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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
- 16
- 17
- 18
Latin
Memento mori- Remember that you will die.

French
Espèces de merinos mal peignes- Badly groomed merino sheep. A highly insulting curse-out.
Ménage à trois- Household of three.
XV
"What business does the Imperial Princess have in a Lucian military base? Are you not busy with your many posts in Niflheim, or even Accordo?" Ignis interrogated, in the middle of repelling a series of slashes with his lance, annoyance rising every time his pristine clothing got even the slightest nick.
The close quarter fighting with the woman made it difficult for Prompto to assist for fear of friendly fire. While his bullets were magical and not the real, life-threatening, bleeding-out-kind-of-bullets, they still hurt to be hit with and sapped vitality.
No, the gunner was in the distance, a skittish hop of nerves watching the two battle. He really needed to get used to it already.
"You are very informed of my obligations." Imperatrix blew air upward, displacing her bangs from her eyes to better examine the younger man challenging her. "And your name…I think it is familiar…"
Ignis...where had she heard it before?
"It is my job to be informed for the sake of His Highness."
The princess whirled her sword expertly to deflect the lance into the ground by the blade and stepped on the staff, momentarily preventing further attacks from the male. She finally grasped the memory.
"You are the one with articles about me!" Imperatrix expelled a laugh behind her hand. "The prince did not appreciate your intelligence lesson."
"How do you know that?!" Ignis sputtered, glasses slipping down his nose along with his hands on the staff, bringing him closer to the female looming on top of the hilt.
"You really do not look Lucian. No more than your sunny friend." Imperatrix tilted her head in appraisement with him at such a close distance.
Ignis was a very handsome young male. She didn't mind having him for a fan. A bit uptight and routinely contemptuous of her, but much better than Nyx.
Freezing icicles and flaming hellfire! Why were westerners proving to be an interest to her?!
"From my understanding, foreigners were not held in high regard and yet two stand beside the crown prince."
"And you stand alone." The advisor dismissed the lance in a flutter of blue crystals merging into the air, summoning forth his daggers.
Falling into the loss of balance, the princess flipped on one hand and righted herself into fluid side-steps to elude Ignis's precise swipes. "On occasion I can with the company of my sword. I do not require constant protection."
The round recommenced.
Ravus drew the short stick out of the imperials, alternating between heavy-handed Gladiolus and magical-bomb Noctis. It was ironic that the literal bigger-man failed to overwhelm the high commander, a slender, shorter opponent. The skinny prince fluctuating in weapons and space proved to be the true inconvenience to the elder Fleuret.
Unlike Imperatrix, Ravus specialized in one weapon and one style. He was a master of the Fleuret fencing technique passed down through generations of texts. Technique would prevail over the illogical Caelum variety.
Being an adept to all their Royal Arms was an insane venture of the highest egotism and it made them easier to beat when they only had the slightest knowledge of how to use each weapon.
That was his mindset on the matter, but of course, the world had to flick him off.
The mechanical arm provided new brawn to its user, but the slightest presence of light magic made the metal creak and the darkness receded to safety. Ravus didn't yet have full command of it, leaving him in flux, unyielding one moment and yielding the next.
His confrontation with Noctis wasn't the one-sided slaughter he hoped for. Nothing ever went his way!
Imperatrix lucked out in her opponents. One of them was uncomfortable with shooting a woman and she didn't force his hand by approaching. The other fought vaguely similar to a certain glaive she spared with, making his movements simple to foresee.
However…
The match wasn't something the princess was giving much effort in. She was angry with all four of them for annihilating hundreds of people, for destroying millions of dollars in equipment and supplies, and for almost killing Ardyn and herself.
Then Insomnia would flash into her mind.
Noctis's scream of vengeance would pound and claw at her own grievances, tipping the scale in his favor till it broke the apparatus. He was a royal prince with the world at his feet abruptly turned orphaned and homeless. Was it any wonder he struck them just as devastatingly?
But did every person from her homeland deserve the reaper's cut? Would they all die at the hands of the gods chosen one? Protecting the people was her sacred oath and the princess would bleed for it!
Gods above! She abhorred the string of conflicting feelings!
Why did they have to keep leveling blows at one another?! Would Fortuna's wheel ever let them be free of bloodshed?!
Fate, monstrous and empty, a whirring wheel of malevolence. Shadowed and veiled, a plague upon mortals to which they could only bare their backs to the villainy.
The real empress of the world was against them all.
Preoccupied with despondency, Imperatrix's guard slipped. The lance went on a downward trail of her leg, tearing into flesh.
Ignis sucked in a sharp breath at the damage he caused. A poor time for his gentlemanly side to make an appearance. This was battle and she was the enemy.
"Do not expect sympathy from me!" He vented when the princess showed no anger, only an expression of fatigue and disinterest.
"I would not dare, my lord." The white-haired commander assured as dryly as possible, ripping off the loose fabric of her torn pants and letting it fly off.
"And do not underestimate me."
His secondary weapon was switched for his primary weapons, emerald eyes glinting with magical accuracy for pinpointing a target. He tossed a string of daggers at Imperatrix.
The princess growled at the onslaught of projectiles. She either had to dodge and suffered a sting of pain from her leg with every landing, or had to deflect with her sword, denting the blade in the process.
"Wretched Lucian magic!" Imperatrix hissed venomously.
"Prompto do not stand there. She is out of range!" Ignis rebuked the frozen gunner. "Shoot her!"
"B-But d-dude…she's a girl! The princess isn't really even fighting…" He disputed weakly and then yelped the more those spectacles of the advisor glowed with disapproval. "The one time a girl shows interest in me and she's trying to kill me. Gimme me a break, world!"
Imperatrix had been frequently eyeing Prompto throughout the skirmish, contemplating how one of Verstael's children could be in the company of Noctis.
The boy didn't recognize her at all.
He behaved like an average person with zero survival instincts. Refusing to engage her on the battlefield on account of her gender like some old-fashioned knight. His gentleness would've cost him greatly if Imperatrix were a crueler person, willing to exploit that soft nature.
Killing him would've been easy...
Prompto's behavior made it clear he wasn't conditioned like the advisor and shield of the prince. They didn't hold back or hesitate, danger seen in everyone opposing their sovereign and they moved to neutralize it, exactly how servants were to respond.
Why was someone like Prompto wielding a gun? A soft hand shouldn't be holding a weapon.
"Do not ignore me!" Ignis pressed his speed on Imperatrix, arms moving swifter with each lunge until one broke through her defense.
"You want my attention?" She said lowly, face glazing over with displeasure as his daggers screeched against her blade. "Then I shall give it!"
The advisor grunted, barely catching her blade between his daggers after she moved it to fast for him to see. He shook under the pressure of her using both hands instead of the flippant one-handed style she'd previously used.
This time the princess wasted no time in demonstrating that her earlier actions were of leisurely analyzation, a reflection of her regret and unwillingness to fight. Ignis's continued offensive now worked at her nerves, as did the stinging from her leg.
"You are lucky it is a standard weapon in my hand and not a specialty one."
Her might was enough to cause her opponent to skitter back on the pavement, oxfords scrapping noisily. A bullet flying past saved Ignis from a blow to the head, but Imperatrix still managed to roundhouse kick the man from her range.
Prompto called out to his groaning friend and then yowled as a knife knocked the gun out of his hand. Inspection revealed that he wasn't bleeding or injured, just shocked and stung by blow.
"You should have shot me. Why do you not?" The princess advanced on the boy with no common sense.
It almost hurt to look at him.
So expressive…unlike her retainer. All the years together and Imperatrix only saw tiny flashes of genuine emotion from the elder Besithia.
She wanted Nebula to be able to express more than indifference and violence. Was that possible?
"What do you mean? I'm not gonna shot a—"
"A woman?" Imperatrix interrupted him, stopping a few feet in front of the shorter boy. "Such sentiment. Did the other imperials receive the same?"
"That's…that's different…" The gunner backed up, gulping down the queasy feeling he got from thinking too much about the people on the other end of his barrel.
Noctis needed him.
Prompto trained and trained so he could support his friend. At some point his hand would stop shaking any time he faced a soldier and not an MT. Then he wouldn't be a burden to Ignis and Gladiolus.
All he had to do was breathe. Always remember to breathe, that stopped the panic attacks and would eventually refocus his mind.
Cor gave him that advice when he saw how much he struggled in battle.
"Prompto…is it?" Imperatrix stepped closer. "You are so different from them. How are you here with the prince?"
A Besithia in the company of a Caelum? It made no sense.
"Uh, um…well..." He stumbled to answer with the attractive woman gazing so deeply at him and speaking so melodically with her accent.
The absolute befuddlement and wonder of her expression was far from the glaring and clipped regard she gave to Ignis. The intensity of her attention resulted in his cheeks flushing an absurd shade of scarlet and him sweating all over.
