Sylleblossoms And Tea
Aranea stayed true to her word and picked them up the next morning. After spending the night with only a campfire for warmth, Noctis gladly boarded the heated airship. The prince and his companions spent the flight to Tenebrae in the cargo bay, warming up and changing back into their all-weather gear. This excluded, of course, Ardyn, who always looked comfortable walking around in a dozen layers of clothing, and Valyria, who had not been equipped for ice and snow to begin with. She took the time aboard the airship to trade the old Crownsguard coat for a black leather jacket that Aranea had been kind enough to part with. Apparently, the two of them had a similar taste in casual fashion.
"You sure you wanna give me this?" Valyria asked as she tried on the jacket. Even though Aranea was a bit taller, it seemed to fit her perfectly.
"Don't mention it," Aranea replied, smiling. "You need it more than I. Besides, it doesn't look like I'll get to change out of my armour anytime soon." The Dragoon had left the piloting to her subordinates Biggs and Wedge, and leaned against the doorframe of the open door to the cockpit to talk to her rag-tag team of passenger. Just like many other transport ships of the Empire, hers too, lacked windows in the cargo bay, but, judging by the time that had passed since their departure, they had not yet left the Niflheim tundra.
"I'm probably gonna regret asking …" Aranea spoke to all of them, but shot Noctis a quick sideways glance. "But what was up with that charred metal worm in the middle of the snowfields?" It was no wonder that she asked. The giant magitek unit must have been pretty hard to miss from above. Or below, for that matter.
"That was the minister," Noctis explained.
Her brows creased in light confusion. "One of Besithia's creations?"
"Yeah, that too, but also Besithia himself, if that makes any sense to you." Truth be told, Noctis was in no position to explain the details. He still had not figured out how the Minister had managed to transfer his soul or conscience or whatever into the machine. Ardyn had told him that personality fragments retained during daemonification had something to do with it, but that had only opened up more questions. Frankly though, with or without the Minister in it, the sheer size and power of that magitek unit had been reason enough for Noctis to help his distant uncle take it down.
Aranea shrugged in response. "Nope, doesn't make sense to me, but if it's a problem I don't have to take care of, it's alright with me."
Her remark earned a chuckle from Prompto. It was good to see him smile. For a bit, Noctis had been worried his trip to the magitek production facility had left some lasting damage to his optimism. "You're pretty much done with the Empire, huh?" Prompto asked Aranea.
"You have no idea, Blondie. Funny that you put it that way, though, seeing how the Empire's kinda done with itself."
That got Ignis' attention as well. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Haven't you heard the latest from the capital yet? Apparently, the Emperor's gone missing."
"Missing?" Prompto repeated, clearly confused by the emphasis she had put on the word.
She tilted her head to him. "You know what that means, right?"
There was a moment of silence as most of Noct's party exchanged clueless glances.
"I fear our Lucian friends are not familiar with Gralean expressions," Ardyn piped up from a corner of the cargo bay. "Be a dear and explain what happened, will you, Commodore?"
She gave him a mildly annoyed look. "Why don't you explain it? Talking's all you do, right?"
"And I've done a lot of talking, that much is true, but I believe our companions will appreciate listening to someone else for a change."
"I bet they do!" Aranea gave a short laugh before turning back to Noctis and his entourage with a more serious tone of voice. "When they say that the Emperor's gone missing, it means that the Emperor has succumbed to the Starscourge. In Gralea, they count the spread of the Starscourge in the number of disappearances rather than cases of infection."
"So they're counting the deceased instead of the ill?" Valyria summarized.
"It is a means to make the matter seem less grave than it is," Ardyn casually elaborated. "To stifle the panic among the populace."
Ignis shook his head in disapproval. "More window dressing by the Empire, is what it is."
"Woah, wait a minute!" Prompto exclaimed. "If the Emperor's dead that means the Empire's all done for, right? Lucis has won." A look of excitement spread on his face, but Ignis put a quick end to any thoughts of celebration.
