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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
- 17
- 18
- 19
This is the longest chapter I have ever written before. If the story feels like it's dragging then it's because I'm writing it less like a video game and more like a book. The story is more character-driven than anything because I found the characters to be the most interesting aspect of XV, not exactly the game itself.
Latin

Die Defunctorum- Day of the dead. The real holiday celebrated by Spanish countries, but called Dia de Muertos.

Ante Meridiem- Before Midday. What A.M. actually stands for, but most people don't know.
XV
"Wakey, wakey, Shitty Princess of the empire which the sun never sets!" Yelled Tempesta, punctuating the order with a solid kick to the bundled-up woman, thereby sending her tumbling off the bed.
An asshole move to never be used on someone ingrained with paranoia from numerous battles.
"What's going on?!" Imperatrix bolted off the floor, wildly assessing the situation for danger, though her entanglement with covers caused her to faceplant with the floor.
Tempesta roared with laughter, bending over to cover her aching abdominal muscles.
The princess scowled at the masked clown, very much wanting to kick out the blonde's legs and put the girl in a chokehold like she enjoyed doing to others. Give the brat a taste of her own medicine.
If anybody understood the sanctity of rest, it was the two Besithias. Why did Tempesta rudely wake her up?!
"You've been clonked out for two days. Get up already." She explained hoarsely once her lungs gave out from laughing too much. "Some of us want to eat."
"Eat? I'm…on Setzer? How?" Imperatrix crawled onto the bed, wriggling out of the mess and rolling onto her back. "Where's Ardyn?"
Last she was awake, the chancellor hovered over her in a medical tent, whispering scandalous temptations. Or was she the one offering enticement? It was all a little fuzzy.
"Dandy's on the ship with everybody else. Damn, it's gotten crowed in here."
"Crowded?"
"Yeah, we got more losers thanks to you." Tempesta tugged on the princess's pajama pants. "Will you go get dressed so I can eat already? First meal of the day is important!"
Imperatrix made a noise of displeasure, body moving on autopilot to retrieve a more formal sirwal and tunic for the unknown guests. Judging by her retainer's surprisingly presentable mix of full-length pants and a halter top, the unknown guests must be ones they needed to stand on ceremony with.
How inconvenient, making her spruce up like she was living in the Domus Aurea. This was an airship, the princess was allowed to be lazy!
Once in the shower, she couldn't detect any injuries on her body, not even the ones left unchecked by the potion. Everything felt perfectly fine in her awakened state, better even with a fleck of something magical resting on her person.
Light and free as a feather in the wind, a completely unnatural recovery possible only by one little oracle.
"Did Lunafreya heal me?" Imperatrix sat on the bed with Tempesta, braiding her long, damp hair.
"Yup. Shook the shit out of me." She bobbed her head, mask rattling from the movement. "Not just you either, Ravus and the other soldiers all were healed with one song."
"She is getting stronger…"
Lunafreya was a good girl at heart, frosty, but sweet. Thinking that she would leave people to suffer just because they were imperial was a little too heartless. The girl gave help where it was needed, as she'd been raised to do by her family and the church of Tenebrae.
A Holy Mother withholding her healers touch would be blasphemous.
"Guess so…"
Fidgeting with her leg kicking into the cushions to make deep dents, Tempesta chucked off her mask. The odd faces she was making, sharp teeth chewing into her lip and furrowed eyebrows, clued in the princess to the fist fighter's troubled mind.
"I thought you were in a hurry to eat? Something else weighs on you?"
She growled, slamming the cat helmet into the bed. "You got me, you got me! I lied."
Liquor sounded amazing, but Nebula confiscated the bottles and her flask so there wouldn't be any embarrassing shenanigans from Tempesta while company was aboard.
Man, screw reputations! Why did people care?!
"I wanted to kick your ass for almost dying."
Imperatrix giggled sheepishly, tensing for the blow but it never came. Regarding the blonde, the princess folded her legs into lotus when the younger Besithia still didn't engage her.
"We got other problems too, but before you go pity-party, gooey-bug on everybody, I get your ear first. Seniority and all, ya know?"
"What do you mean? I was gone a day, that is too soon for trouble to follow."
"I didn't do anything. Nyx is the troublemaker!" She immediately sold out the glaive for his own benefit. "But like I said, don't get me off track!"
The princess closed her mouth, letting Tempesta gather her thoughts. Her blue eyes glazed over, becoming uncharacteristically dull and she plopped onto the bed at Imperatrix's beckoning.
"I found Cor…" She admitted tonelessly.
The result of her hunt wasn't what the fist fighter wanted…but it was inevitable.
"Why do you bother? You lose every time." The marshal sighed at losing the fish, pulling in the line.
"Screw you, bastard prick! All you had to do was take the ass-kicking!" The younger Besithia screamed, scaring away all the fish and splashing lake water in the direction of the aged brunette eyeballing her with faint amusement.
Cor dodged her lunge at the last second and she went belly-up into the water. Her eyes were prickling from the ruined mascara and she likely looked like a sea witch or a drowned cat.
Tempesta knew adding some touch-ups on her face wouldn't count for anything. She didn't even know why she bothered with makeup, nobody ever saw it with the damn helmet on majority of the time. Wasn't like Cor appreciated it either. He always mouthed off about her excessive augmentation of her already too vivid eyes.
Stupid, stupid! It annoyed the shit out of her that she unconsciously tried to impress him!
The old shit should be grateful a young, hot thing like her looked his forty-five year-old direction. Never mind all the other obvious bull hanging between them that made it impossible for her not to take an interest in him.
Lucky bastard looked good, perfect bang material that she didn't have to show the ropes to like all the other losers in Gralea. Another plus was him not being too adventurous like the addicts in Persia.
Holy cow, it'd been orgy galore in the Shah's palace and they were doing weird stuff that blew even her mind! Her! A proud connoisseur of sexual activity!
And people talked shit about the emperor's licentious younger days! The old man's history and all the princess's histories put together wouldn't be shit compared to the things going on in Ismail's harem. Their eastern cousins were deviants!
Or, well...Imperatrix's cousins...
Weren't they all basically related though? Nebula tried to grind a history lesson into her head, but the only thing that stuck was that Tellus was a savant in producing heirs. Guy was practically the father of the nation. Almost every noble family tree led back to him!
She had to see her princess do the same. It would be epic!
"I guess we'll be starving. There went dinner." Cor rolled up the equipment, stuck his leg in the water, and kicked a flood of water right back at the blonde. "You're lucky. If you'd gotten my fatigues wet, retribution would've been severe."
The marshal stood, soggy t-shirt and sweats weighing him down. They leaked water with every step from the dock to the camp site.
He didn't expect it to hurt so much…
Looking at Tempesta ached more than poison and every other ailment. His hands wouldn't stop shaking, the force of his grip would break another fishing rod and now…
There'd be no Regis or Clarus to buy him replacements.
Those idiots sucked at fishing and he had better things to do with his time, but it was them forcing a stubborn adolescent to pick up something other than a blade that kept Cor maintaining the hobby to this day. Since the fall…seafood didn't taste the same…
Calling her to meet him had been a mistake, but it was time. He couldn't keep up this portion of his life anymore.
In or out, it would be decided.
"Here, punk." The fist fighter lobbed a couple of flopping fishes at the immortal, cracking up when they popped him on the face like she planned, instead of him dodging or catching them. "Who's the boss now, huh? You didn't get squat!"
Cor simply picked up a pail from behind his chair and put it out where she could see. Inside were numerous amphibians bigger than what Tempesta caught.
Her jaw dropped for a second before her face swelled red insanely fast. A string of expletives exploded out that would've made the average person go shades of the rainbow from their vulgarity.
Too used to it, the marshal let the female vent, all of it going in one ear and out the other. He began detaching the soaked clothes and that got the blonde to quiet down.
"Are you going to stay in those?" Cor asked in the lull, shaking out the water droplets matting up his hair and ringing out his shirt.
The sun was still out for a few hours, their clothes could air dry. Afterwards he'd light a fire and arrange them around it.
He possessed spare outfits, but Tempesta most likely only had the scanty shorts and crop-top she was wearing. She was irresponsible like that, or some might say cunning because the thief often swiped his things. Since he wasn't spiteful like her, the marshal let the blonde get away with it.
