was always imposing, even while dying. The head doctor walked up to him and said, "He doesn't have much time left. I would suggest that you say your goodbyes now."

"You said that last time, Dr. Crescent," Reginald said, not believing her.

Dr. Crescent sighed and said, "Just try to reconcile with him."

She left, along with the nurses, and Lord Morris motioned for everyone else to leave. Reluctantly, they did, leaving only Reginald, little Nero, and Lord Morris. Reginald found a chair and pulled it towards the bed while Nero clutched him tightly. His father looked at Nero and said, "I finally get to see the one who will redeem our family."

"Uh…What?" Reginald asked.

"Don't tell me you've forgotten the prophecies of the Cho…" Morris started.

"Nero is not him. There is no Chosen King and there will never be as such tales are just that, fairy tales. And why place such a fate on a baby?" Reginald said, angered that the man was still so delusional.

Lord Morris pleaded with his son, asking, "Why can't you have an open mind about this? Your child is special and…"

"Because not all of us believe those prophecies."

Reginald recognized the voice, looking at the door and seeing one of Aure's old friends, Serena Flores. With very short, blonde hair and dressed in the all-white attire of the higher-ups of Tenebrae, the woman entered the room with her two children, the twins Rafael and Lucia. The twins looked around and Lucia quickly spotted Nero.

Nero buried his face in Reginald's neck, seemingly terrified of meeting anyone new. That or he was overstimulated again. The girl waved hi while her brother seemed confused.

"Why Mister Morris look like that?" Rafael asked, pointing at the bedridden man.

"Stop pointing, Rafe," Serena said.

Lord Morris was disappointed, saying, "How could you say that? Your ancestors prophesied…"

"They prophesied many things, including on the subject of kings. It's not like everyone in Tenebrae believes them as most of their prophecies brought on wars, plagues, discrimination…" Serena said.

Reginald was relieved, as he thought all those in Tenebrae were religious fanatics. At least Serena saw reason, unlike his father. The blonde then added, "Besides, I'm not obligated to believe in such things, especially for being among the 'illegitimate' branch of the oracles' line."

"But you're still of that noble line. Surely, you've sensed it," Lord Morris said.

He started hacking, sounding as if he was coughing up a lung and the doors opened. His doctor and nurses entered and Dr. Crescent kicked out the visitors. Reginald was relieved, not wanting to hear any more nonsense about the "Chosen King". It was just a fairy tale and many came from the Lucian nation, claiming to be him…only to get arrested and/or killed by the empire. One of their ancestors, a Santino Callixtus, tried as well, only to be captured and never seen again.

Outside, Cape Caem lighthouse…

"So, why are you here?" Reginald asked, sitting on a bench.

Serena and he went to the lighthouse and Reginald took a seat, holding Nero. The area around the bench had been cleaned and Serena allowed the twins to play. They headed for the fencing and looked at the seascape below. Then, they headed for the nearby food garden, seeing Ignacio and his mother attempting to revive the family's vegetable garden. The two-going-on-three toddlers wanted to know what was going on and Serena looked relieved that they found someone else to bother.

"I'm here as a contrasting voice compared to the rest of my family…or the "legitimate" branch. They're probably going to report back to the Orthodoxy once your father passes," Serena told him.

Reginald shook his head, not seeing that Nero was falling asleep. Serena added, "And since your family's of ancient Lucian blood, the Orthodoxy sees you and your son as valuable. That and since you two are possibly the last of your line…"

"Not our fault. Members of my family were notorious for fighting for Lucian rights and independence. So, I wouldn't be surprised that we're the last ones. More surprised that the emperor allowed for some of our family to hold noble titles," Reginald said.

Serena nodded and said, "Maybe it's to keep the peace between the three empires, as Alexandria supports Lucian independence. But as someone who has a grandparent that believes in such rubbish, I understand your feelings. My grandmother believed that Rafael and Lucia were to play a role in one of the prophecies. But I'm not putting them in harm's way over fairy tales. She also believed that little Nacio was to play a part, but Imelda wasn't having it."

So, it wasn't just Nero. The Oracles were trying to make the young fulfill their various prophecies. How could they?

A snore cut the conversation short and Nero had fallen asleep in Reginald's arms. He was sitting up and apparently, the sea air was that calming to the infant. Serena snickered and said, "Like father, like son, I suppose."

"I don't fall asleep everywhere," Reginald said.

"Well, not according to Aure," Serena said.

She started walking off, laughing. Reginald, not wanting to shout and wake up his son, muttered, "I don't sleep this much…"

March 30th…

In the nursery and seeing the tiny play gym that new lady, Imme…Imel…Igni's mom placed him in, Nero practiced using his arms and legs to move around. The nursery at the Cape Caem manor was much larger than the room back in Sophiar, and the infant rolled onto his stomach and crawled at his Carbbie plushie. The bare floor was covered with a large red and black ornate rug and the walls were covered with a pale green paint. There was a crib, some dressers, and low-to-the-floor, single-shelf bookcases. A few toy boxes were in the room as well and some blocks with odd symbols on them.

