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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
- 11
- 12
- 13
French
Petit a petit, l'oiseau fait son nid- Little by little, the bird makes its nest. A proverb meaning patience and perseverance in any kind of situation, mostly in the process of something not yet accomplished.
Latin
Fututus et mori in igni- Fu** off and die in a fire.
Vincit qui se vincit- He conquers who conquers himself.
Puer Regem- Young/baby king.
XV
"I am not appreciating the throwback to Insomnia!" Nyx roared, struggling to hold onto Imperatrix's hand. She in turn held Lunafreya close.
The three dangled precariously from the cliff while the Besithia siblings fought off the horde of golems. To top it all off, everything was still shaking with a noise level to rupture human ears.
"Nyx!" The princess screamed fearfully when her gloved hand began slipping from his grasp.
"No, no, no!" He panted, shaking from a last ditch effort to lift the females, but wasn't strong enough for the effort and they continued slipping form his hold.
The glaive's eyes shot open, panic written all over his face and unhidden from those beneath him.
Imperatrix's lighter blue eyes reflected Nyx's fear, for their was no magic, no warping to save them. Her expression twisted into grim understanding and a resigned answer on the tip of her lips till something else demanded attention.
"Nyx, look out!"
A golem threw a flaming rock near them, destroying the area and sending all three plummeting. Separation in a flurry of lava, rocks, and screams befell them.
As the glaive disappeared from view, the princess cradled the oracle to her chest, safeguarding the girl form rocks. She winced from the dagger-like fissures hitting her and whimpered from some of them searing into her skin due to the heated magma coating them.
"Imperatrix!" Lunafreya bawled at seeing how hurt the woman was becoming. She sucked in a breath at the large, blazing, stone on course for smashing them to dust.
"Brace yourself, Lunafreya!" The princess warned moments before spinning them and they hit the ground with Imperatrix taking the brute of the impact.
She saw dots in her vision, searing pain in her spine, and laid motionless. The threat of crushing by blazed stone didn't register for her muddled mind.
The oracle tried to move Imperatrix in time, but the large projectile was coming too fast. Her breath was lost in a painful tug at the realization of the inevitable.
Time slowed.
Was she going to die? This wasn't…this couldn't be the end of her journey.
She still had four covenants to forge!
Noctis.
The prince was depending on her to light the way for him. A lost lamb in need of shepherding.
How would he face his destiny if she failed here?!
"I-I am…the oracle…" Lunafreya mumbled, unbidden tears filling her eyes at how much closer death came. It was hot and choking. "I cannot fail…"
She scooted back, dragging the princess with her.
Death cared not, it was still coming, hotter and faster.
How could she have failed? All that studying and practicing for naught...
She was a sham of a oracle, unable to rouse the Astral and do her duty. If only her mother were here. She could've forged the covenant.
Look where arrogance brought the overreaching Lunafreya Nox Fleuret…
"Luna." A whisper that shook the aforementioned person into looking around.
Rather than slow, everything ceased to move, trapped in a moment of picturesque destruction. A gentle humming flooded Lunafreya's senses, filling her with a forgotten tenderness.
This presence…
"M-Mother?"
Pieces of light floated around her, forming into the sylleblossoms of Tenebrae. The scenery changed from cavernous to the greenery of home, flowers dancing, stars twinkling, and sweetness drifting in the wind.
A likeness to one of the oracle's visions.
"Petit a petit, l'oiseau fait son nid." A voice flowed with the wind.
"It is you, Mother!" Lunafreya looked around, expecting to see Sylva Nox Fleuret, but she and the unconscious Imperatrix were the only ones present.
"Remember, my child. Remember the song."
The hymn from the visions rippled from the sylleblossoms.
"Was it you who sent me those visions? Not Titan or Pryna?" The oracle posed to the air. "What is this song?"
"Your inheritance, child of light."
"What do you mean?"
No answer came, only the pressing of the melody from both wind and bloom.
Out of options, she took a deep breath. Magic swirled around her and unsurely, Lunafreya sang the melody gifted by a phantom.
Imperatrix bolted up, vision swimming and heart racing. Blinking the world into focus, she gasped at the golden dome shielding her and the oracle from deadly debris that disintegrated into harmless tricks of light upon contact with the magical sphere.
"What in the world?!" The princess scrambled to her feet, tilting slightly from her persisting disorientation. "How are you doing this?"
Lunafreya was too immersed in singing to notice the question; kneeled in the center of chaos, gold magic vibrating off her.
The ground began shaking with the arrival of golems.
"Oh, no. No, no!" Imperatrix drew her sword, defensive position ready. "Damn it all! If I but possessed Borealis!"
Loqi's saber was powerful against daemons and adequate against the golems. The light attribute wasn't as effective when pit with earth and fire.
Borealis held functions as a magitek weapon that allowed it to switch attributes. Lightning, Fire, water, and light were all settings that the princess could transition between to combat any enemy: human, daemon, or monster.
What she wouldn't give to have that shimmering weapon!
Or, at the very least, her shield!
Australis could render elemental damage harmless. A useful defense in a fight with magical creatures sent by gods!
"You will not defeat me!" Imperatrix declared, fending off a thrash and beheading the golem. She then spun from another attempting to cuff her and flipped evasively from a flaming rock.
They were all coming at her relentlessly and fatal blows didn't appear to work, the creatures would reform and renew the battle.
"Fututus et mori in igni!" The princess shouted in absolute frustration after falling to the ground from a projectile catching her on the arm.
Her arm sizzled from the skin being seared off. The pink, purple, and black coloring almost made Imperatrix wretch from the unfortunate reminder it brought forth of Ravus's cauterized stump.
"I will not fall here!" She reclaimed her sword and got up.
The battle went on, golems remodeling themselves after every defeat and pushing the princess to the limit, defending herself and the enraptured oracle.
Aggravating as Lunafreya's disconnect was, Imperatrix sucked it up since the singing showed signs of conducting the magic. The barrier was still protecting them from the worst of the aerial damage.
Something about the song was different now compared to the obsessive fine-tuning it went through. Was it like the Lucian's magic?
The princess coughed after rolling from the descending foot. As she rose clumsily, Imperatrix noted how the golems were slowing in their assault. The behavior was in line with the oracle's pronounced singing and brightening magic.
Whatever Lunafreya was doing was leading to something big…that was usually how bridges of songs worked.
"Once more then. My blade will cut you all down!" Pain muted, the princess angled her burned arm behind her back, adopting a traditional stance for sabers.
She may be down an arm, but the enemies were weaker, slower, more prone to fragmenting from fatal strikes. Victory wasn't impossible.
Three down and seven more still loomed before Imperatrix.
"Heads up!"
Nyx and Nebula passed through the dome on a wire, both shooting at the golems surrounding their grounded companions. She laughed unbelievably at their impeccably timing.
"Don't forget about me!"
Like a storm, Tempesta rained down on the chaos, all mad laughter as her gauntlet made impact with the ground, torrents of air gushing out and sending the enemies flying.
"Take that bitches!" The fist fighter did a little jig.
The glaive let go of the wire once a safe distance above, tucking and rolling as he hit the floor. Then he jumped to his feet, ungracefully stopping right before Imperatrix.
"Did you call for a hero, Princess?" He grinned roguishly with a wink as he brushed his hair back.
She smiled for once at the posturing and her hand came up to touch his cheek. "Nyx, you are alive!"
