Chapter 2.1, finally! For the folks still reading despite there only being one chapter a year, sincerest thank yous, and I hope you enjoy this little interactions I've looked forward to drawing for a long, long time.
Earlier installments are here on Tumblr under this tag but the easiest way to read would be on AO3.
With the halls stained crimson in the blood of the Royal Council, all that stands now is the king. Before him is his only adversary as night falls swiftly, and a harsh reminder of the past that he was not strong enough then...and how he is not strong enough now. So long as the princess is safe, however, he will continue to fight to ensure she remains so as long as possible.
Warnings: Graphic depictions of death. Major character death.
Requested Tags: @savage-rhi
Word count: 5,225
FFXV: Reimagined Table of Contents
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"The Crystal!" Lunafreya exclaimed the moment she caught sight of the Imperial airship that was conveniently making its departure from the city with a black, cylindrical container trailing along underneath it. They were all too powerless to try and stop it heading for the Citadel as they were at the speed their damaged ship was going. To say that Lunafreya was on edge was an understatement, even if she hid it well.
"No, no, no! Shit!" Tandem cursed, his eyes on the black container while his free hand pounded against the wall of the ship. "We couldn't have had at least a handful of undercover Crownsguard to protect the Crystal!?"
Turbulence made Lunafreya tense and then shift uncomfortably in her seat.
"You're going too fast. We have to land," Lunafreya curtly told Nyx. It was the most that her discomfort was going to get in terms of being a voiced complaint.
"Yeah? You're gonna have to give me a minute on that," Nyx flippantly replied, not even sparing Lunafreya a glance this time. He had one, singular focus, and that was to not crash the airship they were in too badly.
"There is no time," Lunafreya shortly refuted, unbuckling her belt and turning toward the gap in the ship to her immediate right. "I will go on my own."
"What? You got wings underneath that dress?" Nyx incredulously snipped back at her, eyes flicking immediately over Lunafreya in disbelief toward her statement. "You can't use magic."
It was then that Lunafreya shot Nyx a sharp glower. Taking in a breath, she calmed herself. She did not expect those outside of Tenebrae to know of the Oracles' magic or what it could do in full.
"Jumping out of an airship is suicide—" Tandem supplied from where he was, his hands white-knuckling some piping he could actually brace himself with. Glancing toward the skyline from the gap in the airship, Tandem clenched his jaw. "And now that the Wall's crumbled, you really think you're gonna survive out there!? Night is fast approaching! Daemons are gonna be swarming the streets once the sun fully dips down the horizon!"
"I do not fear death." Lunafreya's attention went toward Tandem this time, and her eyes flicked between him and Nyx. Memories of her time growing up in Tenebrae after Niflheim's attack flit through her head. Her lips pursed tightly together, and then she finally resolved herself; "What I fear is doing nothing and losing everything."
Without waiting for a response, Lunafreya pushed herself from her seat and leaped from the ship. One of the Citadel's railed balcony ledges would have to suffice, and the rush of her conjured Aero spell winds softened her landing as well as prevented her from falling if there was one misplaced step. Turning her head, she watched the airship make its descent briefly.
"Oh, come on!" Nyx groaned, getting up from his seat and grabbing his kukri. Tandem and the other Glaive that was with them were quick to follow his example, weapons drawn to throw out as their conduits. Together, they warped out toward where Lunafreya stood, the winds dying down around her. One by one, each of them made a clean landing on the black marble tile of the balcony.
"Guess you're eating your words about her not being able to use magic, eh, Ulric?" Tandem remarked, sheathing his sword and jogging to join Lunafreya.
Lunafreya was already on her way to one of the glass doors that led into the Citadel proper. Like she had stated: there was no time, and she did not intend on wasting any more of it. It was up to the others if they were to join her on this venture or not.
Behind her, Lunafreya could hear the other two following quick behind her. If anything, she was glad to have them at her back. She had always been raised to believe that the Oracles' magic was weaker than that of the Kings of Lucis. Maybe those who told her that were correct…maybe they were wrong as all sin. That hardly mattered in the moment as air burned in her lungs, though. King Regis was in trouble if he was even still alive. If there was a life that she could save, then she silently begged Lady Etro to please let it be his.