Igni's mom was there, along with Igni and the two kids with similar faces, Rafael and Lucia. They were listening to her as she read from some books and Nero hadn't a clue what was going on. He just wanted his plushie. Carbbie was so far away and he wanted to get to him before the other kids took him. And if they did, he wouldn't like it one bit! Not at all!

"Um…did anyone hear that?" Ignacio asked, looking around.

Imelda looked at Nero and said, "Well, Dr. Callum did warn that little guy over there has telepathy."

"Tele-patchi?" Lucia asked.

"No tel…He can send his thoughts to others to let them know what he's thinking. Apparently, he thinks you all will take his toy away. That Carbuncle plush," Imelda said.

Nero looked at Igni's mom and wondered if she would help him. The woman grabbed the plushie, placed it really far from him to a nearby toy box, and said, "C'mon. I know you can crawl. Dr. Callum said you know how."

But…but, he thought she would help him get it. Why can't she bring it to him? It was only so far he could crawl.

"Go, Nero! Go! Go, Nero! Go!" Lucia cheered.

Rafael was confused, wondering why his sister was being a cheerleader. If anything, the baby seemed kinda…lazy. The baby glowered at him and he wanted him to give him the plushie. It was his, not anyone else's!

"Um…Miss Imme…he's mad…" Lucia said.

"Nero, c'mon. You can crawl to get it. You can do it," Imelda said.

Nero looked at her, then to Lucia, and then to Ignacio and Rafael. None of them were going to help him. He sat on his backside, sniffled, and hiccupped. Seconds later, he cried, trying to get someone to help him. He was tired and didn't want to crawl anymore. And the floor was too hard and not soft like the carpet in that place with the large bathtub!

"No, no, no! No crying! I'm not going to suddenly just give you that plushie! I got 10 years' worth of experience with infants and you're not fazing me," Imelda told Nero.

Nero hiccupped, calming down as crying didn't work. How to make the new protector lady give him Carbbie? Reluctantly, the baby crawled, heading for the toy box. He made it, grabbing Carbbie and glaring at the four who refused to help. They were mean.

"Now, was that so hard?" Imelda asked.

The baby boy looked down, as if thinking, and he hiccupped. Apparently, it was. Just as Imelda rolled her eyes at the rather spoiled infant, the door to the nursery opened and it was her husband, Fernando. He had a worried look and she asked, "What's wrong?"

"Lord Morris has taken a turn for the worse. He's summoning everyone to his room," Fernando said.

Imelda quickly scooped up Nero and had the children follow her out of the room. They headed for their liege's chambers and saw those from Tenebrae, Reginald, the rest of the staff, and Lord Morris' doctors around his bedside. The old man's labored breathing scared the children and Dr. Crescent was about to have them dismissed when he said, "Please…don't…I wish to speak with everyone here."

The group listened in and he said, "I know that I've made life miserable for some of you here with my support of the Cosmogony and the Orthodoxy wholeheartedly. I am sorry for being heavy-handed with it. But I am not sorry for my beliefs."

He coughed and continued with, "Reginald…I give this property to you. I've registered my will with the capital and they'll recognize you as lord of this manor and representative of our people, Lucians. I'm sure that the staff will support you and little Nero."

Reginald said, nothing. Instead, he looked away, as if not wanting or accepting what his father said. Lord Morris looked to Rafael, Lucia, and Serena and asked, them, "Please support my grandson as, despite what you may believe, the prophecies of your ancestors will come true…"

Serena looked to retort when another from Tenebrae said, "How could they be a part of such things, being illegitimates?"

The blonde kept her mouth shut and looked as if she would yell at her brethren later. Lord Morris looked at Imelda, Fernando, and Ignacio, telling them, "Please support my son and grandson as their 'right hands'. They'll need support. Please…"

"We'll try," Fernando said, unsure of Imelda's feelings.

She personally didn't wholeheartedly believe in the prophecies. If anything, a lot of them seemed to bring and wondered how could the Oracles be prophets. They always brought doom and gloom. And putting Ignacio in danger from the Lucian rebels was something that she didn't want to do.

The priests from Tenebrae performed rituals to help Morris ease his pain as the man's life was expiring. The children were escorted out with Serena and Imelda heard the long beep from his heart monitor. Her lord, Morris Leo Callum, was gone. He lived his life, but he didn't reconcile with his son.

Reginald stormed off as the nurses disconnected his father's body from the machines. Imelda followed, still carrying Nero in her arms. The baby seemed confused as to what had happened. But it was probably for the best that he was oblivious to his grandfather's passing.