Was she like…in love with him? Like…love at first sight?!
Oh, man…
What about Cindy?!
"Y-You're really p-pretty and a p-princess, but we just met!" The blonde stuttered out, heart going a mile a minute for actually rejecting a female, when all he wanted for the longest time was for one to acknowledge him. "And you're an imperial!"
So unfair! He wasn't one to turn down a potential girlfriend, but he didn't have a choice in this situation. He'd read Romeo and Juliet in high school and that wasn't going to be him.
Prompto saw the mounting incredulity pass over her in slow motion. She started speaking in another language and he knew things had gone downhill.
Probably cursing him out over the rejection.
He didn't mean to upset her, but the truth was necessary! Plus, he had Cindy!
"I'm sorry, but it can't work out!" The gunner insisted, waving his hands in a pacifying manner and forgetting all about her being an enemy.
All he saw was a female, insulted and hurt by his words. This was his mess and he had to fix it before she started crying.
"Prompto, you fool!" Ignis chastised, utilizing the insanity to restrain the princess with a dagger at her neck and side. "She was not flirting with you, but questioning your intelligence. As am I!"
"Hey, that's uncalled for!"
The advisor wasn't sure if he was objecting to his libel or the woman's predicament. Either way, he frowned greatly at the younger male, expression daring Prompto to advocate further for an enemy.
Imperatrix leaned back from the threat to her neck, effectively moving closer to Ignis. She felt him tense.
"You know our language?" The princess inquired in her native tongue.
"Yes, I know Latin. It comes in handy when dealing with imperial intelligence."
"You are the brain of the entourage? Did you come up with the brilliant plan of crippling the empire by demolishing its bases?"
"No. The marshal started us on that path, but I have no objections to it after what was done to our home." The dagger pressed to skin.
Imperatrix sighed, looking away from the blonde's confused and worried face. "Cor the Immortal. He and I shall be dueling one day. I am sure of it."
Not just for all his meddling, but for the sake of her friend.
"Uh, Ignis…what're you saying to her? You're not…gonna…" Prompto dragged his finger across his neck, unable to vocalize what he figured the victim feared, but more than able to dramatize it.
A complete fail at soothing the person held captive.
"Please. As if he could." Imperatrix scoffed, returning to English for the benefit of the audience. "As if any of you neophytes could."
They were as ridiculous as her retainers.
"Arrogance with a blade to your neck? Niffs, I tell you." The advisor mimicked her incredulity with his own puff of disbelief.
"It is hard to believe you were ever an admirer of my work with your attitude. It is to be expected though." The princess pressed her palm to his stomach. "You were at least more mannered than Nyx."
"E-Excuse me?!" Blood rushed to his face at her touch and he did his best to distance their bodies while keeping the woman restrained, but obviously that wasn't possible with her pressed against him, adding more to his flustered state.
"Granted, Ignis." She said teasingly, furthering his blush and leaving the advisor unprepared.
The stunner in her glove activated.
Prompto screamed as his friend got knocked out via electrocution. The princess had the decency to catch her quarry and lay him on the ground, rather than let him collide with the ground. She even set his fallen glasses back in place.
Much different than Nyx in temperament, calm and calculated to his brashness. Smarter too.
Not bad for a Lucian that looked distinctly Accordian.
"I trust I do not have to do the same to you?" She waved her sparkling glove in warning.
The blonde hopped way back in answer. "Nope, nope! I'm good."
"Tend to your friend and stay out of the fighting, Prompto."
The gunner dived for Ignis after Imperatrix began walking away. "Holy crap! Iggy, dude, you're going to be okay! I got you!"
The princess broke into a run as she honed in on her ally.
Ravus's eyes darted between his two attackers, scowl lengthening the expanse of his face at how dragged out the whole affair was becoming.
The useless shield had made it his personal mission to subdue him in return for being tossed into a car. Gladiolus's aggressive tactics made it difficult to reach Noctis. Obviously, his small saber wasn't useful for overpowering a broadsword.
It was miraculous that the thin rapier hadn't broken yet.
"Get out of my way!" The high commander snarled at the shield.
"Hell no! I gotta pay you back for the cheap shot, asshole!" Gladiolus argued, putting more force into the swing of his sword, kicking up gravel in the process and leaving a thin crevice in the ground.
Eyesight hindered, Ravus was thrown by the next attack and put in the range of a warping prince. He growled, mentally bracing himself for the inevitable hit.
An image pierced his mind.
The high commander twisted his body, giving an opening for Imperatrix charge through, clipping Noctis on the side of his chest and knocking the weapon out of his hand. The prince rolled on the ground, cradling his wound and angrily glowering at the princess for ruining his move.
His messy state from rolling in dirt ruined the image of ferocity.
"Noct!" Gladiolus rushed for his sovereign.
"Nah-uh…I am not dealing with that mammoth." Imperatrix informed Ravus in French.
The shield was even taller than Ardyn and the red-head seemed a tower to her. Not to mention the darker feature man was rippling with muscles he had no problem showcasing with an open vest.
Wasn't he cold, half-dressed as he was? Lucians weren't used to colder weather.
"You wretch! I told you, Noctis is mine!" The high commander rejected the decision.
"Oh, Darling…be a gentleman for once."
"For you? Absolutely not."
"I swear, marriage would not have worked out between us." Imperatrix deadpanned, trying another angle on the high-maintenance Fleuret. "I immobilized two of the four, therefore you have no right to whine over my selection."
"You pompous bastards are through!" Gladiolus roared, heavy footsteps alerting the two.
The imperials splintered off. The princess whirled out of range of the burly shield to engage the smaller foe, leaving Ravus stuck with the opponent he didn't want.
Imperatrix became embroiled in a twirling dance, anticipating the warp strikes by sound and narrowly eluding the sharp edges of never-ending weapons. Noctis was an army on his own, switching back and forth through the entirety of his inventory.
She barely had a chance to breathe, keeping toe-to-toe with his barrage.
"You were playing around while I was actually fighting!" Ravus accused the princess, punching Gladiolus in the chest. "Women, the vainest creatures on Eos!"
"If you needed my help, all you had to was call!" She countered, kicking aside a sword that would been replaced with Noctis in an ambush. "Why are we friends, again?!"
The boy reappeared in the new spot, disoriented and open.
"We are not friends! I am just stuck with you for all eternity, hence I tolerate you more than the average pest."
"Will you two quit jabbering in a language I don't understand!" Noctis interjected over Imperatrix's response.
The fact they were bickering…or playfully bickering? He couldn't entirely tell...but all the same it ticked him off immensely.
"If you're gonna talk, do it so everybody can understand." He continued his grousing as the power of the armiger faded out and the dizziness hit.
Gladiolus covered him, noticing the drain. "You alright, Noct?"
"Just…great…" The prince wheezed, regaining his breath and then chugging down an ether from his pocket.
Summoning Ramuh took a load of magical energy and the back-to-back fighting was definitely putting him in crisis mode. Channeling the full armiger again was a no-go.
"What…about Specs and Prom?" Noctis felt the effects of the ether marginally return his magic.
"Prompto's fine from what I can tell. I don't know about Ignis, he's down. But since our cameraman's not crying his eyes out, he must be okay." Gladiolus couldn't risk more than a backwards glance to confirm his assessment with two imperials threatening them.
The news of his friends being anything but fine didn't cool the prince's head.
"I'm gonna make them pay." He called forth the engine blade.
"Don't be a hothead, both of them are on a completely different level from the small-fry we've dealt with."
"I know, I know!"
The princess groaned from the numbness shooting up her leg. "Ravus, I cannot face him. You must keep the mammoth at bay."
He huffed, brushing off the dirt on his uniform. "Do you not have a curative?"
"Yes, but I will use them sparingly."
"Fine." The high commander conceded, flexing his mechanical fingers. "Once I take out that waste of space, you will cede the prince to me. That is an order."
She laughed, sarcastically patting his back. "Your will, my hand."
Incapacitating them would be the only way for tempers to chill. Then maybe Imperatrix would be able to talk to the boys.
Pity, that they had to be beaten down first.
"What a show this has been." Ardyn mussed, watching all the fighting from above.
Laid out on a suspended crate, opera glasses magnifying the prince and princess, he smiled at how his pathetic pupil struggled to keep pace with his woman now that the crystal's magic wasn't giving him an unfair advantage. Noctis's technique was lazy due to the boy rarely facing someone he couldn't dispose of in minutes with all that flitting around.
Seeing Imperatrix so capable almost abated some of his hatred for Glauca's training methods for her. When he learned of the savage way he groomed her in the academy, Ardyn just about blew his cover, on a murder mission for the general.
That would've been the day he revealed his horrifying, scourge-bleeding face and every bit of the dark powers bequeathed to him by hordes of daemons dwelling inside his body. All to kill the bastard who purposely hurt Imperatrix out of spite.