"Not quite. Although I've heard that the Emperor's only son died in the war, I suspect that there are measurements in place in case of Aldercapt's untimely demise. Thus, it will be only a matter of time until someone succeeds him."
"I wonder …" Ardyn mumbled, looking thoughtful, but the former commodore paid him no mind.
"Whoever that'll be, Gralea's gonna be in a state of total chaos until then."
"So there's really no one left who would take immediate control?" Noctis wondered aloud. "What about the Imperial commanders?"
"Well, the General died during the invasion of Insomnia, we all know what happened to Ulldor, Loqi lacks the backbone to command an entire nation, and Ravus …"
"Right, Ravus was headed to Gralea, too," Noctis reminded himself. Chances were that they were going to run into Ravus again sooner or later. After all, he still had the Ring of the Lucii in his possession and thought he had a divine calling to fulfil. But there was no telling whose side he was going to pick the next time they met.
"Last I heard of the High Commander," Aranea continued, "he had an audience with Aldercapt, but he's vanished from the public eye since."
"Oh dear!" Ardyn gasped, wearing a feigned look of surprise. "With his Excellency gone, I fear our good Ravus might be a little overwhelmed with his newfound freedom of choice."
"Hasn't he been free to make his own decisions ever since he acquired the Ring and half of the Empire's military?" Noctis asked and received a smile from Ardyn in return.
"You seem to forget that he has served the Empire for twelve, long years. Any choice he ever made in his life has been influenced by someone else. In very, very subtle ways, sometimes. Even when he thought he was free, he was still carrying out the will of others."
To Noctis, there was little doubt that the aforementioned others also included Ardyn. He gave him a hard, knowing look, whereas Aranea just chuckled.
"Yeah, that's why I'm glad I played no part in politics."
Ardyn shrugged. "It's no secret, really. Ravus is like a notched arrow on a bow. Point him into a direction and pull on his string. It's so easy, anyone could do it."
"Perhaps it would be a good idea to continue to Gralea," Ignis suggested. "If the city's still in turmoil as Aranea said, it could give us an advantage in a confrontation with Ravus."
Noctis shook his head. "Let's check in with Gladio and Luna first. They've probably got new intel to share and Ravus might be more willing to talk if Luna's with us." Out of the corner of his eye, Noctis noticed Ardyn glancing his way, and the former Chancellor's smile widened just a touch. He might be imagining it, but it seemed to him as though Ardyn approved of his decision and the way he had presented it instead of criticising him like usual.
They reached Tenebrae by midday without interference. In the meantime, Noctis had texted Gladio to find out where he and Luna were staying, and received a message in response, reading "Just come to Fenestala Manor", accompanied by two winking and one grinning emoji. Thus, Aranea had ordered Biggs and Wedge to fly the extra mile from the train station to Fenestala Manor and drop them off just outside of the gardens in the middle of the lush green, seemingly floating islands in the heart of Tenebrae. Numerous plant roots and bridges with blue roofs connected the masses of earth to the surrounding mountains in such a way that it was near impossible to tell whether they were suspended by magic or not. Central piece of the islands was Fenestala Manor, which loomed large before them, with its walls, towers and spires made of white stone. It consisted of at least five floors, connected to different islands at various levels of height.
As his friends left the airship, Noctis stayed behind to exchange a few parting words with Aranea. "You know, you're welcome to join us permanently, any time you like," he offered.
"You were going after the Draconian, right?" She shrugged at him. "Sorry, pretty boy, but I don't play in the god felling league."
Ignis, who had stopped just a few steps away to wait for Noctis, adjusted his glasses. "Didn't you say that the thrill of danger makes life interesting?"
She scoffed. "Hey, don't get me wrong. I'm all for challenging the impossible, but I've also got my men to look after."