"Why would he do that? How could he do that?" Reginald said, shouting to the heavens while on top of the lighthouse.

He was furious that his father pulled such a stunt. The foolish old man practically cursed his son and others to fulfill those prophecies. He didn't even bother to…

"Why would you ask such a thing of me? Of Nero? The prophecies…If anyone goes through with it…then we'll end up…" Reginald said.

Facing a wall, he placed his forehead on it and started hitting the stonework with a fist. He couldn't believe that his father would do that! Force an unwanted prophecy and mission onto his son, grandson, friends…

And he didn't bother to…

"You were so obsessed with that foolishness that you didn't even…You didn't bother to see…what I've lost…" Reginald said, breaking down.

He lost his wife, one of his sons, and now his father. All the man had to do was not be so fanatical and he would see his son, in pain and needing help from his sole parent. Not constant theology lessons. And now he was gone, practically leaving him a mission that sounded too much like an RPG quest. And an unwanted one at that.

"Reg…?"

Imelda found the man, holding a curious Nero. The boy's blue eyes were wide, staring at Reginald and the teary-eyed man quickly took him and said, "You…you don't have to…I want you to live out your life, not what some false prophets planned for you."

He hugged him and said, "I'm sorry that I blamed you for your mother's death. I'm sorry that I wasn't there for you in the beginning, while you were hurt and trying to heal from near death. But I'm here now and I'll support you wherever your life takes you. I promise you."

Nero grabbed his face, trying to get his nose. He grinned, successfully grabbing Reginald's nose and then placing a hand on his own. It seemed he was trying to learn about the face. Reginald, or the new "Lord Callum", smiled and said, "Until then, we'll just see about getting you to your first birthday."

"I'm home…"

Reginald, standing in an empty, dilapidated throne room, watched as a man in black approached an empty throne. He could feel power radiating from him and the other man took a seat, saying, "I walked tall…and though it took me a while, I'm ready now."

Something within Reginald wanted him to call out to the other man not to do whatever he planned on doing. But the words wouldn't come. A bright light came from the throne and the other man in black shouted, "Kings of Lucis…Come to me!"

Twelve weapons of light appeared around the throne, alongside the ethereal visage of their owners. Reginald gasped, seeing the weapons strike the man on the throne as he cried out in pain. They didn't let up, striking him with powerful blows. Once the twelfth struck him, the ghostly image of an older man appeared next to the one on the throne.

Reginald stepped forward, wanting to take a closer look. The ghost was regal-looking and refused to look at his son. The one on the throne lifted up a sword and pleaded with the ghost to trust him. Seconds later, a final ethereal being was wielding the weapon and struck the man in the heart.

The next thing Reginald saw was him, standing in the place of the ghost and holding the same weapon that struck the man. He gasped, muttering, "No, nono, no, no! No! NO!"

He…killed the man. His son. He killed him. How could he…? Why would he…?

The light that came from the throne was coming from a ring his son was wearing on his right hand and a blast of light engulfed the area, destroying the throne room. Reginald was caught up in the blast and everything went white.

Reginald woke up in a cold sweat, having a horrible nightmare. He looked around, thinking he was still in that throne room. Instead of such a cold, dark place, it was his room back in Cape Caem. The man looked at the bassinet next to him and saw Nero, sleeping soundly and holding onto his Carbuncle plush.

He calmed down, realizing that it was just a dream. Nero turned onto his side, still clutching the plush around its neck. The sight of him like that brought guilt, but the man didn't know why. That ghost, that wasn't him. He would never attempt to end his son's life, even after what happened with…

"No…No, no, no…" Reginald said, sitting on the side of the bed and putting his head in his hands.

He never had such a vivid dream before and wondered if it was because of what his father told him. Those prophecies and Reginald's worry about them. One of the prophecies said that the Chosen King would sacrifice everything to return the light to Eos. But then another said that the Chosen would find fourteen places to disperse his power to bring the light back. And the oddest one was about two Chosen Kings instead of one. One would come from light and the other from shadow. No one knew the whole story as the Orthodoxy held most of the prophecies close to their chests and only released bits and pieces of them. That made everyone make their own conclusions about the prophecies, which brought about so many wars, plagues, and discrimination.

"And why did you actually believe them? You didn't get the prophecies in their entirety," Reginald muttered.

Rubbing his face and checking on Nero a second time, Reginald left the room, shutting the door and heading towards the kitchen. He needed a drink after having such a disturbing dream. Seconds after closing the door, a thought to return to Nero overcame him and he did.

The boy had woken up, crying and wanting him to take him too. He wanted some milk as he was hungry again. And Nero was worried about his father. He could feel the terror in the room and was scared too.

"Alright, alright," Reginald said, picking up the infant.

