Prompt: #23 Everything
Summary: Priorities change through time.
A/N: This continues the Noctum/Eclipse verse.
Omnino is Latin for "Entirely, wholly, completely".
Omnino
The blissful haze of sleep is chased away with the insistent tug upon his sleeve. His eyes open sharply to look at the one waking him. From the ease of his body, he immediately knows he must not have been asleep long. His limbs had not fully relaxed and his mind was not as clouded as it would if he had. He doubts it would have made a difference if he had been in a coma. As his eyes focus intently on the small creature trying to bring him back to the land of the wake. The worry immediately overtakes him at the frightened stare of his oldest.
"What is it, Little One? Is something wrong?" he whispers, sitting up quickly and looking down at the small face studying him with imploring eyes.
"Scary 'gain, Da," came the mumbling reply. The small body is trembling from the aftershocks and he feels his heart clench.
"Another nightmare?" he asks sympathetically. He reaches over and ruffles the midnight spikes that so closely resembled his own.
Lunae nodded in the affirmative.
There was not much space left over from already having Lumina on Stella's side of their bed, but he would never deny this comfort to his son. Gently backing away to give him enough space, he lies on his side facing the boy and smiles.
"If they come in here, you can sure your mother and I will slay them," he reassures with a whisper, holding out his arms in an embrace for his child to climb into.
Lunae shakes his head and remains standing where he is.
"Not yet, please," the little one answers more coherently now that he feels less frightened.
He can already tell that he will not get any sleep this night. Sleep would most likely not be gained in a long while. His son was proving as much of an insomniac as he was. After a brief look to make sure that his wife and daughter were still asleep, he gently lifts the covers off himself. Lunae makes room for him to swing his legs onto the floor. The cold surface bites into his feet, but he ignores it as he lifts his son onto his lap.
"Are you sure you do not wish to sleep a little before light, Lunae?" he asks, with only a vague hope that he actually would.
Lunae makes a grunting sound in the negative as he shakes his head vehemently. His small hands grab fistfuls of his shirt to press his point.
He reacts by immediately making soothing sounds of reassurance to calm his frightened boy.
"Dreams, no matter how terrifying, can always be escaped from. You will always wake and find me there to protect you," he promises, putting a hand to the back of his son's head and pressing his little face against his chest in a comforting hug. "Do you believe me?"
"Yes, Father," answers Lunae, his voice completely steady now. The tension inside his little body starts to lessen as he listens to the louder, steadier beat of his father's heart.
When he had been young, it had always been the reassuring beats of his parents' hearts that had soothed him when he had been afraid. His eyes shut too late to stop the last time he had seen his parents as it flashes through his consciousness. That one moment in time that would haunt him unceasingly. The pain of it would never lessen no matter how much passed. The dying beats of their once reassuring hearts had pumped their blood to form a pool that had immersed him. The hearts that had been the cause of all that red, that caused the harsh shove into the cruelty reality. A shove that he still stumbled from occasionally. To understand and realize that never, would their beating hearts ever comfort him again. They would never be replaced. They could never be replaced. All he could find comfort in, was that he could offer such a thing to his own children in their times of distress.
"Come, I can recall Umbra is in need of a bit of exercise," he whispers conspiratorially and feels excitement replace tension in the small body in his arms.
Within the darkness, he can still see the bright blues of his son's irises as he looks up at him.
"But Mother…"
"Will seek severe retribution if your father lets you fall," comes the smooth feminine voice of his wife from her side of the bed.
He turns to smirk at her while Lunae gasps in horror.
"Which I shall not," he promises her with a smile before turning to look down at his boy. "Lunae knows not to misbehave while riding Umbra, do you not Young Prince?"
"I do, Mother," vows Lunae faithfully, peeking his head around Noctis' arm to look at his mother.
"Very well," answers Stella with a long suffering sigh, but there is amusement there along with a hint worry. The maternal feelings that made him love her more.