A rise in screams and terror flooded Primam's ears, and she stood there for a moment as Lyra and Pellego went on ahead. They were well on their way toward that parking garage, but the hum of the Imperial dreadnoughts making their landing within the city was not to be ignored. Not lightly, at any rate. The resulting cries of fear and gunfire made a new spine chilling sensation travel through Primam.
The people were being attacked now. Innocent lives of Insomnia.
Primam was torn. She was raised to protect Noctis, but her duty was also to the Crown and Her people.
'There are too many. There are too many dreadnoughts in the city. I can't take them all on. Not on my own. Shit… Shit!' Primam's mind raced with thoughts of how she felt like she was turning to cowardice. All those people, ane she knew that she would only serve to put an end to one or two magitek units at most if she even tried to help fend off any attacks that were happening now.
"What're you doin'!? You need to get your ass movin', Glaive!" came a somewhat familiar voice that broke Primam out of her stupor.
Ambling toward her at a quick pace was Libertus — Primam recognized him from the Glaive HQ whenever there were debriefings or instances where she was training alongside others around the same time. The sound of his crutches made Primam wince — more because she was concerned for his mobility while all of this death and destruction was being enacted around them. Without even thinking about it, Primam created a Protect barrier between Libertus and anything that could have appeared at his back.
"Are you okay?" Primam quickly asked once she had her shield up.
"You're—" Libertus recognized Primam's voice from underneath her hood. Then he shook his head, continuing at as brisk a pace he could manage. "Don't you worry 'bout me, blue blood. Still got one good leg, and I ain't gonna let one bum one slow me down now."
"Come on, then!" Primam urged, keeping her pace equal with Libertus'.
There was one goal in mind, and Primam's attention went toward the direction where Lyra and Pellego had last been. For a moment, her heart stuttered in her chest — neither of them were anywhere to have been seen. Amidst all the running and fear, Primam had lost both Lyra and Pellego in the crowd of people that were scattered all along the streets and sidewalks.
A curse left her.
"What's eatin' at ya, kid?" Libertus asked, watching as Primam looked this way and that with this look of panic in her eyes.
"I-I was with two others. I lost them!" Primam replied, eyes flicking over every little person and detail that she could catch sight of. There was no one she recognized. "Shit… Uh… We were making our way toward a mode of transport. I guess I have to worry whether or not they'll be there by the time we reach it ourselves."
"Let's just worry 'bout ourselves right now, yeah?" Libertus urged Primam, continuing to limp alongside her. "If ya got a place you were meetin', let's head that way. No need t'panic when it sounds like ya got a plan, eh?"
Libertus' reasoning was surprisingly calming for Primam, and she bobbed her head in a nod of agreement. There was a plan that already been in action, and she needed to stick to it. With her mind back on track, Primam no longer stalled progress and quickened her gait, ensuring she was not going too fast for Libertus while she kept the Protect spell up behind them.
"Ya think you could tell me what was goin' on?" Libertus asked.
"Aside from the obvious?" Primam returned in question, her brow tightly furrowed. "Those ships up above us should have Glaive up on them — some of them anyway. There was a meeting that called all available Kingsglaive into action based on the suspicion that the princess was held hostage on one of them."
"Yeah? And what are you doin' down here? Ain't you part of the Glaive, too?" The bemused tone in Libertus' voice was not lost on Primam.
"Yes, of course… But the reason I'm here is because one of our other 'blue bloods' came to me and my brother…" Primam started between breaths. She and Libertus skid to a halt before altering their course when a large sign groaned and fell to the ground in front of them. Despite the sudden startle, they were both quick to pivot and go a different direction. "They told us that they heard there were Glaive conspiring to stage a coup against the Crown. If she was wrong, my brother was at least helping with the princess. If she was right…well…"
"'Well' what?"