"You should know by now it'll take more than a crazy fall to kill me, baby." The glaive leaned into the caress and had another flirtatious line ready till he spotted the burn. "Holy shit, that looks horrible!"
"Will you two get in the game?! We're still fighting for our lives here!" Tempesta hollered, alternating between punching and kicking her foes, powerful gusts bursting from each hit.
"Right." Imperatrix coughed, removing her hand from Nyx's face. "Lunafreya needs to be protected. I believe her song is weakening the golems…and holding the barrier…"
"Leave that me." Nebula announced over the comm.
The gunman hit a button on his belt, pulley lifting him above the battlefield. He expertly sniped any foe that got past the ground fighters and neared the oracle. Though…he contemplated letting some of them through.
The doll was full of shit.
Innocent face be damned! Lunafreya was as much a viper as any other human.
The girl probably lured them here to kill them. Nephilim were people of science, not magic, she could've fed them any kind of lie and they would've had to take it face-value. None of them could grasp the magic of an oracle.
Lunafreya could've summoned the monsters with that "prayer" of hers, leading to the landslide. Nebula wouldn't put it past the imperial-hater.
He was sure she was behind the other attack…
"One thing after another!" The gunman hissed through the modulator, hefting up his sniper rifle and flipping the switch for homing beams to take out the flaming missiles.
More earthquakes, which meant more falling debris, less stability for his wire, lower visibility, and less accuracy with the swaying. With any luck, the section the hook was lodged in wouldn't be disturbed. A fall from his height would be disastrous.
"Impera, Impera can you hear me?!" The gunman called.
Foe overcome, the princess looked up.
"What is it, Nebula?" She panted, marginally tipping over as the ground rumbled.
"We need to evacuate! Something…I don't know what. Something is making my sensors go off! There's too much magical output in the area!" His eyes were bombarded with information and warnings. He hit the switch on the pulley to lower himself to retrieve his sister and princess.
"It couldn't possibly be a daemon. There's no miasma and it's daylight hours!"
The gunman rolled his neck at her arguing. "Whatever's coming is dangerous and I'm getting you out!"
"Nebula, wait!"
All at once the vibrations rendered movement impossible for the group below and they fell, at the mercy of the earth. The wire snapped and Nebula joined the others, hitting land with a pronounced impact.
An earth shattering bellow assaulted everyone's ears, leaving them squirming and crying out in pain. Only one could discern the sounds and her eyes widened at the gradual, gigantic rise of the Archaean.
"Great Titan!" Lunafreya cowered, conscious of how small and fragile she was under the imposing figure holding the weight of a meteor.
A glowing red eye honed in on the oracle, scorching her flesh to expose every flaw, every weakness, every doubt with one singular gaze.
Abruptly, pure agony blossomed in her head from the influx of visions drilling their way inside Lunafreya's mind.
Ages ago a king and oracle stood before the mighty god, seeking his blessings to combat eternal darkness. Both were tested in a battle that left devastation. In the end, they emerged stronger and victorious.
The warriors of light of an age long past.
"All of this…was my test?" Lunafreya whimpered out, shakily rising with the assistance of her staff to face the silent god.
Another vision thrashed her mind.
She stood dead the Stonehenge, light fading from her body, covenant unforged. The sun, the light, all of it eaten away by a violet moon. Endless screams as humanity succumbed to starscourge, plaguing Eos in eternal night and eternal torment of daemons.
"That did not come to pass!" Lunafreya slammed the staff on the ground, magic bursting out to push back the cold of dusk. "I stand before you alive and strong, ready to do my duty!"
That illusion elicited such fear in her. They'd predicted her too weak, dead before her time, duty abandoned.
Images of her companions fighting swept by in a flash, followed by the mystical interference of her mother.
"I-I…" The oracle wavered. "I know..."
The message had been clear. Were it not for all them, she'd have died at the altar, alone, forgotten, a failure.
The gifted hymn most of all had been a saving grace.
A song with the power of protection, akin to the spells the Caelums used. Lunafreya wouldn't have discerned that method on her own. The faulty spell she used in Saxham didn't compare to what her mother showed her she could do.
Song magic. The hallmark of the Fleuret family, a legacy lost until now.
"I am not weak!" She insisted, rejecting the bitter fortune.
Opposing visions replayed in her mind, gradually forcing Lunafreya to her knees.
The trial of the king and oracle, their power substantially stronger than any other and their struggle. The recent trial with Lunafreya and her companions, vastly different in strength and accord from their predecessors.
Back and forth, Titan emphasized these sets of memories.
"I understand…" The oracle winced, gripping her pounding head and begging for the judgement to end. She blearily took in the Archaean's face of stone, determined to finish her commitment. "I beseech thee, enter a covenant with me!"
Titan didn't move, red eye still examining Lunafreya. She picked herself up once more with her staff, huffing through the pain to stand upright, confident as an oracle should be when communing with the gods.
Something in her actions or gaze must've have finally satisfied the Landforger. He yelled and the earth shuddered.
Lunafreya choked as the ground beneath her glowed colors of red, yellow, and orange, enveloping her in a ray of energy. She wanted to scream from how much it hurt. It felt like a piece of her very essence was being ripped out of her body.
This had to be the price for the covenant.
A final vision came.
Noctis standing in her place. He looked robust and gallant with his sword at the ready. He'd grown from the gangly, awkward, teenager she knew from a photo he stuck in their book.
Her lamb…
Maybe…he wasn't so delicate anymore...
Lunafreya faded into unconsciousness as the beam released her, taking with it part of her soul and returning it to the gods.
Covenant forged, Titan descended into the earth, returning to sleep until the arrival of the Chosen King.
Once it was safe to move and no signs of any more golems, Nyx rushed to the oracle, rolling the girl onto her back.
"Lunafreya, Luna! Hey, open your eyes!" He demanded of the pale, unresponsive girl, lightly smacking her face for a reaction.
She groaned weakly, but remained limp in his arms.
"We need to get her…" The glaive lost his train of thought at seeing how out of focus the princess was. "Impera? What's wrong?"
Imperatrix was staring at the ground, arms wrapped around herself like she was cold. Her breaths were hurried and uneven. Tears edged out, trickling down her cheeks as she rocked in place.
"Imperatrix!" Nyx called again.
The princess drew in more at the disturbance, muttering between languages and flinching from invisible hits.
"Dammit, both of them?! Can I get a break?" He mumbled, adjusting the oracle in his arms so he could help out the princess.
Tempesta ran over with Nebula tossed over her shoulder like a sack and Nyx did a double-take.
Her brother was twice her size. How the hell was she carrying him and not quaking under the weight?!
"Shitty Princess, snap out of it!" She kicked Imperatrix in the back, propelling the woman forward into the dirt.
"Wow! I think one of you is the worst and then the other tops them!" The glaive unconsciously cradled Lunafreya closer, sheltering her from the violent monkey willing to attack someone clearly having a PTSD attack.
Tempesta ignored him, slapping away at the princess's head. "You're at the Disc of Cauthess, there's no Glacian here! Get your shit together!"
Imperatrix moaned, raising her arms to end the onslaught of strikes. "Stop it! I am coherent!"
The fist fighter obliged with one more slap for good measure, voice sounding wobbly from the scrambler. "Don't freak me out, Shitty Princess! I don't like seeing you like that!"
"I-I am s-sorry…" She cringed a little from the gauntlet inches from her head.
Tempesta's hand shook for a second, posed to thump, but then her fist uncurled and stretched out. "Take it."
