The King's Fall

Desperate not to lose its prey, the Ultros pulled itself on top of the aircraft Luna and the Glaive had escaped into. One of its tentacles burst through the passenger window. Luna narrowly avoided being pierced by its pointed tip by pressing herself deep into the seat. With a deafening screech of metal, the daemon tore off the passenger door.

At about the same time, Nyx had fired up the engine. Once the aircraft began to move, the daemon was dragged out of the hangar with them. It roared and gurgled in protest, if not fear, as its body left the shady inside of the much larger airship. The fading light of the setting sun burned through its limbs fast, but not fast enough. The creature's weight and the damage their aircraft had sustained caused Luna and Nyx to descend much too fast, at a much too steep angle. The Citadel below was growing closer at an alarming pace.

With what little control Nyx had over the direction they were going in, he managed to scrape past one of the Citadel's spires and successfully knocked the daemon off. When Luna glanced out of the gaping hole in the passenger side, she saw the Ultros' remains dissolve into black and purple fumes.

As soon as the extra weight had been removed, Nyx was able to slow their descent, albeit not by much. Luna saw him struggling to keep the aircraft steady.

She pointed ahead at the main tower of the Citadel. "Nyx, The balcony!", Luna shouted over the sounds of the wind blowing into the cockpit. "Land over there!"

"No can do, Princess," he replied. "I've got orders to get you to safety."

"Wouldn't you rather stand beside your king?" she argued.

"King's orders, Lady."

"Then you leave me no choice!" She pushed herself up from the passenger seat and found some footing to stand in the opening where the door had been.

"Woah! You can't be serious!" Nyx exclaimed. In reflex, he turned the aircraft hard to the left, causing her to drop back into her seat as the ground tilted beneath her feet.

Brave though she might be, Luna had not intended to leap to her certain death. She had been looking to jump onto a ledge of the Citadel in passing. "We have seen the Wall fall, Nyx!" she shouted. "It may be too late already, but if it isn't, then this is our last chance to help!" To mark her words, she got up from her seat again.

"Alright, I got it!" Nyx replied and held out a hand in a hasty attempt to stop her. "Don't go and throw yourself out of the window. I can't land this thing, but I'll get us close enough to the balcony so you can hop off."

Shaking, the aircraft veered closer to the Citadel. "What about you?"

He scoffed. "Do you ever worry about yourself? Just for a change?"

They had barely slowed down by the time they approached the main tower of the Citadel. With her eyes firmly locked onto the balcony's ledge, Luna waited for the right moment before she jumped off. Due to the momentum, she fell and tumbled across the hard stone, possibly suffering a few bruises and scratches, but with so much adrenaline in her system from narrowly escaping the daemon, Luna hardly felt any injury. When she struggled back to her feet, she saw the aircraft tilt and drop out of the sky at the same time as Nyx threw his kukri out of the hole in the passenger side. The knife hit the building's side, just above the balcony, and in a flash of Royal magic, Nyx warped after it. He dropped down next to Luna in a practised motion, unharmed, took her hand and helped her to her feet. Together, they hurried inside the building to look for the King.

Nyx was the first to burst into the council room. At the sight of the devastation, Luna froze in shock. The dead body of one of the King's most trusted men hung from the far wall, impaled by a sword. Broken MTs and dead council members littered the room. Luna's brother Ravus stood to the side, shrouded in the powerful, but invisible aura of divine magic that emanated from the Ring of the Lucii on his hand. When their eyes met, just for a moment, he looked at her as though he was looking at a being from another dimension. Judging by the amount of magic that surrounded him, it was not so much she as he who had entered another realm. Luna did not understand how he could wear the ring and not be denied by the Kings of Yore, but there was no time to think about it.

Regis was also in the council room, alive, but disarmed and struggling to stay on his feet. The General's sword had cut off several fingers from his left hand, leaving it bleeding mess. Glauca, who just turned from Ravus to Regis, raised his greatsword to finish the King off.

Fortunately, while Luna had been standing there, taken aback by the initial shock, Nyx had wasted no time to engage the General. His warp-strike caught Glauca off guard, and he followed up with a series of swift strikes from different angles to keep his enemy on his toes. Within just a few seconds, Nyx had forced the General to back away from Regis.

