Chapter 15: City of Twilight

{Tenebrae Palace: June 9th 2002, 9:05am}

A woman dressed in a pale purple dress walked down the hallway as she looked along the corridor in questioning. She had hip-length pale blonde hair, purple-blue eyes, and fair skin. She was tall, willowy, and graceful in all means as she walked barefoot along the cool, white tile of the castle. Upon her neck was a necklace of a silver sun adorned with purple gems at the center of the chains on both sides while a simplistic silver and purple crown adorned her head. She was older, on in her years, but no less beautiful as she continued her search down the hallway. This woman, was Queen Sylva Stellis Nox Fleuret, she was the wife of King Acheron Nox Fleuret, the King of Tenebrae.

"Excuse me?" a maid turned to the woman.

"Oh, Good morning Queen Sylva. Is something the matter?" the Queen of Tenebrae, and Oracle of Eos nodded.

"I am in search of my daughter….have you seen her?" the maid nodded, smiling.

"She's in the garden. Apparently she's been very restless lately for some reason," she stated.

"Thank you, have a good day."

Queen Sylva walked towards the garden areas at the statement of the maid and considered what she was about to tell her daughter. She had received a letter from Lucis recently and it was granted with the Crest of the Lucii, the Caelum house hold. The letter stated that King Regis was requesting to visit due to his son's health as he recovered from a current attack by a Mirilith. Naturally, King Iedolas had stated he was fine with the visit, and Queen Sylva was perfectly happy with the notion of the King of Lucis and his son coming to visit; however their oldest child, Prince Ravus seemed highly unsure about the situation: only because, he had never met Prince Noctis.

As Queen Sylva started closer towards the garden, she heard a faint sound coming through the area: a song. The words she recognized as being of the Lucian language and while it was beautiful it carried a somber, almost mournful tone as it carried through the air. Lavender-blue eyes looked around the area as she searched for her daughter until at long last she spotted the little blonde girl. Like her mother, the Princess of Tenebrae was a beautiful, fair girl that promised a lovely young woman at some point in the near future.

Deus dormit…..

Et liberi ignem faciunt….

Numquam extingunnt…

Ne expergisci possit….

Queen Sylva's daughter, Lunafreya, was fair, blonde, and lavender-blue eyed like her mother and was dressed in the traditional color of Tenebrae: white. The Queen smiled as she watched the girl walked along the garden, picking up flowers and weaving them into a crown of flowers made from the sylleblossom, the most well-known flower in their Kingdom for its healing purposes. The Queen remained standing at the gate of the garden as she watched her eleven year old daughter move around, singing her song.

Omnia dividit…

Tragoedia coram….

Amandun quae…

Lunafreya walked softly through the garden as she sang this solemn lullaby, pulling a few flowers as she made the crown of flowers, and continued her way as her mother watched her child continue to weave the flowers as she stopped by a rosebush full of silver roses that nearly glowed in the sunlight of the Fenestala Manor's thriving garden. The Queen sighed, looking at the garden, the sunlight, and the ancient-looking, towering buildings that surrounded them almost like a shrine to an era long since lost to the famines and wars that had plagued Eos for the last century.

Et nocte perpetua….

In desperatione….

Auroram videre potest….

Mane tempus expergiscendi….

"Luna…." She called to her daughter, catching the girl's attention.

"Momma!" the girl raced towards her mother and she smiled as she crouched to her child's height. Queen Sylva smiled as she brushed her daughter's fair-blonde hair from her eyes and smiled as she considered how to tell the child of their guests arriving in the morning. Taking in a steadying breath the Queen of Tenebrae smiled as she brushed her fingers through her daughter's hair.

"How are you my beautiful flower?" she asked, grasping her child's hands as she looked at the smiling girl.

"I'm okay Momma….is something wrong?" the blonde woman smiled.