As he strokes the soft black hair of his son's head, he feels a bitter self loathing at passing his precious heir the curse of nightmares. It was genetic. He was convinced of that. No matter how many times Stella tried to reason with him. That such a thing was normal, but he would never believe that. Monsters under the bed or hidden within the closet were not the things that Lunae was forced to encounter when he succumbed to the veils of slumber. He knows because he never dreamt of such things either. What nightmares that had terrified him all his life had never been figments of an overactive imagination. His dreams had been real. It would have been a relief if he had made those terrifying thoughts up. That would have abated his fears. He knows they were not. His life had never been normal so it was only logical that his children would inherit things that were not normal. They were more than extraordinary.
"And no, neither one of you is allowed to go out in only your PJs," Stella warns as he and Lunae are making their way out of the bedroom.
He shares a look with this smaller version of himself and they both share identical smirks. Together they turn to look at her as the tiny princess begins to make noises of protest from the bed. Thankfully, the little star still did not wake. She would depend his complete attention if she did. Lunae's hand squeezes his in worry for a moment until he relaxes once he realizes his sister is still asleep.
"Of course, Bright Star," he says and from the look on her face it is obvious that she does not believe he would have thought to change otherwise.
He chuckles before tugging on the small hand within his and leading them towards the dressing room. Taking as little time as possible, he grabs his leather jacket and the smaller version made especially for his own smaller version before stepping into the hallway.
"Do you think any of my uncles are awake too?" asks Lunae.
"I wager only Uncle Sailin' is still awake," he replies, still referring to Sapien with the nickname Lunae had given him when he could not pronounce the name correctly.
Lunae nods in agreement but does not suggest they invite him as they quietly make their way towards the garage.
"Will you tell me about your dream, Moonlight?" he asks, pausing just as they reach Umbra.
The small hand within his squeezes his tightly for a moment as the tension resurfaces, causing him kneel to eye level with the child. Giving him a reassuring squeeze back, he uses his other hand to ruffle the stubborn hair.
"I cannot help you fight something I do not know," he reasons gently.
Lunae lets out a defeated sigh that relieves him. His brave successor had never wanted to tell him the visions of his nightmares but it looks as if he may get a glimpse of them this time.
"It's weird," comes the frustrated reply.
"They often are," he says, encouraging him to continue. "No matter how weird or stupid, I would like to hear it."
"I am alone," he says in a small voice as his eyes become distant. "And I cannot find anyone."
There is a hesitation in his son's voice that gives him pause. There is a detail that his son was reluctant to share and he does not like the theories that flitter through his mind. It startles him when Lunae hurtles his little body into his arms and clings to him. His small fisted hands bite into his ribs but he makes no attempt at removing them. He tightens his jaw at the pain but only ruffles the black hair tickling his chin instead.
"The Light says bad things, Father," Lunae mumbles against his chest.
Bad things? The Light had not said anything to him.
"What is it telling you?" he asks with a sense of foreboding.
"We are all going to die," is the chilling answer.
That remarks causes him to narrow his eyes darkly. He manages to place a more neutral expression on his face before he pulls away enough to look into his son's eyes.
"You have never been alone before. I do not see an end to that," he says factually. He had made sure of it and when he did not, someone else did. There were too many people that loved this little one and the twinkling star to leave room for loneliness. "One day we will die, but that is a long way yet. Remember what I taught you about the future?"
"That one day I will be King," the boy answers automatically, but he does not look the least bit happy about it.
"Yes, you will," he reaffirms. "And you will be a good King."
"Like you?" Lunae asks hopefully.
He automatically smiles at the admiration in his son's gaze. No one loved so unfailingly as a child and he savors every moment of it. No matter what he was, his children loved him.
"Better," he answers with a warm smile and another ruffle of black hair. "Now, let us not keep Umbra waiting any longer."
Retrieving the mini version of his helmet, along with his own, he makes sure that all safety precautions are in order before he starts revying the engine. After one last check of the harness keeping Lunae strapped to his front, they are shooting off into the silent night of the sleeping city.
His brave little fighter had fallen asleep around the second turn. The soothing vibrations of the bike and the whirling lights seemed to have to same relaxing effect as it did him. His father's son afterall. He had deliberately taken Lunae's favorite route around the city by way of the highway. In a few years, he can look forward to taking rides like this side by side and smiles at the image his mind conjures up. He carefully removes the harness and carries the rapidly growing body back towards the residence wing. Why did it feel as if he were heavier than yesterday? Children grew up so fast!
