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Veni Vidi Vici	By : Saber007 Category: Final Fantasy Games > Final Fantasy XV Views: 1503 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy XV, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 10
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French
Pelerinage de Grace- Pilgrimage of Grace.
XV
"Hmm, the sloths cometh." Imperatrix joked, lifting her head from the crook of her elbow where it rested atop her knee.
Nyx, Lunafreya, and Tempesta stumbled into the chairs at the dining table, all looking disheveled from rolling straight out of bed with minimal self-care.
Nyx in his sweats and t-shirt was the most awake and clean-looking with his moderate bed hair. He was in need of a haircut to balance out the asymmetrical style of his growing side-hair versus the long mohawk reaching the ends of his neck and falling haphazardly in his face. A trim on his beard was in order too.
The glaive wasn't…entirely unappealing in his ruggedness...
Lunafreya yawned multiple times into her hand. Even though she wasn't in any way coherent, she still looked adorable in her overly conservative nightgown and with her wavy, loose hair creating a halo around the innocent face.
Imperatrix wanted to take a picture and send it to Ravus.
Tempesta…
Tempesta had not a care for other's comfortableness. She was clothed in the absolute minimum, a tank top that barely covered her stripped underwear. No bra was utilized. Her mask was still in place and the princess lamented on how that was the only sensible article on the fist fighter.
Lunafreya would be mortified by all the skin. She freaked out the first couple of times Imperatrix was garbed in shorts and a training bra.
Nyx…
The dog would have his lecherous eyes all over her little darling.
"My stomach's eating itself." Tempesta whined, stomach roaring right on cue with the grievance. "Neb, feed me!"
"Stop yelling." He growled from the nearby kitchen, still in the process of cooking breakfast.
"Yo, why are you two still wearing masks? It's just us." Nyx grunted, gesturing to the people in the room and doing a double-take on Tempesta as his brain caught up to what he was seeing. "And why don't you have any clothes on, brat?"
He didn't know whether to to be grossed out or responsive to Tempesta's apparent tastes.
The girl, or maybe woman from the wide hips…but her chest was smaller than he remembered…
Her inappropriate posture of feet on the table and her suspended over the side of the chair wasn't leaving anything to imagination.
It was too early for his brain and body to be on the same page. He registered all this as something he shouldn't leer at...but it was hard not to...
If only Tempesta would remove the mask!
"So many questions." The fist fighter brushed him off with a shrug, electing not to answer a thing just to mess with the glaive.
Nyx rolled his eyes, switching his attention to Imperatrix. "What's with your getup? What happened to the slinky princess garbs? Where's your cape?"
She smirked at his fixation with her uniform. "These are my training clothes. While others waste the morning sleeping, I enhance my body."
Her outfit consisted of a tube top, sirwal trousers, and long fingerless gloves. She'd forgone wearing shoes, preferring the coolness of the floor.
Her hair had grown enough that it needed to be pinned up to not be a nuisance. Imperatrix was greatly pleased to have a piece of femininity returned to her, but then she had been reminded of the complications that came with self-styling long hair.
Manipulating Tempesta's jutting spikes or any of her sister's hair was a practice she'd become dexterous in, translating the same methods on her own hair proved onerous. The princess gave in trying to recreate an old fashion of Gralean ladies and asked Nebula to help her.
Watching him braid and weave her hair into complicated bun designs brought back memories of the old days when she initially teased the stoic, young boy into playing with her hair in an effort to thaw his unemotional behavior.
He took it as an order and did the task with mechanical diligence.
His efforts ended up alarming her maids and they corrected it. From then on, Nebula endeavored to improve, breaking their distant roles as princess and servant by asking Imperatrix if he could practice more on her hair and beginning a new tradition.
The gunman may have viewed it as correcting a failure, but to the princess it was an enjoyable ritual. For once, she was the one being indulged instead of the one giving out rampant affection.
Her Darling Nebula became a star stylist and dear friend.
"I should get back into the habit of a morning workout." Nyx sank in his chair, exhaling out his very soul in dismay. "I was really liking the extra hours of sleep. Man, the things I do for princesses."
"I fail to see how you would be doing it for me." Imperatrix stood to help Nebula distribute plates.
"You've been dying to fight me and I'm dying to see if I can break The Unbreakable Sword." The glaive boasted, his eyes dark with intent as the princess set his plate in front of him.
"Nyx…"
He couldn't possibly be speaking of sparring with those eyes swallowing her, making her place the cup of juice down too hard.
Imperatrix met his provocation, invading his personal space for a change and he momentarily startled at the play. "You will fall to your knees, kowtowing as every fool that dares challenge me, Nyx Ulric."
"Pfft, we'll see who ends up on the their knees." He whispered and smirked roguishly. "Find me the next time you train, Impera."
"Soon." She guaranteed, moving onto serving Lunafreya and stopping the girl from pitching into the table. "Everyone on this vessel will subject to conditioning." The princess announced firmly.
Unexcited groans escaped from the retainers.
"Are you well, Lunafreya? Your behavior has been most alarming." Imperatrix inquired, brushing blonde locks out the way and pressing the back of her palm to the girl's forehead, checking for a temperature.
The oracle had been dazed, out of touch with reality since leaving Saxham.
At the manor she spent all her time fiddling with the piano, formulating some composition that none of them could understand. Now, she stayed cooped up in her room, same unintelligible song carrying faintly through the halls.
Imperatrix would have left the matter alone, chalking it up as an artistic takeover. She'd seen similar conduct from Ardyn and Euphemia. However, Lunafreya's episodes were worrisome, working more like blackouts with the oracle experiencing large gaps in her memory.
It was unsettling to watch her seize with visions and sensations, muttering in the language of the gods. The times Lunafreya awoke Imperatrix with her surreal dreams were tame compared to these breaks the girl was suffering.
The princess could slowly see the seams of Ravus's fears for his sister. If the powers bestowed on her came with such drawbacks, she couldn't entirely fault him for being paranoid beyond reason for the girl's safety.
Less kind and cruel individuals would stigmatize Lunafreya as a schizophrenic and want her detained to an asylum. The people of Tenebrae exuded warmth as pinnacles of The Faith of the Six, but they could be intolerant zealots for things outside the norm.
The Fleurets did a staggering job of hiding the more unnatural side-effects of their gifts.
"I am…well…" Lunafreya turned from the touch on her forehead, refusing to elaborate more on the subject.
Imperatrix backed off, returning to her seat to dine.
Breakfast proceeded with little fanfare as most the occupants ventured into awareness. Nyx got bored with the silence, turning on the tv monitor attached to the wall, flickering through channels until the princess requested he go back to the news. He gave in with an unimpressed snort for her dull selection.
Royals and the news were like honey and bees.
"You'd rather watch a special about earthquakes than an over-the-top soap opera?" He gulped down his juice, entertaining himself with keeping an eye on Tempesta to make sure she didn't kick him under the table accidentally while she bullied her brother into refilling her plate.
"Shush, Nyx." Imperatrix mumbled, eyebrows furrowing and chin landing on her laced fingers, mind internalizing the program and recalling an event.
Ardyn talked her ear off about earthquakes. Now news reporters were covering the strangeness of increased seismic activity and its effect on the Duscae region?
It couldn't be a coincidence.
"Stop kicking me." Nebula seethed, hand tossing a knife at his sister.
She tilted her head, blade missing her neck and lodging into the chair.
"Then make me another plate!"
The knife was yanked out and thrown back to its owner.
"Get up and do it yourself." He caught it in between two fingers and twirled it around.
"No, you're the cook. You do it!"
The gunman threw the knife again in answer.
"I can do this all day!"
A game of toss ensued with dangerous utensils.
Nyx gawked at the sibling spat, never having done anything remotely similar with his sister.
"Are you two for real?!" He yelped, ducking a spoon coming for his head. "Watch it!"
"Then shuddup and mind your business, Savage!"
"Tempesta, be seated." Imperatrix dryly instructed to the scandalous girl standing on the table with her panties being flashed at everyone.
She was infinitely jealous of how smooth the fist fighter's skin was. Not a hair on her except for the crown of her head.
Lucky little freckle cat.
"Or don't…" The glaive lost his indignation while looking up.
He burned to see those damned helmets removed.
Nyx wasn't sure how appropriate it was for him to ogle Tempesta when he didn't know for sure how old she was. Chick had to be over twenty-one at least, because she drank like a sailor and no one called her out on it.
Still…
Anything under twenty-six or twenty-five made him feel itchy…
Nyx let out another yelp when a bawled-up napkin hit him in the face. "Who threw that?!"
Imperatrix hummed innocently in the face of her retainers pointing at her.
"You're supposed to be the mom, not one of the kids."
"Even Mom needs a break here and there." The princess fluttered her eyes.
He tossed the napkin at her, hitting Imperatrix in the nose and she gaped at him. "Two can play that game, hun."
"You heard Her Highness, sit down and stop flashing people!" Nebula stood with a gun aimed at his sister and the antics came to a jarring end.
Tempesta kicked her plate towards him.
They had a standoff for precious seconds that felt like hours to the onlookers. The elder sighed, holstering his gun and snatching up the plate.
"For the sake of peace and quiet, I do this."
Tempesta puffed up in victory, falling back into her seat and cackling.
"Man, I feel for him. I couldn't deal with you as a sibling…" Nyx murmured.
"How is your arm, Tempesta?" Imperatrix motioned for the retainer to display her arm.
"As good as new." She brandished the limb in a fist-bump towards the princess.
She lightly ran her fingers over where the cut had completely healed.
On a regular person, the hi-potion wouldn't have worked so flawlessly. A nasty scar would've been the result, but Tempesta's genes gave her heightened healing.
"You are in good shape for training then. After breakfast we shall convene in the gym."
"Impera, no way! We just fought off daemons." The fist fighter slammed her hands on the table, making some of the silverware rattle. "I wanna chill now!"
"You may play your video games in the evening. Daylight hours are for work." The princess frowned, unmoved by the childish whining. "Or have you forgotten that?"
She growled under her breath, shoving food into her mouth from the plate Nebula pushed in front of her.
The gunman only got in a few snickers from his sister's anguish before Imperatrix dragged him into the pit too, cutting short the amusement.
"Nebula, you shall have to do twice the usual."
"Forgive me. I may have misheard you, Princess." He wheezed out after the mix of a chuckle and cough went wrong.