Uncaring of the foul mood wafting off the chancellor like a toxic ocean, Iedolas approached him, demanding an explanation. What he heard led to the emperor locking them in his office and then talking Ardyn down like one of his children on a crazy streak.
Annoying and condescending at the time, but amusing years later.
Were it not for Imperatrix later painting the brute in a better light and stubbornly swearing that she could handle his methods, he'd have carried on with eventually killing the general under the noses of the royals. Glauca unfortunately got to extend his days due to a promise wrangled out of him by a snow-haired savior.
How he loved the princess, but she was too benevolent. It was more than satisfying to see the man reach his end in Insomnia.
Those revolting Lucian statues were good for something.
"Oh, Your Highness! What form, what elegance!" The chancellor cheered out loud in Persian for his ears and hers. "I can't take my eyes off of you!"
Her head flew around, searching for him and she paid for it. He groaned sympathetically as the princess got clubbed in the head by the handle of the prince's mace. She wobbled around, covering the afflicted area.
"Dear me, that had to hurt."
Ardyn directed his attention to Ravus.
The mechanical arm was still in the test phase, its more powerful functions weren't meant to be used by the wearer. He was benefitting from its durability, trapping Gladiolus's broadsword in his hand and then throwing the male around.
"Oh, oh, timber!" The red head yelled as the shield went down, a loud affair heard from all the way up to his perch. "Well done you two."
Ravus and Imperatrix disposed the core fighters with skill and wit, no magic involved. They were shaping up nicely, good adversaries for the trainees he unfortunately had to conduct towards greatness.
He'd make an empress out of the princess yet. She'd need an upgrade though…very soon.
Noctis and his retinue, frankly, were a disappointment. Drunk on magic, the idiotic boys neglected to physically improve themselves. Citadel training couldn't substitute real-world experience.
Although…it wasn't entirely their faults. So far, no worthy opponents opposed them, revealing how infantile the four actually were.
At this level, they were worthless. As worthless as the oracle.
Why was he surrounded by such weak mortals? In his time, people were far more sturdy.
Then again, those were the days of all manner of creatures inhabiting Eos. From gods to mythical beasts, humans had to face a lot worse. This time period was too peaceful and lax to produce real heroes of legend.
Why bother improving when the worst these people had to face were daemons they could hide from with the right means?
Weaklings...the lot of them.
"This won't do. I need you all to grow stronger." Ardyn removed the opera glasses from his eyes, sighing gravelly for what he needed to do next. "I hate doing this!"
He allowed the raging beasts closer to the surface, wincing as the familiar burning sensation followed the trail of sludge bleeding out his eyes. Worse, was the cough that escaped and with it, more deadly liquid pooling from his mouth.
"And so enters the master of night horrors." He muttered bitterly, amber eyes glowing in the darkness.
This wasn't even the worst of the transformation, barely crackling the glass.
"And she wants to lift the mystery? To see this?"A ragged chuckle escaped out. "Even I don't like seeing it. Sweet Musa, you could never love this."
Black tendrils of magic gathered around Ardyn. He disappeared in a flash of violet and black.
"Noct, Noct what're we gonna do?! Ignis and Gladio are both ko-ed!" Prompto whispered frantically to the prince standing in front of him as the vanguard.
He felt like a total failure! Everybody else had been working their butts off. Five-star players doing their best to take down the bosses.
And what did he do? Wave around a gun like an idiot.
"We're gonna finish this. They're both tired and we've got an advantage." Noctis lifted his lips in a sideways grin, reassuring the anxious gunner. "You and me are way better at combos."
He never imagined his civilian friend would be put through all this grim bullcrap. Prompto wasn't raised with this ugliness hanging over his head like himself, Gladiolus and Ignis. All three of them knew that at some point the fight might be brought to them and they were all willing to do what was necessary.
The Crownsguard training Cor put Prompto through was supposed to be for monsters and self-defense, not killing imperial soldiers.
Noctis wasn't blind. He saw how panicked and freaked out the blonde got at having to shoot people. Shit, the prince got clammy from plunging a blade into flesh and not metal, and he'd been conditioned for it.
Cyborgs, magitek, or whatever else the empire threw at them were things he hated, but now after a few trips to some imperial bases, Noctis preferred them over actual soldiers. They stopped moving and exploded upon defeat. No screams or…choking gasps from them.
Machines didn't cause a surge of upchucking everything in his stomach afterward when no one was looking.
What did he get himself into? This wasn't at all how life was supposed to turn out.
"Y-Yeah! We've got this." Prompto matched the prince's confidence, taking a deep breath before raising the gun.
Ravus steadied Imperatrix with an impatient tug on her arm.
"Tell me you do not have a concussion."
"Just a split brow." She removed her hand, red wetness seeping into her glove.
Damned Ardyn distracted her with his cheering.
"Then pluck up. The fight is still on."
"Enough. They are down half." The princess shook her head and then regretted it as blood leaked into her eye. "The time to talk is now."
"Bull! I will finish this." He denied her, proceeding forward.
"Ravus, stop!"
The white prince and black prince rampaged while the other companions hesitated to follow the leader. The gunner repeatedly moved his gun from the princess and yelling males.
Imperatrix observed him instead of attacking.
"How did you become part of Prince Noctis's retinue? Does he know who you are?" She quizzed the boy with none of Nebula's guile, wiping at her brow with a handkerchief.
Her retainer wouldn't have hesitated to shoot an enemy. Gender, age, or ethnicity meant nothing to him, a target was a target.
Seeing this boy brought forth regrets for what could have been. If…if the first one lived, would he have stayed soft like this anomaly in front of her?
"What do you mean? Of course Noctis knows I'm not nobility like Gladio and Ignis. But he doesn't care..." Some of his confidence shrunk in precedence for insecurities. "How do you know that? Have you guys spied on me or something?!"
"Your mind moves far too fast…" Imperatrix mumbled, groaning for the sensitivity of the cloth meeting her skin and enflaming the nerves.
The area was swelling up.
"Why is a Besithia allied with a Caelum? How is this possible?!"
"I've got no idea what you're talking about…" Prompto edged tentatively closer to the princess. "Are you okay?"
She kept cradling her face and wasn't making any moves against him or Noctis. Did Imperatrix not want to fight anymore?
He did hear her yell at Ravus, but since it wasn't English, the gunner didn't know what they said.
"Stay back, boy." Imperatrix halted him with a raised hand, craning her head in the direction of a noise she heard. "What…was that?"
The princess could've sworn it was the growling of a daemon, but none were in sight. Still, her nerves were strung with urgency.
So focused on finding monsters in the dark, the princess failed to prevent Ravus from seriously hurting Noctis.
"A weakling prince that is nothing without his servants to coddle him. Luna's sacrifice is wasted on you!" The high commander raved hatefully, prosthetic arm responding to his ill sentiments, black whips coiled around his body and clashed against the magic of Noctis.
Both their magical energies fought for dominance, coating the males in a ethereal shroud of color. The brilliance was both a repellant and beacon to those lurking in the shadows.
"Shut up! You don't have a leg to stand on, hiding behind all those machines!" The blunette pursed his lips, glaring at the man who didn't look anything like he remembered. "And Luna wouldn't have to sacrifice so much if you did your job as her brother and not the empire's lapdog!"
"Espèces de merinos mal peignes!"
"I don't know what you said, but I know it was an insult so right back at you, dickhead!"
Tired as he was, the prince lost ground. That slight give emboldened Ravus to lash all out with the malcontent energy, sending Noctis flying. The boy groaned, seizing up from the unnatural prickling he felt from something attempting to infiltrate him.
"Dammit! This stings!" Noctis rasped out. "What the hell?! I thought only Luna could use magic?"
His stomach churned and every gut instinct screamed from the wrongness of the sensations. His body worked wildly to expel the damage. Something about Ravus's attack messed with his magic, like his immune system was now going all-out on a virus before it infected him.
Shit! It felt similar to when his back became paralyzed from Starscourge.
How could Ravus have the same power as a daemon?!
"Disgraceful! I refuse to allow garbage to be my sister's death." The elder Fleuret stalked up to the fallen boy, lifting the saber for the final blow. "Destiny dies with you."
"I'd say that's far enough." Ardyn declared, fierce grip impeding the high commander from dealing the death-strike. "A hand, Highness?"
A smile of acid for the brat. His skin still itched terribly from the burning ooze of scourge. Fix-ups done by the beasts healed the wounds, but didn't erase the pain.
This wasn't a moment where he could ignore the discomfort.
Noctis got on his last nerve, both him and Lunafreya! Two children waving toys and flaunting their god-given gifts to make up for true artistry. He just wanted to throw them into the volcano of Ravatogh.
"Not from you!" The prince jumped to his feet, warping some feet from the imperials.
His skin crawled doubly from their presence. Funky, malicious, magical vibes bounced off them.