"I was just concerned. You know our friend from Lucis? King Regis? Do you remember that his son was hurt a couple weeks ago?" she asked as her daughter slowly nodded.

"I remember, you asked me to pray with you about him…" the Queen nodded.

"Yes, and just yesterday I was sent word from King Regis," she told her. The little girl's eyes grew wide, tears starting to well in them.

"Is he okay? Is King Regis's son okay?" Queen Sylva nodded slowly.

"Shush, no need to cry. He's perfectly fine, no worries….now…Lunafreya, could you please give me a hand with something?" the girl nodded.

"Okay, what do you need help with Momma?" the Queen smiled at her daughter.

"King Regis is going to come visit us, and he's going to bring his son with him to stay with us for a while," she stated.

Queen Sylva watched as her daughter's eyes lit up in excitement, eyes bright and warm as the child continued to stare onward with nothing short of joy as she looked at her mother in a manner that the woman normally only saw when her youngest child was about to experience something new and thrilling. Lunafreya grinned broadly, excited as she hugged her mother, nearly jumping up and down in excitement as she considered what the King of Lucis visiting could mean.

"Do you want me to help get the manor ready for their visit?" the Queen smiled as she watched the child.

"Yes, I would really appreciate it. But we must get started immediately, they will be here tomorrow," Queen Sylva stated as Lunafreya nodded excitedly.

"Okay! I'll help…what do I need to do?" the young Princess of Tenebrae seemed almost exuberant in a manner that the Queen had never seen before, and while she was thrilled that her daughter was excited about meeting King Regis and Prince Noctis, she also considered her older child's response to their visit.

"Ravus wasn't keen on them visiting…but he understands that he has no means of changing our choices….besides, Acheron and Regis haven't seen one another since Prince Noctis was born…"

{North Wing of Fenestala: 11:20am}

Princess Lunafreya moved about her room in a rush, cleaning up a few items, working on organizing her attire for the time they would be there – her mother had asked her to make sure that she dressed appropriately while they had royal guests present – and then she would be setting up the guest room next door to her own that would be the bedroom of the Lucian Prince while they stayed. As Lunafreya ran about the room, straightening things out and going about her business, Gentiana, a spirit messenger of the Six Astral Gods stood near her window, watching her move in a swift fashion. As she finished up with her task and then flew open her door and ran into the next room.

Gentiana watched as the Princess ran into the guest room, changing the sheets out, straightening the bedding, sweeping the floor, polishing the furniture and making sure it was presentable as she prepared for the arrival of the King and Prince of Lucis. Gentiana continued to watch in silence as Lunafreya fixed up the last few touches of the room and then frowned as she looked at something that seemed remarkably out of place: four empty vases. The Princess of Tenebrae frowned once again, tilting her head as she tried to figure out what on earth to do with them. They were black, the room's white marble giving the black bedding and accents a nice contrast despite the fact that she was still utterly lost with what to do about the vases.

"Princess Lunafreya? Is something the matter?" Gentiana asked as the blonde girl looked around the room.

"Gentiana? Do you know anything I can do with the vases?" the black-haired spirit messenger smiled.

"Filling them with flowers is the traditional manner. What I would suggest is that, perhaps even making Prince Noctis a brew of the Sylleblossom? He was injured recently," she stated as Lunafreya nodded slowly.

"Okay, I'll do that. I'm sure Momma can help me brew it….but…what kind of flowers?" Gentiana smiled once more and moved towards the Tenebrae Princess and lifted up the crown of flowers she had made earlier.

"The Sylleblossom is the flower of Tenebrae….and the silver roses in the garden here are the flowers of Lucis, normally known as the Lucian Rose or….Flos et Lumen…." Lunafreya smiled for a moment.

"Then I'll make a bouquet of flowers for the rooms where King Regis and the Prince is staying….I think it'll make them feel welcomed," she said as Gentiana hummed in thought.