"I don't know. Are you going to kill me or do something else once I'm naked?" The fist fighter's eyes gleamed wickedly, ogling the battle-hardened body of Cor the Immortal.
She made a show of slowly stripping herself as he seemed lost for words, squeezing the twisted shirt far more than necessary and making an effort not to look at her. Of course the sound of her jacket squishing on the ground made those ears twitch and unbidden, his gaze rose.
With how skin tight and revealing her outfit was, thick, sunshine-hair clinging to her body, and the overly-saturated quality of dangerous allure to her, it didn't take much for the imperial woman to get a physical response from the marshal.
Cor should've looked away, resisted temptation…but he couldn't.
Nude and confident, there wasn't an ounce of shame in Tempesta's bones. She smirked, hands on her hips and head tilted in assumed victory.
And why wouldn't she grin as the cat eating the canary?
The younger Besithia might always lose their fights, but ultimately the fist fighter won the war of attraction and that was unacceptable. If anyone were to ever find out about Cor's involvement with a high-ranked Niff, exile or execution would've been his reward and he wouldn't fight the decision.
Those lingering fears used to drag on his conscious and there were times facing the king was impossible. More impossible than that, was remembering the child Cor absconded with and left in the care of capable hands out of guilt. He changed Prompto's life...and could've changed another's...
Looking at Tempesta was so damn difficult!
"Well?! Are you a lion or a lamb?!" The younger Besithia stomped her foot impatiently at the unresponsiveness of her target.
Usually the marshal jumped her bones the minute her clothes were off.
"No, Tempesta…" Cor decided to the disappointment of his body.
She represented a lion more than he did with that wild mane and toothy grin.
"No?" The fist fighter repeated in confusion, shoulders sinking and chest constricting painfully.
Rejected? Since when?
Cor didn't refuse her...
He dared not deny her after she hunted him down in retaliation for their first drunken tumble. She'd been younger, stupider, and completely caught off guard by his moodiness with bottles of alcohol in him. The minute he started eyeing her with interest in place of irritation, she snapped on the new opportunity, letting him lead her into his room and further grafting his importance into her conscious.
The asshole tried to play the "it was a mistake" card the next time she saw him because of course the following morning he left her alone in the hotel room without a word. Cor obtained a broken nose for it and a cold dose of reality that neither were prepared for.
After that fiasco they were a messy version of frenemies with benefits.
Sometimes they actually fought. Cor demonstrated why he survived so many battles and served multiple kings as a close confidant. Each defeat served to embitter Tempesta and she vowed to get better for the next round.
One day she would defeat the immortal.
Sometimes they pretended they weren't vicious enemies long enough to pop bottles, leading to very destructive, bloody, hate-sex. Those encounters did wonders for her temper. The world wasn't so loud and ugly when she was drunk on pleasure and booze.
Being surrounded by so many couples could be extremely gut-wrenching. Nebula was such a boring, unfeeling prick that she wondered how the hell Aranea put up with him, but those two didn't annoy her nearly as much as sappy, romantic, screw-birds, Imperatrix and Ardyn did. Thank the gods Furia didn't live in Gralea anymore after her marriage to Ravus! That annoying whore loved playing score with her and she only won because Tempesta tended to actually work, unlike that lustful, lazy, loser of a princess. Even Euphemia had a nice fiancé and the girl was sixteen!
All of them could get bent!
Why the hell was it so hard for her to have something nice?! It wasn't fair!
"Here, Tempesta." Cor dropped a spare blanket over the stunned woman, tensing at the ferocious glare she sent him in return. "Would you rather freeze?"
"Dipshit Lucians don't know anything about the cold." The blonde hissed, bolting away to sit in front of the fire.
The blonde hated havens! Why the hell had she come to shitstain Maidenwater for this wretch of a man?! Why was she torturing herself?!
"Try living in Gralea, the actual coldest place in Eos. Fellfin, Daneinar, and Kazimir are also good places to freeze your balls off in. Then you can bitch to me about being cold."
"I've been to most those places, have you forgotten?" Cor sunk into his chair, scratching at the bottom of his chin where stubble was growing in.
Being in only his briefs with a pestering erection due to Tempesta childishly leaving the front of the blanket wide-open to taunt him wasn't helping maters.
"I haven't. I remember with perfect clarity how you get off on breaking into Besithia facilities." She pointed disrespectfully at him, further loosening the cover. "Stealing shit you're not supposed to! Do your cronies know you're a glorified kidnapper?"
Cor balled up his fist, blood boiling from the verbal assault and the visual assault on his eyes. Focusing on the freckles throughout her body was better than gaping like an idiot at her smooth skin and pert...
Stop it!
"You like leaving kids behind too. Man, you've got wrecking kid's lives down to an art!"
"Tempesta!" The chair got knocked back in his frustration as he stood up, painfully aware of how riled he was.
"What? What?! I'm not saying anything new!" She met him in a standoff, but lack of height on her part dimmed some of her intimidation factor. "You don't want to bang. You don't want to fight. Why the hell am I here, Cor?!"
"Because I—"
The loud growling of a stomach cut the hazardous tension. Inhaling and exhaling at length through his nose, the marshal stepped back, jaw moving irregularly as he refrained from laughing.
"Say something, I dare you!" The fist fighter yelled, still on the wavelength of righteous indignation and wanting an outlet.
Rather above the immaturity, Cor turned away, beginning the preparation of their dinner. Cleaning and gutting food for some reason sickened Tempesta so he'd be responsible for most the tasks. She could kill monsters or soldiers in battle, but killing animals crossed a line for some reason.
What a piece of work. With her monstrous appetite for all things meat, her tepidness for fauna didn't make sense.
"Cooking bites! Why can't there be fast-food everywhere? I could go for a burger." The blonde whined, mood completely shifted from the earlier fuse of carnage and more in line with a restless teenager grappling with a bottomless stomach.
She stirred the boiling rice mixed with vegetables over the fire, gagging dramatically.
"God, this is omnivore food. I'm a carnivore, Cor!"
"Don't complain. A balanced diet is important." He uttered mechanically, the admonishment often used on a prince with a picky palette.
"Loser samurai bitching me out." She snarked, foot hooking behind her leg to scratch.
His diet was almost as ridiculous as Imperatrix's. Weak rice, poultry seafood, and vegetables. Who was Cor trying to fool? All the idiot needed was some chopsticks to be a knockoff Yasugi.
Ugh, dainty little meals favored by those people was a crime! Poor Euphemia, stuck with two stick-starved retainers! Those chicks probably had the kid starving since the mother didn't give a damn about her second child and they had to play "parent" for the airhead.
Wait a second…one of them was from Yasu and the other was from Guang Guo. The two island countries had different cultures…
At least she thought so…
Whatever! It wasn't her fault they both looked similar and things got confusing between them.
"I don't understand how you eat so terribly and remain small." Cor confiscated the ladle from Tempesta, using it to serve the rice onto two plates.
"Trade secret. Don't question the woman's mystique."
More was put on the fist fighter's, one as punishment because her negligence almost lead to charred sides items, and two, because despite her complaining, the blonde would scarf down twice as much as Cor ate.
He never knew watching a woman eat would do it for him, but Tempesta managed it.
Right now, with her in front of him eating her food with a mixture of glee for the fish and disgust for the carrots, the marshal felt…tranquil. Maybe it had to with her body finally being covered an no longer heating his blood. She did it in retaliation for him piling healthy provisions on her plate, but whatever, the end mattered, not the why or how.
Maybe…this was the calm before the storm.
Her whining and exaggerated revulsion reminded Cor of the prince. The cup of water in his hand became malformed.
"Ahhh, the sun's gone down. Wonder if daemons are gonna show up?" The younger Besithia exhaled loudly, stomach satisfied.
"They don't appear here and even if they did, the runes would keep them out."
"Yeah, those things..." She set the utensils down, meandering over to the edge of the haven.
They lit up more noticeably at her approach. The marshal wearily observed Tempesta's actions.
"I hate listening to all their bullshit. Some of them are so noisy." Her foot stomped on the foreign markings she didn't understand. "Is it too much to ask for silence in the world?!"
"Stop messing with the runes!" Cor jumped up at the sound of burning flesh.
"What do you care? Don't you want me to burn?"
The sound grew outside and inside her head. Between the searing skin and howling, common sense became muddled. Not that Tempesta could claim to have the common sense of an average person.