The two headed downstairs, the halls empty due to everyone in bed or headed to their respective homes. Morris' room was mostly cleared out, as the priests and undertakers had already taken the body to prep it for burial. Dr. Crescent also had her people help clear out the room, taking most of the machines. They had to return to get the last of the machines and it was odd seeing the room so empty.

Reginald felt another twinge of guilt, as he was unable to reconcile with his father. He blamed the Cosmogony for doing so and muttered, "I will not be like you. I'll be better."

Nero whined, wanting the man to leave the still-stinky room and to the kitchen. He wanted milk! He wanted milk!

"We're going. We're going. Calm down, Nero. Patience is a virtue," Reginald told him.

He then realized it was something that Morris would tell him all the time. Shaking his head, as he didn't think that he was becoming like his father, Reginald took Nero to the kitchen. The person inside he least expected and thought she left for Tenebrae.

"Oh, what? Reggie, what are you doing up this late?" Serena asked, eyes red from something.

She was sitting at a small table in a corner and had a book out on it. She sniffled and wiped her eyes. Apparently, she had been crying.

"Nero wanted some milk and I…Well…" Reginald told her.

Serena headed for the large refrigerator, took out a bottle of milk, found one of Nero's baby bottles, as Imelda had washed them out for Reginald, and prepped it. As she did, Reginald saw that the book she was reading was an older copy of the Cosmogony. The pages she was looking at were something simply called, "Tales of the Chosen Kings."

"'Chosen Kings'?" Reginald muttered.

He saw Serena return with the bottle and it was quite warm. Checking the temperature and wondering how she heated the bottle and there wasn't a microwave in the kitchen, Serena said, "Oh…Well, light does help out with that."

She opened her left palm and it was glowing with a white light. The light was warm and Nero laughed, clapping his hands and doing the same. Instead of white, his hands were glowing a light blue and the temperature was much warmer. Serena closed her hand, dismissing the light, and said, "So, it's true…"

"What is?" Reginald asked, seeing Nero wave his arms and the light from it disappearing.

The boy looked up and took the bottle, gulping the contents down greedily. Serena had a small smile and said, "The prophecies from…them…The one I was reading is called…"

"'Tales of the Chosen Kings', right? I thought that there was only supposed to be one in the tales," Reginald said.

"Yes, and that's what most people know, only one, not two. And the prophecies in full state that the Chosen Kings will be the ones to destroy the darkness, giving their all to restore the light. But how when one will be from light and the other from shadow?" Serena said.

Reginald looked at Nero, who finished his bottle and tried to toss the thing onto the floor. The man snatched it away and the boy pouted. He wanted to see how far he can throw the "boddle".

"And you believe that Nero truly is one?" Reginald said.

Serena sighed and said, "Now I do. And my son and daughter will be a part of it. But…I don't want anyone to die for the prophecies. They shouldn't have to give their all…That should be our job as their parents. Our children shouldn't have to waste their lives on us. Or for people that don't want to be saved."

Reginald was silent, remembering that part in the prophecies. The Chosen King, in the regular prophecies almost everyone in the world knew, was to sacrifice his life to save the world. Just like the man on that throne…

Realizing that he was strangely quiet, Serena asked, "You also had a nightmare as well…about a king getting stabbed by his father?"

'She had telepathy too. I forgot…' Reginald said.

"I had…seen someone that looked like Lucy and Rafe…Lucy, her counterpart was older…and she lost her life in the battle against a creature that looked like a Hydraean. And Rafe, his older counterpart was…assassinated by someone masquerading as a youth in black…I couldn't help them and I wanted to so badly in the dream…" Serena told him.

Just like how Reginald wanted to stop that man from sacrificing himself. Why was that dream so vivid? Almost as if it actually happened?

"I fear what I saw was the future," Serena said.

Nodding, Reginald said, "Understandable as you're of the Oracles' lineage. If…If what we saw is the future or a forgotten past, then is there a way to subvert it?"

"Forgotten past? Prophecies and prophetic dreams are usually about the future, not the past," Serena replied.

He hadn't a clue why he said that. Maybe it was a sign he needed to return to bed. Serena gave a sad smile and said, "To answer your question…I would say maybe. It's not like this is truly written in stone. We are free to choose our own paths. Whether or not it leads to the expected end is another story. I just hope that I can help Rafe and Lucy decide their own paths and not have it lead to…what's written here."

A snore and Nero had fallen asleep. Thanking her for speaking with him, Reginald bade goodnight to Serena and returned to his room with Nero cradled in his arms. Back inside, he carefully placed the boy back in his bassinet and stared.

He would protect Nero, no matter what. Forget what the prophecies said. He'll protect him from any who would try to use him for sacrifice. He was the last thing he had of Aure and wouldn't let anyone or anything take baby Nero away from him.

And there's chapter four. Now we're started to see more connections with the main story of FFXV. Now how it'll connect with Chronicles of Eos is yet to be seen.

-miano53