The princess sniffled and took the hand reaching out for her, tugged to her feet by a strong grip.
"Sucks for your fancy clothes."
The princess cleaned her face, smiling wanly for her retainer's wonky diffusion tactic. "That is…the least of our concerns."
"No shit. How are we getting out of here?" Nyx chimed in, sighing at having to carry Lunafreya.
This setup was becoming a running gag.
"Tempesta, lay your brother down." Imperatrix instructed.
The fist fighter complied with minor confusion, setting the man down with surprising consideration. The princess searched along the utility belt on the man, claiming the grappling guns in the pouches.
Nebula used them for vantage points and for evasive maneuvers.
The wires managed to hold both him and Nyx, the heaviest members of their party. They should hold if they went in pairs. Problem being they were an odd-numbered group and the gunman possessed two guns.
"Why're you giving it to me?" Tempesta handled the item like an amateur, nearly dropping it when the princess guided the nozzle away from her person.
"So you can use it, Dear."
"What? Don't be stupid, Shitty Princess." She caught on to Imperatrix's line of thinking. "Nebula would kill me if I left you down here! I'd kill me for leaving you here!"
"Tempesta, it must be you. I cannot bear Nebula's weight." The princess asserted, gesturing to her singed arm that would require one or more curatives.
"But… Then I'll leave him here and come back for him!" The girl fidgeted in place, foot coming up to scratch at her leg as she ran through scenarios in her head. The visor moved back and forth in rapid succession between the gunman and princess. "That's…what he'd want. Neb's always saying to secure the princess first…"
"I am in a better state than he, it is logical for me to remain."
"That ain't the point…" Tempesta weakly argued.
Her brother was in bad shape.
She saw him hit the ground hard, probably snapped his neck…or something. His genes might be the only thing keeping him alive at this point.
"As your princess, I am commanding you to return to the Setzer." Imperatrix cut off anymore protests with a firm gaze, taking hold of her retainer's shoulders and pressing her forehead to the visor. "I promise I shall be fine."
"What am I supposed to do after? Walk all the way down here? That'll take hours!" The fist fighter bumped her helmet against the princess's forehead. "You could be killed by rocks, eaten by birds, or die of hunger by then!"
Unintentionally, a giggle escaped from Imperatrix at how repulsed Tempesta sounded at the notion of starvation.
"Never change, Darling Tempesta."
"Quit being all touchy-feely like you're gonna die. You're not all right! I was just kidding!" She slapped the princess, who moaned miserably at being hit on her bad arm. "Shit, shit, shit! My bad!"
Imperatrix expelled a long-suffering sigh and moved towards Nyx now that things were settled. She held out the second gun for him.
He scoffed at the offering. "Your plan sucks, on par with one of my suicidal ones. I thought I was the hero, not you."
She twitched at his cocky rudeness, spiting out a reply. "We do not have a luxurious set of options available. This is best with two of the party down."
It wasn't like he was the one being left behind. Where did he get off giving her attitude?
"You're half my size. You and Tempesta together equal me." Nyx reasoned, snatching the gun and pointing at the girl. "Go up with her and Nebula."
"Oho, you are giving me orders?"
"Can it, I'm serious!" He bent to her height, no humor in his scowl, making the scarring stand out.
"Do not play intimidation with me." Imperatrix snarled, nose to nose with the glaive. "Know your place!"
"Cut the shit!" Nyx snapped, yanking her forward into his chest by the sleeve of her uniform. "Not even a minute ago you were having a mental breakdown! What makes you think staying here is a good idea?!"
The princess clammed up at the accusation, hands finding purchase on his arms. He could feel the tremble in those smaller hands and eased his grip to a more gentle one.
"See? You're insane if you think I'm going along with your plan." He was tempted to hug her from the sudden vulnerableness.
"We cannot risk the wire breaking!" Imperatrix made to escape, but Nyx wouldn't let her go. She looked up, appealing to him rationally. "All you have to do is get to the ship, fly overhead, and retrieve me."
"How the heck would we see you this far down? How would we even find you?"
"There is a tracker in my headpiece. The signal can traced from the computers."
"No! I don't wanna hear anymore." Nyx stubbornly indicated.
Imperatrix scoffed, shoving him off her. "You do not get to tell me no! Do as I bid Tempesta!"
"Screw that, Princess! I told you, bossing me around isn't going to fly!" The glaive didn't give her a chance to speak more. Taking a page out of Tempesta's book, he dipped down to throw Imperatrix over his shoulder and marched over to the fist fighter prepping to go up.
"Put me down! I am not to be treated this ignobly!" She pounded on his back, highly mortified and highly enraged.
"I'm starting to change my mind about our relationship." He grunted at the precise thumps that didn't hurt as much as the brats, but still were bothersome. "If you hit me, I'm gonna hit you back!"
The princess squeaked, appalled at being slapped on her rear. Her face heated an absurd shade of red and she dug her nails into Nyx's coat.
"I-I…I-I c-cannot believe…" She couldn't even formulate words from the surge of indignation.
He slapped her on the ass! Like…like some common barmaid!
And it freaking hurt!
"Here, take her skinny ass with you." Nyx all but tossed the princess to her retainer.
Tempesta secured a mind-blown Imperatrix to her side, adjusting Nebula's weight on her shoulder.
"My arms are full, so I'm gonna punch the shit out of you later." She threatened, kicking dirt at the glaive as a preview for the pain to come.
"Whatever." He blew off the peril with an undignified snort. "She's going up like you wanted. You're welcome, brat!"
"Tch. You didn't need to cop a feel to accomplish that, Savage Shit!"
"You're right, I didn't." Nyx spun around to get the other princess. He craned his neck to wink obnoxiously to the still stunned imperial. "But I did anyway!"
"I really hate you, you cocky, asshole, trash bastard!"
Imperatrix regained her senses when the wire pulled them. Her previous curse to the golems was hurled at the fading glaive and Tempesta laughed boisterously at the phrase.
The princess would grind him to dust!
XV
"Oh, Sister, I thought you dead! Seeing that missed call exploded my heart! Ask anyone, I was god-awful hysterical." Furia ranted, huffing loudly at the end. "Ravus thought I was going mad, shook me a great deal. My hair ornaments practically fell out."
"I am so sorry to have worried you." Imperatrix reiterated patiently for the dozenth time, shoulder nudging the phone into place by her ear.
She'd spent twenty minutes straight listening to a one-sided rant.
Everyone was exhausted after returning to the airship. Nebula and Lunafreya were placed in their rooms to sleep off the rejuvenating potions. The rest convened for a heavy meal after treating their own injuries.
Dinner was unnervingly quiet with two missing and the rest wrapped in their own thoughts.
"You defy the odds, Elder Sister. What next shall you do?" Furia giggled wickedly. "Conquer the world? Father would be so pleased!"
"I have a much more daunting task." The princess sipped gingerly at her steaming cup of tea.
The night sky was alight with twinkles.
From her vantage on top of the Setzer, the meteor faintly shined red to the ink-black background of sky and land. Its deceptive beauty could almost quell her ill sentiments for the ordeal they went through merely hours ago.
"What could be more difficult than world domination?"
"Peace between Lucis and Niflheim."
"Oh, Imperatrix! Do not be insufferable! As if Father could sign those accords after they took you hostage." The second princess paused, softening her voice to a tone of sickly sweetness. "The fault is not yours. Those Lucians are so eager to kill us Aldercapts off. Why, it is astounding you and Father even made it past the entrance."