"Goddammit, stop it!"
The beast roared louder, overwhelming her hearing.
"Stop it!"
The darkness was all around now. There was no escaping the encampment, the runes wouldn't allow it. Havens kept daemons out, but the original makers couldn't have foreseen a creature of the night managing to get within the circle.
Brilliance or egotism? Verstael Besithia treaded a thin line all his life. He created humans hosting daemons, with all of the terrible strength, fortified bodies, heightened healing, and immune to the Starscourge sickness. Truly his children were monsters.
Madness would claim them all in the end if a blade didn't. An inhuman entity defiling their souls by the day, none of them had a chance.
"Stop, just stop!" Cor yanked Tempesta, refusing to acknowledge the juxtaposing pale flesh of her leg and the black coloring moving up from the foot.
The marshal thought he was ready.
Frenzied blue eyes lighting with a golden hue, tears threatening to leak, bared fangs, and wailing. He wasn't ready for any of it.
"What do you want?!" She screeched with a crescendo of something unnatural, punching Cor in the gut.
"For one, I want to quit hurting yourself!" He wheezed out after straightening to hold her hands up in example.
Not only had the knucklehead intentionally injured her foot by stepping on a light-enchantment, she'd burned her hands by pushing against the physical barrier. Did Tempesta want to get away from him that badly that she'd mutilate herself?!
The skin was already healing, albeit slowly. A regular injury would've been gone before anyone noticed, but magical ones took longer for her to heal from, particularly light-based ones.
"It's not 'hurting myself' if the shit's gonna heal, dumbass." The fist fighter rolled her eyes, heaving out her frustration with his avoidant behavior. "And you still didn't answer my question, Immortal Dipshit."
Cor clicked his tongue. The vulgarity would never end with her.
"Well? Come on, say something!"
He pulled her flush against his chest, smashing his lips against hers to shut the loudmouth up.
Heavy questions and tantrums were no longer on the marshal's agenda. The second option she suggested was preferable to facing the hard truth of their situation.
Once more...one more slip was acceptable when he knew it would be the last.
Tempesta chewed on Cor's bottom lip, diving right into the change of temperament. She didn't hesitate to jump, arms looping around the taller man's neck in a choking hold that left him little room to breathe, hips grinding her overstimulated core into the clothed section withholding an organ that hadn't softened at all in her presence.
Her lips demanded attention, sharpened teeth nicking at the opposite pair when they didn't respond as enthusiastically. The owner of them growled, putting in the necessary opposing fervor.
The chill of the night vanished.
One individual supported his lustful barnacle, stumbling into the tent and collapsing on top of Tempesta, frantically pulling down his briefs. She grunted at the weight pining her down, lodging her nails into Cor's back and wrenching down. He groaned long and animalistic at the feel of his skin torn open.
"Don't goad a lion, kitten." The marshal cautioned, fingers digging into the furred blankets beneath his naked prey.
"I live for hazard." Her nails jabbed into Cor's hips, egging him on further.
The marshal plunged his tongue into Tempesta's mouth, stamping down on her predilection for dominance. Wining that match wasn't the only win Cor was looking for. He teased himself near her entrance, shuddering at the wetness coating him just from that.
"Wanton feline! You're worse than a dog in heat." He rasped out, heavy hand squeezing a breast and then pinching the pert bud. "So fucking sexy!"
"Your old ass better enjoy it! Try and find a tighter bod than mine. You'll fail!"
Tempesta had an impulse to tip him over, be the top contender and ride the hell out of him like she often heard Imperatrix doing to Ardyn, but Cor appeared to have his own gameplay in mind. He fought with her for control till they wound up on their sides, hands and mouths furiously attacking everywhere available, leaving so many marks that neither would be forgetting the rough tumble for a while.
"Come here, kitten!" The marshal urged, seizing her arms and throwing the blonde down. "Just behave!"
She cackled at the bright red lines on his chiseled body. "Fine then. Give it to me, Cor!"
He pulled her closer by the legs, trapping them against his chest. In one go, the marshal filled the cocky woman to the brim, teeth grazing on the skin of a captured leg as he took a moment to wallow in gratification.
"Oh, yeah, just like that." Tempesta purred, wriggling against him for friction.
As much as she liked fighting Cor for control in these situations, she liked being subjugated by stronger foe. Call it a kink.
Death by a lion devouring her sounded like an amazing way to die out of the millions of other grisly ends.
"Meooww!" She half-teased, half-protested, being stretched by the marshal bending forward with her legs bunched towards her stomach and his brutal thrusts. "Coooorrrr…"
"That's right. Purr for me, little kitten." The brunette breathed heavily through his nose, each powerful connection a sensation straight to the chest and overtaxing the organ like nothing else could.
Part of him knew this wasn't going to make him feel better, but the stupid, never-learning part of his male-oriented disposition didn't care. Ill-fated as these meeting where, he kept coming back for more.
Logically, Cor knew he shouldn't, but regret and…something else he wasn't willing to voice…drew him towards Tempesta.
"Harder! You're a beast, aren't you?!" The fist fighter baited, stretching her arms backwards to hold onto the fur and plunge onto Cor as he dove into her. "My lion can do better!"
"You want to me to break you?"
"Do your worst."
"Crazy woman."
Sitting up on his knees, the marshal pressed down on the fist fighter's legs, effectively folding her up for him to bulldoze into her like she wanted. She screamed shamelessly, begging for more with the most lascivious face that Cor lost it, going at a tempo unbearable for a normal woman.
"Cor, I own you! Don't you forget it!" Tempesta howled, tumbling into her first peak with another wail.
It wasn't fair! The fist fighter wanted him to be obsessed with her like she was with him!
From the day Cor broke into the Besithia Facility, he consumed her thoughts. Why did the coward take the reject, but not her?
He looked her dead in the eye, a child locked in a glass cage, made a decision, escaped with the latest baby brother, and left her behind.
How many times did she replay that memory?
He could've taken her with him. His sword could've broken the glass, or he could've broke the lockpad. Why didn't the marshal try?
Why did he just stare at her with that helpless look when the imbecile had every capability of helping her, a child?!
For so many years the question of why she was abandoned stayed in Tempesta's mind.
Hunting Cor down and forcing him to acknowledge her lead to a disaster of a relationship. Both of them were typhoon screw-up versions of human beings.
Destruction and death were all they knew.
"Don't stop! You can do more, you sloppy antique!" The blonde screeched when Cor slowed.
"Fucking insatiable imperials." The marshal slapped Tempesta's legs to the side, hauling the woman to her knees in front of him.
He wasn't oblivious to the droplets clinging to the corners of her eyes and bouncing off at the jab of his hips from their previous position. A younger, self-centered male might have believed those tears to be of enjoyment, but he knew better.
No alcohol in their systems left too much clarity for reality. Down to the roots, both knew whatever they had was concluding.
"Come on." She stressed, glaring over her shoulder at the man hesitating to enter her from behind. "You're good and ready. Do it!"
"What kitten wants, kitten gets." Cor went in with little issue, coated as he was from her last climax.
"Yes, yessss. Oh, so good. So good!" Tempesta slurred, body buzzing from the fullness in a way that felt like a blend of ecstasy and alcohol mixed together, the perfect party mix.
Cor gave her the best orgasms of the century! It was impossible for any other lame dude to compare. They would always pale to him.
She hated that about him! Hated that he controlled so much of her!
Why did it have to be someone out of her reach? Fuck! Was it too much to ask for Tempesta to have one thing to call her own?!
All those rejects with the same face as her, same abilities, same place in their father's eyes. She wanted something singular and irreplaceable in her life. Cor couldn't be one of those things.
He left, and always would.
"Tempesta!" The marshal pushed her into the floor, leaning his forehead against her back, going deeper and deeper, deeper than he should. "Kitten…you're my little kitten…"
Buried in the furs, the fist fighter's responses were too muffled to be heard. She curved upward into him, giving more leeway. It was a good thing he couldn't see her face. The man would recoil at the alarming shade of amber her eyes had gone.
"Ah, Tempesta...Tempesta, I'm done…" The brunette bit into his woman's shoulder.
The fist fighter turned her head to jeer out. "Claim me, Cor."