Ravus was one thing, being descended from oracles and blessed with light, but something was clouding that. If he was a puzzle, then the chancellor was a goddam rubik's cube, and Noctis loathed those kinds of games.
Ardyn was utterly creepy and made his insides nauseous. Despite all that, there weren't any indications that he was any different from a regular person. The weirdo shouldn't be giving Noctis any kind of magical reaction.
"Oh, but I'm here to help." The chancellor gestured to the high commander he was restringing by the wrist.
"You meddlesome knave." Ravus snarled faintly, prepared to shove the man off with his prosthetic, but as soon as the limb moved closer to Ardyn, a deep jolt of pain foiled the plan.
The red head skipped a few feet from the shorter man, an inaudible cackle tickling his throat as the elder Fleuret clenched at the metal betraying him.
How foolish! As if the darkness would strike its superior.
"Noctis!"
The prince turned, relieved to see all three of his companions coming to his aide.
Things got real dicey with both Gladiolus and Ignis out for the count. He hadn't realized it before, but the two of them were the backbones for his offensive style.
Noctis…relied heavily on them…
Prompto wasn't suited for close combat. When faced with two hard-hitters, the gunner's bullets weren't nearly as helpful as a broadsword or daggers.
Ravus…
The rat got him because he was already burned out from taking on the whole base and wining. No way would the traitor have won under normal circumstances!
"Why? Why now?!" The high commander glared crazily at the walkie-talkie, almost crushing it in his wrath.
He had Noctis! He had him!
"Stop it!" Imperatrix wrestled the device from him, raising the volume and extending the antenna to better hear.
Fearful of daemons being in the vicinity, she got Prompto to assist his fallen friends and then went on the imperial channels to verify the situation, but hers was fried from the lightning explosion. Ravus's was the next option.
Presently, the princess couldn't get a clear signal.
The daemons were in the area…but weren't attacking, fearful, wary, or waiting. They weren't in immediate danger due to this.
The same couldn't be said for the legion stationed on the outer perimeter. They were lucky to be excluded from Ramuh's range, but now they might be unlucky enough to face daemons.
"How are you going to help?" Ignis prudently studied the pair fiddling with the walkie and the chancellor.
Ravus and Imperatrix were speaking in French, thinking that would confound him since he revealed to be educated in Latin. Again, he was steps ahead of them. Their preoccupation with reserve forces wasn't a secret from him.
As advisor to the future king, Ignis was well educated. He knew most the languages spoken in Niflheim and Accordo.
Noctis would never be caught unaware under his supervision.
"By taking the army away." Ardyn answered, head tilting in mock sympathy for the boys and voice waning into a babyish timber. "You four look positively beat. Wouldn't want you biting the dust so soon."
More enemies would be a nightmare for them. This was primarily supposed to be a stealth mission, but Noctis misaimed his warp on an enemy. They weren't able to silence the fellow before another patrol spotted them, thereby alerting the whole place.
The prince pushed himself far too much, chugging ethers and hi-potions after summoning the God of Lightning. No telling how many more would be needed for a second summoning to quell another regiment.
If they could avoid a massive brawl, Ignis would at least hear out the chancellor.
"You expect us to believe that?" Gladiolus growled, finger pointing in the direction of the pair. "With them over there plotting?"
Imperatrix spared a glance for the hostile man, returning her attention to the dial of the walkie. She almost had a good signal.
"Give it to me!" Ravus seized the device, fed up with her tinkering.
"Do not be so rough with it."
"Be quiet."
"Be gentle."
Ardyn sighed, waving a hand at the feuding allies. "I know you only speak English, but does that look like plotting to you?"
Two people fighting over a walkie-talkie wasn't threatening at all.
"What're they arguing about? Dropping a bomb on our heads?" Noctis sneered, almost willing to believe the chancellor at how ridiculous the older adults looked.
"Funny, I thought that was your opening act."
There was an entire space of scorched land behind him to prove so.
Ignis thrust his hand out to prohibit the prince from lunging forward, pushing his glasses up his nose. "Why are they trying to contact the army if you have offered to remove them?"
Four heads flew in his direction. His associates were shocked and the chancellor looked impressed.
"Oh, yeah! Ignis was able to talk to the princess in her language." Prompto mentioned, going for a look of intimidation at Ardyn. "He can tell if you're lying!"
The red head couldn't help chuckling at the weak attempt.
Nebula was far more menacing. This kid was hilariously harmless.
"I'm so wounded to not have your faith!" Ardyn feigned sadness, hand over his heart. "I assure you, something more pressing than you all requires the army's attention."
"What does that—" Ignis whirled to face the loud noise of the walkie.
They'd gotten the right channel.
The lieutenant commander yelled for Ravus to aid them against a daemon horde. The high commander relayed orders for them to hold their ground until he arrived.
He exhaled, slowly facing the bane of his existence.
"We do not have time, let them go." Imperatrix insisted, taking ahold of his arm.
"What? Ready for round two?" Noctis balled up his fist, shrugging off his advisor's restrictive hand.
The princess stared at him, disappointed to how their meeting turned out. "Get in your car and leave, Prince Noctis."
He fell out of his defensive posture at hearing her speak in English for the first time.
The entire time they fought, not a word spilled from her lips, just the grunts of someone fighting a battle they didn't want to. He was well acquainted with those whines, often belting them out during his many training sessions with Gladiolus.
He'd shouted, insulted her, questioned her, and all she gave him were pitiful expressions. Her silence was an admission of guilt.
Imperatrix was the worst, saddest, excuse of a princess!
The woman probably helped destroy Insomnia. She didn't have any right to look sad, that was his right! He was the one to lose a dad!
"All of you, leave now." Imperatrix repeated, hand motioning to the Regalia. "You have your prize, take it and go."
The boys stood still, unsure of the offer and waiting for signs of a trap. The high commander's extreme displeasure with the princess's choice was proof enough that he didn't want to let them leave.
She tugged the man in the opposite direction of the prince. Ravus relented with a final enraged exclaim.
"Are they…really letting us go?" Prompto voiced quietly, afraid that he might jinx them by being louder.
"It…appears so." Ignis relaxed with two less imperials in the vicinity.
"But why?" Noctis kicked the ground, pissed about not giving them a smackdown.
"I vaguely heard someone mention daemons. That would explain their departure."
"Bingo! You are the savant of the group." Ardyn reminded them he was present, smirking at their poorly-hidden startles. "Do be good boys and drive off. I won't be able to save your skins a second time."
He gave a "shoo" motion with his hand. They in turn gave him withering looks of contempt, periodically glancing about for an ambush as they walked to the Regalia.
"My job is always so thankless." The red head turned his back on the prince, leisurely traveling towards the new problem.
Now to make sure he hadn't gone overboard with the distraction.
XV
"High Commander Fleuret!"
Ravus stopped his lieutenant from ramming into him with a palm to the frenzied man's shoulder.
"Calm yourself, Olberg." He ordered, swiftly analyzing the mayhem going on in front of the gate.
Lo and behold, exactly what he didn't want to be bothered with, was mucking up everything. An Iron Giant presided over the battlefield like it'd already won and was waiting for the peons of bomb daemons and grenade daemons to finish off the weakling humans scurrying from flames and explosions.
The screaming soldiers, the burning smell, the inhuman gurgling of night creatures, and the heat. All of it put Ravus in a fouler mood.
"Your orders, sir?" Erik Olberg asked with only a hint of trepidation after being admonished by his superior.
"Retrieve my weapon." He unhooked the standardized sword from his waist.
"But sir…you're still testing out the arm! Using Alba Leonis may be too much."
"I did not ask for your opinion, Lieutenant. Get my sword!"
"Y-Yes, High Commander Fleuret!" Erik wilted under his glare, saluting the man and then running to do as bid.
Ravus called for the princess in the thick of battle. "Catch woman!"
He lobbed the saber in her direction. The princess kicked away a detonating bomb, grasping the sword by the hilt and releasing it to slice another foe in half. She took a moment to cough, the detonated daemon's smoke infiltrating her lungs.
"How are you going to assist? Or will you stand above while your men fight?" Imperatrix yelled back to the man overlooking everything from his position on an overturned truck.
"Hold your tongue! I am in command." He dismissed their conversation to bark orders to the other soldiers fighting amongst her.
The injured were to retreat behind the barricade Ravus was having others establish beneath his position. The melee fighters were to engage the grenades, their defeat would spell the deaths of the bombs and thin out the herd. The ranged fighters were to retrieve supplies for combating the daemons and support the front line. All those instructions were given confidently and quickly, subduing the alarmed atmosphere.
The battle shifted in favor of the mortals.
Ravus needled her temper with his constant barbarous attitude, always picking a fight when there wasn't one because anger coursed in his body, and being an overall emotionally-constipated hedgehog. That was the man ninety-five percent of the time.