Seeing the opportunity, Luna rushed into the room, took Regis' arm and helped the King to half-run, half-limp towards the lift.

"Lunafreya …"

"We must hurry, your Highness."

Once the two of them had stepped into the lift, Nyx jumped at the General's helmet with his full weight, successfully knocking him over. He then warped over to Regis and Luna, entered the lift and hit the button for the lowest floor.

The automatic doors began to slide shut as the General scrambled to his feet. He ran towards them with his sword raised. In the nick of time, the doors closed. The force with which Glauca slammed into the doors shook the lift car, but the lift itself fortunately began to descend at a steady pace. Luna heard the General banging against the doors above of them, trying to pry them open.

There was not much time. She tore off a piece of her sleeve to wrap around the King's dismembered hand and staunch the bleeding.

"Ravus has the Ring," Regis said to her. If he was in pain – and he most likely was – he barely let on. "How can this be?"

"I don't know," she replied in reflex. In truth, however, she had a well-founded suspicion. Ardyn had spread his influence to Noctis, the fulfilment of the prophecy had been put at risk, and Bahamut sought new pawns to control.

Luna tied a knot into the make-shift bandage, took Regis' hand between her own and closed her eyes. "O brightest stars above, grant us your warmth …"

A tremor ran through the lift car, but she remained focused.

"With all due respect, your Highness, but this isn't the best time for prayer."

"Nyx," Regis admonished him.

"Sorry, your Majesty."

A familiar warmth flowed through Luna's hands as she channelled the gods' gift into a healing spell. She did not need to open her eyes to see the golden glow of magic. She could feel the spell taking effect. Even if it would not recreate what was lost, it would stop the bleeding and pain.

"Sweet Baby Shiva," she heard Nyx utter quietly.

Dinging, the lift stopped at its destination. Luna was forced to abort the spell as sounds of doors being cracked open echoed through the lift shaft. The three of them exited the lift in a hurry. It had stopped halfway down the main tower, at a round hall connecting one set of lifts to another.

As they crossed the hall, Regis let his arm slide out of Luna's hands. He stayed behind.

She stopped abruptly. "Regis!"

"Go ahead," he said, sounding resolute. "I will hold them up."

"No, listen. You don't have to. I can talk to Ravus; convince him to surrender the Ring."

Regis closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. "Glauca is with him and he will not rest his sword until I am dead. Please, Lunafreya. It is not you he is after. Meet your brother some other time outside of Insomnia." With the same, unwavering determination, he turned to the Glaive. "Nyx, see to it that Lady Lunafreya escapes the city alive and well. Her destiny lies elsewhere."

She saw a fleeting emotion flutter across the Glaive's face. He hesitated, albeit only for the fraction of a second. "I will, your Majesty," Nyx promised.

He had to know what was going to happen. Regis was about to sacrifice himself for them. "But, your Highness …!" she uttered as Nyx took her hand and pulled her away with him, towards the set of lifts leading to the lower floors. Regis had succumbed to his fate, entirely. Luna knew there was neither the time nor a way to convince him otherwise and still, she felt her heart bleed. Old wounds, once caused by the loss of her mother, were torn back open.

Regis' eyes, she knew, would haunt her.

#-#-#

At the far end of the council room, on the blood-stained carpet, lay the King's Royal Arm. Regis had dropped his sword when General Glauca had cut off his fingers in battle earlier, to sever the Ring of the Lucii from his hand and stop the magic the King had channelled into the Wall protecting the Crown City. Consequently, the Wall had fallen, Niflheim had begun its invasion and the Ring, with its divine power, now sat on Ravus' finger. Not the Lucii, but the Bladekeeper Bahamut himself had deemed him worthy of its magic. He was to be the new True King – as soon as he got rid of the Crown Prince, anyway.

At Ravus' touch, Regis' sword burst into tiny crystals. Although it seemed to have disappeared, Ravus still felt the sword and the magic it was imbued with within an arm's reach. The sensation was odd and unfamiliar. One of possibly many he had to get used to. Unlike Luna, hee never had any magic to call his own before.

With a crack, General Glauca pried open the doors of the lift shaft at the other end of the room. It was the escape route the wounded King, Ravus' sister and one of the King's Glaive had taken. Without hesitation, Glauca jumped down into the dark hole. The long drop did not need to concern him. His daemon-infused magitek armour protected him from all kinds of blunt damage.

