Title: Lunacy
Genre: Drama, action
Summary: Luna exacts her revenge on Niflheim, but plans go awry.
Chapter 12, part 4: Lunacy
Lunafreya stared at her reflection as Gentiana braided her hair. Hard icy eyes stared back. Her skin was healthy and tan from months of travelling with Noctis and his friends. Gone was the pale ghost with hollow eyes, in its place now sat a confident woman; a woman who was ready to do anything for her cause. She fingered the ceremonial trident Gentiana had kept safe for her. It was hers by birthright as the last living member of Tenebraean royalty. It was the symbol of her people. Its handle had an engraving of the country's guardian deity; the Siren.
Luna had never put her powers to a use for she was afraid of causing more destruction than good. But ever since her near fatal experience as a child, she had seen brief reflections of a great sea serpent's silhouette. Sometimes in a fountain, sometimes in her bath water or even in Umbra and Pryna's water bowls. The serpent's presence was a constant companion. It never spoke or acknowledged her when she tried to speak to it.
Her handmaidens had not believed her at first and speculated that the war, the invasion and living under martial law were beginning to take their toll on her mental health. At Luna's insistence she was taken to the cathedral to meet the High Priest. In the confession booth they spoke in hushed voices safe from imperial ears. The High Priest and his most trusted priests scoured the sacred library for an ancient tome which included the answers Luna sought. She learnt that the serpent was one of the Archaeans; Leviathan, the Queen of Seas. Their souls were bound together and the Queen was hers to call upon.
The next night when most of the imperial soldiers were off whoring and pillaging in the city, Luna ran to the fountain. As always, the Queen's shadow emerged from the depths. Luna peered at the silhouette, but couldn't distinguish anything past the outlines. Tentatively she reached and let her small hand break the water's surface.
Nothing happened.
Frowning, she splashed the water, but the great serpent remained unmoving. Determined, she made a little vortex by rapidly moving her arm in circles underwater.
Still nothing.
She removed her hand from the fountain, huffed and stared at the silent Queen.
"How can I communicate with you if you won't even acknowledge me?"
Loud drunken laughter alerted her to the presence of incoming imperials. She got up and sneaked back into her room past the bored night guards.
Her door was in poor condition. Several door bolts and the main locking mechanism had been torn from it by force. She and her servants had attempted to repair the door many times, but when an imperial really wanted to enter her room, no lock could keep them out. Out of habit she locked her door with the newest bolt and moved her table in front of the door. She doubted the door bolt would last a week.
Luna crawled into her bed and noted the cold sheets. Vesper, her only remaining male servant, was absent. He had taken the role of a bodyguard after the imperial soldiers were assigned into her home. He slept in her bed every night and acted as a last line of defense between her and the imperials. Most of the time he managed to fight off the invaders until they gave up and went to harass the handmaidens instead. Other times the imperials ganged on him and beat him until he couldn't stand up anymore.
Luna searched her room for any notes Vesper might've left for her, but found none. His sudden absence unnerved her terribly.
Soft padding outside followed by a quiet whine and scratching on Luna's door halted her search. She hurried to let her canine friend inside. Pryna dutifully strolled in and sat down beside the bed at attention while Luna relocked and barricaded the door. She hurried to Pryna's side and removed the hidden letter from the canine's leg-wrap before rewarding the husky with a treat.
A message from the High Priest. Luna took a flashlight from her drawer and pulled a blanket over her and Pryna. She didn't wish to alert any imperials of her night activities with a light show. The message lacked all the usual formalities the High Priest insisted adding in a normal letter. Her 'dog mail' did not have the luxury for long drawn out articles.
The key to communicating with the Queen lies in your family's trident. Only with it you can reach out to her.
"Gil for your thoughts", Gentiana's gentle voice snapped Luna back to the present from her childhood memories.
"Oh, I was just remembering my-", Luna cast an awkward glance at the dark clad woman before returning to stare at her own reflection. "Previous bodyguard."
The skillful hands braiding her hair came to a halt. "What happened to them?" Gentiana asked conversationally.
Cerulean eyes lowered, sadness pushing heavily down on her slender shoulders. "He just disappeared one night. I never saw him again." Gentiana's face betrayed no emotion as she continued to work with Luna's hair. "One of my handmaidens said he had been captured and taken to forced labour at an imperial encampment. I wanted to believe that, because another one claimed he had been taken there as target practice."
"And now?"
Luna opened her mouth, but hesitated for a second before admitting. "I found a file on him in your possession. He was executed."
"And to this day I never knew you went through my things. I am impressed, Lunafreya", Gentiana finished the braid and pinned it in its usual style. Luna ignored the compliment and let the older woman help her into a long hemmed white dress.
Heavy silence ensued, only broken by the gentle tapping of first raindrops against the window glass. Soon it would pour.
"I will die, won't I."
Gentiana's brow furrowed in what Luna presumed to be worry. "Have you had visions of your death?" Her hands stopped straightening the dress' collar and slid down Luna's arms sending shivers down the younger woman's spine.
"No."
"Then there is hope. Anything could go wrong which is why we must be careful."
As a finishing touch Gentiana tied a necklace around Luna's slender neck. Luna eyed the jewelry from the mirror. It had a small crescent moon hanging from the chain. A gift she had received from Noctis on her last day in Insomnia. He had admitted that his father the King had commissioned it for her. She had treasured the necklace and worn it under her many layers of travelling wear. But she wouldn't hide her feelings for the Lucian Prince anymore. She would wear the necklace and the engagement ring proudly and let the entire world see.
"You look beautiful", Gentiana smiled tenderly and kissed the blonde's crown. "Like a saint from old descriptions."
"Or a martyr", Luna stood up, trident in left hand. She nearly jumped when she felt the older woman's cool hand cover her right hand.
"May Etro watch over you, Lady Lunafreya. While we might not have always seen from eye to eye I have always respected you. Even loved you." Luna was speechless. She glanced at their intertwined hands. She doubted she would ever understand the dark haired woman. Hesitantly she squeezed Gentiana's hand before withdrawing hers. She turned to head to the door, but paused and turned back to the Niflheimian, her gaze refusing to meet the warm moss green eyes.