The other five-percent of the time, he was a prince, born to lead and protect.
"Commander Aldercapt stop smiling and get to it!"
She elevated a sword to the front of her face, saluting him with the grin still in place. His crossness with her tease couldn't be expressed anymore overtly by the heaviness of his frown and sinking eyebrows.
Imperatrix cut through the throng of daemons and licking flames, dual blades aiming for the boss. The Iron Giant hadn't done anything but stand sentry, highly irregular for its kind.
The ones she faced in Galahd came straight for blood.
Somehow the princess would have to overcome an enemy way out of her league with the limitations set upon her. There was no Lunafreya to weaken the beast or powerful magitek weapons to bolster her abilities.
The odds were terrible, but Imperatrix would face them.
"Stay back! This is one is formidable." She instructed the soldiers forming around her for protection.
"You can't face it alone!" One of them voiced what the others were thinking.
The exclaim was accompanied with loud agreements. They ignored the possible danger to safeguard the princess.
Part annoyed for the defiance, and part humbled by the loyalty, Imperatrix muttered the family motto before engaging the Iron Giant, trusting the stubborn men to fight smartly and not foolishly.
The daemon roared at the challenge, massive blade lifting in preparation.
"Use the flash grenades!" She shouted.
White filled the area, substituting the roar with a cry. Disoriented, the giant sunk to its knees, vulnerable to attacks.
"Attack while its guard is down!"
Everyone slashing and firing at the daemon did minimal damage against the monster's thick hide. Its defense was too strong for their equipment.
An outburst of dark energy sent all the attackers wheeling through the air. The Iron Giant stood to its full height, enormous hand opening.
"Run!" Imperatrix recognized the move.
They couldn't prevent it.
The soldiers heeded her words, but were too late.
Some of them screamed as gravity pulled them towards the daemon. The fortunate ones to escape the area of effect and the ones to avoid getting sucked in, helplessly looked for a solution to the grave issue.
Imperatrix groaned, a wail soon bursting out once she seized a man by the arm to keep him from being pulled in. Her grip on the saber stabbed into the ground was the only thing keeping them out of the creature's magic.
"How is this fair?!" She complained intelligibly with the whipping wind drowning out her voice.
The Caelums possessed magic. The Fleurets posted magic. Even goddam daemons possessed magic!
Why the hell couldn't the rest of the population have it as well?! She didn't normally covet it, but instances as these made Imperatrix fiercely envious.
She felt her arm might break from more men latching onto the one she was supporting. They became a swinging string of humans. The sword wobbled, loosening from the ground.
Imperatrix looked between the lone saber and the dozens of fearful eyes behind her.
People were relying on her.
Would she fail them? Fail them as she had so many others?
An entire garrison downed by a lightning rod of magic!
Hot liquid began to pool in her eyes at the thought of losing the remaining legion members. The choking feeling increased tenfold as she witnessed the Iron Giant plucking people circling it in the air from its gravity spell, squeezing the life out of them, disposing the broken bodies like toys, and then moving onto a another victim to repeat the cycle.
The body count was piling up!
Nothing…she was nothing...
Memento mori.
She couldn't save anyone!
"Why?! Why am I not strong enough?!" Imperatrix cried.
People like her father and mentor were so far ahead of her. Their strength absolute, victories assured to them.
Iedolas sailed the wide, blue seas, overcoming the mighty Altissan fleet and breaking up the Lucian-Accordian Allaince. Glauca rose so quickly through the ranks of the military and remained undefeated in battle, that he'd become a legendary tale to be repeated to recruits in the academy. She'd never reach their accolades, let alone surpass them...
The sword came loose.
Nothing kept them from the gravity spell now. The last of the humans rolled and flew towards an end.
Imperatrix had only eyes for the blade in her hand as she careened backwards, unseeing of the large, black hand coming for her.
It failed her…she failed it…
"En garde, daemon!" The warning followed with a surge of electricity hitting the giant.
The pitch black ball of death disappeared, freeing those caught in the spell to fall to the ground. The creature stumbled back still being attacked by the aftershocks.
"Ravus?" Imperatrix lifted her aching head from the gravel.
He'd been the cause of the lightning…not another episode of divine retribution.
"Move, Impera!" He shouted, swinging a completely new and artfully-crafted blade around, gathering energy from his arm and transferring it to the weapon.
She plunged her sword into the daemon's leg, impeding its approach and giving time for the high commander to the finish the charge.
With a mighty swing of violet lightning, the arm of the Iron Giant was severed before it could kill Ravus. Its cries pierced the night, a discordant wail of murderous rage.
"Oh, shut up." He rolled his arm, mildly uncomfortable with the recoil of channeling dark energy.
Push too far and the metal arm would overtake him. Not even his natural born light would be enough to purify it.
"What is that? Is it a new model from Besithia?" Imperatrix assessed the magitek with envy.
"Alba Leonis, a weapon that augments the elemental attacks of my arm." Ravus smirked challengingly at her. "It is on par with Borealis."
"I doubt that." She refuted, competitive side stoked.
"It was gifted to me personally by the emperor."
"You are a an—" Imperatrix staunched her curse. "We have a daemon to defeat."
Giving Ravus a piece of her mind would have to wait.
Losing a limb hadn't deterred their foe. It clumsily brandished the great sword in its non-dominant hand, kicking the amputated arm out the way. The arm dissolved into miasma.
"Since I have the better offense, you will distract it." The high commander didn't wait for the princess's consent, moving out of sight.
"You are pushing your luck, brother-in-law." She mumbled tightly.
Back to one blade, the princess adjusted her form. She took the lead in clashing with the one-armed foe, evading the deathblows and inflicting damage. Ravus joined in with a devastating plunge into the leg Imperatrix previously stabbed.
Once more, the Iron Giant became vulnerable, collapsing to the ground.
"Princess Imperatrix use this!" Erik tossed a collection of a flash grenades wired together over a mini-bomb.
She gaped at it once it was in her hands.
He held up the switch to detonate it, finger hovering over the button. "Please get it in place, Your Highness!"
"This is craziness." The princess ran, setting the incendiary underneath the daemon.
Ravus jumped backwards at discerning what she planned. He dug more into the darkness, charging Alba Leonis for the last time.
Erik commenced a countdown.
The Iron Giant roused in the middle of their preparations.
"Ravus…" Imperatrix appealed to the man still standing in range of the daemon. "Get away from there!"
"Be silent!"
"S-Sir…you're too close." Erik paused in the countdown, eyes widening at the enemies return to vigor.
"Be silent, I said!" The high commander's entire being lit up with magical energy.
The sword became a huge extension of light, massive amounts of sparks bouncing off it. Both the princess and the lieutenant commander were enchanted by the display.
"What're you doing?! Detonate the bomb, Olberg!"
"R-Right! Y-Yes, sir!" Erik automatically obeyed, forgetting that his superior was in the blast range.
The explosion blinded everyone for a minute. When sight became clear, the onlookers weren't sure if it was their imagination, but they all saw the high commander cut into his enemy with ease, showered in currents of energy.
More irradiant than any of his previous battles.
"I slayed an Iron Giant…" Ravus panted, drained and cold.
Tickling at the back of his head made him twitch. An echo of something wicked begged for release…
His mechanical arm hurt more than it should.
"My friend, that was an amazing display!" Imperatrix congratulated the man with a pat on the arm.
The man straightened, tiredly meeting her beaming eyes. An infinitesimal iota of satisfaction beat at Ravus's chest, but he refused to let it show.
He didn't care about her praise and they weren't really friends! He just allowed the princess to categorize them as such.
All he needed was his sister. And maybe...but not really…
Furia...
"We need to gather the men. They will require healing." Moving onto business was an easy escape for the Elder Fleuret.
Small talk was garbage.
"Are you…blushing?" Imperatrix asked, giggling when Ravus denied the accusation, jerking his head to cover more of his face with that ghostly-white hair. "You are! If you were nicer to me, more compliments would fly your way."
"I do not want your flirtations. I am married!" He sneered.
"That was not what I meant and I would never flirt with a typhoon."
"But a jester is fine?"
She instantly knew who was being referenced and a denial was incoming, but the man went on, inconsiderate of her reply.
"It was a strange thing…the princess no longer entertained by her jester. Very strange indeed to see someone so affable intentionally lukewarm."
Gossip shared with him over dinner by Furia. Ravus wasn't sure if he believed it.
Then she arrived with the chancellor, completely at ease in his presence after more than a year of absence and years of arguing with the man's policies. Perhaps his scandalmonger of a wife deserved more credence. She spotted secrets better than anyone and used them to her advantage.
"Gather the injured and bring them behind the barricade." Ravus ordered to an approaching Erik.
Imperatrix stood frozen.
Why had he brought that up? Why did he even know?
