Rule well, young King

"Saved by King Regis as a child, Nyx repays the debt by serving the Kingsglaive with distinction. His unique ability to wield the King's magic and epic exploits in combat have earned him the moniker of 'hero' among his peers..." — it's a pretty little story, ain't it? But I'm no hero. I'm just doing what I'm good at. I'm doing my duty. Protecting my Home. Indie Nyx Ulric.

[foughtforthefuture]

Waiting until the last of the customers dwindles away, Selena knew Nyx would wait to walk her home. Months living in the Crown City and her brother was protective as ever of her walking home alone. "Petra's working night shift." An answer to Nyx's silent query as to why the city guard wasn't at his usual haunt by the end of the steps to walk her home. Which led neatly to the next point and Selena took a breath before blurting the words out. "- he asked me to move in with him ... and I said yes."

the familiar sounds of closing time drifted through yama's; chairs scraping against the floor, glasses clinking behind the bar as the dishwasher was emptied. the last lingering customers filtered out, one by one, waving their goodbyes to the young woman behind the bar. the low hum of their merry conversations fading into the background chatter of the refugee sector outside.

nyx grabbed the last few empty glasses from the tables and set them down on the bar and standing aside when selena slipped out from behind the counter to wipe down the tables and sweep the floor. while she did that, nyx slipped behind the counter and started rinsing out the glasses he'd collected, loading them into the washer before he emptied the drip-trays and wiped down the counter ... a world away from galahd, but the closing routine in a bar didn't change even when the location did.

when he finished the few tasks, nyx stood by the exit, a shoulder perched against the wall as he watched with amusement as his little sister commandeered one of the bar stools to gain a few more inches of height to tug down the bar's shutter.

eyes darting over his shoulder, the glaives was mildly perplexed to find the space empty - no city guard in civvies waiting by the steps for selena.

hmm ... unusual. the irony of that observation wasn't lost on nyx either though - a few months back and he'd been absolutely abhorred to find fortis daring to show his face in the glaives' watering-hole, though that horror had been stunned into silence when he'd realised that the tall prick had been there for selena.

' petra's working night shift. '

whipping his head back around to face selena, nyx saw her emerge from the back room, her bag on her shoulder, tucking a stray lock of hair back behind her ear as she fell into pace next to him ... well, she could still read him like a book, it seemed.

dipping his head and letting out a breath of a laugh, nyx lets his brows arch and bob ' guess i figured bein' captain, he'd get to skip the night shifts? '

up the metal steps that led down to yama's bar, across a walkway and then down another flight of steps, they landed right in the heart of the refugee sector of the city - well, slums really; shanty stands, small bars, narrow alleyways and neon signs flashing a stark contrast to the night's darkness. insomnia never truly slept. it just changed pace.

weaving through the narrow streets, nyx noticed selena's grip tighten around the strap of her bag, it sharpened his attention and he clocked how her shoulders rose slightly, then fell. she sucked in a breath and then another ... the way people did when they were trying to gather courage, and that realisation had a knot of unease settling into his stomach.

she could read him like a book, but that went both ways - he knew that look on her face. he'd known it since she was a little kid - it was the look she had whenever she was about to tell him something she wasn't sure he'd want to hear.

slowing his steps until he ground to a halt, nyx reached out to tug on the strap of selena's bag, easing her to turn around and face him, his blue eyes searching her face, ' what's wrong? '

' ... he asked me to move in with him ... and I said yes. '

ah ... the words struck him with surprising force and nyx found himself blinking, head canting to the side as he let her words rattle around his head for another few seconds; fortis had asked her to move into his place?

it wasn't that he hadn't considered the possibility, of course he had. nyx had watched how her relationship with the city guard had progressed, he had watched fortis swallow his pride and set up camp near the bar's counter, waiting for selena's shift to end. nyx had watched him become a permanent fixture in his sister's life through sheer stubborn consistency.