Imperatrix felt discomforted by the platitudes for some reason. She leaned against the wall, hot breeze making her want to climb down the ladder and return to the air-conditioned kitchen.
"At least they did not maim you this time, yes? They paid dearly for that transgression." Furia was either unaware or unconcerned with the quickened inhale from her sister, talking on with babyish consternation. "Poor husband of mine has been dreadfully snappish with the loss of his arm! For once, the servants are more wary of him, than me."
"Ravus is…not mistreating you, is he?" Imperatrix chose not to comment on the old, throbbing, wound her sister opened with her comment, focusing on another matter.
She saw the signs from Lunafreya. The elder Fleuret had a penchant for physical reprimands.
It explained why the girl was so vicious in regards to her brother and her jumpiness with Tempesta's jocular jabs. Her mouth had to be the culprit for Ravus snapping at her so much that she instinctively expected lash outs from people after expressing herself.
Lunafreya needed to learn how to speak without being rude to the recipient, even when in disagreement. That serene appearance could only deflect so much.
"Not in a manner that displeases me." Furia tittered, which in turn brought about Imperatrix spurting out her tea from laughing.
"F-Furia, you are a scandal!"
"Indeed and men love it."
"My goodness, tell me you have not been lining his back with whip marks? He is in recovery!"
"Sadly no. I am a considerate wife, only my nails have been grazing his back. Matter of fact, Ravus has taken a liking to—" The second princess shrieked and spewed out apologies could be heard on her side.
"Furia?!" Imperatrix set her teacup down. "What's the matter?!"
"Ohhh…Felix pulled too hard on my hair. Look at that knot! Ugh, look what stress does!" She whined with jumbled input coming from two other males. "He and Paz send their love, Elder Sister."
"What are they doing in your room this late?"
"Helping me look splendid for my husband. The doctor has held him hostage all day, toiling over when my Ravus can get the surgery for his arm replacement." Furia hummed suggestively. "A little…rendezvous in the night ought to mellow him...and relieve my ongoing boredom!"
Imperatrix imagined her sister's retainers combing the girl's rare, rosy-red, borderline pink, hair into silken waves, embellishing her already bewitching features with makeup, and garbing her in an outfit meant to seduce.
Passion was in Furia's nature as duty was in hers.
Ravus was fortunate to have her precious sister as a wife. He'd better be treating her with respect and love, else she'd whip him into shape.
"Impera, I can hear your jaw clenching. What is prompting that unladylike tick of yours?" The second princess puffed juvenilely into the speaker. "Have I stirred envy in you with my stratagem? I could give you pointers if you wish."
She squawked at the incorrect guess. Furia took the reaction as confirmation, cooing loudly.
"Sister, I know not why you bother denying yourself! Get over your anger already, it never lasts, least of all with Father's favorite pet!"
"Hold on now!"
Sometimes it felt like her secret wasn't so secret.
She'd told Furia of the romance with Ardyn to dissipate the girl's paranoia of her carrying on with Ravus. Imperatrix had been prepared to marry the ex-prince as a political alliance between Tenebrae and Gralea, but then the second wife schemed to get her daughter married. Instead of the crown princess walking down the aisle, it was the second princess bound eternally to Ravus Nox Fleuret.
Imperatrix held no bitterness over the affair, it allowed her friend a chance at a happy marriage and saved her from being stuck in a loveless one.
There was no way she would've been able to view Ravus as a husband when, for the most part, he didn't even register her as a woman, too accustomed to viewing her as a soldier for a lifelong commitment to work between them.
Never mind how she would've dealt with permanently dislodging Ardyn from her heart since Tenebrae would never stand for its prince facing competition from another spouse and their overall stance on polygamy.
The most virile member of their family was stuck with one husband for the rest of their time on Eos. The notion made Imperatrix laugh on occasion.
"He is pretty with that flaming hair, amber eyes, pale skin, and tall stature, like something born out of the Infernian's flames. Quite the appropriate mixing with Sister's snowy locks, blue gems, bronze skin, and lithe body. The lovers, Shiva and Ifrit reflected!" Furia purred, laughing at something the princess couldn't hear. "Oh, such a pairing! If only Ardyn's personality did not give pause and…his manner of dress…and everything else..."
"Little Sister, I do not think we should speak of him…" Imperatrix could feel her cheeks warming at the casual acknowledgment of her relationship.
The princess hadn't been in an girlish conversation about boys in…she couldn't remember.
For more than a year since being ejected from Gralea on her father's orders, she stayed knee-deep in politics and military matters. There was hardly any time to fret over female matters when she was keeping borders safe, hunting monsters, and placating nobles.
This line of topic was jarring...
"Impera, my retainers wish to know. Is your Ardyn by any chance...queer? He has this…kind of vibe...they say."
"Excuse me?!"
Pax and Felix were something else!
The two males had been assigned to Furia specifically for their preferences. There would be no fear of affairs or pregnancies when they held zero interest in females, moreso in each other.
They were the resident couple in the Praetorian Guard, consisting of the royal retainers. This fact was a balm to their father and an insult to his wife, who wanted more esteemed subjects for her daughter, not the hand-offs from the emperor's brother.
To everyone's joy, Furia got over her initial consternation with the censoring, and quickly warmed to Pax and Felix's good looks, agreeable personalities, and combat skills.
The three were menaces and quite possibly hazardous to the conservative lifestyle of the Tenebraens.
"Ardyn is not queer! How could you even ask that?!" Imperatrix fired off in a surprising bout of jealousy.
As if she wasn't adequate for him!
She gulped down her tea at the string of arousal from recalling their recent coupling.
Gods! It was like opening and closing a dam with him! One moment cutting off ties, angrily loathing everything about the man. Another moment feeling everything at once, clinging to the romanticism of the man.
"Hmm, you would be the best judge…and you did say he enjoys being beneath. Inconceivable for most men!"
"As we all know, he is not most men."
"Very true. Tell me though…does your red-head also like you bowed over on your knees for it? That could be a sign!"
"Furia!" Imperatrix was steps away from fainting with how much blood was racing to her head.
"Come now, you are the eldest, do not be prudish! Educate your beloved, younger, sister."
"There are some things we should not share!"
"I am certain you share these things with your mangy, wild pet!" The second princess spat. "Tempesta is far more vulgar than I!"
The princess sighed at the outburst. She didn't understand one bit how the younger Besithia got along with Euphemia and Venus, but it was blood matches with Furia.
"We…he does not…" She swallowed her pride for the sake of her sister and shyly mentioned. " He favors it no more special than the others. I usually end up...on top simply due to a lack of restraint on my part…"
Imperatrix very much wanted to claw her face at her illustrativeness, but if it made Furia happy…then, oh well.
The things she did out of love.
"Oh, Sister! I miss talking to you! I miss talking to any woman! My pets can only substitute so much." Furia popped her lips as she did when struck with a thought. "Maybe your Ardyn likes both! That would fit the bill for his sense of unusual."
"Oh, lord! You and Euphemia are fully related, no doubt. The absurd things that come out your mouths!"
"Do not rule it out avidly. He is too…I have not the words for it, but—" She went silent.
"Little Sister?"
The second princess shouted off orders to her retainers, static coming through from bumbling on her side.
"Elder Sister, my husband returns! I must bid you good night." She smacked her lips over the speaker in imitation of a kiss. "Do be naughty and ride your stallion at the earliest opportunity!"