"Yes, I believe it will too…"

Lunafreya continued about her business at that point, rushing out of the palace and into the gardens where she picked up a basket from the holsters nearby where they were left so that they could pick berries and fruits during the warmer months. As soon as she had what she needed, Lunafreya moved forward and into the garden, finding the hundreds of Sylleblossoms in the eastern corner before she crouched down and filled the basket with them before heading over to the additional bushes of silver roses where she once more layered them over the basket and gathered up several other tiny plants that came from Altissia, Solheim, and a pale blue flower that faded from purple to gold in a stunning ombre style set of colors with a black stem.

This was a flower that had grown in a Kingdom lost to time that Lunafreya's mother often referred to as the Tree of Life from their ancient lore. The flower had been the one heavily associated with its royal family, much like the Lucian Rose and Sylleblossom was to the Caelum and Fleuret families. This flower was known as the Ceaseless Star, the Crown of the Everlasting, or by the traditional name: Lux Aeternam.

"This will be perfect," Luna stated as she plucked seven of the blooms, thinking up the arrangement in her mind as she considered the colors and how to start them off. As she started to stand however, someone stepped up behind her and she turned, staring into the eyes of her brother, Ravus.

Ravus Nox Fleuret was the oldest child of the Tenebrae Royal Family. He was blonde-haired, gray-blue-eyed, and had slighter darker skin than his younger sister. He was a well-rounded, culturally diverse youth in his early teenage years, and had traveled to several different countries exploring and learning about the world they lived in; however, he also had a dislike of outsiders for reasons unknown to many, despite that, Ravus had went along with his responsibilities as Crown Prince of Tenebrae and had been assisting in the preparation for the Lucian Royal Family: even though it wasn't a secret that he hadn't been precisely thrilled about the situation. Lunafreya smiled as she held the basket in her hands, looking to her brother in questioning.

"Ravus, you scared me," she said.

"What are you doing out here skipping about? We have an entire staff to prepare for King Regis and the Prince…" she nodded.

"I was told to help prepare the guest rooms by mother. So, I was getting flowers together to make the bouquets for the vases. I believed that having the Sylleblossoms with the Lucian Rose, and the Lux Bloom would be a good way of welcoming them and showing peace and consideration," Lunafreya explained as she stared into her brother's gaze. The older of the two siblings narrowed his eyes.

"Luna….I don't like the idea of you getting so close to the Prince of Lucis." The eleven-year-old frowned, not liking her brother's tone.

"Ravus, don't be so harsh! You've never met him have you?" the fourteen-year-old shot his sister a glare.

"Neither have you Lunafreya. Bear in mind that we're not exactly allies with Lucis because of us being under the control of the Nifilheim Empire…." Lunafreya narrowed her eyes at him.

"Ravus! Don't be such a pompous windbag! You shouldn't bad-mouth others!" at that the older sibling snatched his sister's upper arm firmly enough to drag her away from the garden, but not to harm her.

"You should behave more like a proper Princess. The task of making the flower arrangements and preparing the guest rooms belongs to the staff: not to a future Queen," Ravus stated as Lunafreya pulled back in annoyance.

"Let go of me Ravus! I want to help! You don't need to tell me what I can and cannot do!" the blonde teenager narrowed his eyes.

"Father and mother will be none-to-pleased with you behaving in such a manner." The girl bit her lip, setting her face into a firm scowl.

"I said: Let go of me now!" Ravus felt a sharp pain upon his foot as he looked back to see his sister digging her heel into the top of his foot, causing him to let go as she took off, taking the basket nearly overflowing with flowers with her.

"Wait! Lunafreya! Come back!" he called as the young Princess fled the garden.

{Guest Rooms: 1:50pm}

Frustrated with her brother's behavior, Lunafreya had devoted her attention to the process of making the flower-arrangements in hopes of ignoring the annoyance that flooded her being right then. With a scowl upon her face, her eyebrows pinched together, and her lip tightened into a firm line, Lunafreya set in the Lucian Roses into the first vase and the proceeded to do the same with the other two in the room. She had already finished the ones in King Regis's room, doing them up entirely out of Lucian Roses and Sylleblossoms; however, her devotion was now set to the three vases within the Prince's room.