"You wanted to know the power of Etro's Gate", Leviathan's familiar silhouette caught her eye from the many rain drops trailing down the window glass. "Soon you will learn."
"I thought we would head to Niflheim. That is where the airship was heading, was it not?" Luna frowned as she sat down next to her attendant.
"Aldercapt has made an official announcement that he is retiring. According to my intelligence the Emperor and the Chancellor are currently in Altissia."
"At the height of his power? Wise move on his part", Luna crossed her arms. After Lucis had fallen, the Niflheimians had wasted no time in invading Accordo. Iedolas Aldercapt had taken a liking to the beautiful floating capital city. She didn't doubt the pompous Emperor would enjoy his last days with as many luxuries as all of Eos could offer. Such vanity disgusted her to no end.
"Just so. The crowning ceremony is scheduled to take place tomorrow morning", Gentiana had sent for four military trained Tenebraeans to act as official bodyguards for Luna during their journey. Their teal and white uniforms were an impressive sight as they patrolled silently outside the first class seating.
"Most likely candidates would be his son or Chancellor Izunia", Luna presumed.
"Personally, I believe he will give up his position to his son. The Chancellor has most of the power. The Emperor is closer to a figurehead in this day and age."
Luna absently fingered her engagement ring as she watched the clouds fly by.
"What of Noctis? Will he be there?"
Gentiana took out her phone and messaged briefly with her personal undercover spy; a security guard working for the Chancellor. "Yes, he is most definitely there along with his companions. His 'surrender' will boost the Niflheimians' morale as well as pacify potential uprisings within Lucian territory. They won't pass this chance to humiliate Lucis' last hope in front of the media."
Luna rested her hand on her trident and felt the Archaean stir.
The Empire would pay. She would save her friends and end Eos' misery.
Their one hour trip to Niflheim had been postponed. Noctis wasn't sure if to thank Etro or curse the extended waiting. Apparently the Emperor had changed his plans regarding him and ordered the ship to do a U-turn towards Accordo. The soldiers didn't tell him anything. His only source of information came from the buzzing of walkie-talkies the sentinels answered to. After hours of trying to catch any hint of what was to come, he gave up and let his mind wander until sleep claimed him.
"Rise and shine, Princeling. We've reached our destination", Noctis was harshly pulled to his feet. Last remnants of sleep still blurring his vision, he stumbled as two MTs dragged him by the arms outside his cell. He could only make out the black armour and long blonde hair of the savage dragoon in front of him as they marched down the ramp. Noctis inhaled the fresh salt scented air greedily as a gentle wind ruffled his locks. Seagulls squawked and huge waterfalls roared in the distance. This is where he was he was supposed to marry Lunafreya.
Well, this visit was not turning out at all how he had envisioned it.
To his relief he saw his friends being dragged towards the same destination as him. At least he wouldn't be alone, but he didn't have high hopes for escaping a second time.
Their destination appeared to be the coliseum. The usually fully packed rows were completely vacant. In the middle of the arena was a stage built for non-combat occasions such as this. The stage was decorated in the imperial colours and high above the audience seats Noctis could see the screens flashing with the golden Behemoth and catchphrases such as "The Empire is a tune. It must be sung together." On top of the stage stood Emperor Iedolas Aldercapt conversing with the Chancellor Ardyn Izunia accompanied by their personal bodyguards, security and other important politicians ranging from trueborn Niflheimians to provincials. Next to the stage patrolled a company of MTs while above in the sky smaller airships filled with alert soldiers kept watch.
Noctis and his friends were roughly pushed to their knees in front of the Empire's Dynamic Duo.
"Well, well. What have we here? Our missing Prince and his bodyguards? Well done, Highwind. We are most pleased", Ardyn drawled. Aranea beamed as the Chancellor showered her with praises. Iedolas Aldercapt turned to the Prince, a self-assured smirk dancing on his thin dry lips.
"Did you get cold feet before the big day, boy? Not very polite to run off from you own wedding." Noctis met his sneer with equal distaste.
"Only imperials would use a peace treaty as an invasion strategy. How low the mighty fall." The Emperor swatted his hand as if Noctis' words were just annoying buzzing of a fly.
"Big words from the losing side", he leaned closer and grabbed the Prince by the collar. "You forget I hold all the cards. You would do well to remember that lest you want your friends here to suffer needlessly." Iedolas let go of Noctis and turned to return to the other politicians.
Noctis shot a look to his companions. He met Gladiolus' defiant glare. Prompto's eyes darted everywhere and he was clearly close to succumbing to panic. Ignis remained calm as ever and narrowed his eyes at Noctis as he attempted to silently communicate.
Noctis still had one more card up his sleeve. He just had to play it right.
"Wait."
The Emperor and Chancellor turned to the kneeling Lucian.
"You're making a mistake. This man is not my companion", he shook his head towards where Ignis was held down by an MT. "He is just a Tenebraean civilian we hired to guide us to the Fleuret residence. He has nothing to do with us and he doesn't even know our true identities."
The Chancellor shot a displeased look towards the dragoon captain.
"Is that so, Captain Highwind?"
"I cannot confirm nor deny, Sir. He appears to be wearing regular Tenebraean citizen's clothing", she stepped to Prompto who nearly whimpered as she kneeled down to his eyelevel. "But so is this man. It is obvious the Prince and his entourage were undercover. This proves nothing."
Noctis tried to keep himself from snapping. "Look at him! He doesn't look Lucian in the slightest. I can't have an innocent man suffer just because we hired him to take us from place A to B", he was getting desperate to come up with a decent excuse. One of the security guards approached Ardyn and whispered to him.
"Think about it. How would Tenebraeans react if their benevolent Emperor were to capture and execute one of their own citizens – an innocent man no less – far from home soil? There would be an uproar in the media and–"
Ardyn lifted his hand to quiet the Prince's ranting. Noctis knew they could just not tell the media about this little episode. As it was, it was highly unlikely the media would know what would happen to the Prince after the crowning ceremony and his public humiliation. Still, he hoped to appeal to the Emperor's vanity.