A beep and the princess gawked at the phone. She burst into laughter at the audacity of it all.
What a ridiculously normal conversation they had. No real talk of war, or any kind of ugliness, just simple, youthful things a woman could concern herself with.
Imperatrix…loved it.
Oh, to be like Furia! A woman worrying over appearances, submitting to romance, and chattering plainly. It felt far away and out of touch for her.
No more!
A certain imp told her it was time to acknowledge herself.
No more hiding. No more conforming to the boyish standard set by senators. Those old fools in red robes wouldn't dictate a crucial part of her being any longer!
She wouldn't ever be a prince, an emperor. She was a princess, one day an empress!
"Vincit qui se vincit." Imperatrix recited the wisdom imparted by her father on a hushed evening in his study with them sequestered at his table, positioning figurines on the world map.
She'd been too small to reach the high surface. He'd picked her up, fondly giving out kisses for each correct placement of the royal models he was studying. Back then there were many noble families and their allegiances were ever shifting with every season.
"I am Princess Imperatrix, not Prince Imperator." She smiled, stargazing for an unknown length of time with her tea set for company.
"I didn't take you for a heights kind of girl." Nyx poked his head up the opening, propping himself up on his arm. "So, whatcha doing?"
"How did you know where to find me?" The peace and quiet had been interrupted.
"I didn't. Was actually looking for a hideout myself." The glaive invited himself up, revealing a bottle of liquor in his grasp. The swishing noise gave away that he'd already been drinking. "As a man of Galahd, I like knock a few back while under the stars."
"I have almost finished my tea. I will leave you." She gathered the tray, prepared to depart, only for Nyx to flop down in front of her and splay his legs into her lap. "What are you—do you have any sense of boundaries?!"
"Not a lick!" He made no move extricate his limbs. The man uncorked the bottle and tilted it in the princess's direction. "Since you're here, have a drink with me."
Imperatrix stared, apprehensive.
"Do you have to be difficult?" Nyx stole her teapot, pouring the alcohol into it. "And you're using a tea set. Geez, you're a princess!"
"Almost every word out your mouth begs for a punch." The princess's jaw ticked. She latched onto his arm, hurriedly halting the flow of liquor. "Do not pour the whole bottle!"
"Lightweight." The glaive teased, obliging the request by setting the bottle down. He then carefully shook the pot, mixing the contents like a professional.
"I am not."
"Hmph. You're skinny and I barely saw you drink anything at Hypnosis. As an experienced bartender, I can call'em." Satisfied, the teapot was held out in challenge to the princess. "Six, maybe seven shots and you're gone!"
"Is this to be our first match? A drinking game?" Imperatrix didn't confirm or deny his assessment, merely raising her cup to accept the offer. With how buzzed he already was, Nyx might be out of her hair, passed out drunk in minutes. Then it would be a matter of whether or not she took pity on him, letting him sleep outside, or lugging his body into the hangar. "Or are you attempting to prey on me in a weakened state?"
"Guess if you wanna consider this another pass, go ahead."He poured himself a glass, double what could be held by the teacup. "Still capable of seducing you sober though."
"I am still mad due to your inappropriate contact, Nyx."
"Heh, that's still on your mind? Not the insubordination?" The glaive grinned cheekily. "That says a lot, babe."
"Do not call me that!" Imperatrix colored, sloshing some of her drink from her irked movements. "You are insufferable."
"You're stuck-up." Nyx threw out without a care.
"You're a narcissist!"
"Control freak."
"Reckless lummox!"
"Pushover!"
"Dog!"
Nyx laughed, unable to go on and waving for her to stop while he collected himself. He refilled his cup and then leaned over to check hers. "Impera, come on! Do I need to help you again?"
His hand reached forward to tip her cup.
"I think not!" She downed the rest in a single gulp, coughing once done. "Flaming hellfire! I prefer to do it in moderation!"
"That's boring as hell. It'd take forever to get a buzz the way you do it." Without prompting the teacup was filled.
"Doing it slowly allows enjoyment, versus losing to quick abandon with no recollection of the process."
Nyx tilted his head, eyelids sinking. His sudden mood shift had Imperatrix wanting to fidget, but she sat rigidly still, narrowing her eyes in warning for any potential shenanigans.
"It sounds like…you're talking about something else." The glaive said lowly, tenuously, like he was watching prey before it bolted.
"You are mistaken." The princess deviated from where the course was heading, actively portraying calm when she felt otherwise.
There was a tension…waiting to be acknowledged and broken, but she wouldn't.
"For the record, I prefer fast and hard." Nyx nudged her knee with his foot and she jerked from the contact, spilling the liquid over her sensitive arm and groaning from the tinge of pain.
"I do not like this!" She raised her knees to her chest, wrapping around them in an effort to pacify the affect of his words. Her body wanted to squirm, but Imperatrix wouldn't!
"Of course you don't. A pretty princess like you probably's never been fu—"
"Stop!"
Nyx laughed at her hands pushing him back.
"You don't want me to." He let her next shove send him back and took her with him. "I'm sick of stopping! Look at how you're messing with me!"
The glaive grunted hoarsely, hands yanking Imperatrix right over his hips and where friction was desperately desired. She gasped at the feel of an enflamed man, and then covered her mouth, abashed at the moaning escaping out her lips from Nyx's fingers digging into her thighs and their rhythmic grinding.
"I swear you've been in my head from day one! It's time to fix that." He sat up with one arm keeping them moving against each other and the other wrenching the obstacle from the lips he wanted to capture.
The princess turned her head from the lunge, attempted kiss landing beneath her jaw and she felt his growl on her throat. She drove him to the floor after his tongue crept out to lick her neck in an open-mouth kiss.
"I will tolerate no further boldness from you!" Imperatrix scrambled off the man, diving for the ladder and sliding down rashly.
She heaved angrily for Nyx's lack of restraint and her indecent compliance.
Wretched bastard! What gave him the right to touch her?!
Imperatrix was a princess. A woman meant to be treated with respect, not wanton forcefulness!
She collapsed into her bed, hugging a pillow to scream into. "Traitorous body!"
Her heart wouldn't slow down, her breath wouldn't even, and her aching wouldn't cease!
"This is why I do not consume abundantly!" Imperatrix moaned defeatedly.
The alcohol in her system made her libido ten times more potent. She blamed it, Furia's discussion, and Ardyn's absence for the slip.
Gods damned Nyx! She was above baseless lusts of the flesh!
After punching her pillow until tiring, the princess regained a marginal sense of rationality, falling to her back and flinching at the press of cold metal on her skin. She reached behind.
Her phone blinked the time in a bright flash.
"I should be asleep…" Her arm lowered, resting the device on her stomach.
Yet, sleep wouldn't come when she was so antsy.
She couldn't leave her room for fear of encountering Nyx and cuffing him into the next century. Late night work didn't appeal to her either.
Really, she wanted to complain to someone, but there was no one awake at this hour…
"Not the man who never sleeps." The princess dialed on the phone.
Ardyn's jolly greeting confirmed his alertness at a time where most were gone into dreams.
"If I asked you to kill Nyx, would you do it?" Imperatrix asked without preamble.
The chancellor gasped dramatically. "What a topic, my dear! Whatever has he done to invoke the Aldercapt wrath?!"
"He…" The princess's burst of fury instantly rendered her speechless for how puerile and lame it sounded in her head. "Never mind…erase my words from mind."
Now she regretted bothering Ardyn.