She clenched hard, peak bringing down her partner. They both rode it out for as long as they could, gasping for breath and falling to pieces. Completely drained of energy, the marshal disconnected himself, noticing the mess seeping from Tempesta at the separation.
He'd have to get water for her…
There was no feeling in his legs. Walking seemed hopeless to him.
"We're not fucking again. I'm gonna eat, bathe, and go to bed." Tempesta decreed haughtily, misinterpreting Cor's staring as more libido.
"That's not it. You're a mess." He corrected.
Her hair was tangled beyond belief, skin glistening with sweat, and fluids sticking to her legs. A mess caused by him…and maybe she wasn't completely off the mark...
He did get some fulfillment out of her disordered state.
"So are you." The fist fighter inspected her nails filled with dried flecks of blood.
The pain of her love marks could now be felt by the man as he ran a hand over himself in inspection.
"You're worse."
"Then go get some water, smartass!" She kicked Cor in the chest, right out the tent.
He laid on the cold stone, nude and dirty, contemplating taking up the other offer of the evening. His sword wasn't far, a duel could be held.
"I just love seeing you on your ass like a loser." Tempesta taunted, standing over her undefeated rival.
"Kitten…the lion is going to snap your neck."
"Bring it, bitch! We'll do this old-school Gralean style."
By daybreak the two were clothed in their respective uniforms, black Crownsguard Fatigues and white imperial jumpsuit.
Tempesta shuffled around, helmet rolling from hand to hand as she impassively looked to Cor. "Are you gonna finally man-up and say what you've been dying to gush out? I got things to do, man."
He fastened his katana to his belt, somewhat placated by the chime of the bell attachment. A deep breath in and the marshal gripped the handle.
It was time.
"You need to make a choice. The empire destroyed Insomnia, my home." Cor spoke as evenly as he could while looking in the distance where the crown city was no more. "Stay…and I'll take care of you, Tempesta. Leave…and you'll be the enemy that I one day take down."
The fist fighter sighed, mumbling noiselessly. "Finally."
Her blank expression morphed to harshness, to which the brunette looked away. He could never stand to gaze upon her too long, too many reminders in her pretty, freckled face.
He already knew what the answer was going to be from the beginning, hence his charade of "house". She shouldn't have participated in the game, but Tempesta learned how to torture herself from Imperatrix. Sticking it out for someone didn't always work out.
Talk about doomed from the start.
"Why the hell would I stay with you?"
"You're not safe—"
"Oh, I'll be safer around a bunch of Lucian pricks?!" The younger Besithia blew up, shoving the marshal and wishing for him to feel a margin of the crushing disappointment she felt. "Trade my reliable princess for your shitty prince?! You think he'd be cool with an actual daemon around? Does he know about the shit-stain you stole?! He have any episodes?!"
The immortal being jerked around and punched by a woman half his size would be unconceivable to anyone that knew him. Yet, that was what was happening.
Cor couldn't bring himself to stop Tempesta when she went on one of these pitiful rants, fists and tears betraying every hateful word she spewed out.
"What makes you think I could go with you?!" The fist fighter's voice pitched, followed by the tight squeezing of her chest that left her breathless and too weak to assault the marshal anymore. "I'd never pick you over Impera…no way..."
He supported her weight as she slumped forward, head almost touching his chest. The admission stung, but it was understandable and he had no right to be upset about it. Tempesta had been a second choice for him in a lot of instances. His responsibilities wouldn't allow him to put her first.
"Tempesta…I need you…" The marshal struggled to keep himself in check, tightening his grip on arms more fragile and smaller than his. "You have to come with me. I can't be responsible for your death."
Why hadn't he finished the first declaration? More appropriate words were sitting in the back of his head, but Cor couldn't voice them. All his combat and life expertise and the famed Immortal failed at simple communication?
If this was to be the last instance of them meeting on peaceful terms, then he wanted to say those binding words to her. She deserved at least that after everything.
"Shut up! I don't want to hear that!" She jostled him off, leveling an accusatory finger at the man. "It's your fault I turned into a monster! And it's your fault I lost our goddam child!"
The accusations did more damage than a fatal wound. Cor clenched his sword, radiating anger and hurt at the bell's toll.
"All of that is true, so is everything else I've done to you. But you have to stay with me…because…" His trembling hand on the handle created a chiming melody and it gave him the motivation to at least give one good thing to Tempesta. "Because I lov—"
"Stop it! I don't want to hear it!" The blonde covered her ears, hiding from him and the sounds. "I can't choose you. I won't!"
The rejection cut and the marshall hardened immediately to suppress it.
"Then leave!" He belted out and she flinched.
Her nose twitched with the effort of not sniveling and her teeth were digging hard into her lips to muffle any sobs.
All Cor wanted to do was embrace her or jokingly pet her head, but that was the past. Their present would move towards a convergence where such sentimental actions weren't proper.
The fist fighter picked up her helmet, fixed her hair and secured the headpiece.
"The next time I see you, I'll show you how mortal you are, Cor." Tempesta promised in that eery voice modulator, stepping past the marshal without a backward glance.
He didn't move until the roar of a motorcycle was gone and all the man heard was the hush of nature.
To be alone. That was his lot in life, so it was fitting that his nickname included immortal in it. An immortal outlived all the things they protected and cherished, suffering the bitter sting of loneliness until they met their final demise.
He'd failed kings, friends, loved ones…
The list could go on and on.
"To be killed by Tempesta, my little kitten…it would be poetic I suppose." Cor gingerly touched the bell, comforting himself with the noise and wondering all that could have been. "I was her beginning and she'll be my end…"
Poetic justice to its fullest.
On the ridge overlooking the campsite, Tempesta scoffed. Enhanced hearing combined with the magitek helmet allowed her to hear the private mussing.
"Not poetic in the sense you're thinking, Cor. Your life for mine and the kid you cost me."
This time the younger Besithia truly drove off with no more second thoughts.
His insistence on an abortion and the following argument distressed her to the point of a miscarriage. The bell she bought for their unexpected cub after the drunken debacle had been angrily tossed into Cor's face when he was let back into the hospital room, setting the tone for their toxic relationship.
One day, a bell would ring and a man would die. Let the memento of their lost child haunt him until then.
"Oh, Tempesta, my poor darling…I'm so sorry." Imperatrix cried, hugging the girl with the strength of a mother bear. "I am going to kill Cor in single combat, I swear it!"
"I'd love to see that, but I got dibs." She mumbled from the confines of the bear hug. "My hair is getting drenched from all your bawling. God, you're a crybaby."
What a sap. Imperatrix was spilling more tears over the event than she had.
"I'm sorry I wasn't more attentive!" The princess continued on, not all insulted and only feeling more for her retainer. "I won't make the same mistake."
"Huh? What're you—"
"I shouldn't have gotten drunk at the club."
"What? Are you serious?" Tempesta pushed Imperatrix off by the cheek, clicking her tongue in annoyance, but immensely absorbed with the consideration, demonstrated by her silly, fanged grin. "Chill out! Temple was fun to play with and I got laid anyway. A good night."
"W-Wait a minute." The princess sat up, rubbing her cheek. She wanted to address the second portion of that statement.
"Did you have a little fun? Nyx talked my ear off about you. He was really put out that Neb's your dude." The fist fighter then busted out laughing, knowing how improbable it was for Nebula to breech that line with Imperatrix.
For one, the elder Besithia was the biggest bastard of stoicism to the point she wondered if the man possessed emotions outside the realm of violence and vexation. Unlike Tempesta, he didn't really feel the things he expressed to people. Nebula was like a parrot, chirping back things he witnessed other people doing in an effort to fit in.
He might laugh and poke fun, but it was debatable if there was true enjoyment in those actions or if he'd just become very in tune with social cues, knowing when to laugh.
There was also the other reason why Nebula would never permit himself to love Imperatrix in a manner outside of chaste servant adoration. He didn't want to dishonor the previous him that loved the princess and died for her…
"Nyx took you back to your room. What happened?" Tempesta shelved thoughts about her brother, they were way above her intelligence aptitude and gave her a headache.
Imperatrix clenched her jaw, blue eyes darting elsewhere.
"What happened?! You're obligated to tell me every dirty detail! We're best friends, right?!" The fist fighter shook the princess to the point her head was snapping backwards. "Tell me!"
"Ow, ow, ow! Not if you break my neck!"
"Ooops, sorry!"