"You heard me fine, Young Lord Besithia."
"Then why?"
"Do not think to fool me. You have clearly been slacking in fitness!" It was the elder's turn to receive a disappointed deadpan. "Your sluggish movements and faint panting did not go unnoticed on our mission."
He subtly sank in his chair.
"Hah! There ya go, Geezer!" The fist fighter needled him.
"Tempesta shall be doing ten times the usual set." Imperatrix stated with too much calm, finishing the last of her tea and setting it down. "Consider this a reminder to behave in a manner befitting a royal retainer."
She went deadly immobile.
"I told you punishment was coming, Pest." Nebula controlled himself, jerking in his seat to prevent any of his laughter from coming out and increasing his own torture session.
Tempesta died a little more, falling onto the table with her food forgotten and tasting like ash on her tongue. Just the thought of the physical agony she would soon be subject to was enough to make her whimper.
"You're going straight back to training? I thought you'd wait at least a day for more hardcore stuff." Nyx grimaced, his earlier taunts were about to bite him in the ass.
He wanted to chill out, too. His leg was bothering him and he didn't want to look weak in conditioning because he was limping around.
"I am not expecting you or Lunafreya to join." Imperatrix reassured Nyx's unspoken worry. "Neither of you are at a place for heavy activity."
"You haven't made her do anything 'heavy'." The glaive retorted, stealing the remote and searching for something to watch now that he was in the clear.
"For good reason. She keels over easily and has little resolve."
"Ohhh, you're gonna get her started with talk like that." He looked at Lunafreya, expecting to see belligerence, but she lifted her head, absently taking in the conversation. "Uh, are you still not awake? C'mon, kid, you might be worse than the prince."
"Where are we going?" She asked with little thought to what Nyx said.
Everyone present shifted their heads in confusion.
The princess had gathered everyone on the bridge yesterday to explain her plan to deliver Lunafreya and Nyx to Altissa, where they would wait in the Aldercapt estate while Imperatrix traveled to Gralea to broker the continuation of the marriage between the Princess of Tenebrae and the Prince of Insomnia in an effort to renew the peace treaty.
The oracle had been quiet at the time and since she didn't protest anything, it was assumed she was in agreement.
Nyx was the talker for the two of them, figuring out arrangements for their stay in Altissa. Under no circumstances was he going to accept the girl being held prisoner again by imperials and he wanted Lunafreya to have all the privileges a princess should.
His demands just about started a two-on-one fight between the imperial retainers and the Tenebraen retainer.
The glaive had no idea the political shit-storm he ventured into with that one comment.
"Kid, we're going to Altissa. Just like the king asked." Nyx said gravely before one of the caustic jerks could reply.
"Altissa?" She blinked and life returned to her countenance, panic establishing itself in her gut. "We cannot go there. It is not time!"
"Why…not?" His face scrunched up, really speculating if Lunafreya had lost her marbles. "It's the whole reason for…this!"
Nyx wildly gestured to the unlikely group of people stuck on an airship. The sooner he could get away from the psycho siblings, the better.
Unlikely was actually an extreme understatement.
A month ago he would've laughed and spat at the ground if anyone tried to tell him he would be traveling with a bunch of Niffs, and the crown princess to boot.
He still found himself laying in bed, or sleeping bag some nights, disoriented and trapped between thinking he'd died the morning after the peace treaty and the reality of being alive sans magic.
It took him seeing Lunafreya and Imperatrix for Nyx's mind to settle and him to realize that yes, he was alive, and in the company of two pretty princesses that drove him up the wall.
"We cannot head for Altissa. The Disc of Cauthess must be our destination."
"Why would we go there? To see the meteor?" Imperatrix hushed the jeering of Tempesta, at least humoring the impassioned oracle. "The war goes on between Lucis and Niflheim. We do not have time for an interlude."
She still hadn't told the oracle of Noctis's involvement at the base. The princess wasn't sure if she wished to pervade Lunafreya's image of the boy.
Scant memories were all she had at the moment since their reunion wouldn't be happening soon. Why dissolve that?
Although…
An intermission might prove beneficial for the sheltered girl. Perhaps she'd been pushed too hard, leading to the episodes.
"It is not an 'interlude'. it is a matter of urgency! I am being called on by the gods to perform my duties as oracle."
"By the gods?" The princess repeated, an involuntary shudder running through her.
Ice, snow, blood, explosions, and screams filtered through Imperatrix's mind at breakneck speed, quickening her pulse and she gripped onto the table. She faced towards the window to hide her reaction.
"And what duty would they have you complete, Lady Lunafreya?" Nebula perceived the distress, setting his hand on top of the one clenching the table.
The oracle glanced furtively at the three imperials, lowering her head to avoid eye contact. "I cannot say."
"Typical." He grunted, letting go of Imperatrix's hand to cross his arms and focus the visor on the blonde, knowing how uncomfortable it made people. "You run your mouth off when defaming us, but go tight-lipped for anything else."
She pursed her lips, tempted to not respond out of spite, but to prove the retainer wrong she countered. "The gods wait for no one. Their will must be obeyed."
"So, 'the gods' won't be sharing their reasons with the rest of the table?"
"No."
Nebula switched from Lunafreya to Nyx. "Any idea for your liege's flight of fancy?"
"If I knew how that mind worked, I could've saved myself a lot of heart attacks." The glaive shrugged.
The oracle pulled way too many stunts in Insomnia and…this was looking like it might be a repeat of something crazy from her. Nyx would keep both eyes and ears on the reckless blonde.
There'd be no jumping out of airships this time. He didn't have warping to save the day.
"Does this visit to the Disc relate to…what did Ravus call it?" Imperatrix rubbed her forehead, reaching for a imperceptible memory. "A pilgrimage? Or…some other rite?"
Lunafreya's eyebrows rose to her hairline. "My brother told you of our Pelerinage de grace?"
The princess smiled triumphantly after hearing the familiar term. "Yes, that is what he called it."
"Why would Ravus tell you?"
"Because I asked…" Imperatrix was surprised by the umbrage coming off the girl. "I found it strange for him to request an extended leave from the military and inquired as to why."
A religious expedition wasn't what she expected from him, but it was better than the usual reason of Lunafreya's declining health.
The oracle scowled, stewing in her seat.
"Why's she mad and what's the thing she said in French?" Tempesta rocked backwards in the chair.
"I suppose…I should leave that explanation to someone else." Imperatrix observed her retainer tilting in the chair, anxious that the magnets wouldn't keep the chair aloft and she would crash to he floor.
"Well, Lunar Temple? Impera threw you a bone. Why aren't you taking it?"
The blonde twitched at the offensive name-calling. "Every Fleuret is expected to go on a pilgrimage to the holy sites of The Six as a rite of passage into adulthood."
"Hells, was it so hard to share that? Why not lead with that?!" Tempesta's temper lash caused the chair to tip and she fell.
The visor took the brute of the head damage.
Nebula didn't react to the accident. Imperatrix sighed and helped the fist fighter to her feet.
"We shall have to take the Setzer off autopilot and fly manually if we are to make good time to the Disc." The princess declared with a little disgruntlement.
She didn't like her plans being altered, but flexibility was a must for royalty. Either Nebula or herself would have to pilot instead of training like she planned.
"We're going back to Duscae? Great." Tempesta groaned long and loud.
"Go change your clothing and meet me in the gym." Imperatrix softly nudged her retainer for the door.
"Fine. I'm gonna kick your butt, Shitty Princess." The fist fighter stomped out, shouting about her prowess and upcoming victory.
"Shouldn't you be thanking Her Highness for complying with your inconvenient request? You're setting us behind schedule and making us backtrack." Nebula stood, visor focused on Lunafreya.
She defiantly glared into the black screen.
"You have my gratitude, Princess Imperatrix." Was the barbed response.
He scoffed. "No curtsy…or at least a bow of your noble head? Where have your manners gone, my lady?"
"Nebula, enough." The princess ordered since the oracle's expression went from overt anger to blank frigidness.
The gunman conceded, beginning to retrieve the leftover dishes his sister didn't put up. Tempesta always left plates strewn about.
Little pig pest.
"So…who's flying?" Nyx finally looked away from the tv.
He'd bowed out from the argument in favor of a comedy rerun.
"Nebula and I." Imperatrix answered.
"Hey, you agreed to let me in the pilot's seat!" The glaive looked expectantly at her, handing off his and Lunafreya's plates when she came near to ask for them.
"This model is different from the airships you have flown. I will indulge your compulsion under different circumstances." She took the dishes into the kitchen and assisted her retainer in cleaning them.
"I'm not gonna break Setzer." Nyx trailed over to the counter, leaning on it to marvel at a princess washing things voluntarily.
He thought Imperatrix did menial tasks like that under his mom's insistence and wouldn't be bothered with them afterwards. Guess he was wrong.
"Why is he hung-up on piloting?" Nebula asked the princess.
"I do not know. He seems fascinated with vehicles, land and air. Interesting, since he is from an island of nature."
"I'm right here. I can hear everything." Nyx grunted.
"No idea why you're still here. Haven't you done enough leering for the morning?" Nebula's mouth piece was back in place and his voice scrambled, but Imperatrix knew he was speaking as dryly as the glaive and giggled.
"Oh, boy. Am I about to get a territorial speech?" The glaive rolled his eyes.
"Something like that."
Nyx yowled, falling backwards as a gun went off in his direction. His heart pounded erratically and he ran his hands over his body for holes or darts.
The gunman casually leaned on the countertop separating the kitchen and dining area, twirling a gun. "There...my speech. Got it memorized, Sir Ulric?"
"You asshole!"
"Asshole, am I? Maybe I ought to switch the blanks for bullets." Nebula made a show of reaching into his uniform for ammo, but was really searching for a cigarette. "Thought I was being generously nice."
"Did I say 'asshole'? Must've been confused." Nyx got to his feet and out of the gunman's immediate line of sight.
The psycho could pull out a gun and fire faster than he could see. Assassin-level shit right there!
"Good man." Nebula vacated the kitchen, stopping a few feet away from the glaive. "I don't like you, but we are the only males in this female-infested ship. Tread smartly and I might be inclined to be friendly."
"Roger that…" Nyx saluted jokingly, eyes primed for another sneak attack.
He snickered, calling for the princess. "I'll be on the bridge for first shift."