"Impera, Dearest, you need only say the word and I will gladly slay the beast." He chuckled. "What man would turn down the chance to rid himself of competition?"
"Ardyn…" She didn't want to hide what happened with Nyx.
Honesty was important in relationships, especially when they didn't have a good track record for truth. Omission of facts most certainly counted as lying-in the imp's case. She tended to be upfront with most subjects.
The chancellor seemed to know what was bothering her. "While I am perfectly agreeable to your ways, it doesn't stop me from wanting you all to myself."
"Nyx is loathsome! He makes the most obscene advances on me!" The words tumbled out in an immature rant anyway and Imperatrix barely stopped herself from lashing out on the pillow again. More damage would cause the stuffing to burst out. "I do not want him!"
"Ah, he touched you in a manner you did not like? Hence, your requested mafia-styled hit." Ardyn tutted disappointedly. "And I did warn him! Boys like that are hard-headed, my dear."
"What do you mean?" The princess hadn't seen the chancellor and glaive interacting long enough for any threats to be issued.
In fact, the red-head had gone out of his way to monopolize her time at the manor, carting her off whenever Nyx ventured to speak with Imperatrix. She'd humored the covetous behavior, savoring their temporary closeness.
As aggravating as Ardyn could be, he made her laugh, smile, and forget, catering…to the childish side of her that she had to bury under the weight of responsibility.
"Did you enjoy it?"
"Pardon?" Imperatrix clenched at the pillow from the levels of sensuality echoing off him.
"Did you enjoy being touched by him?" The chancellor repeated with no less huskiness. "Don't be shy about it."
"My goodness! Why must you all torment me so?!" She ground her teeth, legs bunched together painfully tight and offering no relief.
"Aren't you adorable, Musa? I've no doubt he was pleased. I am jealous!" Ardyn groaned pitifully, voice waning to a resonant bass. "Tell me where his hands have been on you."
"W-What?!" The shock led to her rude wording that would've gotten a chastisement from her father if he'd heard her. "A-Ardyn…do you…" She gulped uncertainly. "Truly wish me to…speak of that?"
Imperatrix figured it might've been her imagination. The alcohol assuredly was marring her senses.
"Yes, I do." He answered succinctly. "Be very specific, my dear."
Again, the princess found herself momentarily yanked out her comfort zone.
Throwing caution to the wind, she did as asked, infinitely grateful that her overly flustered countenance couldn't be seen. His enthusiastic groans and commentary for her tale eventually drew her in like a moth and Imperatrix lost the timidness, speaking as amorously and breathily as Ardyn.
"Oh, Impera. If only I was with you…"
"What then? What would do to me, my Darling?" She laid down, mournfully tracing her hand over a pillow where she wished the imp laid, propped up on his fist, smiling and gazing at her like she was a rare gem to be treasured.
"Is it my turn for storytelling?" He hummed thoughtfully. "Were I with you, the night would be filled with my name sung from your sweet lips and yours from mine, a duet of the grandest order! You are a divine sight to behold in throes of passion, Dearest Musa."
"Where are you? When will I next see you, my darling consort?" The princess looked to the window, drowsily searching out for the man she wouldn't find.
Somewhere, the chancellor was witnessing the same sky as her. With that in mind, he didn't feel so far.
"Why, I am in Lestallum, setting up an operation and monitoring some wayward children. Unfortunately, I shall be occupied for some days."
Her noise of disgruntlement garnered a lengthy whine from Ardyn.
"Now, now, don't do that. You'll make me sadder than I already am at not having you in my arms!"
"Lestallum? Why there? And what children interest you?" Imperatrix yawned.
"Did I hear a yawn? How cute." He crooned teasingly.
"Ardyn, an answer if you please."
"We can discuss your venture to the Disc and its connection to my current mission in the morning."
An epiphany broke through the fog. "You knew…all along…"
"In the morning." The chancellor sang.
"Fine, we will talk tomorrow." Her blinks were becoming slower and slower.
"I bid you good dreams."
"And you? Will you dream of me?" The princess's eyes closed, mind halfway into unconsciousness and phone drooping down from her ear.
"It is all I do, Musa. You are a light in the dark, when all others have gone out."
"I love you, Ardyn…" Was Imperatrix's last remark before head sank into the pillow, senses left for illusion's domain.
The chancellor laughed at the soft breathing he heard. His response would go unheard, but still, he would respond in kind. "My love for you transcends all."
XV
"Impera, I'm fine." Nebula drawled for the fifth time as the princess combed through his hair for the injury that used to be there.
He was beyond pissed to have been knocked out in a crucial situation. His liege could've died due to his ineptitude.
Unforgivable! Imperatrix was right, he'd been slacking.
"Nebula, I do not think you understand. Your head trauma might have killed another!" The princess deceased her profuse fussing, instead resting the side of her cheek on top of his golden hair and wrapping her arms around his neck to hug him. "Thank goodness for your helmet averting worse…"
The gunman had been bewildered to awaken with both Imperatrix and Tempesta hovering over his bed in worry. His sister immediately socked him in the stomach when he sat up, belting out numerous curses. The princess stepped in to prevent the pest from abusing him right back into a critical state.
The malady circulating in his body was what saved him from dying.
"You're old, begging to keel over. Course Impera's gonna be all over you." Tempesta glowered snidely at her brother, kicking his outstretched leg. "Suck it up, Geezer."
He grimaced at the petulant attacks that kept coming.
Why couldn't he relax in his room peacefully? At least Imperatrix's weight behind him was comforting.
"Not like I care that you could've died. Nope, not a bit!" The fist fighter tore off the straw attachment of her juicebox and almost skewered the thing from violently inserting the straw. "One less identical face I gotta see."
Her slurping was insistent and bratty.
"I rescind my words. Use your fists in place of words. Your voice is grating on my nerves." Nebula crushed his finished drink, enticed to throw the garbage at the girl with similar features to him and every other unfortunate "child" of Verstael Besithia.
It was a small mercy that their genders differed.
He'd have gone mad if an exact mirror image greeted him every day as a retainer to the princess and captain of the Praetorian Guard. Having a brother as his sergeant would've left little tolerance for the other, junior, members he was in charge of. He'd also be forced to wear his mask at all times and in the safety of the palace, Nebula didn't want to hide his identity.
"No fighting you two. We did plenty of that yesterday." Imperatrix tugged the gunman back into her chest at feeling him tense up for an attack. When he seemed docile, she kissed the top of his head, extracted herself from him, and took a seat in between the siblings on the floor.
She smiled at routine snack fest the two reveled in during downtime. Junk food was their greatest guilty pleasure.
"Can we drop the doll now? She proved every reservation I had with her 'prayer stunt'. Lunafreya almost killed us!" Nebula aired with extreme aversion, fingers twitching automatically for a gun that wasn't strapped to his casual wear.
"She's a hassle, too much trouble!" Tempesta joined in, on the same wavelength as her brother. "Totally wasted a good meal."
"Not vital, glutton." He scathingly rebuffed.
"It is so!"
Nebula threw the juicebox at his sister.
"Why you!"
"We cannot spirit Lunafreya away." Imperatrix spoke over Tempesta's hissing, raising a challenging eyebrow at the girl prepared to spike her garbage.
She lowered the item, grumbling mutinously.
"Your Highness—"
The princess raised a hand to silence the elder blonde. "I have spoken with the chancellor…Father has designs for the oracle."
The retainers perked up, giving their full attention to her.