Ravus possessed no such armour, but he needed to get after the King as well. Kill the man who had allowed his home to burn, capture his sister, and fulfil his divine calling. A foolish amount of courage drove Ravus to run to the lift shaft, jump and grab hold on one of the lift's cables. He slid down until he reached the next floor and swung himself through the open doors out into the adjacent room.

To his surprise, the once-cowardly King had been waiting for the Empire to catch up. Regis stood face to face with the General. In preparation for what could only be his final stand, he discarded his cane. A blood-soaked piece of Luna's sleeve was wrapped around his dismembered hand. She must have tried to heal the wound in what little time they had spent riding the lift. Past Regis, Ravus saw a shimmer of her white dress in the reflection of the marble walls. Luna and the Glaive had only just escaped through a back door.

"Quick! Get after them!" Ravus ordered Glauca. "Capture the Oracle!"

"I do not take orders from you," the General replied. His voice was distorted by his helmet to the point where its tone was almost reminiscent of a daemon's howl.

They did not have the time to fight, let alone to fight in front of Regis. "The ring on my hand is proof of the gods' blessing," Ravus argued and stepped up to the General. "I take command, and you will obey or suffer the consequences!"

"Know your place, boy!" Glauca shoved him aside, causing Ravus to stumble backwards. "Some trinket does not give you the right to take command. If it wasn't for the Oracle's blood in your veins, the Empire would have had you killed long ago. This ring belongs to the Emperor. You will surrender it or be the next to die after the King."

At that moment, all that barely contained anger and pent-up tension in Ravus erupted. He had always been faithful to the gods, devoted to his sister, not once envied her for her magic, but sacrificed his dignity to gain some semblance of influence and power in this madhouse of an Empire. He had obeyed and endured. And now that his hard work had finally been recognised by the highest power of all, the Empire still laughed into his face?

Ravus felt a foreign energy surge through him. Instinctively, he stretched out his hand, and from the ring on his finger a light flared, so sudden and strong that it knocked Glauca off his feet. "You would dare question the gods' will!?" Ravus shouted.

The entire half of the General's magitek armour had been burnt away, revealing the man within.

Regis gapsed at the sight. To Niflheim, the General was known as Glauca, but to Lucis, he was known as Titus Drautos, Captain of the Kingsglaive. Glauca rose from the floor and his armour began to regenerate slowly.

"Drautos," the King uttered in surprise. "Why?"

"Why!?" Ravus spat out. "You need ask why!? He's here for the same damn reason I am! Because you chose to cower behind your Wall to protect yourself and your spoiled brat, while elsewhere entire nations continue to suffer!"

Regis stared at him in disbelief. The question had been directed at Glauca, no doubt, but Ravus knew the General's reasons as well as his own – even if they had nothing else in common. The two of them were, by far, not the only ones who had turned their backs on Lucis and joined the Empire because the Crown City had abandoned them, their families or their country.

Glauca shot Ravus a glare before turning to Regis. "You have said it yourself, your Highness. You are too old to turn the tides in this war. My men have been nothing but cannon fodder in the past years. We're all worn and tired." The helmet covered his face again, returning that daemonic undertone to his voice. Glauca raised his sword again.

"So you would rather see the Empire rule over Eos?" Regis asked him.

"It does not matter who rules, as long as there is an end to this war." Glauca lunged at him, wielding his greatsword with the cold-blooded precision of a man sworn to execute an order and no more than that.

In the blink of an eye, Ravus held both his trusted sabre and Regis' sword in his hands. He stepped in and deflected Glauca's attack with two well-placed strikes, then forced him back with another flare from the Ring of the Lucii, although he failed to burn away as much of his armour as he had the first time.

"You imbecile!", Glauca shouted at him. "The King must die today!"

"He will die, but by my hand!" Ravus pointed the tips of both blades at said King. "This is for my home, my mother, my sister, and the life that was taken from me!" He ran towards Regis, but was forced to block a blast of lightning energy from the King's outstretched hand. His feet skidded backwards over the smooth marble floor.

"I am well aware of any and all mistakes I have made in my life," Regis said and slowly moved forward. "Please, calm your temper, Ravus. I am sorry about Sylvia's death, I truly am. What I did, I did not for myself, not for Insomnia and not even for my son, but for the future of our Star."