"When I relieve you, I expect your workout to be completed." Imperatrix reminded him.
He sighed deeply and slugged out the room.
The princess finished in the kitchen, turned off the tv, and set the chairs in place.
"And then there were two." Nyx grinned at Imperatrix.
She shook her head, staying on the other end of the table and far from the glaive. "You should pay more attention to Lunafreya. Did you even see her leave?"
The girl had slipped out when no one was looking.
"If you haven't noticed, she makes this really prissy face when someone hovers too much. I don't get that face as much as you do, but I get it all the same." He elaborated, shortening the distance between them. "I don't think we need to be worried about childish antics."
Nyx chuckled when Imperatrix mirrored his movements, going in the opposite direction to keep a wide berth.
"Why did you agree?" The glaive paused, seriousness taking over. "Even to me, Lunafreya's reasoning was shady."
Imperatrix leaned over the top of a chair, contemplating if sharing her thoughts was wise. "I agreed mainly out of concern for her health. If this small trip can end her oddness, then I am willing to make the time."
"You really can't stop those mom-genes."
She jumped at how close Nyx had gotten in her lapse. He draped an arm over her shoulders.
"You're so strange for an imperial princess."
"You are bold, borderline impertinent for a commoner." She shrugged off his arm and slipped away.
"Pah! And the stunt you pulled yesterday wasn't audacious? See, I can use fancy words like you, Princess." Nyx smirked, getting right in her space, repeating this process the more Imperatrix tried to add distance. "You want to be chased and I'm game for that."
What hunter wasn't?
"I want none of your prideful ploys of conquest." The princess leaped back when he reached for her.
A gleam of mischief that was very familiar to her from another problematic male in her life, appeared in Nyx's eyes.
"That's bullshit."
A sudden game of tag began with Imperatrix spinning away from Nyx's playful lunges.
"Stop it! Stop chasing me!" She yelled before darting out the dining room with a thirty-two year old man hot on her heels.
"Not a chance!"
At a turn in the hallway the glaive caught the wall, using it for a boost and gaining on Imperatrix enough to graze her lower backside. She screamed indignantly, whirling around to kick him. He slid at the last second, avoiding the attack.
"What're you blushing about? I barely got to feel anything from how baggy those weird pants are!" He rolled away from her trying to stomp on him and jumped to his feet.
"They are my sirwals and they are not weird, you uncultured dog!" Imperatrix huffed, red-faced out of mortification for the breech of propriety.
Never! Never had she'd been tormented with such a bold man!
Ardyn didn't perform such bawdy foolery with her and he'd done more and seen more of her than any other man.
Damned Nyx Ulric!
"So you can be as rude as that loudmouth brat." Nyx laughed, more than amused with how timid she was over a slap on the ass.
Not that he even got that far.
Imperatrix gasped, covering her mouth and going redder. "You are right. That was awfully ill-mannered of me."
"Yeah, yeah. You need to make it up to me."
"I already apologized. What more-" She screeched when his hand seized her hip with the intention of dragging her towards him. "I take it back! You are lower than a dog. A mongrel!"
Imperatrix wrenched away and the game of tag went on with Nyx keen on capturing the runaway princess. It was like indoor parkour with all their leaping and jumping throughout the hallways, hanger, and finally into the gym.
Nyx called for a time-out and laid out on the floor mat, clenching his leg. Imperatrix forgot her annoyance and rushed to his aid, rolling up the glaive's sweats to check the brace.
"You are an imbecile." She critiqued without remorse. "Why engage me juvenilely when your leg was hurting?!"
The swelling wasn't too bad, but Nyx would need to ice his leg.
"No pain, no gain…" He inspected the room instead of focusing on the shoots of pain up his leg that were triggering the burning sensations in his arm and scarring on his face.
This was the one room she didn't show him on the tour.
A military-styled fitness room with plenty of equipment to keep a person busy. There were even all kinds of weapons hanging from the walls. Imperatrix probably didn't show it at first because of his injuries.
How lame to have her coddle him like Lunafreya. He would be in tip-top shape in no time.
"Hmm, that is Glauca you are channeling." The princess let go go his leg and scooted back.
"It wasn't training until you bled or broke something with him."
"Do you…" Imperatrix trailed off, deciding not to broach the topic.
"Don't do that. If you wanna say something, say it." Nyx rested the back of his head on his palms. "One thing I like about you is your frankness."
He had an idea of where she was going.
"Do you believe he died in Insomnia?" Imperatrix looked him in the eye.
Nyx was the only other person she could speak with regarding Glauca's demise. The only other person that might comprehend her sense of betrayal…
Glauca had taught her. Titus Drautos had taught Nyx. How funny that two people on opposite sides of the world shared a one-of-a-kind teacher.
"He's inhumanly resistant. My bet's on him still living. The where's what bugs me." Nyx spoke honestly when he could've wished the traitor dead.
"I like to think he has returned to his homeland." Imperatrix looked away from the swords on display and banished a vision of the armored titan prompting her to chose a weapon and to come at him with the intent to kill.
His cruel lessons opened her naive eyes.
"Where's that? He tell you, cause Drautos was mum when we asked him, only saying the empire burned his home to the ground."
"I…do not know."
"C'mon, tell me."
"Nyx, I do not know."
He grunted, unsatisfied. "You really expect me to believe you don't know any juicy details about him?"
"Nyx, I did not even know what Glauca looked like until he revealed himself in Insomnia."
"You're joking."
"I am not."
The man whistled jokingly. "You didn't know the man at all then."
Imperatrix visibly deflated and he groaned from how vulnerable-looking she became with those misty eyes, furrowed eyebrows, and trembling lips. His stomach dropped.
"Hey." The glaive called.
"Yes, Nyx." She whispered after breathing out a lengthy sigh and adjusting her posture to a lotus position.
"How old are you?" He blurted out the first thing to come to mind, anything to get rid of the sad-fest he caused.
The princess stared at him, mystified by the random question. "…Twenty-eight."
"Huh. You're four years younger than me." He scratched his head, genuinely surprised.
Her initial stuffy attitude and the way she carried herself made him think she was his age or older.
"Amazing that you can still pull off those pathetic puppy-eyes. I thought girls could only do that, not women."
She gasped.
"Shoot those at the right guy and you'll have them committing murder."
Imperatrix muttered in Farsi before speaking up in English. "I take it my eyes cannot move you then?"
Nyx took a moment to answer, grin stretching as he sat up. "Nope. Remember, I had a little sister. I'm immune to it."
The princess tilted her head at him, expression losing hostility and softening.
"What I'm not immune to is a good massage." The glaive sprawled his leg across Imperatrix's lap at her shift in mood. "Help a poor guy out, Princess."
"I swear you are a callow scoundrel! Were you not just insulting me and now you seek favors?!"
"It's not insulting if I'm stating facts. You were making the most miserable face."
"This is not how to win me over."
"Hey, you saw my leg! I'm not just asking to be cheeky." Nyx wiggled his leg, hooking his foot around her waist and pulling the woman closer. "If anything it's your fault it hurts! Take responsibility, Impera."
"My fault? How is it my fault?!" She glared heatedly at the emergence of lewdness on his face, tempted to toss his leg off and laugh at him writhing in pain.
"It's your fault for constantly being a tease. It wouldn't kill you to behave a little more demure...like good Luna."
Seriously, Imperatrix needed to be more conscious of exactly how riled she could leave him. All the times he saw her in scant amounts of clothes. The whiffs of her scent he caught when in close proximity. Her facial expressions and tone of voice that could make him heat up.
And don't even get him started on their arguing, which felt more like fiery flirting and could end with one of them getting physical. Imperatrix was usually the culprit.
The time she perched herself on top of him and fought to get him out the sleeping bag brought up a storm of dirty thoughts and had she stayed on him longer, she would've noticed how stimulated he was.
Damn, if she hadn't been under his skin like an endless itch since he first saw her in the backseat with Lunafreya!
Imperatrix looked great in that pastel-colored dress. He'd been distracted by it and her at the party…watching her flutter around like some ethereal moon sprite…
She...could pass as an incarnation of Selene, the Goddess of the Moon with her features.
"You fancy me a tease?" The princess's soft voice preceded her hands removing the brace and massaging Nyx's leg like he wanted.
The glaive groaned appreciatively at the gentle caresses.
"Believe me, if seduction were my intention, you would know and submit."
"This I gotta see then." He whistled suggestively, leaning back on his hands.
"Careful what you wish for, Nyx Ulric." She warned.
"Bring it, Impera. I'm dying to see what a stiff princess thinks is seductive."
"Again, you plow into things you should not." A slow smirk that could appear as an evil one, emerged on Imperatrix's face. "You will see your folly."
"Only time that happens is when I'm shit-faced drunk and as a previous bartender, I know how to handle liquor. So not often."
She scoffed and squeezed harder on his leg.
"Ah, ah! That hurts!" Nyx wrestled her hands off.
"I thought you liked pain? Were those not your words?" The princess let him hold her hands hostage and returned his glower with a sharp smile.
"If you wanna be kinky, fine." He shoved her with enough force to knock Imperatrix onto her back and loomed over the disoriented princes.
The door opening halted him from doing anything more. An animalistic yell later and the glaive had one female beneath him and one on his back.
Both gave him hell.
Tempesta clawed and beat at Nyx's back. "What did I say?! Keep your filthy, savage balls off Impera!"
"Ow, ow, damn! Why do you hit like a behemoth?!" Nyx grunted, strikes to his back and the boa-like constriction of legs around his waist sending him crashing into Imperatrix.
"No, no, Tempesta! Now you're hitting me!" The princess blocked some of the flying fists with her arms and moaned from how much it hurt.
"Whoops!" The fist fighter flew off Nyx, hands raised apologetically for accidentally striking royalty. "Sorry, Shitty Princess. Don't tell, Neb!"
Imperatrix frowned at the man laid out on top of her, his face resting above her breasts. At least his hands weren't touching her, but the feel of their pressed bodies was making her stomach queasy.
Where Ardyn was cold to touch, Nyx was electrifying. Her skin tingled where his cheek met her chest and breath tickled her neck.
"Are you going to move?" She ground out breathily, mortified that Nyx could most likely hear the frantic beating of her heart.
"I don't think that's a good idea. Tempesta broke my back." Imperatrix could feel the smile stretching out on his lips. "I don't think you want me to move either."