With the roses in each of the three vases, she set to sorting the Sylleblossoms into the gaps left by the roses before placing singular Lux Blooms within them before taking in a deep breath as she grasped the remaining four in her hands as she pondered what to do with them before sighing as she place a third Lux Bloom into the vase with the other flowers until she held only one. That was the situation that she had found with having a singular flower of each of them still present. Frowning once more, Lunafreya looked at the three beautiful flowers, wondering what on earth she could do with them as she looked around the room and then at the vases before a footstep caused her to look once again behind her as her mother entered the room.

"My, those flower arrangements are beautiful Lunafreya," Queen Sylva stated as she smiled, coming to stand beside her daughter.

"Thank you Mum….but I seem to have a problem….there are three left." The Queen looked to her daughter in confusion.

"Why not put them in the vases with the others darling?" she questioned as the eleven-year-old shook her head.

"No, I know it's silly, but the florist in the manor taught me how to do this and she stated that the number count needed to be even for it to look right….I don't want to break from that because I know they'll look strange if there's an extra here or there…" Queen Sylva laughed a bit.

"Dearest, it's fine…but, if you're so insistent to not use them in the vases, then why not press them? If you do that then they'll keep their color. Do you have a journal or notebook?" Lunafreya nodded.

"I do, can you show me how?" she asked as her mother nodded.

"Very well, come with me my little flower…"

Queen Sylva led her daughter to her room and sat down upon the bed as the little girl walked over to her bookshelf and grabbed a red leather notebook with golden scroll work. Once she had returned to her mother, she handed her the book and then two of the three flowers before the woman opened it to the first page and pressed the Lucian Rose into the page. The Queen of Tenebrae looked to her daughter as she closed the book and pressed hard upon the top of it while she stood and headed over to the desk and grabbed several other books from the shelves before stacking them as she sat down the other flower and looked to the girl.

"In about ten minutes the weight of the other books will have pressed it into the page, this way it'll be preserved," she explained as Lunafreya nodded and looked at the Lux bloom while the little girl kept hold of the Sylleblossom.

"Mother? Can you tell me the story about the ancient Kingdom?" the Queen nodded and moved over to the window seat before latching open the window where they could see the sprawling, fantasy that was their Kingdom. Lunafreya came to sit with her mother as she smiled gently, looking to the sky so blue, the grass so green, the flowers in full bloom, the sapphire water, and the sweet scent of the air with the enormous mountains in the distance and the ancient, towering castle-like structures in the surrounding areas while she looked at the scene as a graceful breeze rushed through the window.

"Once upon a time, long ago there was a beautiful Kingdom; this Kingdom connected all the realms with trees of pure white. The people there were prosperous, and endured the ages in spender and grace. The reason for their peace were the warriors who guarded them and the realms that they were connected to and because of the Royal Family who held great power, but never dared to abuse it…" Lunafreya looked down.

"Who were they?" she asked.

"Their name was lost to time many moons ago Luna. All we know is that the Royal family were mighty Kings and graceful Queens of old. Their power may have been equal to the Six; however, they were kind of soul and their hearts were filled with light. Because of this, their people and those around them were kept safe from the darkness that could threaten them so easily. This Kingdom lived in peace, the warriors brave and strong as the frigid night's endlessness….but not everything went as it should have…" Lunafreya looked outside of the window, listening to the story as she stared outward to her home country.

"What happened?" Queen Sylva looked down, appearing almost sorrowful of the events that would come in the story.

"A traitor hid in their midst, sewing seeds of vile darkness and malice into the land and people. Monsters began to appear, and the wondrous life the people of the Kingdom had once led began to fade. The warriors sought to protect all those they could no matter the cost; however, it was all for naught…." Silence came from the little girl and Queen Sylva took in a deep breath.