The princess groaned, massaging her neck. Would she ever not be a recipient of pain?
Thinking on the outing garnered color in her and she coughed. Here Imperatrix was, having another boy talk after going more than a year without them. This might end up becoming the norm with her increased romance avenues, getting mortified over them wouldn't do her any good.
A grown woman didn't cower from her inclinations, she accepted them, allowing none to shame her. Well-meaning friends included.
"We…almost consummated…"
"Do you have to be so proper and old-fashioned? Use modern slang sometimes!" Tempesta's lit face sank into disappointment. "And what do you mean 'almost'? Did he freak out or something? Too drunk to get it going? I knew he was loser."
Imperatrix's mortification still grew even though she talked herself to not be affected by it. Time and repetition would null the programmed blushing.
To have Nyx pin her on the couch, giving her hardly any control in their tussling...it was an intoxicating experience. Not nearly as grueling as she thought to let someone else be in control.
The first kiss…all it took was one for it to be over for her. She didn't know why out of all the intimacies, with the exception of actual sex, kissing flooded her with attachment and romanticism. She rebuffed all the glaives attempts to claim her lips for that very reason.
Now the princess wouldn't be able to smother her feelings for the wild man. They would preoccupy her thoughts till she expressed them, a hidden secret dying for deliverance.
Feelings burned deeply for Imperatrix.
A prime example was Ardyn Izunia, the most mysterious person she knew. He caused tumultuous fluctuations in her emotions, often enough that she reconsidered the notion of having multiple consorts. Her first was only one man, but could be all the stress of hundreds of men.
She wanted to hold him or choke him. Find the man beneath the beast or reject all inquiries of his past. Defend him from anymore hurt or leave him to reap what he sowed.
One then the other, Ardyn was so complicated. A contrast to the simpler Galahdian.
Oh, Nyx…he'd be the second, there could be no more doubt on that.
"You're not listening at all!"
A pillow struck the princess in the face.
"I am now." She blew her messy bangs out of her face once the pillow slid off.
"Why didn't you two do it?" Tempesta repeated with less patience, wriggling to reach the vibrating phone in her pocket.
"Nyx wanted it to be a clearheaded experience." Imperatrix clarified.
The freckle twin's fight sobered everyone up for the rest of the night as they made the most of it. It wasn't like she didn't have the capability to say nay or dismiss Nyx if the princess was unreceptive. His refusal was charming to a degree, as was his promise to leave her heady from the experience when they weren't bogged down with alcohol.
"Maybe he took my advice. Might not be as stupid as I thought." The fist fighter checked her phone, reading a message. "Amazing how different people act when I'm not masked. Can't wait to see their shocked faces when the jig's up."
"What advice? What did you tell him?"
"No time for that. We finally get to eat!" The blonde hopped off the bed, kicked her mask upward, and fastened it on. "Lets go, Impera!"
The princess complied, knowing she wouldn't get any more out of Tempesta when the girl was set on rewarding her stomach. As they exited, Imperatrix sped after the jubilant cat, hugging her from behind.
"I am elated to have you by my side, Tempy. For however long that may be." She proclaimed sincerely.
The fist fighter's footwork became momentarily skittish, but the blonde fixed it before she could trip, maneuvering so they walked side by side, arms wrapped around each other's waist. Together the females laughed.
"You'll be putting up with me for a long time. We're best bitches, right?"
The option of leaving the princess's service had always been on the table. Imperatrix valued loyalty and attendants forced into servitude were likely to give the opposite. Therefore, at any point in their tenure, if Tempesta or Nebula ever wanted to resign, they were free to with no reprisal from the crown.
She'd done a lot of mean, petty things to force the princess into dismissing her, but the white-haired saint lived on patience and love. There wasn't much Imperatrix held a grudge over and her forgiveness was easy to obtain if the guilty party really wanted it.
Why would Tempesta ever want to leave the first person to care about her?
Finding out she was pregnant after passing out on a mission with the princess hadn't been fun. The fist fighter fully expected to be punished heavily, especially after revealing that the father wasn't someone she could easily get in touch with. Somehow Imperatrix just knew that Cor was responsible, but she didn't reprimand Tempesta, at least not for what she thought.
No, no. The brown-skinned snowball chewed her out for endangering the child and herself by going on a monster hunt with the princess when she should've been on bedrest.
The following weeks were where Tempesta thawed to her liege. Imperatrix looked after her, making sure she ate correctly, buying her better-suited clothes, setting up doctor appointments for her, and moving her out of her grungy apartment into the palace suite she'd refused to stay in for fear of getting used to something that would be taken away sooner or later.
Stupid, kind-faced Imperatrix assured her the room would be hers as long as she wanted it.
A couple times she bawled into her pillow because nobody had taken care of her like that. Not even simple stuff like asking how she was feeling that didn't require a person to do anything, or just telling her everything would be okay when she couldn't take it and giving her hug.
She didn't learn what it was like to be hugged until going through eighteen years of misery with that science-freak father that didn't give a shit and dozens of other lookalikes with no concept of affection.
"Not the terminology I would use, but yes." Imperatrix beamed. "We are the best of friends, worthy of ballads. The empress and the storm, a tale for the ages."
"Old man Iddy was really daft for naming you empress in Latin. Your Persian name is just as corny. Poor you."
"Hey!"
"You gave Nebula and me our names too. Bad naming senses seems to run in the Aldercapt family."
The name was the first kindness, the patient care the second, the gift of choice the third.
"Why are you insulting us?!"
Tempesta shrugged, shit-eating grin grating on Imperatrix's nerves. "How long do you think it'll take Savage and Temple to figure it out?"
"Lunafreya might discern the truth since she knows Latin…" The princess shook her head at the deceptive game. "Nyx does not know the language, he will not discover the irony."
"Sucks for him then, I'm dragging this out for as long as I can. It's gonna be so funny in the end!" Tempesta cackled.
She'd always be wanted by Imperatrix. There'd always be a place with her.
She didn't need Cor. Who needed Eros when you had Plato?
XV
"So this kid's really related to the psychopaths and not you?" Nyx questioned, scratching his head at the sight of the princess fawning over a lanky pre-teen of pale hair, paler skin, dressed like a science nerd with his lab coat, turtle-neck, slacks, and beat-up boots.
Genius Besithia, the family prodigy as he introduced himself. The beamers prevented the glaive from determining the kid's eye color. This was what the retainers looked like under the masks then.
Mystery solved! They couldn't be Storm and Cloud. The color scheme between the kid and twins didn't match up.
"All of them are basically my crazy relatives. But yes, to answer your question, Izzy is a Besithia." Imperatrix ruffled the fourteen year-old's shaggy spikes. "You need a haircut, Darling."
"If you say so, Impera. I'm sure Neb will cut it all off." He shrugged, typing away on his computer.
"I certainly will. You look like you haven't seen sunlight in months." The gunman assured from the kitchen area where Lunafreya was helping him clean the dishes after the morning meal.
"He looks like he hasn't seen food in months either." Tempesta added, poking at her little brother's gaunt face. "You barely ate anything, wasteful, midget shit!"
"How can it be considered wasteful when you ate the rest?" Genius rebutted through the painful prodding. "Your intake value is illogical."
"Don't pick a fight you'll lose, Izzy."
Nyx rolled his eyes as the two siblings went back and forth. "Why do the crazies keep multiplying? There's so many of them."
The usual group now featured the high commander glaring at everybody like they were vermin, the chancellor smiling away at all the madness he constructed, and the weirdo kid absorbed with his laptop. All of them were confined in the dining room of Setzer.
The glaive never foresaw this in his future. So many imperials!
Thankfully, none of them were currently trying to murder him. Ravus might be the newest contender, giving him the stink-eye every second for talking to his sister. His murder attempts would bring some variety into the fold between Nebula's bullets and Tempesta's fist. Nephilim sure were violent, picking fights at every instance. Probably all the pent up sexual frustration manifesting itself.
Actually...having one of them do him in might be a mercy in disguise. His latest baggage would be a long and tedious death...
Fenrir bite his tongue! He shouldn't be thinking like that!
But...what else could Nyx do? Pessimism suddenly became the new optimism for him.
"Ravus, calm down." Lunafreya said softly to her brother once she sat next to him at the table.