His hands moved closer to wrap around her body and she hurled him off before he could touch her.
Tempesta's foot slammed into the glaive's chest to keep him down and controlled. "Are we gonna use him as a punching bag? Please say yes."
Imperatrix flipped to her feet, crossing her arms and pretending to consider the idea. "He would not last more than three hits."
"I really need to change your opinion of me." Nyx grumbled to the girl pining him to ground. "I'm no one's punching bag!"
He slapped her leg off him and then kicked the other leg out from under her.
Tempesta laughed, regaining her footing in a flash and lunging for the glaive. "You're whatever I want you to be. That's what happens when you lose!"
"I'm especially not some kind of prison punk!"
The two traded blows, full-out trying to maim the other.
The glaive's long years of experienced combat were all that kept him apace with a smaller, faster, and healthier target. He wasn't losing substantially, but his crippled side wasn't making it easy for him to retaliate.
"Nyx, catch!" Imperatrix threw a training sword at him.
He caught it and shifted his attention between Tempesta cracking her fist and the princess testing other blades out. "Isn't this an unfair advantage?"
"Since when do Lucians care about that? Magic itself is an unfair advantage!" The fist fighter mocked him.
"In case you have noticed, kid…I don't have magic anymore!" He readied his stance, pride irked at the reminder of his greatest loss.
Losing the king's magic had been like losing a lung and breathing through an apparatus!
"Quit calling me 'kid', I'm twenty-four!"
Nyx fell out of his stance, expression going dumbfounded. He swiveled his head in Imperatrix's direction.
"She is and Nebula is thirty-two." She provided without prompting and smiled coyly. "Lift your blade, Nyx."
"Huh?"
A fist impacted his gut and he almost felt like collapsing and spitting up breakfast.
"Why do her punches hurt so much?!" Nyx shouted, baffled how a girl smaller than him packed hits as powerful as an Iron Giant.
And this was without the gauntlets!
"You will never best my Darling Tempesta in hand-to-hand combat, for not even I am capable. A sword is your best option." Imperatrix declared with abundant affection and pride.
Tempesta ate the praise up, posing arrogantly with her fists on her hips and chest puffed out.
If the helmet were gone the brat would probably be sending him a shit-eating grin.
"I'll do more than best this midget." Nyx preferred kukris since that was what he got used to as kingsglaive, but now it was time to return to his roots.
Every hunter worth his weight was skilled with a sword or a bow and arrow. He was of course, handy with both.
"I'm gonna rip out you tongue, Shit-head!"
The brawl went on for a good thirty minutes until Imperatrix joined the fray and it became a free-for-all. Though the females mostly ganged up on the male due to his never-ending egotism.
Fists and swords clashed rampantly till the arrival of the oracle. She screamed and ducked as sword flew past her head and clattered harmlessly into the hallway.
"There goes another one! Why do you keep kicking them out of my hands, Tempesta?" Imperatrix's shoulders heaved in exhaustion and she begrudgingly took a seat on the mat, wiping her curling bangs out of her face.
"Like I need you performing twenty hit combos!" She hollered, pointing to the red spots on her pale skin. "Look at all these bruises! I would be bleeding out if those swords had sharp edges."
"Then wear actual clothes instead of gyms shorts and a sports bra." The princess went into her lotus, calming her breathing and preparing to stretch out her worn body. "You have plenty of gear and you chose to wear the wrong things."
"Bah! I get sweaty in all that padding."
Tempesta marched over to a croaking Nyx, kicking him in the ribs and looking dead at Lunafreya. "You looking for your pansy-flower bodyguard, Lunar Temple?"
"Not…a pansy…" He argued weakly and received another kick in the side, going quiet.
"I came for another reason." The oracle clenched her fists, looking at the princess with determination.
"Hold on a sec…this is the first time I've seen her in something other than a dress and heels." Tempesta used the glaive as a stepping stone, laughing at his groans.
True, Lunafreya had changed from her nightgown into a shirt and track pants. Apparel that Imperatrix had originally bought for her to sleep in on cold nights, but became her outfit for morning runs and stretches.
"Wait, wait! The doll wants to train?"
A small amount of pink entered the oracle's cheeks from the fist fighter's astonishment. Lunafreya stepped further into the gym. "Yes, I do."
She needed to be ready for what would come next. Her mind and body would need to be tempered to hardened steel to complete her duty as oracle.
For Noctis.
For the Chosen King she would learn to fight.
XV
"Ah, there is so much on here... I cannot believe all this has piled up!" Imperatrix complained to no one, switching between reading the emails on her phone and going through documents on her laptop.
After a grueling training session where she worked herself and Tempesta to the bone, and gave a lighter, but still tough regiment to Lunafreya and Nyx, Imperatrix withdrew to her quarters for a shower.
Dressed down in more trousers and a halter top, the princess retrieved her laptop from the suitcase to work some more on all the missives she'd received from the homeland. Her private secretary took care of much, but there were still dozens of issues only solvable by a royal seal of approval.
Fund approvals for projects and relief efforts, most noticeably in Insomnia and other underdeveloped areas in Lucis.
Shame how much the continent had dwindled from the rise of the wall. Lucis used to have other major countries but their retreat left them to the mercy of the empire and daemons. Lestallum had pretty much become the last standing settlement.
Deployment authorizations from her lieutenant commander.
The Valeria Victrix was essentially sitting in the capital with nothing to do since their commander wasn't present to issue orders. Though, all the soldiers should've been eager to relax after being expelled to Persia with her. Her return for the peace treaty had been what brought them all back to Gralea.
Diplomatic disputes among nobles that required intervention. Or diplomats making entreaties towards her on behalf of their lieges.
When would these small lords and kings learn that they would not be inheriting the largest empire of their age?
While Imperatrix was prepared for an arranged marriage, it likely wasn't going to happen at this point for the simple fact that any man would try to overrule her, and the rats always tried to demand the crown matrimonial.
Intelligence reports from her cadet on Noctis's movements.
Those sightings were out of date, going back to when the prince tried to catch a ferry to Altissa, but couldn't due to the blockade. Nothing recent or useful for the moment…
So many emails and files she had to sift through!
"Gods above! It is like I am Ardyn, swamped in overdue paperwork." Imperatrix paused in her rapid typing.
She'd even gotten messages from the chancellor.
A sticky note had been attached to her laptop, cautioning of the mess awaiting her. The most obnoxious part of the note was the teasing smiley-face with its tongue stuck out, an artful representation of the emoticon.
Silly, silly Ardyn Izunia.
His second message had been an actual email. A detailed account of the construction and modifications on her sword and shield. The scientific jargon went completely over her head and she skipped to the most important part.
The bill.
The estimated final costs were enough to make Imperatrix curl up on the bed to cry and whine for five minutes.
Borealis and Australis would cost over a third of her annual income as crown princess!
By the time she scrolled down to the end of the email and her tears dried, the princess wanted to throw the laptop. Ardyn agreed to pay the costs in exchange for a token of her affection and as an apology for her playing scapegoat in his latest scheme.
"Damn him! He unhinges me even when not present." Imperatrix snatched up her phone, pulling up the message inventory for the chancellor and her irritation came to a standstill at the text he sent her this morning.
I can break. I can be attacked. I can be given. I can be kept. I can be crushed, yet I can be whole at the same time. What am I?
Their usual game of a riddle a day. This one was easily the most cheesy and simplest one yet.
A heart.
She sent the reply and palmed her cheek, which she could feel warming with a blush. "How is it possible to love one as he? One that infuriates and endears…"
The princess laid down as memories of her taking him and him taking her swept away her focus.
Imperatrix had only ever been intimate with Ardyn and while she'd always warned him of her intentions for multiple spouses, he'd kept her attention for years and the princess never faced the conundrum of polyamory.
Nyx…was challenging the status quo.
The glaive came off as entirely domineering and narcissistic. How would their dynamic be if she were to...pursue…whatever stood between them?
She'd made all the approaches towards Ardyn.
For all his bravado and flattering, the man was incredibly subdued, almost fearful at times, to go beyond playfulness into actual secret courting. That behavior could have been attributed to him being older than her and being in service to her father, but it wasn't her station that unnerved him.
Ardyn treated everyone with differing levels of sarcastic respect. Royalty or commoner, rank meant little to him.
For some reason, the chancellor could occasionally look at her like she was a phantasm, reaching, but not touching the mirage and ending what only he could see.
The vibrating of her phone drew Imperatrix out of the reverie and she swiped for the call. Her hello was barely heard over Ardyn's dramatic swooning.
"Oh, to hear your voice is to kindle my blackened soul, Musa! Congratulations on solving the riddle. Unfortunately, I won't be able to present a reward."
"Are you…driving?" She could hear an old mixtape playing from his side and the whips of wind.
"Why, indeed I am. Such a clever lady."
"You are not supposed to be texting or taking calls while driving."
"I'm the safest driver there is and I would never hurt the old girl." The next bit he rattled off airily. "Never mind that a crash wouldn't kill me."
Imperatrix rolled her eyes at Ardyn's obsession with his gaudy, red convertible. Men and their modes of transportation.
"You are a disturbing case of easily distracted. I would feel eased if you called me when you are not driving."
"That'll be hours later…this is the first call that hasn't been business related or ignored. Don't deny me so soon, Dearest!"
"No." The princess loudly said into the receiver, interrupting what would've been a long case of whining. "Call me later."
"Impera!" He protested anyway.
"Ardyn."
"Musa."
"Ardyn!" Imperatrix was seconds away from abruptly ending the call.
He sighed. "Ahh…you say it so lovely. Once more, if you would."
"I'm hanging up!"
"No, no, no! I'll get right to the point of my call and let you go."
The music couldn't be heard as well and the wind dwindled.
"Thirty seconds." The princess signaled.
"In regards to your answer. Mine is forever yours, Musa. Remember that."
Imperatrix inhaled sharply at the clarity of his voice and how his words gave her a flutter. "I shall…safeguard it, Darling. And you have a piece of mine."
"Only a piece?! Oh, bugger." Ardyn clicked his tongue.
"Yes, I have to save two other pieces."
"Yes, yes. Your golden three as you've told me." He sighed and then broke into a laugh. "I, at least get the biggest piece, yes?"
"Hmm… I feel as though you should have the smallest…"
"Ahh, my bleeding heart! I can hear no more of this. You are twisting the knife, Musa!"