"Take the Prince and the two Lucians away. Dress them in black. We do not want our audience to be confused about their identity", Iedolas ordered the guards. The MTs hauled the three men on their feet and dragged them after the guards.
"What of this one?" Aranea gestured towards Ignis.
"I just received a message from Gentiana", Ardyn replied. "She gave me reason to believe she was the one who captured the Prince. Is this true?"
"Yes, Sir."
"Then she most likely knows the identity of this man. He will remain here until she arrives."
"Your Imperial Majesty", Gentiana bowed deeply to the Emperor and nodded respectfully in acknowledgement to Ardyn. "Chancellor."
"Ah, Gentiana. Just the woman we needed. Quite the chance that you were already heading here", Ardyn circled the dark glad woman like a vulture.
"I did not wish to be late to the ceremony, my Lord."
"Yes, yes, of course", he stopped circling and gestured the guards to bring Ignis forward. "Now. Tell me who this man is. He was among the Prince and his bodyguards, but he claims it is a misunderstanding."
Gentiana kept her face neutral as she seized up the lean man in clothes that were a bit too obviously not his size.
"His name is Vesper Custos. He used to work at the Fleuret manor before I replaced the staff."
"So he's a Tenebraean?"
"As Tenebraean as Tenebraeans get, my Lord."
Aranea frowned skeptically. Gentiana might be telling the truth, but there was something strange going on with the foreign man – and not just his ill-fitted clothes. He seemed way too calm to be in such a dire situation. And why had Gentiana let her take him along with the Prince if he was merely an innocent bystander?
Iedolas Aldercapt seemed to be of a different mind. "Let this man free. He shall bear witness to my good will towards our allies." The guards removed the metal cuffs from Ignis and helped him up. He rubbed his sore wrists and bowed politely to the Emperor and Chancellor. The Emperor clasped Ignis' shoulder. "I want you to witness the crowning. Today shall be a day to remember." And with that Ignis was dismissed.
He hurried towards the coliseum exit and nearly bumped into Lunafreya who was waiting outside with her bodyguards.
"Ignis!" she exclaimed. Ignis hurried to put a finger on his lips as a sign for silence. Luna lowered her voice and pulled him aside with her. "You're alright?"
"As fine as can be expected. But I am now known as Vesper Custos, thanks to your friend." Luna ignored the jab and pressed on.
"Where's Noctis? What of Prompto and Gladio?"
"They are being held by the imperials. There's too many of them, we cannot hope to fight through them even if I were to include your four guards and her", he clearly was not impressed by Gentiana's side switching.
"It's alright. We have a plan. After this day the Emperor will be no more, I promise." Ignis' brows shot up at her bold statement.
"Do tell."
"There is no time. Gentiana is about to call for me. Just trust me. Once the chaos begins you have to free them. No matter what happens, stick with Noctis. Can I count on you?"
"With my life, my Lady."
Luna smiled brilliantly and offered her rapier as well as the four men's Lucian clothes they had left at the Fleuret manor.
"Keep him safe." Ignis took the bagful of clothes and tied the rapier around his waist.
"I will."
"Go." Ignis turned and jogged off to find a place to change from the uncomfortable Tenebraean clothing.
As on cue Luna could hear Gentiana make her announcement to the Emperor and Chancellor.
"I've freed the much beloved Princess of Tenebrae from the Lucian Prince and his terrorists."
Lunafreya stepped forward from the protective circle of her bodyguards. She curtsied low, her eyes downcast and demure. The Emperor offered his hand. Lunafreya forced her internal rage and humiliation not to show as she kissed the ring on his wrinkly finger.
"His Imperial Majesty and I are most glad to see the long unexpected captivity has not dampened the spirits of our truest of allies", Ardyn grinned and made no show to hide the knowing gleam in his eyes. Gallantly he took her small hand in his and placed a kiss on her knuckles. Luna repressed a shudder and kept her features serene.
"Your arrival is timely. The crowning ceremony will begin within few hours", Ardyn leaned close, his stubble scratching her cheek and his breath hot and unpleasant in her ear. "Take the moment to eye on your beloved kidnapper, my Lady. After he is demeaned in front of all of Eos, he will become an imperial lab rat. It might take time, but he will succumb and yield us the Lucian King's power."
Luna kept a pleasant smile plastered on her face. "I look forward to it. In fact, I come bearing a gift which I wish to bestow to the new Emperor."
"Truly?" Iedolas' face betrayed no emotion, but Luna could near feel the mistrust radiating from him.
"With your permission", Luna turned to Gentiana. "Retrieve the ceremonial trident. I wish to bless it and offer it with the goodwill of every Tenebraean citizen to our new leader."
Ardyn held up his hand. "Hold", he interrupted Gentiana. "Perhaps it is best that this grand act between royalty is saved for the ceremony – for all to see!"
"Splendid idea", Iedolas agreed. "Captain Highwind will escort you to your honorary seats."
"What of the trident?" Gentiana's eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"It shall be brought to you by my men shortly", Ardyn assured. "Safety precautions, you understand."
"Of course. We take our leave", Luna curtsied politely. The ill-tempered dragoon sneered at the white clad Tenebraean.
"This way, my Lady."
Gentiana walked beside Luna and kept a watchful eye on their surroundings, the four bodyguards followed behind at a respectful distance.
Ardyn bowed to the Emperor and took his leave as well.
Ignis had just managed to change back to his suit when he heard footsteps. He hid in the shadows and saw the Chancellor walk by with Lady Lunafreya's trident. What could the Niflheimian possibly be doing with it? He trailed after the older man from a safe distance.
The Chancellor entered a small diner. He signaled the owner who in turn emptied the diner from customers. Ignis stayed outside and crept beneath an open window and listened.
Ardyn was speaking to another man.
"Verstael, I trust you still carry that shard of corrupted crystal on you."
"Of course. What do you need it for?" a deep unfriendly voice rasped. This man was clearly much older than the Chancellor.
He must be the magitek researcher. Every Lucian knew of the man behind the accursed imperial machinery.