"We were meant to help with any defense efforts at the Citadel if she was right about Captain Drautos and the defectors." Primam grit her teeth. Having to catch her breath, Primam ducked down into a subway well with Libertus close behind. Leaning against the wall and gulping down air, she continued after a moment. "We were halted. Then the bombs went off. No doubt set by the traitors in the Glaive. No one else has access to the Citadel grounds in such a fashion."
"… The captain is in on it?" Libertus had this disbelieving look on his face. Then his jaw clenched, and his voice raised. "Why? Why would any of 'em do that? We're supposed to be fightin' for our homes! There ain't no winnin' by throwin' all that away! The hell we all been fightin' for if we're just gonna piss it all away in the wind!?"
"Not something we can really devote a lot of time in thinking about…" Primam said, looking up the stairwell. There were people that were either following hers and Libertus' example, or just seeking general shelter from the ongoing attacks. Lifting her hand, Primam pulled her hood from her head and sighed, her brow creased in this thoughtful furrow. "If we can't reconvene with my group, do you have other solutions for leaving the city?"
"Jus' one if ya don't mind hotwirin' a car."
Primam's brow twitched upward for mere moment as she tilted her head in consideration. Then her attention went to Libertus. "Better than nothing."
Glauca's reddened blade clashed with a shield that Regis erected to protect himself. The magic that coursed through Regis' veins, however, felt as though it waned. There was a tether between him and the Crystal, and he could feel that it had been taken far away from the city at that point. What was left now was to attempt reasoning with his attacker.
"You've slain my council — you have the Crystal," Regis began with a steeled tone from behind the transparent coalescence of magic. Rage and fury boiled underneath his hardened gaze for all the bloodshed that had befallen the hall. "What more would you take from me?"
With a burst of strength, Glauca sliced through the Protect spell, shattering it. The next thing Regis knew, he was grabbed and pulled forward. Then there was this burning, electric feeling where his fingers had been. Four separate little slaps against the ground and the singular, ringing sound of something metallic clanging against the tile filled the air indicated that Regis fingers and ring had been cut from him.
The pain that radiated throughout his hand, however, was enough to make Regis stagger and take a knee, his blade falling from his other hand with a clatter along with any of the Royal Arms that had been suspended in the air prior. Air hissed into his mouth sharply as he tried to apply pressure to his hand — if not to staunch the pain, then to staunch the bleeding at the very least while he focused his efforts into a Cure spell to stitch the wounds. It mildly helped…if only there were not pressing matters before him. Especially where it concerned the ring.
Footsteps echoed within the ceremonial hall, and when Regis looked, he noticed Glauca had not moved. In fact, his gaze was pointed toward the main entry point of the room. Regis followed his gaze and saw Ravus reenter. It seemed he had not fully taken his leave with the rest of the Niflheim contingent.
… Why?
Without a word, Ravus leaned down, the reason for his appearance now wholly evident: he plucked the ring from the ground. Lifting it, Ravus had this longing hunger evident in his expression. Even Ravus' lips had turned upward into this smile wrought of this air of prideful victory.
"… The Ring of the Lucii…" Ravus uttered, rolling the ring between his fingers to look at it fully. Then his attention went to Regis. "I lost my mother, my country, my birthright…"
Regis remained silent, uncertain as to where Ravus was going with this. Did Ravus plan to fight Glauca himself in retaliation for what happened twelve years ago? The contempt that Ravus must have had…Regis could see it in the man's gaze any time he was featured in news articles or seen at political meetings. More than that, Regis knew that Ravus' words often dripped with venom when it regarded anyone or anything — they still clung to his words even now.
"Niflheim was the only life left to me," Ravus continued, eyes flicking back down to the ring. "But all of that was for this."
Glauca's attention was no longer set upon Regis, and instead he girded himself to face Ravus while the young commander spoke his grievances.
"The ring belongs to me now," Ravus claimed, his smile tugging ever upward and his eyes going in both Regis and Glauca's direction.