Ardyn knew of Lunafreya's intent to begin her pilgrimage now that she was loose. He knew of the grave effect the oracle's prayer would have on the sleeping god. How he knew all this was a another mystery the imp wouldn't be sharing with her.
Lunafreya misled them. Spiritual nourishment hadn't been her goal. Though, Imperatrix should've known that from the dubious excuses given. Rousing Titan had been the least of her expectations on the list of potential pitfalls.
Her propensity to hope for the best and prepare for the worst had fallen vastly short for that expenditure.
She was infuriated to learn that chaos had been intentional. Were the girl awake, bitter, resentful, words might've flown from the princess's lips to Lunafreya.
The innocent, weak, pale, figure swaddled in blankets was a lie.
No wonder she wanted to go alone. Would she have run off after imploring the Archaean to destroy them? Off to another god to summon and ravish the land of enemies?
"Uh, um, what're we gonna do with Lunar Temple?" Tempesta's foot itched the back of her leg, blue orbs going from princess and floor in succession. "Stick-face Rav will rave if we execute his sister."
Nebula gave a thumbs down to the play on words. "Lame. Exceptionally lame, Tempy."
"Shuddup! That was good!" She stuck her tongue out haughtily.
"Your decision, Princess?" He ignored further engagement with his sister.
"We continue Lunafreya's pilgrimage, allow her to play the role of Divine Herald." Imperatrix resolved with resignation for the orders given to her.
Two confused faces greeted the princess.
"Father wishes an end to the god's presence on Eos. To this end, he is willing to let them be awakened." She elaborated, shivering at past and future devastation to be wrought. "Then they shall be slain."
Stunned silence.
More plans and phases that Imperatrix wasn't privy to. Between the emperor and chancellor, they'd planned ahead for multiple contingencies. Things were moving fast, at a rate and urgency that alarmed the princess.
Were they tempting fate? Would her father reach too high, ambitions burned by the sun and sending him plummeting?
Climbs were long and arduous, but falls swift and ruinous.
It was only a matter of time before a blockade was set up around the Disc of Cauthess. Airships and advanced magitek soldiers would be stationed to allay the Landforger.
The site was far enough from civilization that there wouldn't be catastrophic damage to any cities. At worst, tremors from Titan's movements may cause infrastructure damage, a setback the empire could afford to fix.
"Woah, this is hardcore! The old man is really trying to go out with a bang. Talk about a legacy!" Tempesta slurped the rest of her new juicebox with gusto. "Conquerer of Lucis and Godslayer?! Man, he'll be even more legendary than…than…" She slumped forward, scrunching up her face at Imperatrix. "Uh, what's your great ancestor's name again?"
The princess couldn't control the giggle that erupted from her.
"Tempesta, really? Can you honestly be that dense?" Nebula sighed with such irritation and second-hand embarrassment that the fist fighter blushed from neck to ears, ready to explode.
"I confess…to being disappointed as well." Imperatrix patted the girl's knee before she could leap the distance to strangle her brother. She gave her retainer a composed smile, in spite of wanting to force a history book into Tempesta's hands and then quizzing her on what she learned. "Darling, what is my name?"
"Imperatrix Tellus Aldercapt." She breezily answered.
The princess and gunman waited for her to get it, but Tempesta continued on with her accomplished grin. Having her repeat the name still didn't the message to sink in.
"I disown you from the Besithia family." Nebula droned with a deadness that chilled.
"Wha?! I don't get it!"
Imperatrix shushed the younger blonde, drawing her into a pitying hug and repetitiously carding fingers through the fist fighters long locks. "Tellus! The first emperor's name was Tellus Aldercapt."
"Ohh, I get it now." She purred contentedly at the petting.
When her hair wasn't tangled and matted from the helmet, the combing felt nice.
Tempesta would've preferred shorter hair, but Imperatrix was always complementing her, offering to brush it, and looking so happy at the feature, that she let the hair grow out to the middle of her back. A high ponytail usually kept most of it out of the way and parting her bangs down the middle, unlike Nebula's angled style, gave her a wilder look from her siblings.
"You should not reward idiocy, Impera." Nebula crossed his arms and legs, lounging against the bunk beds.
"Oh, hush you." The princess giggled freely at how very cat-like Tempesta could be.
Having the girl's mask remade in the image of a feline after the millionth instance of the fist fighter breaking it, was a stroke of genius. Nebula gagged when first saw it, a complete opposite to his sister, who bounced around like an energetic child at the silly addition.
Anything that made her stand out seemed to be okay in the younger Besithia's book.
"Are you…okay with this plan, Your Highness?" The gunman queried to the princess, straw spinning in his mouth from chewing on it in place of a cigarette.
"Truthfully…no…" Imperatrix stilled for a moment. "I am of a mind to let sleeping gods rest."
The Astrals terrified her.
Twice now she'd come into contact with beings far out of her league and by the end she felt helpless, all accomplished military skills amounting to nothing in the face of a mammoth entity.
She was an infant waving around a toy sword in those battles.
"I do see the wisdom in Father's plans. In long terms, the mortal plane would be free of any wrathful episodes from The Six. The minor gods rarely dabble in our affairs. They do not cause unease." Imperatrix laid her chin on top of Tempesta's head, curling around the smaller girl like she was a cushion to unfurl her burdens on. "We need only weather the storm to make way for the sun."
The fist fighter cackled. "Mission: Awake The Six, start! We are so getting Godslayers added on as titles!"
"This is why half the world calls us Nephilim, heathens. Despite our moniker as 'children of the gods'." Nebula snorted.
"And cause Graleans still pay tribute to the Betrayer and all other territories worship outside The Six." She added to her brother's astonishment.
"Maybe I will take you back into the Besithia household." He started chewing on the straw. "Why do you know that, but not the founder's name?"
"Euphie blabbers on and on about deities."
"Should I get her to educate you since you clearly listen to her?"
"Nooo, I don't need to be schooled! I'm a fighter, you hear?!"
Imperatrix shrieked from Tempesta's bouncing head making her bite her tongue.
"Whoops! Sorry!"
Nebula snickered and then yawned. His yawn soon had his sister doing the same.
"Rest, my friends. You have earned it." Imperatrix gently nudged the fist fighter out of her lap.
"Damn right. I stayed vigilant over your bedside, Neb. Bout time for my nap." She leaped for the bottom bunk bed, rolling around until she was snuggled in comfort.
The elder blonde wanted to follow his sister's deeds, but the princess's blatant fixation on the pile of litter from their snacks needed to be assuaged before he clocked out.
"I will clean it, Impera."
She hummed in disbelief, not falling for the fake smile gracing Nebula's normally stoic face.
"I mean it, I will. Don't be an imp about it." He shouldn't be entirely responsible for the mess, but Tempesta's exaggerated snoring made clear her piggish ways wouldn't be rectified, leaving him in the doghouse.
He abhorred females sometimes.
Imperatrix twitched at the label she associated more with Ardyn and less with herself, even though the word resided in her name.
She curved around the junk to exit her retainer's shared quarters, new destination in mind.
The gym room became her sanctuary. Drill forms emptied her emotions, blanketing her in an apathetic state of mind.
Why now? Why were so many things happening at once?
The rise of daemon appearances. The fall of Insomnia. Titan's earthquakes.
Too many events in too little time.
What course were they heading in this turbulence? What game was Ardyn playing with them?
Lunafreya to commune and awaken. Noctis to commune and…what?
Was there yet another divine power to the Caelums? A ring and crystal weren't enough?