Once he let up casting elemental energy at him, Ravus attempted to lunge forward again, but Regis forced him back with another blast once more. The King had closed in far enough to glance sideways at the General. "The same goes for the outcome of this war, Drautos, but I have little hope that I could make you understand. You do not believe in the will of the gods or their prophecy." His eyes bore into Ravus. "But you do, Ravus. You know of the True King's burden, do you not?"

"I do and that is exactly why I have taken up the mantle," Ravus replied. "No True King can be born of your cowardice. Noctis will doom us all." He had been a victim of manipulation and intrigue often enough to see the King's attempt to sway him, but Ravus' conviction was unwavering. He raised both swords once more when he saw the General take a swift step behind Regis.

A tremor ran through the old King's body as Glauca shoved his sword through the King's stomach from behind. Blood splattered onto the polished floor. Regis' face twitched. By sheer willpower alone, he stayed upright. His gaze remained locked onto Ravus, who could only gasp at being robbed of his only chance to take revenge.

Glauca removed his sword, and the blade slid back with a sickening sound. At about the same time, both swords in Ravus' hands burst and disappeared. He screamed in rage. Torn between wanting to burn the kingslayer and strike him down, Ravus pointed the ring at Glauca, and several transparent, white glowing greatswords appeared around him. They were hurled at the General by an invisible force and pierced through his armour like red hot needles through butter.

A daemonic howl tore from Glauca's throat – a cry of pain in disguise. For a second, his trembling body remained suspended in mid-air by the sacred blades before they shattered. At the clang of the sword that fell from his hand, Glauca dropped to the ground, limp and lifeless. Black fumes rose from his armour where the light had pierced it.

Ravus felt no remorse for lashing out. Seething with anger, he turned from the man who had carried out the order to kill his mother to the one who had allowed the despicable act to happen.

Dying, yet still alive by some miracle, Regis sank to one knee. Even as he collapsed to the floor, his eyes were still seeking Ravus' face.

Ravus took a step forward. Calling a sword back into his hand had become instinct already, and he readied himself to deliver the final blow.

Regis' breath was ragged and shallow.

Yet Ravus found himself hesitating. He could not do it. By his honour as the Lord of Tenebrae and an honest swordsman, he could not plunge his sword into the chest of a man who was already down and dying. His revenge had been taken from him already. Glauca had delivered the killing blow, leaving Ravus with nothing but even more frustration. His sister had warned him that the promise of revenge was an empty one. Stubborn fool that he was, Ravus had not listened. He could chide himself for this false hope of satisfaction and justice he had clung to.

Upon seeing that the dying King was struggling to say something, Ravus dismissed his sabre again and lowered himself to a knee by Regis' side.

"Ravus …," the dying King wheezed. "Please, have faith in Noctis, like your sister does. I beg you, for the sake of our Star's future; Bring the Ring to him."

"Why should I respect your dying wish when you did not even listen to my mother's plea for help?" Ravus hissed.

Regis' eye lids were closing slowly. More blood had pooled underneath of him and was spreading. "Because you, Ravus," he said and took one last breath ", can be a greater man than I was."

When the last of his life force escaped the dying King, Ravus felt the Ring of the Lucii on his finger react. Even though the sensation was still unfamiliar, he was able to assume that more magic condensed into it.

Scoffing, Ravus rose from the floor. At least, Regis' last words rung true. He was going to be a greater man than him, by saving Eos all by himself. With the power of the Ring and Niflheim's forces under his command, he would subdue the gods, banish the darkness, and if everything went to plan, save his sister from the prophecy's burden as well.

But there was something else he needed. Ravus took out his mobile to check on the status of the invasion. The Crystal was halfway to Zegnautus Keep and the Empire had begun to move in the Diamond Weapons already. With the General dead and Ravus being second in command, he could easily take control of the magitek troops tasked with the transport of the Crystal and order them to return it to the Citadel. There was no human in the way who would question his integrity. Not yet, anyway, but he was planning to make his apparent change of heart known as soon as dawn arrived and the smoke of the battle cleared.

Only the Diamond Weapons were going to be a problem. The Emperor himself had ordered them to be brought to the battlefield and, once unleashed, no one could control them. Ravus had to find a way to protect the Citadel from them once the Crystal was back where it belonged.