His rigid posture of crossed arms, sneer, and tapping foot wove together a story of him evoking into a shouting fit and threatening harm to everyone present. The elder Fleuret's temper was his biggest downfall, among other things…
She'd not wish his aggressions on anyone present. His backhand was particularly unpleasant.
"Are you not bothered by this noise?" He asked bitingly. "I forgot how obnoxious Imperatrix's retinue could be."
"I have gotten used to it." Lunafreya was unaware of the small smile slipping out as she watched Nyx and Tempesta argue with Imperatrix playing mediator to no success, until Nebula whipped out his gun, forcing order by shooting the two bickerers with his famous pain-inducing darts.
The fist fighter and glaive toppled to the floor, writhing in pain and vowing vengeance on the gunman. The first instance of them agreeing on something and sparking an alliance boding disaster for their enemy.
The oracle was used to negativity being the center focus of disputes. When she and Ravus disagreed it led to them saying hurtful things to the other and in worse-case scenarios, the elder struck the younger, cowing her into obedience. Her brother was supposed to be her biggest protector and yet…he felt closer to being Lunafreya's biggest oppressor.
How tragic...
The way the Besithia needled people didn't exhibit maliciousness, at least not now that they all spent weeks traveling together and didn't immediately associate each other as enemies. No, after Ramuh's trial…they all started to mesh together a little better.
Nebula wasn't always watching her and unsubtly pointing his gun at her.
He surprisingly pulled the oracle aside to supervise her cooking skills. The intimidating man mostly did this because he wanted her to contribute around the ship and she expected him to be very harsh, but the gunman wasn't...mostly...
The worst of it had been his snide remarks and occasional physical reprimands by tapping her with a spoon. Nothing she couldn't handle and minimal compared to what he did to Tempesta when she made mistakes. He was darn near sweet after the experience with Nyx's mom, Thea.
The younger Besithia wasn't completely abrasive to Lunafreya, toning down her insults...
It was a slower progress with that one.
Bickering and fighting from the imperials just felt like a natural component to the group's dynamic. It wasn't done to disrespect or hurt, but out of merriment. Very different to how Ravus and she communicated.
Her perspective of their cultural intricacies evolved.
"They are the liveliest parts of my days."
The high commander studied his sister's peaceful expression. Jealousy ebbed to the surface and he turned away, directing the discord towards the people stealing Lunafreya's affections.
He was her flesh and blood! That look of warmth escaped his gaze for years. He couldn't recall the last time she bestowed him anything other than her contempt!
"Now, now, children! Lets all behave. This is supposed to be a meeting, focus is paramount." Ardyn chastised playfully.
The very picture of a hypocrite as he spun his upside-down hat on the table, magically pulling candy out of it and passing pieces to the outstretched hands of Tempesta and Genius.
"You are the least qualified person to say that." Imperatrix countered, balefully resting her cheek on her knuckles as she peered at the empty insides of the hat, stumped on how he summoned the confections.
Loud agreements from the other imperials followed.
"Awww, I'm hurt by everyone's skepticism! I can be the picture of solemn." The chancellor's air of mischief didn't tone down, merely heightened as he took ahold of the princess's hand, closed it into a fist, and shook it like a magician would before the reveal of his trick. "But I'm not in the mood for it."
Seconds longer than was proper, Ardyn let go, urging the woman to open her palm. A chocolate kiss sat in the middle.
"Please control yourself then." She fought off a blush, pocketing the gift for later.
All of the present imperials were well acquainted with Ardyn's disruptive hijinks during meetings. Throwing papers balls and all other paper constructs, humming some loud tune ranging from a variety of genres, carrying on side conversations of no importance, and playing games on his phones, were all criminals acts of the notorious red head in official settings.
"I'll be on my best behavior, Your Highness." The man chuckled, not inspiring any kind of honesty in his statement.
"Yeah right." Was the collective disagreement.
Everyone settled in their seats for the discussion they kept getting distracted from with such a large group present. All eyes went towards the youngest member, Genius, the one with something important share.
"You're all going to become my guinea pigs." He announced, orange-tinted glasses glinting and mouth quirking into a cheshire grin. "Rejoice, piglets."
Cue the dead silence, creeped-out looks, sighs, and finally laughter. A mixed bag of responses that the scientist anticipated, variety was important!
He expected a little more from the new people that didn't know him. More horror and exclaims.
The chancellor specifically asked him to be as sinister as possible to get the best responses out of the oracle and glaive. Their uneasy frowns probably weren't to Ardyn's standard.
Oh, well. He'd have plenty of trials to conduct. More chances to unnerve them for the sake of the science of humans and his idol's amusement.
"I'm losing hope for imperials. It's like you're all insane…" Nyx muttered, shivering fearfully in his seat as if the air were contaminated. "I'm freaked out. What if it rubs off on me?"
The glaive got kicked under the table by Tempesta for that one, but mostly went ignored, even as he slumped into the table to groan out his agony.
"I, for one, will not be participating in any of your field tests, Genius." Ravus stated firmly. "I am the high commander, not a guinea pig. Find someone else to do your dirty work."
The mechanical arm still pained him, seeping into his mind with subtle brushes of noise. He hadn't allowed Lunafreya to heal him for fear of her sensing the daemon encased within the steel.
The high commander had more important matters to concern himself with. Examples being, coordinating the base evacuations with Erik, prying information from his tease-of-a-wife about her request, and eventually whisking his sister back to Tenebrae.
Too busy for these foolish pastimes. How did Imperatrix manage to get anything done when she was surrounded by these morons?
This was why she'd never get anywhere. Too many parasites draining her of competence and making it difficult for her to do useful, meaningful things in the empire. If the foolish princess put in more effort in the right activities, she could've been empress by now.
How different would the empire be under Imperatrix's reign?
"I respectfully disagree, Lord Ravus. Also, you're on board the princess's vessel and she has given me permission to head this operation. Your participation is now mandatory." The albino used the tv remote to turn on the television.
The screen displayed the map of Lucis pulled up on his computer.
"Not only do I require your assistance, I need more data on your magitek arm. Partaking in the mission benefits us both."
Ravus grunted, understanding the logic, but he still posed an incrimination to the princess. "What are you scheming?"
Imperatrix for her part appeared composed, but internally she panicked, grinding through her mind for an answer. She didn't have a clue what Genius was talking about!
Ardyn saved her from replying.
"Why not let Izzy tell it? He's already got the presentation set up and you're raining on his parade." He tutted, wagging his finger. "So rude of you, my lord."
The high commander didn't deign to retaliate against the most annoying person he'd ever had the misfortune of meeting.
The princess relaxed in her seat, jumping a little at the brush of a boot on her foot and then moving up her leg. The chancellor pretended to not know why she furrowed her brow at him, facade faltering only at his thigh being squeezed and accidentally spinning his hat off the table. He bent down to retrieve it, impish side prompting him to plant a kiss on Imperatrix's ankle angled to the sideways on her lap and smirking as she bumped against the table in her haste to uncross her legs. She massaged her throbbing knee.
All this flirting occurred in the span of seconds and passed unknown to everyone, but two.
Imperatrix coughed, requesting. "For the sake of those unaware, please provide an explanation, Izzy."
Nyx and Lunafreya were the targets of her statement, but she was as clueless as them. Her approval for this field expedition must have been given impulsively, probably while she helped Ardyn with his paperwork in Saxham.
It wouldn't be the first time his slippery, dexterous fingers tricked her into signing something. Through his machinations, the princess became an accomplice in numerous pranks.
All accidents on her part!
She didn't mean to approve periodically sending asparagus to a senator that snubbed her in council. The man was allergic to the items and broke into hives each time it entered his office. Irritating as the man was, he didn't deserve that punishment.
She didn't mean to approve one of Ardyn's secretaries undergoing therapeutic acupuncture. The poor woman had enough to deal with. Keeping her boss in line was taxing and she reportedly hated needles. Imperatrix felt extraordinarily bad for that one.
She certainly didn't mean to approve a mandatory musical collaboration from all the palace staff and her family. Pure terror of being on the receiving end of a disappointed lecture plagued Imperatrix when her father cornered her the month of the event. Amazingly, he'd been thrilled by the plan, desperate for some entertainment and they went ahead with it. A big showcase for the nobles and commoners that no one expected.
The last one wasn't as bad as the others, but still a fiasco in a fashion. Most things to do with the chancellor were fiascoes.