Imperatrix panted heavily after slicing an imaginary foe in half. Her muscles ached from exertion. "What more does Puer Regem need? The ring…"
She froze.
The Ring of the Lucii was in Lunafreya's safe-holding and the princess made no mention or protest of it. None of the three had spoken a word about the item so many fought and died over in Insomnia.
After seeing what it cost on the wearer, the princess wanted nothing to do with the jewelry.
"All of this magical drivel gives me a headache…" Imperatrix sighed dismally.
Her overall frustration heightened considerably when the other nuisance entered the gym.
"It's amazing how hard it is to find someone in an airship." Nyx strolled in with too much casualness.
The princess gripped her sword with tremulous force.
"What do you want, Glaive?" She bit out.
He stopped in his tracks at the livid sneer he was on the receiving end of. It didn't look right on Imperatrix, the woman whose aloofness was a facade for uniform geniality that was given out to everyone and didn't seem to end.
This…
Nyx had really pissed her off.
"Look, about last night…" He began rockily.
Normally, the glaive wasn't the hesitant type with the opposite sex. Were this a regular day in the Crown City, and a regular woman, he'd play off the drunken blunder, maybe even turn on the charm to sway his catch into another round of fun.
This wasn't Insomnia, where ladies swooned over his Kingsglaive status, and Imperatrix wasn't regular. She could punch like a professional and probably could dismember something important with a sword…
This was new territory for Nyx.
"Step no closer!" The princess punctuated the command with a raised blade before the glaive.
"Alright, alright!" He took a step back, hands coming up peacefully for the wild animal looking for the slightest hint to maim. "Boundaries, I get it."
"Do you? Because you show zero respect for mine!"
The tip of the blade dug into his neck and Nyx silently thanked whoever for the sword being a dulled one for training.
"Impera, I—"
"We are not that close!" The princess forced him to the ground with the blade, on his knees and prostate before her. "This is your place. Rise not above it, commoner!"
He stayed strangely mute, eyes flashing with something all-consuming and Imperatrix couldn't bear to look upon him. She turned her back on Nyx, wanting to scream, cry, and hit all at once.
The onslaught of emotions was too much!
"Hey, Princess."
Her feet were swept out from under her and Imperatrix collided with the mat.
"Lets have that match." The glaive cracked his knuckles, rotating his arms in preparation for the spar.
"You…" She rose, refusing to be on the ground while he stood.
"You're pissed. Now I'm pissed. A fight's what we need." He matched her ire with his own, expression disturbingly close to the prejudice of a first meeting of Nephilim and Lucian. "I'm not sucking up to you like every other imperial. Don't like it, tough shit!"
She whirled on him. He barely fended off the attack and they rolled.
Fists, feet, insults, and curses flew between the glaive and princess in their brawl. Neither held back, eventually getting into a sword fight when Nyx rammed into the display and had to stave off Imperatrix aiming to stab him.
The match came to a conclusion with the glaive pinned to the ground by two swords crossed over his neck and the princess puffing above him.
"Got to be kidding me?! You won because I'm not at a hundred-percent!" Nyx groaned at the stinging all over.
Imperatrix was Titus Drautos's student alright.
"I would win even then!" She laughed, slowly removing her knee from the man's chest and yanking out the blades. "How like a man to be a sore loser! It makes victory all the more amusing."
"Stuff it! I'll kick your ass next time."
"Next time?" The princess's laughter became derisive. "Ah, you are abhorrent! If either of my retainers saw me, they might kill you."
She was bleeding in a few places from where Nyx cut her and was sure to have bruises from where he welted her. The spot above her eyebrow panged the most.
They'd brawled like some hormonal, raging, teenagers, no hold-backs. Highly unbecoming of a princess and ungallant of a more chivalrous man.
"You're a piece of work yourself, Impera. Forcing me to my knees like some tyrant!" The glaive glowered, massaging the poor jaw to receive another solid hit from the princess. No way could he continue calling those "love taps". "You're pretty disrespectful yourself."
She crossed her arms, scrutinizing him for sincerity in his offended air. "Were we in the east, my actions—"
"We're not! And I ain't beholden to you!" He interrupted, hopping up to loom over the shorter woman.
"We stand at an impasse." Imperatrix tilted her head to the side, apology dying before given life. Her storming negative energy vanished for vacuity. "Why did you seek me out?"
Nyx lost his train of thought at her yield.
"To apologize for…for…" He scratched his beard. "Huh, what would you call that? My hands didn't get anywhere sensitive. And you were rubbing on me…"
"I meant…forget it…" She'd wanted to know why he advanced on her, but her words were confusing.
Perhaps the misunderstanding was for the best. Imperatrix wasn't ready for Nyx, for a new avenue…not with how the horizon clouded with events to come.
The princess sat down before her legs gave out and she had to be subjected to a "falling for me" joke from the glaive.
"Why were you drinking last night?"
He avoided answering, stiffly looking elsewhere from her expectant openness.
"You owe me that explanation at the very least."
"Fine." Nyx slumped to level with Imperatrix.
The princess waited, intrigued by the show of reluctance. The man went about everything with cavalierness. To see him remotely vulnerable was a callback to his breakdown in the fall.
He'd lost everything and couldn't bear the weight…
"Magic was a fundamental part of my life and now its gone. I'm no different…from the average joe…" Nyx looked off to the side, gathering his thoughts. "Down there, it really hit home and for one moment…I understood."
"Understood what?" Imperatrix asked softly, kindly, in regard to his dispirited glaring in the distance.
"How powerless everyone else must feel in a world of magic and gods. How…terrified that can leave somebody. I forgot all that." Nyx finally glanced at the princess, ruefully palming at his bad arm. "We must've looked like bedtime monsters to the rest of the world. The Kingsglaive, the whole Caelum family, oracle business, it's all unreal to the average person."
He scooted closer, slowly, cautiously, reaching for the hand resting in Imperatrix's lap. She allowed the scarred hand to hold hers.
"Seeing you freak out so bad made me realize…I wasn't a hero to everyone. Like you, some people looked on in horror at the things I could do." Nyx squeezed the gloved hand. "An epiphany like that required booze. Who wants to acknowledge that they're a monster?"
"No one…" She sighed in understanding, for that feeling was one nestled in her heart for the things her country, her people had done over the years. Imperatrix elected to share a remnant of wisdom with him. "Vincit qui se vincit."
"I don't speak Latin, Impera." The glaive wrangled his fingers in a motion of "go on".
"He conquers who conquers himself." The princess bequeathed the meaning with a tiny lift of her lips. "You are no monster, you are human. Overcome your failings and control your actions. Win those battles you shall be twice victorious, Nyx Ulric."
A grin stretched out his face, washing out the self-doubt and disgust. "What do you know? You've got some lines, hun."
He moved towards her.
"Boundaries!" A hand discontinued further closeness.
Did he really just try to kiss her? After what they just went over?!
The glaive snorted into her palm, rolling his eyes good-naturedly.
"Lay not a hand on me. Permission must be given by the recipient, dog!"
Nyx's expression gained no repentance, fire of challenge springing to life in him. Imperatrix tensed, fist going to fly in response to whatever.
She squealed disgustedly from a tongue licking her hand.
"How revolting!"
"Take that, babe!" He taunted, dipping out the gym before she could incapacitate him in retaliation.
"Come back here, Insipid Rogue!"
The princess and glaive resumed their spirited skirmishing.
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