In the time that passed for Ravus to move the ring to put it on, Glauca started to charge toward him, the armor he bore humming with this resonant power. Just as Glauca took to the air in an effort to strike Ravus down, Regis could feel the air thrum to life now that the ring encircled someone else. It was like a piece of Regis' soul was tugged directly toward Ravus. It was an interesting experience to be there on his knees, witnessing the back of Glauca's form, poised to strike, but also seemingly above the action, watching it all from a bird's eye view.
Almost blindingly, the Ring of the Lucii shone, and Ravus' hands were thrown into the air while the rest of the world seemed to freeze in time. With his head tilted upward as if to hearken to the very Gods themselves, Ravus called out: "Hear me, Lucian Kings of Old! I am Ravus Nox Fleuret, son of Sylva Via Fleuret of the Oracles of Tenebrae, and none is more worthy of your power than I!"
"Blood of the Oracle you may be…" echoed one of the old kings' resounding voices. "But worthy you are not. You are arrogant at best, a blinded fool at worst."
"'A blinded fool'!?" Ravus spat. "Because I seek to put an end to Niflheim and the corrupt power that rules theirs and your nations? All the power you carry, and you've never put it to good use. With the power of the Lucian Crystal, I will make changes that will bring Niflheim to its knees!"
"Doth all thee seeketh power?" an older king spoke, his voice booming loudly. "There is more to the Power of Kings than to simply bringeth nations to heel. Shouldst thee forget the path that makes a land great, then there is no hope of recourse."
"And so you would let nations like Tenebrae — like mine — the one you claim to be an ally of — to wither away and fall? You are allies of the Oracles of Tenebrae, yet you would seek to turn your backs on us at every opportunity!" Ravus barked, his brow creasing tightly together.
So that was the real truth of it, Regis realized. Ravus carried all that resentment these last twelve years because Regis and his retinue had no way of saving them then… The loss of Stella could not have made that at all easier.
"You think because your family is an ally of Lucis that we would not spare you judgment for your folly?" said the voice of an indignant queen. "You dare come before us, believing us not to see the rot that consumes your soul? Then you so boldly claim worthiness of the magic that we have safeguarded for these past two millennia!?"
"For thy transgressions, a punishment will be given."
"What!? No!" Ravus protested, glancing around frantically at the figures of the kings and queens of yore around him. It was hard for Regis to watch, but that was all he could do. Be it because he was bereft of the ring and still alive, or some other reason, Regis felt as if his lips were stitched together, forcing him to watch in utter silence.
"Why? Why do you refuse me!?" Ravus cried out.
A burning blaze of color ignited across Ravus' hand, and he started to yell out in pain as it began to consume his entire limb, eating its way up from his palm to his shoulder. Magical flame, Regis realized, that ate away at Ravus' arm until it would be rendered useless. It was only the fact that he was a true blood son of the former Oracle of Tenebrae that this was all that would be taken from his physical form. Still, Regis closed his eyes. For all the suffering that Ravus had to endure, and this was yet another unfair punishment dealt to him that would only cause that grief and rage to grow larger.
Once the ring was burnt from Ravus' hand, left to fall to the floor, the clang of its steel rolling across the tile was the cue for Regis to have this nauseating feeling of being 'put back together'. The room was this swimming vision, blurry and unfocused. What Regis could make out in the moment as his eyes came back into focus was that Glauca flew back into motion, his blade striking nothing since Ravus had fallen to the floor in that pocket of time.
The crack of the doors opposite the front of the ceremonial hall opening wide drew Regis' attention, and there he saw Lunafreya flanked by two who donned the Kingsglaive attire. Lunafreya's face contorted into horror when she saw her brother writhing on the floor, grasping his burning arm while screaming out in agony.
In the short time that had passed, the ring rolled its way back to Regis, as if by some magnetic force. With his uninjured hand, Regis plucked it back up into his possession.
"Look out!" Lunafreya shouted.
A flash of light illuminated the hall, and the body of one of the Glaives had warped in front of Glauca, redirecting the swipe that was intended for Regis to go elsewhere. That somewhere resulted in that Glaive getting thrown across the room while Lunafreya hurried over to Regis, his cane in her hand, and a helping hand to help him back up onto his feet. The second Glaive that had been with her had put himself between Regis and Glauca as well, sword drawn.