"Gentiana has failed to report on the Lady Lunafreya's supposed powers during her stay in Tenebrae. Their sudden appearance at the same time is highly suspicious. I'm inclined to think the Lady has grown a spine during her little road trip with the Lucians and thinks herself bold enough to challenge us now. I would like to make sure she doesn't succeed in whatever it is that she plans to do."
That man seemed to be always one step ahead of them. But what did corrupted crystal have to do with anything? Ignis strained to listen.
"You've seen how it affected the Glaive we captured. It is highly unstable. If the Tenebraean witch is what you say she is it could have terrible consequences."
"Which is exactly what we want, Verstael. Whether we want to acknowledge it or not, Lady Lunafreya is a highly beloved figurehead. If her name were to be sullied by Altissian blood, she would lose all her support in an instance. Who would take the side of a heartless murderer after all?"
They chuckled as if a good joke was hidden between the lines.
Ignis had to warn Lunafreya. He crept away from the diner and dashed as fast as his legs could carry him back to the coliseum.
The coliseum was packed full with regular citizens, politicians, news reporters and various important people. If the circumstances were different Prompto would've enjoyed himself immensely. As it was he had hard time feeling anything positive with an imposing MT holding his and Noctis' shoulders in an iron grip. They were not even allowed to stand up without permission. His electric cuffs had at least been changed to normal metal ones. The Chancellor didn't seem to take too well to the crazy dragoon's sadistic tendencies. Just thinking of her and the mad gleam in her eye as she held him over the airship engine made his stomach churn uncomfortably.
"Noct?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you think Iggy made it out?"
Noctis kept his gaze glued to the stage.
"He's not here with us, so I'd assume so."
"Wonder what his plan is to get us out?" Noctis resisted the urge to flinch. Prompto's near naïve optimism was often a source of strength to him and his companions. But now it only hurt to burst his bubble.
"There's nothing he can do for us, Prompto. I'm just glad one of us made it out alive", his sigh was drowned by the chatter and cheers of the audience. "We're out of allies. Luna will be forced to become a puppet for the Empire once more and no-one will rise to challenge the Empire."
It nearly physically hurt to watch Prompto's face fall. He looked utterly defeated. Noctis probably looked the same for he certainly felt that way. There was no way out of this mess. There were too many guards and MTs surrounding them, all armed to the teeth. Even Gladio wouldn't be able to do his escape act when their every movement was closely monitored.
Their attention returned to the stage as the Emperor gave his retiring speech and introduced his son as his heir. The crowd cheered. Prompto couldn't help but wonder if it was genuine or if the people were held at gunpoint just like him.
"Hey, isn't that Luna?" Gladio exclaimed as he peered at the stage. Both youths turned to look where the tattooed man was pointing with his cuffed hands. Sure enough Noctis could see the familiar slender figure of his betrothed at the edge of the stage. Her pure white dress was a stark contrast to Gentiana's black garments.
Things were not going at all as planned. She had hoped to avoid the crowds and give her 'gift' to the Emperor and his son in private. There would be casualties if she was not careful. Ardyn had yet to return her trident and she couldn't help but speculate what took them so long to check the trident for potential threats. In fact, she didn't see the Chancellor anywhere among the noble folk. What was he planning?
"It is time, Lunafreya", Gentiana gently informed her. Luna nodded and gracefully walked to the center of the stage where Iedolas Aldercapt's son stood, his tall figure glad in white robes just as imposing as his father's. Luna couldn't help but think he was the exact opposite of Noctis. A security guard in a smart suit and leather gloves stepped forward and offered the ceremonial trident to her. She accepted it and curtsied before the future Emperor.
"My Lord. I wish to bestow you this trident as a sign of everlasting friendship between Niflheim and Tenebrae. But before I do, I ask that you allow me bless it true to Tenebraean customs."
"You may."
And with that Luna closed her eyes, held the trident with both hands and called for the Queen. She felt strange cool energy seep from the trident to her fingers tips and spread across her entire being, making her skin crawl forebodingly.
A distant roar erupted from the sea. The audience fell silent and held their breath as the sound of something huge moving beneath the surface came closer.
"O Leviathan, Lady of Whorl, bestow us thine judgment!"
Luna opened her eyes and was nearly overwhelmed by the hatred and the greed she saw in the politicians' eyes that surrounded her. She noticed a security guard eyeing her body up and down with no self-restraint. Memories from Tenebraean's fall invaded her mind. She had seen that look too many times. After Vesper had disappeared, nothing had stood between her and the group of imperials in desperate need for sexual relief.
She visibly trembled as she saw their needy eyes roam over her body. There was nothing to hide behind, no clothing to cover her indecency. She wanted to scream, she wanted to cry. Instead she closed her eyes and tried to force the images away, but they wouldn't stop. A man took hold of her and pinned her to the ground while his partner began to undo his belt.
Letmeoutletmeoutletmeout-
The images cleared, but the sneers were still firmly plastered on the people around her. All eyes were focused on her. She felt like a sheep in a den of wolves. Desperately Luna scanned the crowd for a friendly or at the very least a neutral face to focus on. Her gaze was pulled as if by a magnet to Noctis. He was far above her in the back row, his face cold and emotionless.
Shower. She was in a shower. Scrubbing blood and dirt out of her hair when she felt the hairs in her neck stand up in a subconscious warning. She turned off the running water and tiptoed to the door. She could hear groaning and panting from the other side. The door handle turned. There was no lock. She had no weapon to defend herself with. She was naked and vulnerable. Between the heavy breathing she could hear Noctis drawling her name.
She trusted him! He invaded her privacy! How could he?!
His arm snaked around her waist as she settled down for the night. His invading hand trailed down and slithered underneath her trousers' waistline. She stopped his advances, but he merely laughed and told her she was his now. She wore his ring as a proof.
Disgusting. Vile. Horrible.
She ripped her gaze from her betrothed and turned to look at Gladiolus by his side.
Always belittling her, dancing around her like she was a little girl. He never took her seriously and merely entertained her for the sake of the Prince. To him she was just a weakling, a burden, a luggage that took too much space on the car. If he had only given her a chance to prove herself-
He would've what? Accepted her to their circle of friends that dated back more than a decade? How could she ever hope to be one of them? She was just a spineless girl, a pushover who dared not lift a finger in self-defense against imperials.