There had not been much time for Noctis to explain to her what they were planning to do or why, and he mostly blamed Bahamut for making his schemes so damn hard to understand. The gist of the matter was, of course, that Bahamut was a huge jerk and needed to be put into place, but then again, taking down Bahamut was turning out to be a much taller order than, say, taking down Shiva had been for the Niffs. Not to mention that the Niffs did not succeed in killing Shiva, and Noctis still lacked a solid battle plan to begin with. Yet despite of all this, he had a feeling that Aranea might come around in time.
"Think it over," Noctis suggested and stepped off the lowered tailgate. "If you change your mind, just gimme a call."
The determination with which he spoke seemed to surprise her. "Look who's grown an attitude," she said. "Fine, I'll give it some more thought." Aranea turned to walk into the depths of the cargo bay, but Ardyn held her up before she could disappear from view.
"One last thing, Commodore!" He waved at her from the garden. "Take it as a friendly piece of advice from one Imperial to another: There is a girl by the name of Solara Antiquum somewhere in Gralea. If you could find her and her mother alive, and have someone form an emergency government around them, – preferably someone with a shred of competence, – it should restore some stability to the Empire."
Aranea gave him a questioning look. "What's so special about her?"
"Rumour has it she is the Emperor's best-kept secret," the former Chancellor explained. "A not-so-distant relative of his Excellency, perchance?"
Suspicion mixed into her expression. "You know I couldn't care less for politics. Never have. Never will."
He shrugged in return. "Like I said; It is merely a friendly piece of advice. Take it or leave it, the choice is entirely yours. I might do it myself, but you see, I'm a dead man to the Empire and it wouldn't behove me to rise from the grave so soon after my execution."
"Of course."
She pressed the button to raise the tailgate and walked off through the door to the cockpit, leaving Noctis and his four party members to watch her airship take off.
"She is going to look for the girl, isn't she?" Ignis asked Ardyn.
"Somebody is bound to look for the girl eventually," he replied, chuckling. "Such a rare and valuable piece of information has a tendency to put many wheels into motion. I may assume that it will haunt the Commodore in every waking minute unless she either acts on it or passes it on to someone who will."
"Definitely not a saint," Noctis mumbled to himself. With a quiet sigh and an eye-roll, he turned around and began the long walk to Fenestala Manor.
The manor's garden was composed of fields of brilliant blue Sylleblossoms, as well as a stone-flagged path leading straight up to the lowest floors of the main building. Not five minutes after they had begun walking, Prompto had taken out his camera and begun to snap pictures of the sea of flowers. In his excitement, he had run ahead, but suddenly stopped dead in his tracks.
"Uh, guys?"
The lifeless and broken armours of magitek soldiers lay scattered to either side of the path. Prompto hesitated to walk past a pile of discarded riflemen, but Valyria ushered him gently forward once she had caught up to him. "They are not you," she reminded him quietly.
"I-I know," he replied and seemingly snapped out of his thoughts. "I was just wondering what could've happened."
"Isn't it rather obvious?" Ignis replied. "There has been a fight at the manor. Quite recently, too."
Prompto turned back to the rest of them with a look of worry. "You think Gladio and Luna are alright?"
"I guess so." Noctis shrugged. "Gladio was the one who asked us to come here, after all." Still, Noctis found himself a little worried at the sight of the MTs, too. There was no way that Luna and Gladio had laid low as they said they would when Luna's home had come under attack.
It was not long until they came across a few of house Fleuret's retainers, who were dragging more broken MTs out of the manor. An old woman who said she recognised the Prince from his stay at Fenestala Manor twelve years ago, offered to lead the five of them to where Lady Lunafreya and Gladio were waiting. Noctis did not remember her, but not everyone he had met back then had stood out like Luna, Ravus, their mother Sylvia, or Ardyn.
Despite of the destruction and refurbishing the manor had gone through in the last decade, its interior had lost none of the grandness that Noctis remembered. Walls of white marble were accentuated by blue curtains and carpets, as well as the occasional gold ornament along the windows. Vases with Sylleblossoms stood to either side of each door. They passed the portraits of former Oracles as they walked through the corridors, though Noctis saw none that he recognised. In some places, retainers of house Fleuret were still removing torn curtains, broken vases and other traces of the recent battle.