Oh, Ardyn…the princess could punch him. She should punch him.
"Piglets, you shall be gathering materials for me while testing out some of my latest inventions before they become standardized for military use." Genius used the pen tool on the tablet to circle areas and write notes, notations reflected on the widescreen tv. "I'm undecided on the team lineups and which to tackle first. This is where the battle fanatics offer suggestions."
The specified places were all dungeon landmarks known for their powerful wildlife and even more dangerous night counterparts.
"Why are we doing this?" Nyx blurted out and the albino focused his glasses on the speaker. "Uh, what? Why are you staring?"
Just like Nebula! It gave him chills.
Imperatrix reached over, raising his hand.
Genius broke his muteness. "Question, Sir Ulric?"
"Really, kid? Am I in school?" He scoffed, lowering his hand. "I thought I was in a meeting with adults."
"Nyx, just play along. It is the easier path." The princess shut him down before the glaive could get more insulting.
She wouldn't even get into how unrefined and discourteous his elocution could be. The glaive caved for pleading blue eyes and repeated his question, no less rudely just to make a point of his disgruntlement.
"These materials need to be collect for the Aurora set to be completed."
Imperatrix perked up at the mention of her equipment, practically bouncing with energy. "No fear, Izzy. We shall conquer all these dungeons!"
Nebula sunk in his seat while Tempesta matched the rising enthusiasm.
"Why aren't you doing this in Niflheim? Why come all the way to Lucis?" Nyx brought up, recalling how they retrieved the scientist from a transport vessel and hauled in crates of equipment to boot.
It didn't make sense to scavenge outside their home territory. Everything they retrieved would have to be taken back to Niflheim and then transferred to factories. It all sounded like too much time and money.
Or maybe the jerks were just rubbing salt in the wound with this. Once a greedy Niff, always a greedy Niff.
Whereas other imperials were reticent about revealing potential weakness, the candid nature of a scientist left Genius spilling the obvious. "We've exhausted the supply we had. With Shiva's ice and snow blocking major sources, Lucis is the only place available for certain items."
Both Nyx and and Lunafreya were caught off guard by the simple explanation.
"I understand the moronic face from the outsider, but why is Lady Lunafreya making it as well?" He pushed his glasses up, keeping his ruby-red eyes hidden from view. "Surely you know of your nation's circumstances?"
"I…was not aware of this predicament…" The oracle spoke up.
The albino found that hard to believe. "Haven't you seen Ghorovas Rift? Niflheim looked very different eleven years ago."
"She has not and you will speak no more of it." Ravus interceded sharply.
He didn't want his sister to learn the true depth of horrors left outside the fortified capital. Her faith would be shaken. While that might be beneficial in regards to her destiny, as a brother, the high commander wasn't ready to completely shatter her beliefs.
Religion was one of the things Lunafreya basked in as stability, a constant that would never abandon or harm her. Let the girl have that one bit of peace, ironic as it was.
The very Astrals she prayed to would be her death when they had every capability of saving their oracle. They made him sick, but livened his sister. How utterly infuriating!
"Hold on a second, this isn't getting brushed off like that." Nyx argued, gesturing to the standard map of Niflheim that everyone was used to seeing. "This sounds serious and I wanna know."
According to the map, they still had good land for resources, completely at odds with what Genius reported.
"Hmm, a truth seeker. I never turn down an opportunity to enlighten." The scientist proceeded to switch on a few layers to reveal the accurate state of the empire. "This is how Niflheim as a kingdom really looks."
"H-How?" The glaive gasped at the picture.
There was a shit ton more white covering the whole western portion of the entire continent, leaving only the smallest margin of natural desert climate in the eastern countries straddling the ocean. The two island countries and Tenebrae were also free of the disaster zone.
It was amazing that the empire even still possessed functioning cities considering how steeped in snow the place was. Hard to tell which nation had it worse, Lucis with its sparse outposts and small-scale cities or Niflheim with its drastic living conditions.
When he thought about it, both nations were terrible to live. Accordo might be the secret jewel...
"You both are so flummoxed by this, I feel obligated to give a history lesson." Genius manipulated the screen to show two images side by side, present day Niflheim and the empire prior to Shiva's judgement. "The maps viewed by the general populace is incorrect. Only those from the empire are allowed to see a straightforward rendition of the homeland. Not that it even matters, soldiers are the only ones that really travel nowadays. Far too unpredictable and unsafe for citizens to brave the blizzards."
"You guys…publicized a false map to the world?" Nyx repeated, mind blown by the international level of bullshitting from the empire.
They must have strict customs on immigration to keep up that façade. Then again, why would anyone want to move to Niflheim? He didn't hear too many people boasting about their holiday trip to the capital, or posting dumb selfies about it.
"There are far less realms…and Gralea…" Lunafreya added her own alarm, eyes wide from disbelief. "The capital is tiny compared to before…"
According to the charts, Gralea used to be thrice as big, multiple layers of the city leading towards the heightened peak of the ruler's residence, very much an elaborate, circular ziggurat of the ancient days. Now it was no more than a single circle of habitation.
She couldn't remember it any other way, but the idea of it being more floored the oracle.
Lunafreya never knew the damage was vast! The incident occurred far from her home and was downplayed at the time by their caretakers. When the Fleurets were summoned to court, the oracle couldn't give a justification to the emperor.
At the time, a dark, vile part of her felt it just that the conquerors should have their lands ravaged. They deserved a taste of what they gave to others.
Her noncompliance and acrimonious attitude led to the emperor banishing her from court and instilling a senator to govern Tenebrae. Much of Ravus's anger towards her stemmed from that dreadful meeting. Only when he became a commander did Tenebrae finally return to a Fleuret's hands.
Her brother…probably didn't deserve so much of her enmity. He sacrificed a lot for her and their country...
"Are the cities buried under the snow?" The oracle inquired, shaking free of family issues.
Why did Shiva attack? She'd become indifferent to the plights of man. Her rage didn't make sense. Such behavior would be expected of the Tidemother, not the Glacian.
"Luna, stop." Ravus shot her a glare that would normally have shut the girl up, but time away had given his sister newfound belligerence.
"What has become of them?" She reiterated.
The youngest Besithia was more than willing to expose his intelligence, though they'd gotten way off track from the original destination. "The lucky ones were entombed in snow. The unlucky ones—"
"I said she doesn't need to know!" The high commander boomed, rising to his feet in a fury.
"I detest withholding information, it causes too much trouble in the long run." It couldn't bee seen, but Genius was giving Ravus the coldest glare possible, inherited from Nebula.
"You are a child, boy! Remain in a child's place and don't defy my wishes."
"I'm not a child! Is a child capable of having multiple Master Degrees in science?!"
"This is escalating, perhaps we ought to move on?" Imperatrix intervened peacefully, waving to Lunafreya to soothe her brother.
The oracle tugged on Ravus's sleeve until he was once more seated and kept a firm hold on his arm. The scientist however wasn't mollified and out of spite returned to the previous topic.
"To end your curiosity, those misfortune countries are encased in eternal ice. Mausoleums of frozen corpses." He divulged once he had everyone's attention again.
Nyx and Lunafreya paled as Genius hammered in the point by bringing up photographs. The people in them were literally frozen to death, as was everything else in the scene.
Tempesta and Nebula were impassive to the flickering images, having already encountered the places first-hand on exploration missions.
Ardyn was content to unnerve Lunafreya, another chosen one, and to drag any Astral's image into the mud, but he wasn't willing to stir up a panic attack in Imperatrix. Luckily, she wasn't showing any signs of alarm, just glazed-over staring. He reached under the table to hold her hand, startling the woman out of whatever internal hell she envisioned herself in.
"I can't…I refuse to believe the Glacian did all this." Lunafreya was the one to burst out her seat this time. "The Astrals are protectors of humanity!"
Gentiana...she needed answers! Why?! Why would Shiva attack so brutally and leave a country crippled?!
The girl rushed out of the room before sickness took over, for hysteria and dread already had.
"This is why I despise people." Ravus spat, wanting to strike Genius, but refraining since his sister took priority.
He went after Lunafreya.
"Hmph, they don't really like you either." The albino twirled his tablet pen. "Now then, if there are no more questions, we can finally get to the actual presentation."