She was open with her affections, hugging and kissing people on the cheeks, typical court mannerisms that wouldn't start vile allegations. The way she behaved around the chancellor in public wasn't any different from her mannerisms with the people in her inner circle. As much as it grated her nerves, Imperatrix shelved any amorous actions towards Ardyn when others were present, saving them for when they were alone.
Nothing could stay secret it seemed...
But why did it even have to be hidden at this point?
She was twenty-eight with many failed betrothals. Her station demanded someone of rank, but that just wasn't possible. They'd try to take the throne. Ardyn was the logical choice, having no ambition for a crown, but someone already immersed in their court.
Didn't she say hiding was over?
Open courtship...and something more...
Life would change once she returned home. How would she convince Ardyn though? Getting him on her side would make persuading her father definitively easier.
Her heels filled the silent walk to the men, until something louder stopped her pensive gait.
A loud bang on the steel doors terminated all activity.
Apprehension thick in their chests, eyes focused on the double doors, hoping the noise was a trick of the mind. Another bang shattered hope and the emerging indents in the stalwart defense plunged the people right back into dismay.
The battle wasn't over. The night might yet claim them.
XV
"What on earth is that thing doing here?! I didn't call for it." Ardyn grimaced, guilt circulating in the hollow where his humanity was supposed to be.
What was left of it anyway.
An Iron Giant was above their level, but still manageable with tactics. An evolved, more powerful red species…was completely overdoing it.
No one in the base could overcome a Red Giant, not even Noctis's group was at that junction.
Unintentionally, he'd put Imperatrix in mortal danger…and this time he wasn't a hundred-percent sure she could get out of the bind without assistance. Revealing himself this early would be unwise…but what else could he do?
Dammit, dammit, dammit!
As his old friend would tell him, Ardyn had a knack for causing trouble wherever he went. The adrenaline-junky fool would be laughing his ass off if he could see this, and then most likely beat him senseless for endangering their shared treasure.
Ardyn missed him…and he missed her…
Musa and Tellus, the missing two of their trio. Well...only one was missing at this point.
"This is why I don't play with darkness. The results are too unpredictable!" The chancellor groaned and then ducked down as debris went flying over his head, glowering at the stupid Red Giant. "Damned Starscourge. There should be a manual for my condition."
Suffice to say, things weren't looking good for Ravus and Imperatrix. Both were on the last legs of endurance, defending what was left of the legion.
He meant to push the princess, not kill her. This was one of those glaring moments that proved she was better off without him. But hey, he was the Accursed, the greatest sinner of Eos, selfishness was expected on his part.
What did being selfless ever do for him? Completely and utterly screw him over because higher beings could give a fig about the goodness of a human heart.
The kindly sage gig was overrated. If he wanted to have an inamorata again, then Ardyn would. Pity be given for any fool that dared take from him the one person to animate his slumbering soul.
The first tragedy wouldn't be repeated in this lifetime.
"What have we here?" The chancellor dusted off his coat from a swerving car kicking up dust.
Four boys jumped out the Regalia.
"Your Highness what brings you back? Didn't get your fill of ruination?"
"God, do you ever stop being a creep?" Noctis rolled his eyes, mood fringing on animosity despite his compulsion to help.
Listening to Gladiolus and Ignis bitch about how stupid he was for turning around had dissolved the last of his social graces.
They were Niffs and the ultimate enemy. Yeah, yeah, yeah, blah, blah, blah!
He knew that better than anyone. It was his city demolished, his whole life turned upside down, his dad taken from this life!
"This isn't the place for naive heroics. You have no idea what you're walking into." Ardyn warned, theatrics gone for an air of seriousness that only seemed to invigorate the prince more.
"I don't need your concern. I can handle myself." He brushed off the fake caution with a scoff. "Besides, wasn't it you that said all this was my fault?"
The destruction of the generator, curtesy of godly smiting via his covenants, allowed the daemons in. Ardyn made it very clear in that bogus-deferential manner of his, that having Ramuh destroy seventy-five percent of the base was highly unnecessary, and not to mention, lazy of him.
Screw him! And that stupid, unfashionable hat that ticked him for no reason! Ugh, the chancellor's entire fashion sense was just gross, grandpa-gross of epic proportions.
The Niffs deserved worse than what he did. This didn't have shit on Insomnia!
"A guilty conscious…how unexpected of you…" Ardyn murmured more to himself than the group, vision momentarily replacing Noctis with a similar, more unpleasant person.
He wanted to wrap his fingers around the traitor's neck!
"Noct, I feel I must insist on a retreat. That is a high level daemon!" Ignis informed the prince after his analysis was finished, pushing his glasses up to cancel out the magic. "It has no weaknesses…"
"It's gotta have one. No daemon is invulnerable." Gladiolus claimed, breaking into a jog behind Noctis, who irresponsibly ignored his advisor. "Find it, Ignis!"
He huffed at their meat-headed proclivity of smashing and slashing through problems. "What would you all do without me?"
"I'll cover you until you figure it out, Iggy." Prompto offered helpfully, spinning his gun to load it.
"Much appreciated."
The last two entered the battle.
"Children must learn things the hard way, I suppose." Ardyn returned to his vigilant post of leaning against the barricade.
He'd only intervene if Imperatrix was in a true bind.
Noctis threw his sword, feeling his body go through the familiar tug of a warp. He appeared in front of the Red Giant, trading a brief glance with the imperial princess as she flipped off its arm, concluding her assailment just as he began his.
"What're you doing here?!" Imperatrix wailed, terror increasing with the appearance of each boy. "I told you to leave!"
Gladiolus ran past her, almost bumping into the princess and toppling her. He looked over his shoulder, growling out. "We don't take orders from Niffs."
She really didn't like him.
Listening to him trash-talk with Ravus had proved exceedingly vexing. Some of the things he said were disgustingly sexist.
Imperatrix was a commander, an earned position, and equally as capable as Ravus! If not more since she faced the toughest soldier in the army, Glauca, and tied their matches, even once wining, something no one in all Niflheim could boast.
Talent wasn't handed to her, she trained hard to be a valuable asset on the field! All those hours of condition and training could have been spent in leisure with her family or lover, but that wasn't the route afforded to her when the princess had to prove her worth to every noble in power looking down on her for being a woman.
She loved her late brothers fiercely and tried hard to never hold an ounce of resentment towards them, but their births made her life needlessly difficult. The succession laws mandated that boys came before girls, regardless of age differences. Those laws forced her to work ten times harder to retain the role of heir apparent.
Then her brothers passed...and she still wasn't worthy in the eyes of the nobility...
How dare Gladiolus insinuate the high commander hid behind a weak princess's skirt! The mammoth couldn't even best Ravus, a man smaller than him, using a saber against a broadsword.
Hell no, how dare that asshole insult her! After all the agony she put herself through to be powerful!
"Don't act all high and mighty when you're bleeding all over the place." Noctis barked, trembling under the force of the daemon's blade.
"Especially since we didn't have to save your imperial asses." Gladiolus added, right beside the prince and endeavoring to keep that humongous, sharp taste of death from them.
Pressure of the opposition caused both of their feet to sink into the ground, cracking it.
"Put your back into it, Noct! I can't do all the work!"
"I'm trying!" He disputed, speech reduced to grunts and groans as his arms began to numb and their defense crumbled, enemy sword tilting precariously closer to him.
"Get those puny arms up!"
Noctis mentally cursed his shield out.
"T-This is an enemy…we cannot d-defeat…" Imperatrix coughed, dizziness thwarting her steps and she tripped, falling to her knees.
Multiples of the fighting prince and shield in different color spectrums took over her sight. A sign of too much blood loss and the head injury getting to the princess.
"Ravus?" She looked around for the blonde.
He'd used too much energy on the first giant and became slower and sloppier, an easy target. Imperatrix took the lead even though she was ill-matched, covering and protecting men against a being triple her size and triple her prowess.
Imperatrix was doomed to fail and she understood that before the first swing of her sword. Victory wasn't her goal, distraction was.
They were all supposed to run…
"R-Ravus…" Imperatrix didn't have the strength to stand.
Coughs racked her body till blood was spat onto the ground as she attempted to move closer to her comrade. The high commander escaped her vision for a moment, replaced with dots.
The giant had broken one of her swords and the largest piece ended up puncturing her hip. The painful combination of the cut on her leg and the repeated hits to her arm made Imperatrix feel numb from one side of the body to the other. Breathing was proving to be difficult so a rib must've cracked. Toping it all off was the throbbing headache from her split eyebrow.
Wrecked didn't even being to describe her state of being.
"Be still, Princess Imperatrix." Proper instincts took over and Ignis carefully helped the woman onto a reclined position.
She barely registered him, blinking uncomprehendingly.
"Dude, nothing is working on this thing!" Prompto whined, firing nonstop at the toughest daemon he'd faced.
Even his heavy artillery machine guns weren't doing more than nicking the giant.