Luna held her head while clutching the trident to her chest. What was going on?
"Lunafreya?"
Her teary gaze rose to meet Gentiana's familiar green eyes. But they were not warm. They were full of deceit.
She trusted her! For a year she treated her as a friend. And this was how she repaid her? She betrayed her and she betrayed those who she once regarded as friends. She made a fool out of her!
Warmth. An embrace.
Gentiana was holding her. She had wrapped her in a towel after finding her in the shower. Gentiana… She held her like no-one ever had. She made Luna believe love was not completely out of her reach. But it was all an act. She knew when the humming obsidian magitek blade rose to swipe at her fragile heart; there was no warmth or love in those olive green eyes. Only hate, deceit and lust for power.
"Lunafreya! Stop! People will die if you do not stop!"
Luna's ears were overwhelmed by the screams of panic and pain. She gasped and held on to her trident possessively as if it was the only thing grounding her to reality. Her eyes darted across the roaring crowd. They were all against her. They were all a threat.
The Queen felt her anxiety, her disgust, her fear, her pain and her hatred. And she listened. This city would be cleansed from the filth.
Gentiana's calls fell to deaf ears. Lunafreya was long gone from her reach.
A roar pierced the air as Leviathan summoned forth a tidal wave. It crashed heavily against the coliseum wall. The wall cracked ominously, but held only barely. People screamed and panicked as they ran; some even jumped over each other to get as far away from the towering figure of the great sea serpent. People were ran over as no-one paid attention to their surroundings nor spared a second thought for fellow man.
The airships engaged the Archaean, but even their magitek infused bullets and missiles could not penetrate the Queen's scaly hide. Aranea was screeching to her walkie-talkie and ready to depart for battle. A small airship lowered to the coliseum's stage and the security hurried the Emperor and his son to safety. This was the chance Gentiana needed. She ran towards the airship, hand reaching for the handle of her magitek blade.
Another crash of a tidal wave on the coliseum wall shook the ground and penetrated the wall. Gentiana lost her balance and missed her chance as the airship took off the ground.
"Damn it!" she hissed and rose back on her feet. Water already seeped through the crack and in no time it reached her ankles. Gentiana jumped off the stage and swam to the audience seats. Masses of people were flooding out of the coliseum, but all the chaos and panic seemed to only make it harder for people to leave. Those who had been run over did not have the strength to swim and drowned. It was every man for themselves.
Gentiana pushed wet locks from her eyes and hoisted herself up. She ran for the stairs and nearly crashed into a man who seemed to have lost his sense of direction. Who was insane enough to want to go for a swim? She was ready to give him a piece of her mind when she noticed he wore traditional Lucian black.
"Ignis Stupeo Scientia, I presume?" Said man narrowed his eyes in mistrust and adjusted his glasses which had nearly flown off his nose from their near run-in.
"Correct."
"Come with me. I need your help to free the Prince."
Ignis had no arguments to that and dutifully followed the Niflheimian woman upstairs. As they reached the top, the water level had already risen midway. It seemed even with the crack on the wall and the wide open entrance door the coliseum was doomed to drown. They easily spotted the Prince being held by six MTs who had yet to receive a retreating order among all the chaos and static that the Archaean's presence caused.
Ignis unsheathed Lunafreya's rapier and Gentiana switched on her obsidian magitek blade.
"This will be over quickly."
Noctis was not sure what to think as he watched his friend and enemy take down the MTs with such synergy he would've thought the two had fought side by side before.
"Highness, are you alright?" Ignis asked as he removed the magitek handcuffs off him.
"Fine", he replied and summoned Partisan. "What the hell is happening here? Where's Luna? I need to get her to safety." The stage had long gone underwater and there were no traces of Lunafreya anywhere.
"I will explain once we are in the clear", Gentiana replied curtly. "We need to get to the city and find a boat. As things are now it won't be long before there will be no ground to stand on."
Prompto eyed the coliseum in worry. "How do we leave? Most of the coliseum is underwater. I don't know about you guys, but I for sure can't hold my breath long enough to get to the entrance."
"Get ready for the biggest water slide of your life", Gladio slapped the freckled blonde's back which earned him a yelp.
"I can get us a ship", Noctis eyed an airship hovering over the coliseum. He threw the Partisan and warpstroke. His spear impaled an imperial soldier. The soldier fell with a guttural gasp as blood coloured the metal floor in deep red. Rest of the soldiers followed shortly after. With only the pilot left Noctis materialized next to him and summoned a dagger and held it to the startled pilot's neck.
"Take us down. We've got passengers to retrieve."
The pilot did as he was told.
The water reached the quartet's knees by the time the airship lowered its ramp for them.
"Alright, take us up. Let's see if we can get a better view of this place."
Leviathan wasn't as close to the shore as they had initially believed. Her imposing figure was truly a sight to behold. The sheer size of her!
The Prince turned to the Niflheimian woman. "You. Talk."
Gentiana sighed as she attempted to dry her drenched clothing and hair.
"Lunafreya and I agreed take down the Emperor and the Chancellor. They have had their eyes on me for a while so I had to divert their attention elsewhere. That is why I allowed you to be captured. Luna believed she could save you by summoning Leviathan, but something went wrong", she crossed her arms and frowned as she recalled how strangely Luna had been behaving. "She was raving about being disgusted, how she needed to cleanse this land from impurity and how all of us were a threat to her. I never thought the power of Etro's Gate to be so fully consuming and corrupting. Had I known, I would have never allowed her to go through with this."
Noctis' jaw twitched as he clenched and unclenched his fists, clearly bottling up all the anger he felt. He altered between blaming himself for letting this happened and blaming Gentiana for ruining all of their plans by pulling them to her personal vendetta against the Emperor and Chancellor.
Ignis stepped forward.
"I believe I might know the reason for Lady Lunafreya's uncharacteristic behavior." All four sets of eyes shot up to him expectantly. "After she gave me her rapier and our clothing, I trailed after Ardyn Izunia. He had Lady Lunafreya's trident and met up with the head magitek scientist Verstael. They spoke of corrupted crystal shards and how they had affected a member of Kingsglaive."