Regis recognized that Glaive: Tandem, Gratia Chorus' son. But what was he doing still in the Citadel?
An irritated cry came from the Glaive doing combat with Glauca, and lightning burst forth against Glauca's armor. Again, the Glaive warped and commanded an aerial offense while attempting to keep a melee fight going. All the while, Regis was aided by Lunafreya toward one of the doors. Too many things rolled through Regis' head. One was the safety of the ring. The longer everything drew on, the more he accepted that Insomnia would be his tomb.
Muscle memory was what Regis relied on in opening the doors to exit the ceremonial hall into a concealed elevator. Sounds of battle still waged on behind Regis, and then the sound of cracking filled the room. Regis could feel the ground underneath his feet shift, and with a look back behind him, he saw the cause of it: Arbor Viridis, the Heart of the King within the Royal Council, still yet clinging onto life with a hand lifted.
"G…Go, King Regis!" Arbor yelled, motioning desperately with his other hand. "I'll…bury this bastard at the bottom of the Citadel if I have to… For everything he and Niflheim did to my sisters!"
Again, the ground shuddered, and a rise in this cracking noise groaned through the ceremonial hall.
"… Shit… That's a Quake spell—" Tandem hissed, eyes snapping upward. "Ulric! The ground's gonna collapse!"
The moment that Glauca turned his attention upon Arbor was when Regis took his own opportunity. Swiping his good hand upward, a bolt of lighting arced through the air and struck Glauca, making him lose his footing and fall to the ground. As the ground started to open, Nyx ended up throwing his kukri past the open door everyone else was clamoring past, his body following in a flash of light before ramming against the far side of the elevator wall.
Once everyone was in, Tandem was quick about rapidly clicking the 'close doors' button so that the elevator could make its descent. For a moment, the elevator car shuddered violently, and the lights flickered. Arbor's Quake spell must have gone off, rattling the rest of the building around where it affected.
The sound of fabric being torn shattered the silence that had begun to settle, and Regis looked down to see Lunafreya having ruined her dress in order to wrap what little was left of his left hand. Now that the adrenaline was coming to a more mild flow, the pain was beginning to smart more noticeably. It was when he felt that familiar, soothing feeling of Lunafreya pouring her energies into using a Cure spell that he muttered a gentle 'Thank you' her way.
This was no time to get comfortable, however, and Regis' expression hardened before he addressed everyone within the elevator car.
"This leads to a hidden passageway," Regis revealed to everyone there. "Follow it."
Looking toward Lunafreya, Regis pleaded with her with his eyes. "Once you are away, make for Altissia. Noctis awaits you there."
"Your Majesty—" Lunafreya began.
"You knew this was coming," Nyx spoke up, his eyes set in a hardened stare. Nyx's breath was deep and rapid, a sign of his rising anger at this revelation.
"Yes," Regis nodded. "But it was the only way to draw their wrath from Noctis."
"Is that the way of our king?" Nyx tersely questioned, his eyes boring into Regis. "Sacrifice Lucian lives to save his own royal line?"
"To save the world," Lunafreya resolutely said, standing between Nyx and Regis, her hands tightly curled around the cane that she still had in her possession.
When the silence dragged on for longer than could be afforded, Regis turned his attention toward Nyx and Tandem specifically, his eyes flicking between both of them. There was this mist that was starting to cloud his vision — whether it was from the burn of the pain that now engulfed his hand, or because he knew that he would not see Noctis again once the day was through was anyone's guess. Regis took in a breath, preparing himself.
"See Luna safely to Altissia," Regis started, taking his cane back the moment it was offered to him.
Nyx's eyes fell closed with a growing resignation, a brief sigh falling from his lips. Meanwhile Tandem only stood with his attention firmly on the king. Both were ready and willing to hear what he had to ask of them.
"This is not an order from a king to his Glaive," Regis continued, his gaze unwavering. "This is a plea from one man to both the men before me. Please, the both of you, keep her safe. For the future of all."