"A war broke out, the Light of the Kingdom, a genuine power that had guided and blessed the land and those who dwelled within it became threatened by the greed and lust of others who sought to control it and the crystal that had been spawned from it. Because of this, the realms it was connected too began to shatter and crumble, causing the warriors to find a means to sever the connections. But…." Lunafreya looked to her mother.

"What?" she inquired. Queen Sylva looked out to the landscape.

"It was too late. The King fell to madness, his might and compassion lost to his illness, his brother slain by his own hands and his daughters lost to the perils of the war. In this, their darkest hour, four heroes sought to reveal the traitor, placing themselves as the enemies until the moment of truth arrived. The heroes devoted their lives to the destruction of the darkness and the survival of as many of those who once thrived within the desolate Kingdom…but they too would pay a terrible price," Queen Sylva stated.

"Then what happened?" lavender-blue met eyes of the same color.

"One Princess was never found, the other fled far away whilst one of the heroes sought to help as many as they could escape, one of the heroes was cut down in the defense of one he had sworn to protect, another disappeared into time, and the last ended the tyranny of the traitor with a mighty swing of his blade. The hero who had slain the traitor, became known as a true warrior of the light, but was also known as a traitor himself. However, none of this mattered for the two who survived this great battle sought to find peace in their shattered lives…but…in the end none is certain as to what happened to them or the surviving Princess…." Lunafreya took in a deep breath, looking down to the garden below.

"What can we learn from their story?" she asked. Queen Sylva smiled as she reached out to her and brushed her fingers through her short blonde hair.

"To become stronger in the face of adversity, to be brave when we wish to crumble, to cry when we must, to change when we must and hold on tight to those we love: to never surrender who we are no matter what. And then there is the most important thing of all…." Lunafreya looked to her mother.

"What's that?" Queen Sylva smiled. As she stood and went to the books on the desk before removing the weight and then placing it open before flipping a page as she took the Lux bloom and repeating the process.

"To never fear death….but rather….to fear doing nothing and losing everything." Lunafreya looked down before staring at the Sylleblossom.

"Then….I choose to never fear death, and to do anything I can to keep all I hold dear….so I will never lose what is important to me…" Queen Sylva merely smiled. Her daughter was wise beyond her years: that much was certain.

{…}

You're gonna be okay, and even if you're scared…..

{…..}

Author's Note: This chapter did solely focus upon the Fleuret family; however, I figured it was needed only because we don't spend enough time with Lunafreya or her family in the game. FFXV focuses almost entirely upon Noctis; which, seeing as he's the main character it isn't a bad thing – but some diversity would have been nice. Therefore, I decided that it was important to flesh out not only Lady Lunafreya, but Ravus, and Queen Sylva. In the next chapter you will see King Acheron as he will be interacting with some of the other characters, and you guessed it: Noctis and Luna are going to have an official meeting.

I hope everyone likes the chapter, and now for a few bilingual bonuses:

Lux – quite literally means: Light. It is the main word for the Latin language; however, it does have a derivate: Lucis, which can mean: Of the Light.

Aeternam – this word means Eternal or everlasting.

Flos – a Latin word meaning Flower, Bloom, Crown, Juice of Flowers, or Blossom.

The Lux Aeternam flower is often refered to as the Lux Aeternam Flos or Bloom of Eternal Light in Lucis; however, in Tenebrae and Altissia it has another name. This flower blooms in the full moon and early dawn hours almost like a morning glory; however, it only is found in Lucis, Tenebrae, and Altissia: it does not grow in Solheim or Nifilheim. The flower was originally a native flora of an ancient Kingdom, however the name of the Kingdom has been lost to Eos for generations.

Hope that helps!

Have a wonderful day or night: both even if you want!

Sincerely,

ShadowDragon94.