still ... she was still his baby sister. and he'd already failed her once, he'd let her get hurt back in galahd. letting out a breath, nyx let his eyes wander to one of the neon signs; fortis wouldn't hurt her. he knew that deep down - that would be easier if fortis had been some reckless idiot or smooth-talking bastard, nyx could have dismissed him months ago if that were the case.

instead, the infuriating reality was that petra fortis seemed to genuinely love his sister. he showed up, every time, rain, hail, snow, cold, exhaustion, long hours - none of it mattered. he showed up. and nyx hated how much respect he'd grudgingly developed towards the guard for it.

the flashing pink and blue of the sign offered no solace, only reminding him that he hadn't replied yet. and that selena's gaze was boring a hole into him, waiting for some sort of answer - bracing for impact.

loathe thought he might be to realise that this meant fortis would become a permanent structure in his life, nyx wasn't stubborn enough to let that wipe away what this also meant; safety and happiness for selena. the refugee slums were ... well, dire. a bedsit for half your wages, if you were lucky. the sector was overcrowded, under-resourced and covered by a glass ceiling that was so much lower than the king's wall; immigrants either joined the kingsglaive or they made do with the smaller jobs they could find within the refugee sector - once an employer in the business sector saw your address in the refugee slums, well - you weren't getting that job.

selena had found someone who made her happy, someone who was consistent and supportive, someone who could give her a better life than she could eke out here in the slums.

blowing out another breath, nyx finally dragged his gaze away from the sign and back to selena's face. he nodded his head, a small smile tugging on the corner of his mouth when he finally answered.

' selena, if you're happy, then that's good enough for me. i know you don't need to hear this, but i'm gonna play the annoying-big-brother role here okay? if you ever change your mind, if you don't want to live there or you're alone and don't want to be - you call me, okay? doesn't matter what time it is, you call me. '

@littlexsisterxulric

[foughtforthefuture]

Sidling up to him as her boy took a breather around the back of the house, Sarah bumper her shoulder against Nyx. "- thank you." She knew he had noticed how she and Selena just happened to take on chores away from the men, leaving him to help his father all day and interact with him. It was a huge ask, and Sarah knew that. But Nyx hadn't walked away from Kaleb. He had helped and made small-talk, as hard as that was. "I know it wasn't fair of me to do that to you, but thank you."

caem's wind was relentless, but it didn't take long for its bite to soften once nyx started tugging and pulling to free the detritus that had been abandoned around the back of the house years before. with how knotted and interwoven the grass and weeds had become with the rim of a cart wheel, nyx was willing to hedge his bets that half the stuff had laid there since he'd been a kid.

a few fruitful swears, sweat prickling his brow, a step back and a long, hard glare at the suspect rotted and broken cart, nyx had been seriously considering calling it quits and casting a fire spell at the thing, but then his father had offered a hand and one thing had led to another and that age-old adage of many hands make light work seemed to haunt him.

it hadn't exactly been light work, but it had helped. a few more colourful swears when the weeds had given way, only for a knotted and gnarled length of rope to snag on the wheel, its ends buried in the dirt. but then his father had handed nyx one of his kukris - a comment that nyx had been closer to the snag - and the rope had been cut, freeing the wheel.

the rest of the rotted and battered cart had been easier to haul free and drag back out to the clearing at the side of the house, where they'd tossed other scrap wood, an off-hand joke from his father and nyx had laughed before he'd even noticed it.

after that, the hours had flown by as they'd set about splitting the wood with an axe, stacking the burnable lengths against the side of the house - there was small talk, questions about the city, about libertus and about the glaive, and nyx had found the answers coming easier. his own questions had tumbled out too - about meldacio and this place, about varmints and hunts.

wiping the dirt from his hands when his father went to greet truck of hunters that had pulled into the gravel parking lot, nyx didn't notice his mother's approach until her elbow bumped him lightly; yeah, he'd noticed her strategic exit earlier, and how quickly she'd roped selena into helping her ... if he didn't know any better, he'd assume that his sister had been in on the plan from the start too.

lifting his elbow to bump her back, nyx shook his head, not willing to accept thanks for something as trivial as being civil with his father. yeah things were ... strange. but maybe this could work? gods he hoped so.