She laughed at him. "Safe travels, Darling Caesar."
His happy crooning was the last sound as the call ended.
The princess slipped on her shoes, secured her laptop under her arm and exited her room to head towards the bridge.
Nebula would have to fly for a bit more. Imperatrix had too much work to barrel through.
A month and some days was too much time away!
What else was probably falling apart in Gralea in her absence? According to Ardyn, her father was in confinement, which meant the senators were running wild…
Suddenly, she felt her throat closing up at the thought of Euphemia and Venus in danger from greedy, over-reaching parasites.
Pompeia and her mother had been lost to a riot. Two of her brothers had been taken and locked away in a tower, their fates unknown as no bodies could be found. Other little ones had died in the womb, others passed days after their births, others dead in infancy...
How many siblings would she lose in her lifetime?
Those poor, innocent, little children…
"Impera, what is wrong?" Nebula's easy drawl and firm grip on her shoulders, yanked the princess out of her memories.
"F-Forgive me…" Imperatrix calmed herself, seeing that he'd even removed his mask to assess her.
She patted the hand steadying her and smiled apologetically.
"I came to inform you that I will not be able to relieve you."
His freckled face eased back into lazy apathy and he let go of her shoulders to pat at her cheek. The patting was meant to be as affectionate as her gesture had been, but like Tempesta, Nebula didn't always realize that his idea of gentle was actually painful.
Still, Imperatrix grit her teeth, smiling as if there wasn't anything wrong, appreciative of the overture when she knew how Nebula struggled with expressing himself in a manner that wasn't violent.
Compared to the younger, the elder was lighter in strength. They both still had a long way to go on healthy expressions of emotions though.
But…Nebula was in his thirties. Should she just throw in the towel at this point? Let him be, since he didn't seem interested in her long years of instruction?
Tempesta wasn't a lost cause…she was still young enough to correct…
"I don't mind flying, saves me from hellish training." The gunman picked his helmet up and sat back in the pilot's seat.
He gazed at the mask, then at the princess, deciding to set it on the floor.
"Want to talk?"
Imperatrix giggled at how blank he kept his expression when asking the most hated question of the male race. She sat at the console meant for officers, setting up her laptop for more work.
"Did something happen?" He took a wild guess.
"What has not happened in Gralea and every other major territory?"
"Oh, princess dilemmas…not girl dilemmas." The gunman relaxed a bit at the less threatening option. "I tried to help out when we were there, but I only have so much authority as a royal retainer."
"I am sure you gave a great effort." The princess chuckled lowly.
Knowing the blonde man, he walked in the opposite direction of any trouble he saw. Nebula wasn't diligent unless motivated.
The princess wasn't sure which was worse, the gunman's lack of help outside of orders, or the fist fighter's generous assistance that often caused more trouble than help.
Like the time Imperatrix spent her day off overseeing a shipment of goods to a local orphanage and Tempesta's zealousness to arrive early culminated in her crashing the supply truck and they had to transport the items by hand.
She apparently loved torturing herself with complicated, exhausting, puzzling, human beings.
"The palace was not falling to pieces if that is what concerns you. Ardyn, for all his tiresome eccentrics, does his duty as Imperial Chancellor." Nebula twitched in his seat, desiring to light another cigarette, but resisted for the princess's sake.
He got away with it at the mansion because it was late, but Imperatrix had already been eyeing the spot she knew he kept his pack and lighter since yesterday. Chances were her insistence on doubling-up training was triggered by his unsubtle smoking.
Damnation! He should just off himself.
There was no way he was kicking his habit of smoking, he'd been doing it for too long! Even having the princess and his girl hounding him about lung cancer wasn't enough to make him abstain.
"Is it true that he is arranging for my sisters to go on progress?" Imperatrix blazed through a correspondence, electing to keep them short and simple, going as far as copying and pasting formats that could be reused on certain emails.
"Yes."
"Both of them?"
Furia, obviously wouldn't be included on a royal progress, as she married into the Fleuret family and they, for the time being, weren't considered royal. Also, someone had to remain in Tenebrae to maintain order with both Ravus and Lunafreya busy.
"Yes, both Euphemia and Venus are going. No word yet on if Iedolas plans to join." He gripped the wheel tighter to limit the shaking. "Tempy and I even had to give the run-down to the munchkin's new retainers."
"She is nine! Why is her safety being risked with this maneuver?!" Imperatrix slapped her hand on the desk.
"The baby princess will have her retainers and plenty of guards protecting her." Nebula kept a level-head at her lash out, already used to her smothering protectiveness.
"She is too young, her place is in the palace!"
"Ehh, you were not that much older for your first progress."
"That is… The circumstances are vastly different…" Imperatrix's stumbled over her words, displeasure receding.
She was twelve at the time and recently recovered from the unexpected attack on one of their villas.
There were no survivors but her, and if her father hadn't rushed to the villa after being informed of the sabotage…she would have passed into oblivion with the others.
It took a year for Imperatrix to recover physically and mentally from the assassination attempt that robbed her of functionality for a time, and permanently robbed her of a mother.
The princess still bore the scars from the bullets that tore through her mother's body and into her. Seventeen years had rendered them to nothing more than little blotches on her stomach now, scarcely evident unless you knew where to look.
"It was Father's will that all of Niflheim knew of my survival and his intention to promote me as Crown Princess." Imperatrix covered her eyes so that no tears fell. "There is no…staggering tragedy presiding over us…"
"Princess, do not take this the wrong way…" Nebula started carefully, switching his tone to a more deferential timbre to not set her off further. "Our current circumstances are even more tenuous than Empress Valeria's death. An enemy we have been fighting for centuries is no more. Now, more than ever, the Aldercapts have to be seen as force of power and stability."
She lowered her hands, vision blurry. "Neb…"
"Everyone needs to know who is in charge. Emperor Iedolas and after him, you, Your Highness."
"Is that the propaganda Ardyn fed you?" The princess sniffed, blinking away the mistiness. "What he has been broadcasting in council?"
"More or less." He shrugged. "He is more concerned about what the senators might due with this giant power vacuum that has opened. Change is frightening to mummies."
"His reasoning is as pragmatic as ever…" She crossed her arms, sneering at the sticky note as a replacement for Ardyn. "Yet, I am hardly ever soothed by his actions."
Nebula snorted. "Ehh, I could argue that."
Imperatrix stared him down until he faced her and the small, indiscernible smirk confirmed her suspicions.
"Ohoho, shall you tease me, Young Lord Besithia?"
This topic had been coming and Imperatrix wanted to get the ribbing out of the way.
"I will wait for Tempy to be present. She is better at pestering you." Nebula rolled his neck, smirk broadening as he stroked his goatee. "I will say that I won bet. The pest predicted you would not last three months without the man. I thought otherwise."
The princess groaned, quickly blushing at her weakness being laid bare. She muttered in Latin and Nebula laughed.
"She basically threw the bet. With us all being exiled and stationed in Persia, there was no way for either you to rekindle…well, actually… There would have been the best place to do so, Impera."
"Oh, so I should have risked discovery in my cousin's home?"
"It would have gotten him off your back about indulging in pleasures while in your mother's homeland. How many times did the shah whisk you off to the royal harem?"
"Too many! Ismail is as bad as Father in his younger days."
"Ehh, you are slowly getting there yourself, Your Highness."
"I thought there would be no teasing!" Imperatrix burned up at all the hinting.
Did Nebula see everything? Or was she absurdly obvious?!
The gunman laughed for a good minute, until his laughter became wheezes. Without delay, the princess was on her feet and hovering over him.
Nebula withdrew a flask of water and drank.
"Do you want me to take over?" She offered.
"I'm fine…finish...your work before you have an anxiety meltdown that I will have to talk you out of." He slouched in the chair, waving her off.
"Really, it is—"
"Impera, I am fine. I know how much it bothers you to be behind. Finish...whatever it is...princesses do."
Imperatrix relented, returning to her work area. "Let me know if you get tired."
She sent a text to Tempesta. Lunch would be her responsibility and a light meal it would be for everyone with the fist fighter in charge.
The younger Besithia was better suited to consuming food than preparing it. Tempesta was the only other person who could do it and she'd been trained at this point to stick to microwaveable and simple entrees.
The other dialogue boxes were still highlighted, unread by Imperatrix. She would read every one and listen to her voicemails after the work was completed.
Her mind wouldn't allow her to do otherwise.
The princesses were likely already aware of her survival from the freckle siblings departure from Gralea, and if they hadn't said anything, then Ardyn most certainly would have.
Furia might be the one out of the loop with how dated Tenebraen technology was. Ravus had seen her prior to the daemons and giant statue battle, but he wouldn't be able to reassure his wife that Imperatrix survived when he was delirious during the event.
"What were Venus's retainers like?" Imperatrix signed off on a replacement order for Tempesta's gauntlet and hesitated on a second order she wanted to make.
"They are both young. Fresh out of the academy. Paris and Helena, the valedictorian and salutatorian." Nebula untied his hair and fastened the scrunchie looser. Less throbbing for his head. "Ardyn essentially sniped them, severely pissing off the commander who scouted them for his legion."
The princess was caught between a groan and a giggle.
"They come highly recommended, a sight better than most the other retainers I keep in line." He tsked at the thought of his loopy, aggravating coworkers.
Aldercapts attracted the weirdest people.
"My heart is soothed…somewhat…" Imperatrix would add completing a background-check on her to-do list.
"The overprotectiveness is not necessary. The retainer position is coveted, Baby Princess will be taken care of by her Green Horns."
"I repeat, she is nine. I am going to fret!" The princess took the plunge, placing the second order and internally dying from how much money she was spending on people she had no obligations to.
Lunafreya and Nyx had better be on their best behaviors when their equipment arrived.
"I am avidly fighting the urge to redirect this ship to Gralea."
Imperatrix wasn't so stingy about money that she wouldn't spend it on people who needed it. Her pawning off the diadem for Nyx, a stranger and an enemy, proved that.
The princess could still cry over how penniless she ended up, in spite of her best efforts. How was it she was the most financially responsible out her family, yet the first princess was the one broke more often than not?!
Iedolas as the emperor, was naturally the richest man in all of Niflheim. He could spend millions on military ventures, building infrastructure, parties, national celebrations, and all the other innocuous trifles he and the chancellor got hung up on and not bat an eye.