Noctis' eyes widened at the mention of his father's most elite soldiers.
"From what I understood the corrupted crystal doesn't do anything on its own, but when magic is involved the subject becomes… Unbalanced. At least that would explain how Verstael and Izunia were able to handle the corrupted crystal without it affecting them while a magic wielding Glaive would suffer from side-effects."
Gladiolus rested his hands on his hips. "So you mean to say the trident makes her crazy?"
"In as few words – yes, I believe so. They must've infused the trident with a corrupted crystal shard."
Prompto fidgeted uncomfortably. "Question: how do we find her? She wasn't in the coliseum, but the big serpent's clearly still on a rampage."
"I'll get us another airship. Then we split up into two groups. We need to cover as much ground as fast as we can. Time's not our side", Noctis went to the pilot to order him fly closer to another small airship.
"It never is", Gladio sighed.
Gentiana took out her phone and attempted to contact her undercover security guard, but as she expected the connection was weak at best. Leviathan's mere presence disrupted all communications and most power lines near the coliseum had perished under the weight of continuous tidal waves.
Once Noctis had secured a second transporter, Prompto joined him while Ignis and Gladiolus stayed with Gentiana – mostly because they didn't trust her enough to leave Gladio alone with her should she change her mind and engage him.
The coliseum had completely sunk beneath the water level. The city was not far behind; all the streets and one story buildings were completely gone out of sight. Most people had made it to the boats, but there were still many who had climbed on top of the taller buildings' roofs hoping to postpone their inevitable demise in the mercy of raging tides.
Noctis watched as an airship rose from a station, packed full of terrified civilians, only to be crushed under another tidal wave. None emerged. The wave had pushed the ship to the bottom. Noctis clutched to his head as hundreds of deaths flashed behind his eyelids all at once; the airship's walls had cracked and it was rapidly filling with sea water. Some hit their heads from the crushing impact and died on the spot while others died a slow death as they fought for air and drowned.
Prompto noticed his friend's distress and firmly shook him.
"Noct! C'mon, we have to focus here!"
Noctis opened his eyes, but his vision was filled with the dancing lights of expired souls. "So many deaths", he groaned.
They continued to fly further into the city. Noctis' anxiety grew with each minute as he fought off visions. Never had he seen visions while fully awake. He had always taken meager solace in the fact that he suffered from them only between sleep and wake. But now as thousands of people died at once and overwhelmed his senses with sights and sounds that did not belong to him, he couldn't help but think how he had taken his previous state for granted.
Prompto kept shaking him and calling his name, trying to help him fight off the visions, but Noctis could barely hear him or feel his hand on his shoulder.
The pilot's gasp brought Prompto's attention from his friend to the landscape and what he saw left his jaw hanging. Dozens of funnel clouds had formed and were slowly descending from the storm clouds. Once they reached the water surface, the water devils began to move towards the city. In no time they destroyed remaining tall buildings and structures. As if Leviathan couldn't impress and frighten Prompto anymore the typhoons began to head towards each other and merged into a giant watery vortex that engulfed half of Altissia. Their pilot managed to barely avoid getting sucked into the typhoon's current and they safely flew into the eye of the storm.
Prompto let out a small noise of shaken triumph and the pilot let out a long breath he hadn't realized he had been holding in all this time.
"Damn it, we've lost Noct!" Gladiolus slammed his fist on the airship's wall.
"He is on his own now, following him would be suicide", Ignis' usually stoic voice wavered slightly. He had promised to King Regis as well as Lady Lunafreya to remain by the Prince's side. He should've followed him. Gentiana was least of his worries, what had he been thinking?
Gladiolus wasn't ready to give up just yet. "Can't we fly above the clouds and descend to the storm from there?"
"This ship wasn't designed to fly up that high. It's merely for troop transportation", the pilot replied.
They stood in silence as the pilot allowed himself to take reins and pull back from the destruction and the imposing figure of Leviathan. The silence was broken by Gentiana's phone suddenly vibrating in her pocket. She hurriedly took it out and read the message from her spy.
Emperor's airship in the eye of the storm. Heading towards the last intact building; the cathedral.
Of course. The only person who was supposed to die from all of this had stayed alive while the other one had turned tail the moment he had sensed a storm in the horizon.
"Who was that?" Gladio eyed her suspiciously as she pocketed her phone.
"My undercover agent. The Emperor's still alive."
"I hope this will be all worth it, lady. Because if we ever manage to save Noct, Prompto and Luna, she will have some mighty heavy load of guilt to live with for the rest of her life", Gladio scoffed and went to sit beside the pilot.
Gentiana clenched her fists, but did not humour him with a reply.
He was high above the drowning city, standing behind the safety of rails and watching the destruction in a trance. Heavy metallic footsteps stomped behind him followed by a deafening gunshot. A bullet pierced his lungs. He fell painfully on the marble floor. A man wearing a suit in the imperial colours turned him on his back and watched as he coughed blood. The suited man merely stepped over him, followed by magitek troops and the Emperor. He continued to cough and wheeze and clutch to his chest as he turned and tried to see where the imperials were heading. At the other side of the balcony he saw his protégé holding a trident above her, eyes rolled to the back of her head and lips moving as if chanting something voicelessly. He couldn't breathe anymore; he was choking on his own blood. Darkness fell over him like a heavy blanket-
Noctis gasped as he was released from the most recent vision. He had seen Luna and the Emperor. She was in danger.
"Pilot, head towards the cathedral. It's the only way we can stop Leviathan."
Wordlessly the pilot flew the ship towards the cathedral.
"Prompto, the Emperor is there and so is Luna. We have to stop him before he has her killed. Follow me once you get there", and with that he summoned Avenger and warpstroke to where he saw the teal and white uniformed man's lifeless body lie.
Noctis wasted no time to engage the MTs. With adrenaline pumping heavily in his veins they stood no chance as he gracefully glided and warped between his targets leaving only scrap metal in his wake.
Luna had hidden behind a pillar to avoid the bullets coming from Iedolas' revolver. She clutched her trident to her chest and pled for the Queen to come to her aid.