"So this is where they created the original Memory Lane Pastry," Ignis mused, taking in the interior design with curious looks. It was his first visit to the manor. Although he had been Noctis' friend and retainer even before Noct had been injured by the Marilith daemon, Regis had travelled to Tenebrae without him. Back then, Noctis had not understood why Iggy had not been allowed to come with them, but he eventually figured out that his dad had needed to make the trip with as few people as possible to avoid the Empire's attention.
"By the way," Valyria said and snapped him out of his thoughts, "did you ever find that missing ingredient, Noct?"
"Yup. Ulwaat Berries. That's what it was. We found a guy near Cape Caem who'd trade 'em for those stinking carrots."
"The carrots that must not be named," Ignis added, causing Valyria to grin.
"Yea, those." Noctis could not think of any better use for the detested vegetable than to trade it away for the key ingredient to his favourite pastry.
But if the pastry alone took him on a stroll down memory lane, then Fenestala Manor was like a rush down the memory highway. Noctis vividly remembered days spent exploring every nook and cranny of the manor with Luna by his side, pushing him around in his wheelchair. In contrast, the pain he had been in was all but forgotten. Of course, his injury had forced him to rest a lot, and sometimes, he had not been allowed to leave the bed, but then Luna had stayed by his bedside and told him all sorts of fantastical legends about the gods and their messengers.
But it was not just the time with Luna that he held in good memory. Regis, too, had played with him whenever Noctis had asked. At the Citadel, where his kingly duties had kept him on a tight schedule, his dad had rarely found the time. He had also gifted Noct a small figurine of Carbuncle, the small, fox-like High Messenger, who had appeared in his dreams to protect him from nightmares and help with his recovery. On rare occasions, Carbuncle still visited him today.
Looking back on it, his stay at the manor might have been the happiest time of his life. A time that had been brought to a very abrupt and bloody end by Niflheim's invasion, yet even between Sylvia's death and the destruction of the manor, Noctis found something worth remembering. If it had not been for the invasion, he would not have met Ardyn, or rather, he would have been far less inclined to see the Niff Chancellor as anything other than an enemy twelve years later.
They eventually arrived at the entrance to the dining room. When the retainer opened one half of the double-door for a moment to step in, familiar voices drifted out into the hallway.
"I would've never found out had Iris not told me."
"So he took all the blame, even though she had run off all on her own?"
"Kinda made me see Noct in a different light, actually. We got along much better after that."
"Lady Lunafreya," the retainer said after a moment of silence between Noct's Shield and the Princess of Tenebrae. "Prince Noctis of Lucis and his retinue have arrived. The former Chancellor of Niflheim is with him as well."
"Thank you, Maria. Please, let them in."
The old woman opened the double-door for Noctis and his friends to enter the dining room, where the Oracle and his Shield sat at a round table, drinking tea and eating biscuits like it was the most ordinary thing in the world. Imagine that. Big guy Gladio, with the scars on his forehead and just his short-sleeved jacket to cover the tattoo spanning from one shoulder to the other, having a tea party with the princess of Tenebrae. If that was no funny picture for the old scrapbook, Noctis did not know what was.
Prompto must have seen it, too, because Noctis could hear him fidgeting with his camera behind him. "Oh, I gotta get this shot," he mumbled.
"Yo, Noct!" Gladio raised a hand in greeting.
"Gladio. Luna." Noctis nodded at each of them before walking further into the room. At the sound of his footsteps, Umbra and Pryna, who lay half-hidden behind Luna's chair, raised their heads. Whereas Pryna observed the intruders with a wary look, Umbra wagged his tail in excitement.
"I'm glad to see your mission has been a success," Luna said, but as her gaze moved past his companions, her cheerful expression suddenly fell away. "Valyria, is that you?" she asked with a gasp and rose from her chair. "I feared the worst when I wasn't able to find you at Altissia. I assumed you didn't make it."