Her father was the real financial drain on the treasury! It wasn't fair that he could be so carefree about money!
She needed to analyze her books again…or get the treasurer to explain for her. There wasn't any embezzling going on…but something didn't add up…
"I am done." Imperatrix announced firmly, closing the laptop before she got any more worked up.
She was just about to leave when her phone buzzed with a call.
"Hello?" The princess began with trepidation for the caller.
"Why the hell didn't you tell me Lunar Temple couldn't cook?!" Tempesta screamed through the speaker, effectively making Imperatrix drop the phone, then clumsily catch it before it hit the floor.
"That sounds bad." Nebula stated after hearing his sister's booming and the alarms following her cursing.
"Is that the fire alarm?!" Imperatrix broke into a sprint for the kitchen.
"I took my eyes off her for a minute to turn on the tv and she burns the goddam soup! How do you burn soup?!"
Lunafreya's apologies could be heard in between more of the fist fighter's vulgar language.
"What is going on in there?!" The princess ran faster from the shrieks and Latin slurs coming from the other line.
"The damn pot's spilled over." A pause. "No, no! Don't do that!"
A loud boom went off.
Imperatrix had tunnel vision by now and didn't pay heed to an unaware Nyx, who she barreled into and sent them crashing to the floor.
"D-Damn, Princess. Just jump me, why don't you?!" He grumbled. "You're taking the rough-play a little too far this early in the relationship."
"I don't have time for you!" She got right back to her feet, dashing to the destination and ignoring the glaive's calls.
When Imperatrix reached the kitchen and saw the mess, she stood immobile, catatonic to the world.
It very well looked like an explosion went off in the kitchen and the sprinklers were making everything worse. The dining area was spared most the damage, but splashes of food still got here and there.
Tempesta guiltily fidgeted in place, soaked and dirty from a direct hit from the soup pot.
"She did it, it's all her fault!" She pointed at an equally soaked and dirty Lunafreya.
The oracle had the good sense to keep her eyes glued to her feet like a child ready for a lecture.
"I will take full responsibility for this chaos." The girl dipped her head in a rare display of subservience. "The kitchen shall be cleaned spotless and I will make something else."
"Hells no! You can clean, but leave cooking out!" Tempesta jabbed her fingers into Lunafreya's side and the blonde jumped reflexively. "I shouldn't have let you touch jack-shit!"
Lunafreya's flinching at the jabbing made the fist fighter cock her head in confusion. She was hardly touching the doll. A fist would've been used on Nebula or Imperatrix for screw-ups.
"Stop pestering her, Tempesta." The princess ordered, recognizing the flighty behavior from the girl as one from a victim of continual aggression. She flicked her hand in the general direction of the vicinity. "I want it as it was this morning. Get to it!"
"Y-Yes, Your Highness!" The fist fighter agreed quickly, adding in an official salute at the no-nonsense aura wafting off Imperatrix.
She hated being lumped in with punishments, but Tempesta wouldn't dare complain when her superior looked like she was reaching the screw-off point.
Imperatrix gave the room one last dry, deadened, once-over and left the foolish blondes to their sentence.
"Yo, why the long face, Princess?" Nyx strolled up to her, gesturing to himself. "I'm the one who got mauled by you."
"See for yourself." Was all she deigned to give him and speed off.
"What's got her panties twisted?" The glaive scowled at being brushed off twice, and rudely at that.
He was tempted to go tell her off, but his curiosity won and he peeked into the room.
"Holy shit!"
Imperatrix laughed darkly as she heard him from further down the hall. This was supposed to be an easy day, but it felt more stressful than any other!
XV
"I don't know why I had it in my head that she could cook. Lesson learned." Tempesta mumbled with her fork thrusting offensively in Lunafreya's direction every couple of seconds.
"You can't compare our princess with that." Nebula chimed in with a slow roll of his neck towards the object of shame. "It's like comparing apples and mangos."
"Woah, woah, woah. What's with the unorthodox comparison?" Nyx interjected, scoffing at the gunman. "It's apples and oranges, isn't it?"
"While I am pleased you have a brain in that hollow skull, I do not require a correction." Nebula spun his knife and the glaive flinched, mentally preparing for a knife throw. "Apples are a universally liked fruit. Mangos are an acquired taste. I don't need to spell out which is which, do I?"
Tempesta went wild, smacking her hand on the table and laughing thunderously. Lunafreya bristled, entire face an angry red from the nonstop heckling she'd been subjected to since the group sat down for dinner.
Lunch had been skipped due to the mess and how long it took to clean it.
The oracle didn't know how much longer she could put up with this. She nearly missed the quiet meals of home that became the norm after their mother's death. Furia's presence then livened up the repasts, but nowhere near this level.
Lunafreya missed simpler times where she wasn't bullied at every turn!
"Oh, gods! Look at her puffing up like some kind of blowfish." Tempesta laughed so hard that breathing was becoming an issue.
"If only Setzer were one of the archaic naval ships, we could've made her walk the plank." Nebula laughed into his hand. "A real walk of shame."
"Okay, okay. You guys are going too hard on this." Nyx attempted to get the retainers to stop, but his own amusement was making it difficult.
His mom complained a lot about how awful Lunafreya was in the kitchen and he'd seen some of that unintentional klutziness when they camped. He wasn't expecting it too be that level of bad that she detonated soup.
Did Lunafreya lose control of her magic or something? That was all he could think of as an explanation, regardless of how little sense it made.
Girl was lucky she had servants to cook for her. The prince was doubly lucky…or would've been…if there was an Insomnia for them to settle down in.
Nyx's good mood ebbed.
"Hey, remember the time Old Man Iddy got Impera and Euphie to walk the plank because they poked a hole in the sail?" Tempesta doubled over at Imperatrix's exasperated expression. "She almost drowned when Euphs wouldn't stop clinging to her."
"Good lord! You are bringing up the most embarrassing memories." The princess rubbed her forehead, eyes stinging and dry from staring at a computer for so long.
"The emperor abandoned his daughters to the sea?!" Lunafreya dropped her silverware, invested in the story.
She knew the man was odious!
"Made them swim after the boat and wouldn't let any of us cast a line to help them." Nebula added to the story.
"I was in the worst state of pain and exhaustion afterwards." Imperatrix concluded the tale, gulping down her drink to overpower the memorable taste of seawater.
"It wouldn't have taken so long if you got rid of the barnacle. Euphemia was literally dead-weight."
"What was I to do? Leave her in the ocean?" The princess rounded on the gunman. "And do not call her a barnacle!"
"You definitively should've left her. She would've eventually got the idea to swim on her own."
Disapproval radiated off Imperatrix. Nebula sipped at his drink with excessive indifference to the unspoken reprimand.
"Neb's stone-cold. If it were me, he would've let me drown." Tempesta accused.
"Without hesitation." He replied instantly.
The fist fighter choked.
"Nebula!" Imperatrix tenderly patted the top of the younger Besithia's helmet. "She is your sister!"
The elder shrugged like the fact meant little to him.
"Screw you then!" The fist fighter roared, lobbing her fork into where his hand was on the table.
He moved too fast and she missed.
"No seconds for you." Nebula decided after dislodging the fork and tossing it near Tempesta's plate.
"Hold on!" She back-tracked, hands waving in a flurry. "I didn't mean any of that."
"So…you admit you're a pest that's better off drowned?" Nebula drawled nonchalantly, as if he weren't rejecting his sister's existence.
"I...I-I…" Tempesta shook, in crisis mode, visor going from her plate to her brother in a loop. She came to a decision and her whole body sunk with bitter defeat. "I'm a pest that needs to be drowned."
Nebula's laughter was low and chilling.
"Wolf god, Fenrir and Moon Goddess, Selene, protect me." Nyx shuddered, scooting his chair away from the imperials. "Shit got dark, fast!"
"You are…a horrible brother…" Imperatrix shook her head, cradling Tempesta and whispering platitudes to the shell-shocked girl.
"Would a horrible brother feed his only sister seconds, like she wanted?" Nebula took the empty plate, heading for the kitchen.
The younger Besithia bounced out of the princess's arms, energy up and running like nothing was amiss. "Haha, I love, Neb."
Nyx turned to Lunafreya, seizing her shoulder and gazing at her solemnly.
"What is it?" She slightly shrunk from the intensity.
"Swear to me you won't pick up any habits from these psychopaths."
"What do you mean?"
"Swear it, kid!" He shook her for good measure. "Nothing from them!"
"Y-Yes, I will, if it gives you peace of mind."
Nyx breathed again, relieved. He mussed the oracle's hair, causing her ponytail to go crooked. "Good girl."
"What are you doing?!" Lunafreya blushed at the shot of nostalgic warmth she felt at the action and recoiled from the glaive.
Vaguely, she recalled her father, and possibly Regis, doing something similar.
"You really are a kid at heart." Nyx uttered mutedly, giving the girl a final rub on the head and then leaving her alone.
Less commotion went into the rest of dinner and once the table was cleared and dishes cleaned, talk of leisure activities among the imperials kept the two newcomers present instead of retiring to their rooms.
Tempesta was set on plugging her game system into the widescreen in the rec room. A plan Nebula concurred with if a shooting game was chosen.
Imperatrix had little interest in the activity and her retainer's taunts weren't changing her mind. The princess, admittedly wanted to catch up on her regular shows she'd missed and vehemently covered her ears when the freckle siblings tried to give spoilers.
Nyx was curious what kind of shows an imperial watched and was shocked at the mixup of genres Imperatrix liked. Three of the shows were popular series that he followed with…well…only Libertus would be watching them now.
That is…if Galahd got better reception. His home was still in the process of upgrading old technology after the attack.
Lunafreya didn't know how a game station worked and was eager to have that mystery solved. Noctis had written many entries detailing the latest games or ones he played at the arcade.
Sadly, Kings Knight wasn't something the Besithia siblings possessed or were interested in. They did inform her that it was mobile game she could download.
Again, she was at a loss.
A phone was something Lunafreya never owned and the one installed in the manor was very old with a rotary dial and really only worked with the other phone systems in Tenebrae.
Her first venture with video games would be through military warfare and then mortal combat. The selection of shooting games and fighting games made the oracle ponder if imperials ever tired of violence.
With a vote of three, video games won.
The recreation room vibrated with the deafening noise of gunfire, gloating, and cursing.
