Prompt: #27 Dark

Summary: The world was not what it once was.

A/N: This is a continuation of the Prompt #46 Supernatural (Chapter 25 Prodigiosus).

Acerbus is Latin for "dark, gloomy".

Acerbus

It should surprise him that the thought of him no longer being a reigning prince did not bother him. He would have thought that would have bothered him immensely. Maybe it would have if his priorities had not so altered as they had. What bothered him the most now was that she was being hunted along side him. He always knew he was not quite human but to hunt her like an animal did more than bother him. It enraged him. The death of the final Crystal had changed the world dramatically. True, there were traces and small remnants of Crystals scattered throughout the planet, but as a whole, they were now extinct. Instead of finding a suitable substitute to the precious resource they had lost, attention had been given to capturing all those that possessed the powers of the undead. That was what those like him were labeled. They were now the Undead. Those individuals that should have died but had not and therefore possessed abilities that common people did not have.

The shift in animosity had been swift and the opposition was fierce. His first instinct had not been the safety of himself either. Self preservation was not something that he had an abundance of anyway. The very first inclination had been to find Stella and keep her safe instead. His friends had not understood this at first. Their duty had always made his safety their priority but his priority was not her. They had thought he had found something similar to compassion for her similar situation but that had not been it. The simple truth was, he cared more about her welfare than his own. Compassion had nothing to do with it. So when they had intentionally targeted her, he had lashed out in fury. His blind sight had cost him the capture of his friends but all he had thought about at that moment was to save her. They had known he would. Which was why they had wounded her so severely. They had wanted to trap her as a means to get him, but his friends had sacrificed themselves for both their sakes and been taken instead.

He tracked the hunting party to that facility for two reasons. Only there would he be able to reverse the poison that had been spreading through Stella's system and then he could regain his friends. One thing at a time and he was thankful to the whispers and the Light that constantly guided him. He wonders that Stella cannot hear them as well as he can. She confessed to having the ability to see the Light, but she did not hear the voices like he did. While she heard words and short phrases, he could hear everything. She was not guided as pointedly as he was. Regardless, she had learned to trust him unconditionally and he reveled in that too. He needed her to trust him. He needed her to rely on him. He needed her to do those things because if she did not then he does not know how he would get through this. The fight had been possible this long because he was not just fighting for himself. He was fighting for her as well and that was the motivation that drove him on. That was the source of his strength. It was her.

Without even having to mention how dire her situation was becoming, he was very aware of how quickly the poison had been spreading in her veins. Had they had enough time to think and plan ahead, he would not have pushed her. His admiration for her bravery and her inner strength had grown with each pounding step that she endured to keep pace with him. How he had wanted so badly to kiss her for being so strong when he had administered the antidote to the poison. She had cried softly and clung to him so sweetly. His resolve had strengthened. His strength had been rejuvenated. His purpose had become more focused. Then they had finished what they had gone there to do. They had cured her and they had retrieved their captive companions. A small battle had been won, but they were no where near winning the war.

His friends had not been idle when they were being held either. He is thankful to their initiative and their loyalty to him. Even in such dire circumstances, he considers himself well blessed when he thinks about what he has and what he vows never to lose. While being held, they had learned a great many things about the plans of the enemy. It turns out that many with like abilities had already been captured. They were being tested on in various facilities around the planet. Many of these facilities were heavily guarded with massive creatures and armed guards. These people like him were being tortured and he could not tolerate that. Testing did not stop with a few pricks of a needle. He was sure that they were doing more invasive and inhumane procedures. He shutters to think about the things these people were enduring while he was relatively free. From the snippets his friends had caught in passing conversation between their captors, many had already died and the majority of the tests had failed. They had not deciphered exactly what these people were planning to do or their ultimate goal but it was clear that he needed to help those that had been captured. There were not many, but there were enough and he knew he needed to help them.

So here they were. On their mission try to help those like them to gain back their freedom. The facility had been very hard to find and even harder to infiltrate. His friends had, had to stay behind because the dangers made it impossible for those without powers to enter. Instead they were serving as extra eyes and ears, strategically hidden all around the compound to help update them on any possible attacks while they were inside. Through some clever hacking, they had discovered an underground route through the water mains. Water pipes that, though not completely full, rushed water into the facility at break neck speeds. Much like a roaring rapids of unrelenting water. There was nothing so treacherous as water. It was dangerous and it was tricky and he was already apprehensive about allowing Stella to do this with him.

"I am going to be fine," she reassures as they both stand and watch the raging currents inside one of the massive pipes.

"Are you certain?" he asks, looking at her with obvious worry.

"I have you," she says confidently.

"And I have you," he answers with a smirk. Then he looks down at the racing water again. "Ready?"

"Always," and he knows she means more than this. He does not stop to think about the fullness of her meaning before they both jump into the rapid water.

The water is colder than he would have guessed and he forces himself to keep the breath he has held as he fights to gain the surface. His head shoots out as the current rushes them onward and his eyes immediately search out Stella. Her head surfaces not a moment later and he reaches for her as they are both forced to go where the water leads them. As her hand firmly and trustingly grabs hold of his, he squeezes it in reassurance before he looks to see how far they need to go before they reached the very center of the compound.

"The next portal!" he shouts over the roaring of the water and he feels her squeeze his hand to signal she had heard him.