' that was far from subtle, just so you know. '

@heartxandxhome

[heartxandxhome]

"A few weeks continuously, but maybe a month or two on and off." She had come here with Kaleb that first day, not kn owing what he had wanted to show her. Truth be told, her husban had been a stranger back then; they had lived separate lives for so long and lived in different worlds, that neither of then knew each other. She was still in the midst of relearning who Kaleb was and Sarah hoped he was doing the same with her.

There was blame on both sides of this marriage. And their two children had been the true witnesses to that.

Biting the inside of her cheek a she produced a practiced smile, Sarah saw the way Nyx's hands went to his kukris. She didn't blame him for that, no; they were in a south-western region of Lucis where not many people resided. But he reminded her so much of Kaleb years ago.

Leading the way back down the slope towards the road, she let the salty and clingy breeze blow through her hair, as if it could blow away the cobwebs of the past. She had blamed Kaleb a lot in his absence and she wasn't going to back-track and say he wasn't to blame for their estrangement ... but it hadn't been right to blame him overright their children when he wasn't there to defend himself.

"That's the plan I hope. This place was an outpost many years ago." Sarah waited for Nyx to catch up and nodded back at the lighthouse. "- imperial outpost once upon a time. Dave is sending some electricians from Lestallum next week so we'll have lights all through the night and comms to the closest outpost, Taelpar, around an hour and a half away ... but if we can house hunters here, it would be the only outpost in this region and mean there's hunters right here if needed."

Glancing up to her boy, Sarah tried to gauge his expression and blew out a knowing sigh. "I know what you're thinking, you don't need to mince your words. I was a tipster before the Wall was pulled back from the islands; I know the dangers of being remote, Nyx."

[foughtforthefuture]

yeah, she could still read him like a book. it didn't matter how much he grew or how many months passed between them seeing each other, nyx had always been shit at hiding his true feelings from his mother, even as a kid she'd been able to square him with a stare that made him squirm on the spot.

this was dangerous. it was a simple as that. it was remote, exposed to the sea's wrathful waves and unyielding wind. it was probably teeming with varmints that he'd only ever seen pinned to tipster boards in lestallum, and that didn't even touch on the daemons that surely spawned and prowled once the sun set - spelcray was the closest haven, but that was west of caem and closer to the tunnel.

but what place wasn't dangerous these days?

sucking in a deep breath, nyx silently reminded himself that he had to trust this. he had to trust that his mother had already considered all those factors.

boots crunching on the dirt that was strewn with rough gravel, nyx winced, shoulders hiking, ' i just, i worry. that's all. i know you know what you're doing, and i know that dad is a hunter, but i still worry about you all. and yeah i know that it's your job to worry about selena and i, but it works both ways i guess.'

[somnus-lucis-caelum]

@foughtforthefuture | X

A very delicate topic that the Glaive had picked there.

Somnus considered ignoring this question for a few moments. And he likely would have – if the one asking had been anyone but Nyx Ulric. Mayb eh owed this man part of a proper answer. Maybe all of it.

Somnus did not look to the other man and instead continued watching the darkness above. His brother’s work… or what was left of him.

“My brother was a kind man. A man with ideals so perfect, they would not work in our world or reality. He thought he could save the world if he just kept giving it his all. Ignoring that the gods were not merciful. You felt their relentlessness yourself, Ulric. Each one my brother healed of the Scourge in their names – he took the Plague into himself. He dreamt of a better world. And he chased that dream – until he was so corrupted himself, he had bursts of the Scourge breaking from his body. His dreams were shattered by reality and that in part broke his mind, too. And how I handled it all did it’s part, too. I will not deny that. In the end, this all drove him mad. And he became what he is today.”