Tempesta and Lunafreya were deeply immersed in the game, one shrieking gleefully from all their kills, and one shrieking dejectedly from how many times she got killed.
Nebula was noiseless as ever, destroying everyone online and putting his teammates to shame without a sweat.
Nyx was so-so, doing a good job of staying alive and helping out the ever-struggling oracle, costing him a high score.
Imperatrix sat alone on the couch, mindlessly observing four adults hunched together on the floor with their eyes trained on the tv, regressing to infancy over a video game. She didn't see the fun in the activity, but to each their own.
At least for once the toxic mixture of Nephilim, Lucian, and Tenebraen had become cohesive.
After an hour of giggling to herself over the four's hijinks, Imperatrix excused herself to handle a matter she'd been putting off. In the security of her room, the princess unlocked her phone, reading every missed message and listening to all the voicemails.
All of her sisters had responded in differing manners of worry and the reminder of their unconditional love gave Imperatrix the courage she needed to check the final selection in her voice mailbox. She clicked on the one dating back to the morning of the fall and held the phone to her ear with both hands for fear of her shaking causing the phone to slip.
"My dear, sweet, child, who is the most beloved and treasured…forgive me…" The raspy gravel of her father began and the princess choked back a wail. "As a father I have failed you. For what parent would betray their child, the very one that first gave them the privilege and honor of parenthood?!"
He sighed, voice cracking with his age and weariness.
"Oh, but if I could control time…I would turn back our clocks to the time of Papa and his precious Janan…"
A pause in the speech and Imperatrix let out the sob she'd been withholding.
Janan, the name her mother gifted her, but could not be her official name as Gralean-born royalty. Thus, the Persian name was a secret among the princess and her parents. An affectionate hug and kiss wrapped up in a name, the last of those that she would receive from a woman long gone.
How strange it was that an abstract thing such as a name could fill her with so much love. Musa and Janan, two monikers cherished by her…
"Time, however, is ever flowing, ever moving. A river which I cannot fight." She sniffed, wiping her eyes clean once the speech resumed. "This day I fail as a father so that I may prevail as an emperor. One life, your life, in exchange for an end…a conclusive end to a war we have been fighting for too long! Understand that I have not made this choice lightly."
A lengthy pause went by and Imperatrix checked the screen to see if the message was over. A choked, anguished sob answered her.
"You are my daughter…I have loved you from the moment you swelled inside Valeria…but I must ensure the survival of our nation. With my dying breath, I shall see Niflheim victorious! Veni, vidi, vici, my child."
The phone then announced the end of the message and asked if she wanted to delete it. Imperatrix couldn't bring herself to erase it.
The princess set the mobile device down.
Her tears came full-force as she broke down where no one could see how pathetic and weak Imperatrix could be.
Recalling the day before the fall, her father's odd looks and distance towards her made sense now. At the party, he'd been regretful, mouthing "forgive me" to her when Ardyn escorted her away.
She was so foolish! Everything about the peace treaty and their trip to Insomnia had been suspicious, but Imperatrix hadn't said anything.
The princess was just so buoyant to be back by his side, back in his favor after he banished her from court for speaking out too many times against his plans. She was just so desperate to once again be his precious pearl that she'd have gone along with almost anything he asked.
What was wrong with her?
"Oh, Father…you are as perplexing as Ardyn…" Imperatrix curled in on herself, overwhelmed with exhaustion for the hurdles she went through on a daily basis.
Time, the devourer of all. Iedolas had it right.
The princess wished to rewind it as well, to stay submerged in those pockets of time where she knew more joy than heartbreak.
Imperatrix trembled in the wake of her expulsion of tears, picking up her phone once more and dialing for Furia. A call that would abate a sister's worry and a friend's. She'd be able to get an update on Ravus's condition and share it with Lunafreya.
Regrettably, the call went to voicemail. It was late, the pinkette probably asleep like a normal person.
She tried the next sister and Euphemia picked up after three rings.
"Hello?"
"Euphie!" Imperatrix exclaimed mirthfully with a little bit of a sniffle.
"Are you a ghost?" The third princess gasped. A repeated creaking noise could be heard in the background and Euphemia's voice came out breathy. "I am speaking to the beyond! Oh, Great Etro, I knew you had not left us."
"E-Euphie, what are you talking about? Are you jumping on your bed again?" Imperatrix caressed her pounding head. "You must stop before you fall off the bed."
This was not what she foresaw as their conversation.
"Spirit, you speak as my eldest sister speaks, commanding and exasperated. You even knew what I was doing, extraordinary!" The creaking halted and Euphemia gasped louder. "Are you in the room with me?!"
"No, Euphie. And I am your sister, not a spirit."
"Impossible."
"Why is it impossible?"
"My sister died in Insomnia and Papa weeps for it. He would stop if Big Sister were alive."
The simple logic stole Imperatrix's breath with a distinct kick to the chest.
The creaking noise resumed.
"You are a spirit." The third princess recited with confidence.
She took a deep breath and thought up a response that would satisfy the quirky girl. "If I am sprit, then how am I calling you? Why would I not appear before you?"
Something crashed.
"Euphie?! Are you okay? Did you fall off the bed?!"
"Impera?" Euphemia's dreamy voice wavered uncertainly.
"Yes, Darling. It is me." Imperatrix waited patiently for whatever odd bit came next.
"You are…not a spirit? You are…Big Sister?"
"No, I am not a spirit. Yes, I am your sister." She restated for the second time. "I have not left you, Prima Ballerina."
"Impera, it is you!" The third princess yelled.
The line became littered with noises and other shouting.
"Are you running in the hallways? Be careful not to bump into anything." Imperatrix felt pity on behalf of the servants who would have to clean up the knocked over furniture and ornaments.
It was a mystery how Euphemia could be graceful when dancing and uncoordinated in every other instance.
"Venus, Venus! Venven, wake up!" She demanded, followed by a high-pitched scream. "No, you guards must get out. Princesses only!"
Imperatrix didn't know how much of her soul still presided in her body with how much sighing she'd done in one day.
"Ah, Euphie, quit it!" Venus cried.
"Here, here. It is Big Sister!"
The line was loud with things shuffling around, accompanied with girlish wails.
"Ow! Papa said no hitting!"
"Stop moving then, you have to hold the phone like this."
"Papa!"
"Big Sister is more important right now!"
"No, go away!"
"Girls, girls, it is late! You cannot make such a racket." Imperatrix spoke over their tussling.
"I-I heard…Impera?" Venus whimpered timidly. "B-But how?"
"She came back from the dead." Euphemia supplied.
"I did not. I am alive and well." Imperatrix corrected immediately.
"She came back from the dead!" The third princess parroted again as if not hearing her sister.
"Amazing. Bis Sister is magical!"
"Euphie, stop filling Venus's head with falsities. No one can conquer death." The princess could imagine the adorable, bright-eyed expression of her youngest sibling and loathe as she was to stomp on the child's rose-view of her, Imperatrix had to keep Venus grounded to reality.
One Euphemia was enough…
"The Lucians can!" The third princess argued. "Papa told us how those statues of the old kings came to life."
"Did they really, Impera? Papa's not making it up, is he?!" Venus rushed out in one breath.
Imperatrix faltered, unsure if she should tell a child of what transpired in the crown city.
"Tell us, tell us everything about the city that never sleeps." Euphemia panted excitedly. "Maybe Etro stole their souls and they are all the walking dead!"
"Where do you get these ideas?" The princess muttered.
"Please tell us, Impera." Venus implored.
"Very well, shall this tale be your bedtime story?"
Imperatrix heard rustling of bedsheets and some arguing over who got the soft pillow, but the sisters settled down.
"We're ready, Big Sister." The fourth princess whispered.
So began the tale of a hopeful peace treaty to end all wars and the fallout of such hopes when mortals were tethered to their vices. Imperatrix didn't embellish, explaining both sides, as there was no good or evil like most fantastical stories asserted, only people with very human desires. Humans with the ability to affect an entire world with their actions.
The tale went on until the younger siblings were snoring on the line and the princess terminated the call.
Feeling marginally better, she bathed and changed into nightclothes, turning out the lights and cocooning herself in blankets and pillows.
The gentle hum of the ship was the only noise in the room and she squirmed with how empty and bereft the bed felt with one person.
An unintentional objection filtered through her mind. He hadn't called her back like she wanted...
"How can I possibly be this heartsick?!" Imperatrix snarled, losing count of how much tossing and turning she'd done in an effort to fall asleep. "Pathetic. Absolutely, pathetic!"
Was she so childish as to need a companion to fall asleep? Worse, that she craved the feeling of being held by Ardyn!
"I am not calling him." She told herself.
Her mind raced with thoughts of how his larger frame could encase her in a manner that embarrassingly…made her feel…
"Why?!" The princess dug her face into the pillow.
She felt so safe and loved in those arms.
The coldness of his skin made her shiver, and on truly freezing nights it was unbearable to lie bare against him. In spite of that inconvenience, Imperatrix still enjoyed laying on top of him, ear pressed to his chest, listening to his heartbeat, and entwining their hands for him to pepper with doting kisses.
In less than three days Ardyn ruined her.
Maybe she was spoiled...
"How am I to sleep again without all that?" Her eyes flickered to the mobile device laying a few inches away.
Hearing his voice might soothe this unbearable ache inside her…
She reached out for the phone, but then drew back her hand when the door opened.
"Impera…Neb kicked me out…" Tempesta announced herself sleepily, tumbling face-first into the bed and rolling into the princess.
Imperatrix said nothing as blonde spikes poked her in the face and purring snores assaulted her ears.
"I suppose this works too…" She sighed, fondly combing through the erratic hair of her retainer.
Rather than an imp, it was a cat curled around her. Imperatrix would be dealing with tender ribs in the morning.
XV
"Why does it have to be so hot?" The fist fighter whined, unzipping more of her uniform and fanning herself.
"Tempesta, must you?" Imperatrix frowned reprovingly at her retainer shucking off the top half of her uniform and tying it around her waist.
If it were just the three of them, the princess wouldn't be bothered with the girl walking around in her skimpy bra.
Nyx's presence, however, complicated matters.
"Impera, c'mon, even you're sweating bullets. This heat and this trail are no joke!" She countered, turning to walk backwards with her arms folded behind her helmet. "I'm not showing anything the sav hasn't seen."