"'The future'…" Nyx repeated, an incredulous tone to his words.
Tandem, however, looked at Lunafreya, then back at Regis. "Even if it wasn't just you asking… It's my duty, isn't it, Your Majesty? As Arm of the King — 'Ever the blade pointed at those who would threaten the Crown'. If Lunafreya is to be Queen of Insomnia, then she has me as her Arm."
The elevator car rattled violently when another explosion tore through the Citadel. It was brief, though no less something that clearly put everyone on edge. Regis wasted no more time, and took the Ring of the Lucii to hand off to Lunafreya; "Here. Take this. It is time it passed to another's keeping."
Gingerly, Lunafreya reached out and took the ring into her possession, cupping it like it would dissolve if she allowed light to touch it through her fingers. Holding it to her chest, Lunafreya gave a silent nod and tucked it safely within a small compartment hidden in the backside of her belt. Not long after, the elevator came to a halt, and the four exited into a historical hall filled with paintings that were up to centuries old in how they depicted the history of Lucis and Insomnia upon their canvasses.
Lunafreya held Regis by his good hand, offering support while also channeling her healing magic. Regis wanted to tell her to stop — that he was not worth her wasting what reserves she had. Though, the more he trailed after her, the more difficult it became to say anything when he focused all his efforts in simply moving as his body felt as if it were giving way to the fatigue that was starting to hit him.
Then Regis let go of Lunafreya's hand. He watched as she turned to face him, this look of mild shock on her face. Both Nyx and Tandem paused as soon as she did, somewhat curious gazes upon their faces. It was like that time twelve years ago. Except instead of being forcibly pulled from Lunafreya's grasp, Regis did it of his own free will. This was his decision.
There was only so much power left that Regis had left. He knew it. He could feel it.
Lifting his good hand, Regis started to cast the last Protect spell he had the strength for.
"No! Stop!" Lunafreya cried out, rushing for Regis only to find herself blocked from reaching him. "Please!"
"Get back!" Nyx urged, swiftly grabbing Lunafreya and pulling her from the protective wall.
"Don't leave us!" Lunafreya pleaded.
Regis offered Lunafreya a smile from behind the shimmer of the Protect spell. There was so much to say…so much, and yet there were not enough words and not enough time to go through all of what he wanted to tell her. To have her tell Noctis. And so he said what he could.
"I know your mother would wish the same as me," Regis spoke, keeping as warm an expression on his face as he could muster of himself. "That you and Noctis live happily. All those years captive because I failed you and your siblings."
Regis shook his head. "Not again Locked doors will seal your fate no longer."
"King Regis…" Lunafreya's voice was nearly drowned out by the rumbling behind him.
For a moment that stretched on too far long for comfort, Regis had looked toward the elevator they had come from. Then his attention settled upon Nyx and Tandem.
"Our hope goes with you now," Regis said. "Godspeed."
The last thing exchanged were these looks of determined understanding. Tandem had nodded, and Nyx was quick to start ushering Lunafreya away from whatever it seemed was coming next. And what was next? Well, what was next was Regis' duty to quell. If not quell, then slow down by any and all means necessary that he had at his disposal.
The metallic snapping of cables sliced through the air, and Regis turned toward the elevator car. It rumbled violently before falling once the last of its cables was severed. The all-too-familiar hum of Glauca's armor as he appeared from the shaft made Regis tense, a flow of magic bubbling to life beneath his skin. It seemed that despite Arbor's best and what was likely his final effort, Glauca was not so easily bested.
Once Regis heard the doors shut behind him, he fixed his attention fully upon Glauca. There was this stillness in the air as the two of them stared each other down. Then Glauca bowed before Regis, his left hand coming to cross his chest as he did. The tip of his blade was scraped against the ground in front of him, drawing a boundary. When Glauca rose, he held his blade in a saluting fashion — as if he expected this to have been an honorable battle between both himself and Regis. A laughable prospect given the condition of the Citadel and how Glauca had cut down all members of Regis' Royal Council not that long ago.
Honor was not something found here.