"Prompto watch it!" Noctis yelled after a bullet grazed his ear and then got the daemon in the eye.
"Sorry, sorry! Still getting the hang of this thing."
The prince gave him a minor scowl and then went back to warping all over, cycling through all the weapons to see which one would prove damaging for the Red Giant.
So far…he wasn't having any luck with the normal weapons. A Royal Arm might do the trick…
"I told you, it has no weaknesses! All we can do is hold out till morning or run." Ignis kneeled closer to Imperatrix, prepared to address the concerning hip injury.
The white uniform of hers was drenched red.
"Until dawn…it's almost here…" Imperatrix whispered. "I can…hold…"
"You think too much of yourself." He dismissed her rambling, meticulous hands removing the blade in her side and immediately covering the wound with his jacket to prevent more blood flow. "Further combat is out of the question for you."
She whimpered, recoiling from his aid. "Get off!"
"Stop resisting! You're making it worse!" Ignis's hands hovered unsurely, wanting to respect her space, but also not wanting her to sporadically go into cardiac arrest.
He settled for letting the princess to scoot further away. Imperatrix ignored his worried chastising, unbuttoning her coat.
"W-What're doing?!"
What kind of princess continuously flustered her enemies like this?! Where was her decorum?!
Hi-potion in hand, she chugged the entire thing.
The world stopped spinning, stopped showing her doubles, and returned to a balance of dark colors. All the wounds weren't fixed, but were no longer critical.
Imperatrix could fight.
"Running is not an option. There are still injured people behind the barricade. They would become its prey." The princess removed the suit jacket from her side, offering it back to the owner with a slight amount of bashfulness. "Thank you…for your help…"
"You are welcome." Ignis took the item, lamenting over its ruined state, but knowing it couldn't be avoided.
He wasn't going to watch a woman bleed out in front of him, even if she was of Niflheim.
"The night is almost over." She regarded the changing sky, the ink black lightened to the violets and pinks of twilight.
Ravus had defended them and now he needed to be protected. Passed out among the wreckage with his mechanical arm sparkling, he was hers to safeguard.
No way would she allow him or anyone else to die!
"Princess Imperatrix stop!" Ignis hastily finished withdrawing all the items out of his coat pockets and transferred the curatives to his pants pockets, leaving the magic flask betweens his fingers for immediate use.
"Not now, not ever!"
He tsked, on her heels in a matter of seconds and tossing a flask with a shout of warning. The Red Giant became sucked up in a blizzard and the area became a snowfield.
Were all royals such neurotic hard-heads? Unheeding of advisors?
"Guess we've got a princess joining our party." Prompto shivered, sneezing right on cue with his gun going off and missing the mark.
"Our odds still suck though." Noctis sulked, puffing out breaths as the Royal Arm literally sucked the life out of him. "Dammit, Iggy. It's freaking cold now!"
"We must make do with them." Imperatrix kicked a stray flash grenade at the daemon, covering the weakened prince.
He shook his head free of the thick snow on top of his head, regretting it as some got inside his coat to the neck. "Cold, cold!"
"My life these past eleven years." The princess fussed, zipping through the snow-covered field as if it were Gralean land.
Harsh climates weren't an obstacle for her.
"Of course she's okay in the cold. The ice princess." Noctis rolled his eyes, entering a warp to save himself the embarrassment of slipping on ice or sinking into snow.
He'd seen Gladiolus accidentally sink into the snow from his heavy weight and Ignis saved him from being crushed in a death-grip.
Nope, nope. He wasn't going to get an anticlimactic end.
All four Lucians fought alongside the imperial in an icy wonderland, issues shelved for the singular purpose of outlasting the Red Giant. When it was humans versus daemons, differences could be put on hold.
Pure adrenaline and the will to survive kept them all fighting at one-hundred percent. None would accept death that day.
Struggles end finally came with the first ray of gold.
The daemon bellowed its first cry of agony, wildly flailing at the sting of sunrise's touch. As the world shifted from night to daylight, creatures of darkness were banished back to their dwellings.
Dissolving black mist lifted the spirts of those on the edge of desperation. The closing wail of the Red Giant and its burst into particles earned collective sighs of relief.
They survived an encounter with one of the most dangerous daemons!
"Finally! T-That was h-horrible." Noctis slumped, struggling to hold up an unstable Prompto. "W-Worst battle ever…"
"I-I'm dead…" The gunner went down, taking the prince with him. "Ah, gross man! You're all wet and sticky! Is it sweat or the snow?!"
"Don't know, don't care." Noctis was out of his mind exhausted, giving no effort to move off his friend.
"Noct, sleeping here is not advisable." Ignis looked down on his liege, vibrating with impatience and aggravation.
His hair lost all its styling and was messily framing his face. Added on to that, his suit was torn and dirty, beyond saving by dry-cleaning. For a perfectionist like him, this state of appearance was highly unacceptable, doubly so since foreign royalty was witness to it.
Another Crownsguard Fatigue spoiled.
"I'm dead." The prince reiterated Prompto's sentiment, closing his eyes to the harsh sunlight that seconds ago he'd been thrilled to see. "I hate being up in the morning."
The thrill faded fast.
"Quit whining and get up. We're all tired." Gladiolus got ahold of the blunette's shirt, manually lifting the boy off Prompto.
Expecting the prince of naps to obey a sensible request proved useless. The shield's chest rumbled with disapproval.
When would this kid ever get it together?
"Bug off, Gladio."
"Noct, you're being a real brat and it's getting on my last nerve."
"Then take a hike."
The crabby pout took the brunnette back to the days where he hated Noctis's guts.
"Hey!" The prince complained, hand tugging on the bigger one balling up his shirt.
"Enough! Do not behave like children when you are adults!" Ignis separated the two before things really got physical.
Gladiolus took his duties as the crown's shield seriously and when something or someone was threatening those responsibilities, he didn't react logically. They were still in enemy territory so the man's frustration was understandable, but he needed to learn to control his temper.
"What is she doing?" Gladiolus crossed his arms, wild mood zeroing in on the princess instead.
He'd failed too many times as a shield during their infiltration, losing to Ravus and losing to the daemon. He wouldn't fail again.
Imperatrix walked on, paying no heed to the boys. She sat on her knees, laying down the sword blackened with blood and retrieving the last curative from inside her coat.
Gently, the princess cradled Ravus in her arms, tilting his head to administer the hi-potion. He greedily drank the entirety of it, gasping for breath once done.
"I-Imperatrix?" The high commander uttered after she laid him on her lap.
"It is I. You are not dreaming, my friend."
"H-How? I could not…" He fluttered his eyes, wincing from sunlight entering his eyes and not moonlight.
She hesitated for fear of riling him up, but replied honestly. "Prince Noctis and his retinue helped hold off the daemon."
The mention of his enemy stirred Ravus into full awareness better than coffee might have. The man jolted up, mismatched eyes casting about for the dark-haired boy.
"You!" He spat after locating his target.
All four of the young males accelerated his temper into a range of frequencies. Anger, shame, and disgust exploded like never before inside him.
They came to his aid?! Disgraceful! Unacceptable!
He wouldn't accept it!
What was the point of tarnishing himself with the magitek arm if he couldn't be stronger than Noctis?! Ravus knowingly infused his body with a daemon all to gain the power he was denied by the ring. He didn't desecrate himself for no damn reason!
In tune with his fury, his lieutenant and a few other soldiers ran into the area, protectively arranged around their superiors with guns raised at the Lucians.
They wouldn't be able to do much, considering they were all in varying states of damaged, but if ordered, the men would lay down their lives for the two that fought for them.
"This is why you should've gotten your lazy ass up." Gladiolus snapped at Noctis.
He was done.
His great sword was just gonna boomerang around the imperials and take them out like dominoes. Unappreciative bastards deserved it and his father would have retribution with every fallen foe.
"You should've just carried me then. You've got the muscles for it." The prince denied responsibility, still on the ground, but at least sitting up to summon the engine blade as an omen of what would happen if the imperials made the wrong move.
"Will you two stop it?!" Ignis hissed, subtly palming a flask behind his back.
Dropping it would release the cure spell.
All the four wanted at this point was to drive off to the nearest haven and crash in their tent. How had a simple infiltrate and retrieve mission gotten so complicated?
"Arrest them." Ravus announced.
"Yes sir." Erik gave the signal for an advance.
"Have you no honor? They saved us and you would chain them?" Imperatrix said in French to save the man the indignity of her questioning him in front of the men.
"I will not let them leave." The high commander couldn't stand the thought of Noctis holding one over him.
The shit lost to him! He was the victor!
Destiny…
Destiny could be changed if Ravus could defeat the Chosen King. His sister wouldn't have to die for that leech. That was all that mattered!
"Personal grievances do not supersede debts. We owe him!" The princess squeezed Ravus's arm. "We must let them go."
"I cannot."