"You're right on that account." Nyx sneered at the shortened slur Tempesta created. "But most of them had more to show than you."
The short-stack might be twenty-four, but compared to Lunafreya and Imperatrix, she was lacking in the assets department. He finally figured out that the girl had extra padding in her suit to make her body look more mature than it was.
"Why you!"
Tempesta was prevented from attacking by Imperatrix and Nebula looping their arms into hers and carrying her backwards, or forwards for them.
"It is too hot for this, shut up and walk." Nebula ordered bitingly.
He was in worse shape than the female imperials since his uniform covered every inch of skin and he refused to shed any layers. It wasn't a matter of him being shy, but rather not wanting to be boggled down by anything other his guns.
The fist fighter growled once dropped by her captors and turned her back on Nyx. "Lucky man. I'll save my energy for the hike."
What a hike it was with the sun barring down, on top of the natural heat of the meteor.
Per the oracle's request, the group stopped at the Disc of Cauthess.
Initially, Lunafreya wanted to complete her pilgrimage alone. Nyx and Imperatrix vetoed that in quick sync for fear of her safety, which got a smirk and joke about co-parenting out of the glaive and a blush out of the princess.
The Besithia sibling were of the shared mind to let the girl go in alone. Neither wanted to walk miles through sweltering heat waves, rocky, uneven land, and possibly fight stray monsters. For all those reasons "the parents" decreed everybody go with weapons and supplies.
The imperials were already well-equipped and didn't need weapons.
Nebula was apprehensive about showing the intruders were the real metal was stashed on the airship.
What was stopping either glaive or oracle from sneaking into the storeroom, picking a murder weapon and going to town on them? The princess could be too trusting for his tastes.
Nyx grumbled about trading out his father's bow, but without arrows it was useless. He chose two short swords to satisfy his ambidextrous needs.
Lunafreya wanted a lance, but Imperatrix put her foot down on that score, giving the novice combatant a quarterstaff. The girl was standoffish for the cosseting, but took what she could get when the princess leveled an impatient look her way.
"What is this?" Imperatrix circled the tomb jutting out of the ground in fascination.
It was a masterful rendition of what could only be a dead king.
"I…don't like the feel of that…" Tempesta for once wasn't hopping around the princess, jumping on her back to see what she was ogling.
No.
The fist fighter stayed as far away as she could while still being in range to protect Imperatrix from any surprises. The tomb made her skin itch and a faint clamor came to life in her head.
"Neither do I." Nebula took a step closer to his sister at her fidgeting and gripping her helmet.
He wasn't as affected as her. He could feel traces of magic coming from the thing…it felt similar to Lunafreya's and it made him ill.
"You must not disturb the tomb!" The oracle cried in alarm at recognizing what they'd stumbled on.
She had to protect it for Noctis!
Imperatrix recoiled from the sword at the girl's holler.
"Would you look at that. It's The Mystic." Nyx bent by the tomb, blinking when he mistakenly thought he saw a glimmering, silver sword in place of the clay model held by the king.
He winced as pain surged from his head to his arm.
"What's…it doing here?"
"I would say it is a replica, but the craftsmanship proves otherwise." The princess took note of the glaive's pain, and offered her hand to Nyx.
He rose with her help.
"Regardless, as Lunafreya said, we should not disturb the dead."
The glaive stumbled for a moment, mind muddled as he envisioned blue flames crawling up his arm. Imperatrix steadied Nyx, calling for him as he remained transfixed with his arm.
"I'm good." He scratched at his head and stepped away from the tomb.
The princess didn't believe him, but she let it go, following after him towards her retainers.
Lunafreya sighed in relief as they left.
She gave the resting king a small smile. "Just a while longer and your descendant shall claim his birthright. May you watch over him, Founder King…"
A call for her and the oracle wiped at her watery eyes, rushing after her companions.
The rest of the journey to the center of the meteor proved uneventful. There weren't any monsters along the trail, just debris occasionally impeding their path. Those were taken care of by Nebula firing a high-powered laser and clearing the path.
Whether it was the fact the site was the resting place of the Archaean or if the area wasn't sustainable for wildlife, no one complained about their weapons being needless for combat.
The group broke for a quick respite once they were high enough that breathing was becoming taxing and two of their members were gasping for air.
Lunafreya tried not to guzzle all her water, but her lungs were on fire and her heart racing. She consumed a large portion of it, feeling highly inept once satisfied.
The others were only slightly winded compared to her.
Tempesta and Imperatrix weren't all that fazed from exertion, just huffing from perspiration. Nebula was hunched against the wall, ignoring his sister's taunts about his old age and how out of shape he was if this trek was making him cough.
Nyx was the second worse for wear, grasping at his leg and breathing in a forced, timed fashion.
"I can't believe we're doing all this so she can pray at an altar. She can do that anywhere!" The fist fighter kicked at the ground, creating a small cloud of dirt.
"Do not be disrespectful. What you view as trivial is sacred to another." Imperatrix chided.
She grunted in acknowledgment, mumbling no more protests.
"You know, I'm shocked you're not a little more blasphemous, considering the empire's track record with gods." Nyx remarked bluntly, tensing when Nebula looked in his vicinity.
"You either have no sense of self-preservation, or no filter, Glaive." The gunman straightened, posture not yet hostile.
Nyx wasn't falling for it, he'd be ready for the gunshot.
"It was one god…and I dare not invoke more wrath by acting a heretic." Imperatrix experienced a shiver despite the zero sense it made when she was dying of heatstroke.
The Glacian's towering, blue figure blanketed in a blizzard came to mind.
"You guys really don't know why she attacked?"
"If you listen to the anti-royal parties they'll say the Great Astral of Ice wished to destroy Niflheim because of all the scandalous depravities of the Aldercapts." Nebula provided with a tilt of his head.
"Are you making a joke? I can't tell with the mask." Nyx deadpanned and then gave Imperatrix his attention. "Gimme something better."
She sent a dirty look at her retainer first for the dig on her family and then shook her head. "It pains me to say...but we truly do not know. Our trusted bridge-between-gods-and-mortals could not supply an explanation."
Eyes and visors moved to Lunafreya, who didn't falter at the stares.
"My answer remains the same. The Goddess, Shiva spoke not a word to me of the event."
"All that matters is there shall not be another attack of that magnitude." The princess let the matter drop, readjusting the latches for her sword. "Are we ready to move?"
Several nods and the journey continued.
The peak wasn't much further and the giant meteor loomed before them, blocking out a chunk of the sky and sun from their position. Lunafreya alone approached the Stonehenge marking holy ground. Her body appeared to glow and the stones illuminated in colors of red and gold in reaction to the oracle.
"Am I allowed to record this? Is that too blasphemous?" Tempesta awed at the light display, phone already out and recording. "It's like a video game!"
"What is sacrilegious is your appearance. Cover up!" Imperatrix didn't wait for compliance, untying the girl's suit and hastening to redress the fist fighter.
"Ack, Shitty Princes! You're messing up my video!"
"Cursing on holy ground is sinful." Nebula crossed his arms, hand resting on a gun strapped beneath his arm.
"Really?! I got enough bad lu—" Tempesta groaned at the zipper getting caught on her skin.
"Shush, you!" Imperatrix wrangled with the girl to make her look appropriate.
"Aren't you awestruck? Impera and the brat were." Nyx inched closer to the gunman.
He was looking a little too trigger-happy with his tapping on a gun for the glaive's comfort.
"Why should I be? I see unnatural phenomenon every day at night." He angled his head to have a view of both oracle and glaive. "I am more perturbed by what follows."
At the middle of the circle, Lunafreya knelt, setting her staff down to bow her head in prayer.
"Oh, Divine Landforger, Astral of the Earth. Heed my call, for I am the blood of the first oracle." She felt her magic weaving around her, warmth and light filling her senses, and the melody of awakening blossomed in her heart.
The oracle sung in the ancient language of the gods, an old hymn of gratitude, of reverence for The Six. One of the few songs Lunafreya learned from her mother.
So beautiful and lifting were the sweet musical notes and shimmering flecks of magic, the enraptured audience didn't notice the slight quakes in the ground.
Lunafreya concluded her song and slowly opened one eye, then the other at the silence. She glanced about in confusion.
"W-Why? Why do you not answer me?"
No response came, but the pulsations in the stones alleviated some of her lingering sense of failure. The oracle rose up, another song tickling the back of her mind, but she was reluctant to use the incomplete hymn.
She couldn't fail. Noctis's destiny hinged on her completing her duty!
"Please, heed me, Great Archaean! Our Chosen King requires your blessings!"
Imperatrix and Nyx shared a worried grimace at how ludicrous the oracle sounded and how distressed she was becoming for not receiving any divine messages. Neither were able to approach her from the suddenness of the ground shaking.
"Oh, shit! What's going on?!" Tempesta panicked, crouching to the ground like a frenzied cat with bristled fur.
"We should have never come here!" Nebula groused, wobbling in place as the shaking increased.
"Lunafreya!" Imperatrix shouted, breaking into a run towards the Stonehenge, where the girl fell to her knees. "Get away from the edge!"
The oracle couldn't hear her from the crescendoing racket and looked around fearfully.
"Impera, look out!"
The princess had no opportunity to figure out who the shouter was or what danger was near, grunting as she hit the ground with a body on top of her.
"You've got to be kidding me." Imperatrix recognized the buckled leather material as Nyx's kingsglaive uniform and would've elbowed him for tackling her and leaving Lunafreya to danger, were it not for his next bellow. "What the hell is that?!"
She nudged him up, practically doing a sit-up with him on top of her to see what the problem was.
Words failed her.
From the ground, creatures were forming into some kind of rock-entity. One such creature had been what Nyx saved her from as she spotted a cluster of lumpy, glowing rocks merging together to reform.
"The hell? This is like Insomnia all over, except the statues ain't on our side!" The glaive leaped to his feet, yanking Imperatrix up.
"Statues? These aberrations look more like golems out some bedtime fable!" She spun, back pressing against Nyx's as they became surrounded and drawing her saber.
"Statues, golems…either way, they want to kill us." He twirled the short swords into a backwards grip. "It's you and me, Princess. Let's see who reaches Lunafreya first, Mom or Dad?"
"By the gods! You never stop, do you?!"
"Not with dames likes you."
The princess and glaive readied for battle.
- 10
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Veni Vidi Vici