He sees his destination in sight and he closes his eyes as they disappear together and reappear on the other side of the desired door. They could never guess what they would encounter when they appeared again on the other side. So of course it would be bad. Not only were they dripping wet, they were surrounded by a large group of armed soldiers. However, surprise was on their side and they took advantage of that pause to take action. Both of their runes activate in a flash of blinding light and they are both attacking their foes in quick succession. He admits that most of his awareness is on her graceful form than in the fight. Not everyone could still move as fluidly as she could while soaking wet. Water rained from her wet hair as she twirled and twisted in fight and he knew he had never seen anything so beautiful. She was her own supernatural force of nature, seeking vengeance of her kind, their kind. It is not long before all their opponents have fallen and they are the only two left.

They take only a quick second to catch their breath before they are running again. From previous instruction given by his friends, plus the direction of his own instinct and the whispers, he finds his way easily within the maze of the facility easily. Two floors up and down a long corridor. He knows they will find something that will try to stop them once they reach that last corridor and he is prepared, with his shield flashing when the first blow is struck. The force of it causes him to slide a foot backwards when it crashes against his shield. The alarms have started to go off around the compound and he does not have enough time to battle this particular creature. So he uses the full strength of his arsenal and rams them all into it's massive, scaly body and watches as it gets pinned against a metal wall. It manages to spit out a wad full of thick green blood before the life drains from its body.

"Come," he says to Stella as they pass the dead corpse and hurry towards the metal doors that hold their fellow men.

It is her turn to show her ability as she swipes a particular spot on the door and it comes crashing down at their feet.

"Very nice," he says and she chuckles.

"You are not the only one who can work quickly," she chides.

They both jump through the door, ready for anything when they come across two men in labcoats about to administer some concoction into the tied up victim on the metal table.

"Get away from him," he orders with a growl. He can feel his eyes turn red as he glares at the two men. For added emphasis, he causes his shield to sparkle menacingly. Both men back away in fear and awe. "Stella." He says and he gives her the honor of tying them up as he goes about freeing the weakened man on the table.

"You… I know you," the man says weakly as Noctis puts his arm around his neck to help him this feet. Behind them, he can hear the groan of pain from the two scientists and can almost smile at how tight Stella must have tied them together.

"We will get to that when we get you out of here," he tells the man as they make their way to the door. He looks up to find the two scientists dangling precariously over a table full of syringes. Syringes that were currently facing up towards the tied up men.

"I may or may not have tied you well enough to keep you up there," she says with a shrug. "I am not the best knot tier."

He would smirk if they were not in such a hurry to leave. There was no way of knowing the condition of this man here until they were able to successfully get his friend to take a look at him.

"I can walk on my own," reassures the man weakly.

There is not a moment to protest. They have to move. When the fresh wave of new foes appear, the man surprises the both of them by raising his hand before his face and thrust it towards the soldiers. Waves of Crystal flow from him and knock all the guards back and they out of their sight.

"Very impressive," he complements and the man gives a small nod.

"I have some payback to give," the man replies.

He can understand that. The rest of the way, Stella and he do most of the fighting until they are in the very spot that leads to the water mains heading out of the compound.

Something is coming.

"Something is coming," says Noctis aloud. He can feel it coming closer to them, but it is not quite where they are. It is already inside the water. "It is in the pipes."

"What can we do?" asks Stella.

He can hear more shouts rushing towards them.

"Whatever it is, we must face it," he says grimly.

"Along with torrents of water," explains Stella to their new member.

"Is it just the one?" the man asks.

He nods.

"Guess we had better take our chances," comments Stella.

"Can you teleport?" he asks the man.

"I did before, but I'm not sure now," the man says. He closes his eyes and disappears.

"Well I guess that means he can," he comments dryly.

"Let's go."

"Wait," he says, stalling when he should not be.

"We have to go now," she says, looking at him.

He does not understand why he wants to stop right now but he can see she expects this somehow. Why as it that at moments like this, he felt the urge to tell her things that he was too scared to tell in more quiet moments? He shakes his head as he gets back into focus. Nodding quickly, they are both splashing in icy water again and the threat is closer. He can sense it moving fluidly through the raging water towards them.

"There!" shouts Stella as she manages to rise enough out of the surface of the water to point.

Whatever it was, it was long. It reminded him of a sea serpent and he does not like what the whispers are warning him of. He grabs hold of Stella and pulls her to float behind him, placing himself between her and the serpent. His shields go up and the thing crashes against it, hissing over the loud roaring of the rushing water. He can see the flashes of orange from Stella's rune and feels a flare of heat rush past him and hit the creature. It screeches but does not stop trying to beat against his shield.

"How much farther?" he yells as Stella continues to fire at the serpent.

"I can almost see starlight!" shouts the man, who is farther along the way.

"You're going to have to teleport once you get close enough!" he shouts back. "Stella, come here."

She reaches for him and they both have to struggle to reach each other and keep whatever that thing is a safe distance away from them at the same time. After a few tries, she manages to latch onto his neck.

"As soon as we get out the water, that thing will not stand a chance."

"You are so confident?" he asks, looking into her face.

"Of course," she says, giving him a quick peck on his cheek. It is so unusual a thing that it startles him. "It is not our time to die."

"No, it is not," he says agreeing with her. "Not when I have not had a chance to tell you I love you."

He does not wait for her answer. He does not even wait for her to react, before he teleports them to the land as soon as he sees the opening. A moment after they reappear on the soil, the serpent rises above the water and their next fight begins.