"Great to see you, too, Luna, erm, Lady Lunafreya," Val replied with a polite nod. "Actually, I made it to Altissia and had just begun to discuss security measures regarding your wedding with the locals when the message of Insomnia's fall arrived."
Noctis noticed a shade falling over Valyia's usually so lively eyes as she spoke. Back at Cape Caem, Monica and Dustin had told him that among the dead of that day were also Val's father and aunt, which meant that she was the only one left of the Iridius family.
"I turned back immediately." Even though she kept her composure, her pain shone through in the tone of her voice. "But I was ambushed by Caligo Ulldor and ended up as a prisoner in a Niff facility. Minister Besithia cut me off from the Prince's armiger and made me face wave after wave of magitek troops just to see if I could still draw upon any bit of magic. It's kept me busy till I was freed. I'm sorry I couldn't be there … I shouldn't have allowed Ulldor to capture me in the first place."
"Please, do not blame yourself," Luna said and walked up to her. She gently took Valyria's hands into hers and gave her a reassuring smile. "You did all that you could. We struggle, yet sometimes, we are simply no match for the enemy's trickery. Rest assured that we are all happy to have you back in our midst and that is all that matters."
Umbra, too, had gotten up from his spot next to Luna's chair to follow his mistress. He whined softly, allowing first Valyria, then Noctis, to pet him in greeting.
"Gotta agree with Luna here," Noctis added, not wanting to stand there, looking uncaring. "If anyone's to blame it's us for not getting you out sooner."
Some of that lively shine returned to Val's ocean-coloured eyes. "Thank you, your … Highnesses."
"By the way," Noctis started again, this time addressing Luna. "I thought we agreed that you should lay low until we returned." He crossed his arms and gave Gladio a criticising look.
"It was my decision," Luna explained. "When we heard of the Emperor's disappearance and the chaos in Gralea, I contemplated getting rid of the magitek squad Ravus had stationed at the manor. There were rumours that some of the soldiers had gone haywire and were attacking people."
"And without a commander to bark orders at them, clearing out the manor really was a piece of cake," Gladio added. "You won't find a scratch on the Oracle."
"Okay, then," Noctis replied and decided to let the topic go.
Luna turned back to his retinue. "You must all be tired after spending so much time in the wilderness of Niflheim. If you'd like to rest for a while, I'm sure Maria will gladly show you to the guest rooms. It has been too long since Fenestala Manor had friendly visitors."
Prompto stretched his arms over his head. "Yeah, soft beds, baby!"
"I can't wait to take a hot shower and feel like a decent human being again," Valyria exclaimed in relief.
Ardyn scoffed at her.
"What?"
He shook his head. "It's nothing."
In the meantime, Luna's retainer had gone out into the hallway to wait for Prompto, Valyria and whoever else was looking forward to a guest room of his or her own. "Hey, wait up!" Gladio stood up from his chair and hurried after them. "You can bring me up to date while we walk." After a moment's hesitation, Ignis left as well. It seemed that only Noctis intended to stay and talk to Luna.
Upon seeing that the former Chancellor was following Noct's friends out of the dining room, Luna took a step after him. "If you don't mind, Ardyn, I would like to discuss the matter of Bahamut with you and Noctis first."
The mere mention of the Draconian caused Ardyn to turn back around. He studied her expression for a second, and seemingly read something from it that Noctis did not. "Consider me intrigued," he said with a smirk.
She gestured towards the table. "Come, take a seat."
The rest of their party had already left when Noctis and Ardyn sat down with Luna. Umbra, too, had returned to the side of his sibling. Still, both dogs looked more alert with the Accursed sitting so close to their mistress. There were enough chairs for six people, even though the table had been set only for two. A tea set consisting of a kettle and four unused tea cups had been placed in the middle, next to a plate with various berry and cream-topped biscuits, though Noctis could hardly care less for the assortment at this moment. "Please tell me you found a way to defeat Bahamut," he said to Luna.