[foughtforthefuture]

my brother was a kind man.

there was a snort that wanted to lodge itself hard in the back of nyx's throat, but he swallowed it back down, acutely aware that somnus wasn't one to share or speak about personal matters, so for the past monarch to speak freely like this, nyx was reticent to shatter the quiet lull between them.

instead, he stay where he sat on an upturned crate, elbows perched on his knees as he watched the other man continue to pace, listening to the sordid story he told; an ability granted by the gods, a responsibility to uphold, and price to pay for the gift they chose to bestow on him.

ha.

sounded pretty fucking familiar, didn't it?

' we all have regrets and things we should have handled better, ' nyx offered quietly, lifting his head to let his gaze follow somnus, ' but it's a bit of a struggle for me to wrap my head around who he might have been before he became whatever he is now ... a sad backstory doesn't do much excuse cruelty. '

[evoiiice9a]

“Why’d you do it?”

“Because the Kingsglaive is nothing. An old man’s battle fodder sent to die in Insomnia’s war, while our homes are bound and shackled.”

[solar-chan]

[rexcrystallis]

“It’s the children the world almost breaks who grow up to save it.”

— Frank Warren (via quotemadness)

[aitaikimochi]

Translated some passages from the Kingsglaive Official Movie Pamphlet that I thought were pretty interesting (and spoiler free), which also gives a bit more insight on Nyx Ulric’s character. Hope you enjoy~

The Lands of Galahd To the northeast of the imperial city of Insomnia lies a small group of islands where Nyx and Libertus used to run a small bar in their hometown. In particular, the Galahd River that runs through the land is known for its beautiful scenery. Nyx and Libertus often played in the river when they were children. Although this area was protected by a wall of magic, 30 years ago, war overtook the lands and the magic barrier crumbled, allowing Nilfheim to claim Galahd and all its territory as their own.

The Girl In the back of Nyx’s mind is an image of a girl with black hair. This girl is his late younger sister. When she was in danger, Nyx went to try to save her. The thought of being unable to save his sister still causes him great heartbreak, and even now, when her presence flashes through his mind, he loses his calm composure. Because of this, Nyx thinks that he’s never good enough, and he embraces the thought that he has nowhere to go. He does not know what kind of future he wants to live in.

Malbo Smul’s** Hut In Insomnia, there is a small area where immigrants live. In this area lies a small bar. The shopkeeper, a native resident of Galahd, known by others as “Yama-chan,” is always lively. Known for its authentic Galahd cuisine, particularly the “Malbo Smul” dish, which is grilled meat on a stick and seasoned by dipping the meat in a green stew. Along with the members of the Kingsglaive when Nyx first joined, they often come to this restaurant for food and drinks, enjoying themselves and having lively chatter. (**I am unsure of the exact translation of this dish’s name. Also, T/N, but this place in the movie is AMAZING. I loved this scene where you see the underground world that they hang out in)

Malboro-kun Malboro-kun is a popular cartoon character in Insomnia. He’s the protagonist of a cartoon show that is broadcasted on TV, and he even has his own merchandise such as t-shirts, bandanas, and other goods that are sold in the city.

—

For those interested in exclusive Kingsglaive Final Fantasy XV theater goods available only in Japan, including the beautiful pamphlet, special illustration boards, Malboro towel, posters, and more, Aitai☆Kuji has limited stock of each item!

[kousuisetsu]

She deserved better. And I would’ve done anything to give it to her.

[firexwings]

Don’t know if it’s Nyx and his gang but it looks like it. It’s adorable…

[myvintagequeen-deactivated20190]

Visit Original Link

Florence and the Machine covered a song “Stand by Me” by Ben E. King for Final Fantasy XV.

[ressarioth]

Ignis being casually considerate.

[thechocobros]

“How soon can the Kingsglaive deploy?”

[gigglincactus]

Lucii weapons

[sundomking]

To hell with your power. I’m not here for it. I only came to tell you, you are no kings.

[calocreek]

la pietà

[bubeni]

Pffff, I don’t believe that he was 15 at that time. Don’t try to deceive me, Square Enix! Dats so stupid🤔 And don’t change the game history to remove a lot of facts about the characters! He is 42 and he is immortal, I know it!!11!