The cathedral shook as Leviathan emerged through the heavy watery wall of the typhoon. Her serpent eye hid the destruction of the city from their view as her enormous head appeared beside the balcony. The Emperor stiffened at the sight of the Archaean. The security guard beside him attempted to fire at the giant eye, but Leviathan merely closed her eyelid. The bullets didn't leave a scratch on her carapace like scales.
"Kill the girl! Quick!" Iedolas shouted. The guard made a run for the pillar, shotgun reloaded and ready. He reached the pillar, but Luna had already fled. The guard scanned the balcony and caught a flash of white in the corner of his eye. With his gun raised he turned to fire, but never managed to pull the trigger as he was impaled by Noctis' Wyvern lance.
"You fool! If we do not kill her, that monstrosity will kill all of us!"
Noctis removed his lance from the security guard's back and dismissed it. He defiantly stood between the Emperor and his fiancée.
"She doesn't need to be killed. I just need to disarm her. The trident is messing with her head."
A stream of bullets whipped around Noctis and he turned around to see the Emperor's son further away pistol in each hand. He was not much of an aimer, but he still forced Noctis to phase through the bullets. Iedolas took his chance and shot through the phasing Prince to where Lunafreya was wailing and twitching inhumanly fast as if she was possessed by a wraith. The bullet grazed her left arm, but she held fast on to her trident.
Another shot rang and the Emperor's son fell heavily on the marble floor with a bullet hole in the back of his head. Prompto emerged from the stairs gun in hand, a trail of security guards' bodies littering the floor behind him. Iedolas watched in horror as his heir was taken from him. Enraged he emptied his full clip on the freckled blonde, but Noctis warped to his defense and blocked the bullets with Zweihander.
The Emperor didn't have time to reload as Leviathan ripped the roof from the cathedral with her massive jaws and exposed the humans to her wrath. Noctis dismissed his weapon and hurried to Luna and tried to wrestle the trident from her. Her hands held it in a death grip and wouldn't yield it. Prompto ran to Noctis' aid, but even together they couldn't overpower her as she screeched and pled Leviathan to save her.
A loud roar boomed and shook their very bones. Prompto turned and saw Leviathan devour the Emperor along with the stone floor and couple of destroyed pillars. He yelped and tried twice as hard to remove the trident from Luna. Noctis let go of the trident and summoned his Blood sword.
"Noct, what are you doing?!"
Leviathan began to descend her massive jaws slowly towards the remains of the cathedral's balcony.
Noctis hit the back of Luna's head with his sword's pommel. With a sickly crunch Luna instantly went slack as unconsciousness took hold of her. Prompto pulled the trident from her hands in victory and Leviathan halted her advance as she ceased to feel Lunafreya's fear and anxiety.
Slowly the Queen of Seas rose to her full height and loomed over the destroyed city in all her majesty. The typhoon dispersed and the waves calmed down. Gradually the sea level declined. They could see the remains of the city once more.
"The storm's calming. Did Noct do it?" Gladio leaned in in the cockpit and tried to peer into the ruins of the city.
"He must have. Look, Leviathan is retreating", Ignis pointed at the massive sea serpent as she dove, her silhouette visible for few seconds before she disappeared as suddenly as she had appeared.
"Glad that's over", Gladio rubbed his face and allowed himself to relax for the first time that felt like days.
"You and me both", the pilot muttered. Gladio turned to look at the pilot as he thought he recognized the voice from somewhere.
"Hey, I know you, don't I", the pilot in question switched the ship to autopilot and allowed himself to take a good look at the tattooed man.
"Oh, hey. You're that Ferrum-guy from the flagship. The one who made me lose my card game!" Lotharius exclaimed in disbelief. "What the hell are you doing here and out of uniform – no wait, you're that crazy warrior-Lucian with the tattoos and everything." He pulled his pilot helmet off and ruffled his short black curly hair which clung to his sweaty scalp. "Never thought you'd be the same person."
Gladiolus felt nearly delirious from relief and laughed heartily. They had made it. They had survived the wrath of Leviathan of all things!
"Can't believe I'd run into you again. Thought you'd be still in the flagship on sentinel duty. Since when did you excel at piloting?"
Gentiana cleared her throat. "As exciting as your reunion must be, we best hurry to retrieve the Prince and Lady Lunafreya. I do not doubt at least one of them will require medical attention."
Lotharius saluted lazily and switched back to manual.
Lunafreya was sitting in the living room while her parents were discussing politics with the King Regis in the meeting room. Pryna sat by her feet. Luna petted the white husky absently. They were waiting.
It didn't take long for the familiar padding of paws to reach their ears.
"Umbra", Luna greeted in delight. The black and white canine wagged its tail in greeting and sat down next to its companion. Luna untied the wrap from its leg and unfolded the message.
Meet me outside the palace.
Their first successful dog mail. Luna beamed proudly as she petted and showered Umbra with praises. They had been practicing with the two dogs for a whole week starting with a short distance mail and gradually increasing the distance. But this time they did it without knowing where the other one was yet Umbra found her anyway! Noct would be so happy.
Luna led the two canines to the kitchen and fed them. Noctis had said he had a surprise for her and he wanted it to be just the two of them. She hurried downstairs and nearly bumped into servants as she ran to the palace entrance. At the foot of the steps she saw a familiar boy wearing traditional Lucian black. As the boy heard her shoes clack against the marble steps he turned around and grinned shyly up at her.
"Umbra found you?" he asked as he politely extended his arm just like his father had taught him. Luna took his arm and they walked to the black car parked few meters away.
"He did! And the message hadn't fallen off. You did the wrapping perfectly", Noctis' cheeks flushed lightly under her praise.
The driver opened the door to the backseats for the pair. They climbed in.
"Where to, Highness?"
"To the Pratum Meadows, please."
Luna climbed on Noctis' lap to peer outside the window. The young Prince was slowly getting accustomed to the Tenebraean's lack of concern for things such as personal space. He merely wrapped his hands around her waist to hold her steady as they watched the scenery fly by.