His eyes remain fixed on the sleeping form in his arms and feels the immense protectiveness rise within. This was his child. This was his second greatest love. This was his progeny. There was nothing in the world that he would not do to protect him. His children were everything. Yet there was nothing he could do to protect this little one while in the grips of sleep. It was bad enough that he still held a grudge when Stella lost herself in pleasant dreams. This was much more predatory. In dreams he could not follow. He has always hated feeling helpless. He feels an even deeper loathing for it now that he feels a more intense bout of its curse.
"Is he all right?" a soft voice whispers behind him as he tucks Lunae back into his own bed.
"For now," he says with a sigh, adjusting the covers carefully as the little man's chest rose and fell with ease.
No nightmares now. Until the next time then.
He watches him silently as familiar arms wrap around him from behind. Grasping a soft hand, he lifts it to his lips to kiss the palm before laying it against his chest.
"I will not let you blame yourself for this," she says.
The sigh that he releases does not relieve the tension this time.
"It is my tainted genes that run through his veins," he whispers.
"As in Lumina's," she adds.
"But she is more like her mother," he explains. "There is too much light within her to be foreshadowed by the filth she inherited from me."
"Lunae is my son too," she reminds him.
He lifts her arms away from his waist and turns to look at her. Her that was his wife. Bathed in the combination of the dim shine of moonlight and shadow, she looks as ethereal as a goddess. Brilliant blond hair and a white chemise that seemed to glow in the illuminating beams. There is a stern stubbornness in her expression that makes him want to kiss her but knows that now was not the appropriate time.
"Which is his only saving grace," he says, raising a hand to run his thumb across her bottom lip.
She lets out a huff of exasperation at him before clutching his chin and making him focus on her eyes instead of her lips.
"If he is anything like his father, which he is, then there nothing to fear," she says, looking at him carefully to make sure that he allows that her words to absorb. Which does not and she knows it. So she sucks in a patient breathe and uses both of her hands to bring his face closer to hers. "He will be brave and he will be strong and he will be good. If you cannot believe that then you condemn him to become wicked."
That thought startles him and he leans back to look at her sharply.
She nods to confirm his unspoken question.
He grabs her and crushes her against his chest, taking in the enthralling fragrance of her hair.
"You and the children are everything to me," he says. "There is nothing if there is no you nor them."
She leans back to look up at him.
"Children may or may not grow to become what we want them to be. They will be who they are meant to be," she says. "No matter what that is, we must show them that we will love them. No matter what."
He nods in agreement as he lets out a long breathe before leaning to kiss her forehead.
"I would be so lost without you, Bright Star," he says softly.
She smiles up at him brightly and they have a silent moment, contenting themselves with merely looking upon the other. As one, they turn to stare down at their first born as he sleeps peacefully before them. He feels a tug on his hand and lets her lead him towards their bedroom.
"I put Lumina back to her bed," Stella explains when he sees their messy bed empty of a halo of blond curls.
"Does that mean we get to sleep alone tonight?" he asks, trying not to sound as eager as he feels at the prospect.
She turns around and gives him a sly knowing grin, which he responds to with a smirk.
"I need to be shown that you love me too," she says, reaching for the zip of his jacket. "And that conflicts with sleeping. So no, we will get any sleep, but we will be alone."
He smiles with dark promise before scooping her into his arms.
"Nothing would please me more than to show you," he says, carrying her the short distance to their bed.
I'd also like to comment on the response from the last prompt. When I was finished with the draft, I initially hesitated. The entire tone of The Undead verse was dark and foreboding. There was no room for humor within it but Fastidium ends it with light, flirty banter between Noctis and Stella. Wouldn't you know it, that was what everyone loved about it. The reason it was kept in was because Noctis and Stella never had a chance to speak that way with the other. I thought I'd give them that. Loving each other despite the lack of courtship and flirtation is very touching in itself because I don't believe you necessarily have to have both to fall in love. So I am happy that everyone enjoyed it so much.