"If anyone may hope to glimpse behind the great gods' façade of invulnerability, it has to be the Oracle." Ardyn helped himself to the plate of biscuits and casually leaned back, crossing his legs and resting an elbow on the backrest. "I trust that any insights you've gained will help our cause."
"So do I," Luna agreed. "Though you should thank Gladio for helping me regain access to Fenestala Manor. I've learned much, not just from Gentiana, but also from the old books of mother's library. If we seek to defeat Bahamut, we must understand why Niflheim has been only partially successful in killing Shiva. You see, even though most Astrals have had a physical presence on Eos for ages, they are free to split their power between the mortal and Astral realm. This means that a part of them remains beyond the reach of any mortal. I may suspect that this is also the reason why Ifrit yet lives. Bahamut has only buried his physical form, not killing him, but leaving the Pyreburner severely weakened for thousands of years."
"Oh, you do disappoint me, Lady Lunafreya," Ardyn said, sighing. "Here I was, hoping you'd tell me something new."
Noctis gave him an annoyed look. "Not all of us have had a pet Astral."
"Which is exactly why I'm telling you this now," Luna added. "Please bear with me, Ardyn."
He eventually sat up straight. "Fine. Carry on, then."
"So we have to enter the Astral realm somehow to get rid of the Draconian for good, is that right?" Noctis asked, to which Luna nodded.
"The fact that Bahamut has been absent from Eos for ages suggests that he resides primarily in the Astral realm," she continued. "Messengers may traverse the Astral realm at will, but they can only do so alone. In fact, it seems that only Bahamut, by using the Crystal, possesses the ability to pull another being to the other side. It is also written that the dead may pass, for as long as their souls linger, but there is yet another way that does not require an act of self-sacrifice."
There was a pause and although Noctis was not so sure what she was getting at, Ardyn seemed to know. "You are speaking of the way that has been predetermined by the old dragon himself, of course."
"The prophecy demands of the Chosen King to enter the Crystal with the Ring of the Lucii in order to obtain the Power of Providence. In this instance, the Sacred Stone acts like a portal to the Astral realm."
"Wait! Wait a second," Noctis chimed in and held up a hand, "Ardyn said something about me spending ten years inside of the Crystal and leaving the rest of the world in darkness. What's up with that? I thought we didn't want that to happen."
"Ten years is the time required for the Crystal to shed its light onto the Ring, to attain the Power of Providence that will allow you to surpass the gods and banish the darkness," Luna explained. "In this process, the Chosen King is meant to gain the Bladekeeper's blessing and ascend to become the True King, while the Accursed …" Luna turned to Ardyn, but stopped herself, seemingly reluctant to speak of his role, but he continued where she had trailed off.
"While the Accursed spreads darkness throughout the land, growing his strength and giving rise to numerous daemons to wreak havoc upon mankind. I know, my dear Lunafreya. The Draconian has made very clear what he expects of me, but know that I still have no interest in the destruction of all life on our Star."
She nodded, thanking him, and turned back to the Chosen King. "However, if you enter the Astral realm to gather the Power of Providence with the intention to use it against Bahamut, he will likely annihilate you upon your arrival."
Noctis shrugged, feeling a little overwhelmed with the task before him. "What am I supposed to do then, defeat him with the Ring alone?"
"An ill-devised plan such as this is more than likely to fail," Ardyn replied, shaking his head in disapproval.
"For this reason," Luna said, sounding even more determined than before, "I suggest that the three of us pass through the Crystal together."
The former Chancellor chuckled at her proposition. "I sincerely hope that you are joking. Perhaps no one has informed you of this, but yours truly has been rejected by the Crystal before and will surely be rejected again." His voice bore no trace of the pain and suffering he had gone through, but Noctis remembered the moment of rejection from the memories Ardyn had shown him. It had robbed him of all hope and ultimately enabled Somnus to lock him away.