Thirty minutes later the driver parked the car and opened the door. Luna slid off the Prince's lap to allow him get up. Noctis stood and turned around to offer his hand for her. He pulled her gently to her feet just like he had seen his father do for his mother a year ago.
The driver closed the door and informed them he would be waiting by the car. Hand in hand the two children ran to the meadows to uncover Noctis' secret. A thin layer of fog hung over the fields, but Luna could see something in the distance.
"Noct? Is that a barn?" she pointed at a lone run-down building by the forest's edge.
"Yeah, that's where we're going. C'mon."
Luna took off in a sprint unexpectedly. Noctis stumbled after her, his still healing leg not quite ready for such extreme exercising. They reached the barn. It was sealed shut, but there was a small hole on one of the walls; just big enough for the two of them to crawl inside. It was dim inside, but not completely dark as tiny beams of light shone in between the planks' slits. The barn smelled strongly of dry hay. The floor was completely covered in it and in the middle there was a huge pile of it, enough to tower over the two children.
"Welcome to my secret place", Noctis announced.
"This is so cool. Does nobody else know about it?"
"Nope!" Noctis smiled proudly. "It's been abandoned for years. Nobody cares about it", he lowered his voice, suddenly feeling shy. "But I do."
Luna smiled. "I like it, too. Especially all this hay." She let go of his hand and began to climb, Noctis not far behind. They laughed in delight as they reached the top and jumped and slid down, the hay softening their fall. Their antics didn't go unnoticed by the barn's resident dweller.
A sudden flap of wings startled the kids. Luna yelped and shut her eyes as a crow flew over her head, its feathers brushing her scalp as it passed. With a loud caw the bird flew to a hole on the roof and disappeared.
Luna opened her eyes and noticed she was hugging the flustered Prince.
"Sorry."
Noctis' arms were around her protectively. "I-it's okay. I'll protect you. I promise."
Noctis swore the Tenebraean's eyes twinkled as she whispered: "I'll protect you, too."
Luna blinked blearily as light shone into her eyes. She shielded her eyes and grunted in discontent. Whose bright idea was it to leave the blinders up when she was trying to sleep?
Wait a minute.
She was always the one to get up before the sun. Since when did she sleep so late? Was she hungover? What had she been up to last night?
"Hey", a familiar husky voice pulled her from her speculations. She lifted her arm from her eyes. The first thing she noticed was that said arm was wrapped in a bandage.
"Hey", she croaked weakly and met Noctis' warm blue gaze.
"How're you feeling?" He took her hand in his and stroked her knuckles with his thumb.
"Like I've been run over by a truck." Her fiancé chuckled lightly.
"It'll get better, I promise."
She made no effort to get up from the comfortable bed. Noctis continued to caress her hand, lost in thought. Her eyelids drooped. Stifling a yawn she forced her heavy eyelids to stay open.
"What happened? Must've been quite the party."
The Prince's brows creased. "You don't remember?"
Luna shrugged. "Not really. Just vague images here and there, nothing coherent." She sighed and rubbed her eyes with her free hand. "Where are we?"
"At a motel near Solheim border."
"And the others?"
"They're safe, just enjoying a meal downstairs. I can bring you something if you like?" Luna closed her eyes, her batteries drained far faster than she expected.
"No, thank you. I think I'll sleep a little longer."
"Okay", he let go of her hand and kissed her forehead. She fell into a deep dreamless sleep.
Later that night Luna woke up. She scanned her room, but Noctis wasn't there. Gentiana's familiar figure stood further away as she looked outside the window.
"I remember now."
Gentiana turned towards the blonde.
"I remember now", Luna repeated. "Everything. The Emperor, the Chancellor, Leviathan", her voice lowering with each recollection. "The destruction. All those deaths. So many souls, so many lights", she stared hollowly at her lap and at the bandage on her arm. The bullet the Emperor had shot at her. Somehow she had managed to barely dodge it.
"It is not your fault", Gentiana sat down at the edge of her bed.
"Of course it is! It was my idea to reach out for the Queen. I lost control. And because of me… Millions of people just", she choked on the last word "Gone."
Gentiana pulled her to a comforting embrace. She stroked her back and whispered in her ear. "Ignis found out the Chancellor had infused the trident with something mind altering. You weren't yourself, it could have happened to any of us."
"Only I could summon Leviathan", she sniffled and tried to fight the tears.
Gentiana didn't push the matter and simply held the distraught woman in her arms.
Luna knew they wouldn't understand. They hadn't experience what she had. The way her memories and feelings to even her closest friends had warped into something terrible and revolting. How could she look Noctis in the eye when mere hours back she had accused him of taking advantage of her in the privacy of her mind?
Obviously, he never did such a thing. Even after sharing a tent for months nothing indecent ever happened between them. And for that Luna was grateful. But somehow in her confused state of mind she had conjured up false memories of him and warped existing ones into something they weren't.
She was beyond disgusted with herself and by her weakness.
"Back home you said if I could live with the death of ten million people", Gentiana stiffened. She knew where this was going. "I can't live with the death of a single person resulting from my actions."
Noctis sat by the light of his table lamp. His eyes were glued on the local newspaper article. He had read it several times. Few sentences kept circling in his mind and he was unable to shut them out.
Newly crowned Emperor found dead.
Iedolas Aldercapt disappeared.
Chancellor Ardyn Izunia brands Crown Prince of Lucis guilty of kidnapping and brainwashing the Princess of Tenebrae.
Million Altissian civilians dead.
2,5 million injured civilians.
Collateral damage beyond calculations.
Chancellor Ardyn Izunia uses emergency powers to take up the Emperor's crown.
Noctis tossed the newspaper to a waste bin.
Gentiana might have succeeded in one thing. The Emperor was no more. But now their enemy was someone much worse. Someone far more cunning and less prone to vanity.
A/N: And that concludes chapter 12. There won't be anymore action+drama chapters like this, only fluff to soothe my soul. x'D
(Couldn't stay away from the punny titles.)
I guess corrupted crystal equals Confusion status effect, lolol. Also, poor Tenebraean bodyguards. They didn't get their time to shine. Just went splat. Guess that's Tenebrae's military in a nutshell.