If this was the way of it, however…
Regis cast his cane aside, and that was Glauca's cue to begin his advance on him. There were no fancy tricks of his armor or otherwise, it looked like. So when Glauca lifted his blade above his head, Regis was quick to cast another Thunder spell forward, striking Glauca in the chest with another bolt of lightning, launching him back into one of the ivory pillars of the room. Again, Regis cast another bolt, this time sustaining it. The electricity was caught by Glauca's blade — it almost seemed like the steel was absorbing the magic.
"Behold the King of Lucis," Glauca's distorted voice rang out, "who hoarded tranquility within his precious walls."
Glauca neared, each step braced against the power of Regis' magic.
"Where is your tranquility now, king?" Glauca asked, awaiting no answer.
With a sudden swipe of Glauca's blade, Regis' magic felt wrested from his control. The surprise had little time to sink in. As Regis staggered back, attempting to find some semblance of balance, there was a sudden pressure in his back.
Then nothing. As if all feeling had been removed from him.
"Here is your peace," Glauca said, his voice reverberating in Regis' head. "By steel's swift descent."
All Regis knew afterward was that he was falling. He felt lighter than air, and the world around him spun in a swirl of darkened, muted color.
One thing that flashed through Regis' mind was Noctis' smiling face as he departed with the others just a few days prior.
After that was Aulea. His dear, sweet, Aulea. When Regis saw her, she seemed to be staring back at him, opening her arms to welcome him. The last thing that Regis felt were her arms enveloping him and swaddling him in this this warmth. As the light dimmed in his eyes, one last sigh left him as he fell completely into Aulea's embrace.
between general glauca needing to do constant quick changes in order to keep the lucians from getting suspicious, ardyn running off the day of the treaty signing to hang around galdin quay for GOD knows how long to see noct face to face, and ravus going rogue to try to claim the ring of the lucii for himself and getting disarmed (heh) in the attempt, its almost impressive that the empire STILL managed to crush insomnia
Sometimes I think about the fact that General Glauca was a man completely covered in metal armor, who was the high commander of the imperial army, and had sold his loyalty to the empire, who had oppressed and destroyed his homeland
And then I look at Ravus, and I wonder, how do you NOT feel like you're slowly becoming the man who killed your mother?
Who will arrange my great escape?
Hopelessly I have been torn from this outrage
Tossing and turning uneasy, it cost me the cross
Am I at rest or resigned in my chaos?
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Updated version of Chapter 1
Chapters: 9/9
Fandom: Final Fantasy XV, Anastasia (1997)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Relationships: Lunafreya Nox Fleuret/Nyx Ulric, Lunafreya Nox Fleuret & Ravus Nox Fleuret, Lunafreya Nox Fleuret & Libertus Ostium, Prompto Argentum & Ardyn Izunia
Characters: Lunafreya Nox Fleuret, Ravus Nox Fleuret, Sylva Via Fleuret, Ardyn Izunia, Titus Drautos | Glauca, Nyx Ulric, Libertus Ostium, Prompto Argentum, Caligo Ulldor, Stella Nox Fleuret, Umbra (Final Fantasy XV), Regis Lucis Caelum, Noctis Lucis Caelum
Additional Tags: Anastasia AU, lunyx, i will raise this ship from grave, basically ffxv but luna is the main character and nyx gets to live, Also luna is stella, umbra is definitely the hero let's be honest here, Amnesia, Orphans, Slow Burn
Series: Part 1 of The Lost Princess of Tenebrae
Summary:
When Lunafreya was eight years old, her mother held a ball for the celebration of the treaty signing between Tenebrae and Lucis as well as Oracle Aera’s ascendance as the first Oracle. At the time, Ravus who was 16 would be leaving with King Regis and his son Noctis to Insomnia as a guest to the Lucis Caelum family to finalize the treaty between the two countries. Lunafreya would miss him greatly so he gives her a gift: a white and gold music box engraved with sylleblossoms with an accompanying moon necklace as the key. He planned to meet her and their mother in Altissia on his return trip to Tenebrae.
However, the Nox Fleuret family would never be together in Altissia.