"Then…you are a dishonorable coward…"
The absence of her hand and the resigned disappointment of Imperatrix unnerved the elder Fleuret. He found himself suffering an unrecognizable pitfall in his stomach.
"Stop!" Ravus yelled in Latin.
"High Commander?" Erik lowered his gun and the others followed.
"Leave them be."
The man's blue eyes flickered unsurely between his superior and the Lucians, but he and the men retreated obediently once the platinum-blonde showed no signs of changing his mind again. The lieutenant hid his relief at not having to fight the magical group by tugging his military hat further over his face.
"Oh, it was so tense! I didn't know how things would go." Ardyn strolled on stage, stopping between the two sides.
The high commander scoffed, his departure was swift with the interference of the chancellor. Erik followed, but left the others to guard the princess.
"Once more if I may." Ardyn smiled sardonically, feeding off the exasperation of his audience. "A hand, Highness? I've more than proven to be helpful."
"This guy doesn't quit." Noctis rubbed his eyes, dismissing the sword and accepting a hand from Ignis to stand.
Imperatrix approached the group, raising a hand at the sound of multiple footsteps behind her. The soldiers stayed back.
"Chancellor Izunia shall escort you all to the Regalia." She proposed once beside the red-head.
"It'd be my pleasure, Princess." Ardyn concurred, ruefully grinning at the boys. "We've become such good acquaintances."
"We don't need—" Noctis lost the ability to speak at Imperatrix bowing her head.
"You have my utmost gratitude for your assistance, Prince Noctis."
He blushed at her earnest recognition, rustling his hair to play it off. How often did people actually thank him for things without a side comment to basically nullify the appreciation?
"I-It w-was nothing." The prince stuttered unintelligibly.
Someone stab him. Weren't imperials supposed to be super cocky? Did the princess have to destroy that stereotype and put him on the spot like this?
"Manners, Your Highness." Ignis reminded, a review on protocol developing in the back of his mind.
Nobles of Insomnia were used to Noctis's informal, borderline unrefined decorum, but they were out in the real world now. The young heir would have to represent himself better from now on.
"You're welcome!" The blunette tried again at the behest of his advisor.
The declaration came off a little too aggressively from his mortification. Ignis sighed while Gladiolus smirked and Prompto smiled awkwardly.
A female was thanking him and his "mom" was hounding him. Too much to process at the crack of dawn on his drained mind. Noctis didn't feel as shamed as he should for the outburst.
Imperatrix twitched. Not knowing the boy well, she couldn't tell if the eruption was a reminder of all that stood between them, or an abashed juvenile youth at work.
"This is not what I wanted…" She gazed mournfully at the prince and the empty wasteland behind him.
Talking just wasn't in their nature it appeared. Every meeting of humans escalated into a disagreement. Violence was in their nature, it was the unified language every mortal learned.
How sad and bleak…
"I hope we will next meet under better circumstances."
"Why would you want to?" The prince asked.
She smiled wanly, comparing the son to the father, hoping the former wouldn't become someone permanently opposite to her. "To fulfill a promise of peace."
Imperatrix left the Lucians in the hands of Ardyn, joining the rest of her group. She reclined on the wall next to the high commander. He didn't acknowledge her.
"Want to hear something funny?" The princess could feel all her energy dwindling, immense pain restored to control from the conclusion of "fight or flight".
"What, Impera?" The usual bite was gone.
"I went out drinking yester—the day before yesterday." She corrected herself since the sun in the sky precluded another adventure, a stream of millions of tomorrows. "I was hungover during this entire episode."
The absurdity stole into his chest and the elder Fleuret wheezed out an unbelieving laugh.
Everyone just had to slap him in the face. His victories were short-lived.
Was he or was he not stronger than both Imperatrix and Noctis?!
How much more would it take for him to reach a level of strength to make a difference? How much more would he need to push himself?
Love…
All that ridiculous jabbering Imperatrix did made it sound like something divinely wonderful. It didn't feel that way to him. Love was a curse, the worst curse of all. The pain that came from it was more devastatingly than any wound from a weapon.
The most unescapable pain in the world was a broken heart. If Ravus didn't improve himself, that was what waited for him.
He would lose the last piece of his family.
"Worst hangover…ever. I shall not be drinking for a long while." Imperatrix picked at her coat.
The blood stains weren't going to come out. Today was the entire outfits last debut.
"And Luna? Still including her in your debauchery?"
"She handled herself better this time. Hard-headed as her brother, but she learns."
"No, she does not…"
How many times did he tell her not to overuse her gifts and she did it anyway? Giving away bits of her soul every time she healed a Starscourge victim?
The covenants were the nails in the coffin. Each one robbed her more than healing thousands of people. She would become a soulless husk, fading into aether.
Lunafreya wasn't blessed by the Astrals, she was cursed.
"Princess Imperatrix, High Commander Fleuret, the medics have requested you two have an examination." Erik gestured to a separate tent set up for them.
They both shared a glance, noting how messy the other was. Neither protested the appeal, submitting themselves to medical officers.
The princess all but collapsed onto the pallet, mindlessly doing as instructed. Her mind went hazy at some point and she couldn't remember when the checkup ended.
One moment she was being undressed by a female and helped into a spare uniform behind a curtain. The next moment, she was asleep on the pallet, cozy beneath a warm, heavy coat and submerged in a familiar scent that made her insides flip pleasantly.
"Ardyn?" Imperatrix looked in the direction of the fingers stroking over her face, namely on the wrappings.
"Yes, my dearest." He cooed affectionately. "You did so well."
The opening in the tent flap cast him in an orange glow. His hair truly looked the part of flickering flames and she wanted to tangle her finger in it, but she couldn't find the energy to move.
"You were right…" The princess gave up on movement, settling for sleepily peering at Ardyn, who'd never looked so serene before…like he was meant to be covered in light.
"Right about what?"
"I didn't like this surprise."
The chancellor chuckled weakly, culpable for putting her in this condition. He didn't expect the idiot to blow up the place. That wasn't what he meant at all when wished for entrainment!
"Magic blazing" didn't mean magic blast the size of a crater! Thank you Ramuh, you shriveled, old thundercun...
"I promise to make this up to you, Musa." Ardyn moved his eyes from the bandages inciting his mind to his vulgarities.
Most the supplies had been lost and what was left got used throughout the night. Ravus and Imperatrix were lucky to get potions, though as many as they were given basically drugged them. In the princess's case, she'd also needed a blood transfusion and was extra loopy.
Evident by the lewd scrutiny she was gracing him with. "Indeed you will, Caesar."
"Oh? That's what you want?"
"Yes." She nodded as seriously as she could while doped up, which wasn't much and tired her out quickly. "And Nyx too."
He snorted with the first burst of hilarity and then muffled the rest of his laughter. The chancellor checked to see if Ravus was still out of commission.
"Both of us, at the same time? You want to experience your first ménage à trois?" He clarified, visualizing a future scenario and becoming excited for the prospect.
"My very own harem." Her hum sparked a delicious thrum in him.
This was why he loved this woman. Never dull.
Ardyn leaned near Imperatrix's ear. "Try him out first and then we can talk about breaking him in."
"Furia was half-right."
The man became confused at the abrupt veer of conversation. "I don't follow…"
"You're a greedy sampler of both." The princess smirked brazenly. "Fine. I'll share my bounty with you."
She then promptly dozed off. The chancellor tucked his coat in more securely around her, rolling from his side to his back afterwards.
"We tease in equal measures, my dear. I highly doubt you'll remember this tantalizing conversation." He dug out his phone from his coat, leisurely twirling Imperatrix's wavy hair around a finger as the device rung.
"Are you bringing Impera back or do I need to retrieve her?" Nebula got right to the point.
"Bring the ship and tell Lady Lunafreya her healing abilities will be needed upon arrival."
"How bad is she? I can just buy an elixir…maybe even a hi-elixir if I look hard enough."
"You really don't like her." Ardyn teased.
The gunman would rather spend thousands of gil than utilize a free source. How uneconomical of him.
"She makes my skin crawl with all that light magic."
"Believe me, I know. But that knee-jerk odium has to be set aside." The red head glanced at the sleeping princess. "Impera will pitch a fit if I have her healed, but not the rest of the injured troopers. Let the oracle get in some training."
"Understood."
"Oh, and…we'll have to pick someone else up too."
That information got a sigh out of Nebula.
"Don't worry, it's only Izzy."
"I'm doing the opposite. Two siblings in the same space as me is a nightmare."
"You're being tortured for a good cause, Nebula the Ace."
Imperatrix needed her equipment if she was ever going to stand a chance for what was coming. He wouldn't leave her defenseless when the sun went dark.
Fantasy would become reality. Ardyn was molding her into an empress.
He was a certified kingmaker for Noctis and Imperatrix. One would become the Chosen King and the other the Empress of the World. His greatest masterpieces.
- 16
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