In the face of Ardyn's counter argument, Luna went on to explain her idea in detail. The Lucis Caelum magic was a power of light, and as such, Noctis was a being of light to the Crystal, while Ardyn, despite of his Royal blood, was mostly a being of darkness. Luna hoped that she, by using the remnants of her infection, could combine light and dark within her and thus act as a kind of bridge between the two of them. Her intention was, as far as Noctis understood, to trick the Sacred Stone into thinking that they were all one and the same person. It made sense to Noctis, since the three of them possessed powers of light that had originally been granted by the Bladekeeper and that had become a part of their own blood or bloodline since. This trait applied to no one else on Eos.
"I know there's no guarantee that the Crystal will let me and Ardyn pass," Luna added. "but I am convinced that it is the approach with the greatest chance of success. You have said it before, Ardyn. The Crystal has no will of its own. It is an instrument of power, and as such, works by a set of rules. A set of rules that even Bahamut cannot change, or so I hope."
"And yet, there are uncertainties abound," Ardyn said, leaning back in his chair in earnest contemplation.
"To defy fate is to face great uncertainties," Luna replied, although it sounded like she had borrowed the words from someone else.
For Noctis, her suggestion was still the best he had heard so far. "Any plan is still better than no plan."
"Unless," Luna said and locked eyes with Ardyn, "the man who started it all has another suggestion."
"And what makes you think I do?"
His reaction proved that she was spot-on with her assumption. "Because you always have a plan, Ardyn." Noctis cut straight to the point because he doubted that someone else would. "There's no point in lying. We're all on the same page here."
"If it's my opinion you wish to hear, let me tell you that, even though Lady Lunafreya's suggestion may be a bit of a gamble, her reasoning is sound. If you wish to go ahead with her plan, you have my blessing."
"Dodging the subject. Nice," Noctis said, letting sarcasm drip from his words.
"Whatever are you talking about, dear nephew?" Feigning ignorance, Ardyn took an unused cup from the tea set.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about. We want to hear your plan."
"Do you, now? You know, I could do this all day." Laughing, the former Chancellor poured himself some tea and gave Luna a refill while he was at it. "In all seriousness, though; Have I ever given you reason to doubt me? I come to your rescue, and you come to mine. Let's keep it at that, shall we? You know I'm not much of a team player."
"Fine," Noctis replied with a sigh. In hindsight, he did not know what kind of answer he had expected. All the secrecy aside, however, he trusted Ardyn to put his own plan into action if and when it was needed. It did not feel much like a plan B, because Noctis did not know the details, but technically, it still meant that they had a pretty good plan A and a, probably somewhat viable, plan B. Not to mention an impressive number of extraordinary allies. The more he thought about it, the more his confidence grew. Hell, even if Luna, Ardyn and Noct failed to corner Bahamut in the Astral realm and he fled to the mortal realm, the Draconian still would have to deal with the rest of his friends and five other Astrals. Finally, the road to victory had become clear.
"So, what do we do next?" Noctis asked. "We can't even try to enter the Crystal without the Ring, so that means we have to find Ravus in Gralea."
Luna shook her head. "Maria told me that Ravus already travelled on to Insomnia. Apparently, he had stopped briefly at Fenestala Manor before Gladio and I arrived. I have a feeling that he wants us to find him at the Citadel."
Which meant that it could be a trap. Or that Ravus had changed his mind and actually wanted to hand over the Ring to Noctis. Given the combined power of Noctis and his friends, they could probably take the Ring from him by force, but Noctis would prefer to avoid bloodshed. Not so much for Ravus' sake, but definitely for Luna's. It was something they could still figure out on the way back.
In any case, one thing was certain. "We're going home."
My dear friend BlackOrchid1004 contributed to the dialogue between Luna and Valyria. :)
In case you haven't noticed yet: This fanfiction is also available on AO3.
You'll find a bit of extra content in the "Ardyn As A Fifth Party Member" series as well that I cannot post here due to its script format.
I'm also running a small poll below this chapter over on AO3 regarding potential bonus or filler chapters so feel free to leave a comment regarding your preferences. :)