Nyx shook his head, getting up and swaying from the sudden shift or maybe from the horrific pictures. "I…I need a minute…"
His departure got a sigh out of the princess.
"I have to rehabilitate all of you…" She mumbled. "Sometimes I wonder..."
Was it even worth it to try humanizing them? They were all so warped, scales against them from them beginning.
Still...duty was duty and they were hers to protect and guide.
"Ah, why are you upset, Impera?" Genius dug his pen into his hair, scratching out his frustration with humans. "I know you're always telling me to play nice, but the high commander is terrible. Do you know how many complaints have been filed against him? Almost as many the chancellor!"
Ardyn made a noise of shock, face mockingly aghast at the allegation.
"Why do you even know that?" Imperatrix got an admonishing air about her. "Have you been hacking into the palace database again?"
"Uhh…no?"
"You have erred thrice, young man!"
"Three times, how?"
"Right now in how you behaved, illegally procuring information and then lying about the second!"
"Oh." Genius chewed on his pen after dusting it off. "All I did was answer a question. Can that be considered an offense?"
No defense was given for the other two crimes. He'd gotten in trouble for worse things than privacy breaches and fibbing.
Imperatrix came to stand by the boy, pulling on his ear. "It is how you did so that is the problem, Izzy! Consideration is important when speaking and your petty manner was not so. Those photographs were also entirely unnecessary!"
He groaned at the chastisement and physical punishment. "Humans are so irritating!"
"Need I remind you, you are one?"
"No, I'm not." The scientist denied, glasses sinking down his nose for the teenager to peer up at the princess with his unnatural red eyes.
Even among the many Besithia, he was special. Intelligence prompting the boy to name himself Genius and even being called so by their father, an honor reserved only for him. His albino features were another set of characteristics that set him apart from his brethren.
He was not some ordinary human!
"This proves I will have remove you from that laboratory more often." Imperatrix let go of the boy's ear, carding her fingers into his locks.
"Noooo. You already send me on tedious missions as is!"
"Just shut up and take your sentence before she makes it worse." Nebula remarked.
"Like being assigned to go to the mall or park and mingle is such a bad thing. I wish we'd get missions like that!" Tempesta complained. "Lucky brat!"
The princess washed her hands of the ensuing debate of who got the easier assignments, walking past the group with the intention of leaving, but a put-out voice stopped her.
"Where are you going? We still haven't gotten to the best part!" Ardyn whined.
He'd outdone himself with the designs and seeing Imperatrix make that childish face of wonder she did when faced with something that peaked her tastes would make all that brainstorming worth it.
"To speak with our disturbed companions." Even as she said that, certain people knew the princess really meant Nyx because Ravus would tend to his sister.
"Can't that wait? I wanted you to see my blueprints for the armor."
Imperatrix hesitated, looking between the monitor and the door.
"You make it sound as if yours are the final draft. I thought we agreed to let Impera choose the better option, Maestro?" Genius asserted with confidence that his brilliant, functional outlines would win.
"Oh, little Izzy. My prodigious, clueless student." The chancellor cooed, equal parts indulgent and patronizing. "We both know I'm going to win."
"Those adjectives are contradictory, it must be one or the other."
"But people aren't so easy to define, my boy. You'll understand when you get older."
"No I won't. I'm already smarter than most adults and on the same mental level as Father!"
While Ardyn became distracted with Genius, Imperatrix turned to Nebula. "I will leave the arrangements to you and go over them later."
"Understood, Your Highness."
Even though the princess told the gunman to decide, her mind ran through an outline on her walk to the glaive's quarters.
The places Genius wanted them to go were Daurell Caverns, Costlemark Tower, Balouve Mines, and the Rock of Ravatogh. Four places in three different regions. One of them could only be accessed at night, meaning daemons galore for the group to overcome.
They were currently flying through Duscae so the logical course would be to tackle the caverns and tower since they were nearest in the area. However, Costlemark was reputed to hold immensely powerful daemons and due to this, imperials weren't able to fully cart out the place. That dungeon was to be completed last.
Then again…Genius did bring new weapons and his inventions could tip a battle.
She arrived in front of the door before a conclusion could be reached, knocking and then entering once beckoned. The room was everything to be expected of a man. Clothes were thrown about. The desk was cluttered with some sort of project judging by the metal strings, beads, scales, and seashells.
Was he making something? Nyx did tell her Galahdians were known for their jewelry.
"I must be dreaming." The glaive joked from his sloppy position on the lower bunk-bed, leg and arm hanging off the side of the bed.
"You are not."
"Prove it."
She smirked, sitting right on his stomach to disprove the theory.
"Okay, okay! Not dreaming." He wheezed. "Thanks for demolishing my insides."
"I should leave just for that." The princess slid off, perching herself on the edge of the bed.
"I'm messing with you, Impera. You weigh almost nothing from the lack of meat in your diet." Nyx scooted over to make room for her. "What's up? I wasn't expecting you…yet…"
A couple of elephants they needed to acknowledge...
"Will you tell me what is bothering you?" The woman kicked off her shoes, bunching up her legs to rest her chin on her knees.
What a loaded question. Where to even start?
"Lunafreya was noticeably disturbed because she is of Niflheim is of the faith. You do not share those denominators."
"So cause I'm a Lucian, I'm not supposed to be bothered by the decimation of Niffs? Who's being a bigot now?" Nyx wasn't really looking for an answer, going on with his rant because he didn't feel like getting to the core of the matter. "Why didn't you all say something?! Shit, the rest of the world thought the attack was more like a trifle with how much bullshitting you guys did. I mean really? Forging fake maps? Come on!"
"Why would we announce to the world the truth of our situation? Doing so would have turned the tide." Imperatrix was getting too used to the glaive's outbursts because she hardly reacted with her own displeasure. "From conquerors to conquered in Father's eyes… He protected his nation."
Her father made many difficult decisions during that time.
The whole of Gralea went on ration control. The city lost a substantial amount of money, skyrocketing poverty and crime. The death toll increased like never before from the extreme climate conditions. Crops and livestock died out.
Life was frozen hell for years. Those were the years of true trial for Iedolas as he reformed a nation from scratch. None of his predecessors had to rebuild Mediterranean countries to suddenly survive subarctic temperatures. Not even her great ancestor Tellus could boast such a feat of unification.
So many places might have become another winter mausoleum of icy cadavers were her father any less of a ruler.
"Hey, hey, didn't you come here to comfort me? Why are you the one all weepy now?"
"I am not crying." Imperatrix corrected, falling onto her side, back to the glaive.
"Oh, sure. You're the oldest crybaby I know. It's weird." Nyx leaned over to check for weeping and was surprised to see she wasn't lying to keep face.
The princess still looked miserable, which always managed to make him all squishy on the inside. He hated seeing her like that, maybe because Selena was never the type to cry, nor was his mother, and the hunter specialist just didn't know what to do with a sobbing female.
Her downturned mood might in turn bring him into the dumps and Nyx needed to keep it together.
"Did you know? We Nephilim celebrate Die Defunctorum twice out of the year? Unlike Accordians who do so once. One day is a celebration and the other is a tragedy."
Lunafreya grew sick over pictures, abstract representations. How would she then react to standing before those frozen sculptures of people?
The old sections of Gralea were filled with blue buildings and blue people. Those citizens were going about their day, completely unprepared to become entrapped in their tasks, like a movie on pause.
Walking through one of those cities after the battle distressed Imperatrix to the point she became catatonic, snapping out of it after her father retrieved her. His frostbitten arms wrapped her securely, laying her head on his chest and keeping Imperatrix within the warmth of his coat all the way back to the flagship. She shook bitterly, refusing to let go of him or be separated until they returned home.
Both of them were changed from the experience.
Those cities haunted her nightmares. Habitation filled with life, but devoid of it, the very essence of contradiction.
Were those people alive or dead? Nothing could free them from the goddess's curse, not even fire. They were trapped evermore in chilly purgatory.
"Okay, you're not crying, but you're shaking like a Martini." Nyx jested, pleased that it got a reaction out of the trembling woman. A confused one, but still a reaction. "Do you know where that's from?"
"N-No?" Imperatrix drew out the word unsurely, thinking he was referencing his bartender skills.
Obviously not from his droll eyeroll.
"It's from a spy movie, babe."
"I-I see…" Sentences failed her at the moment with Nyx's arms assuredly wrapping around her, becoming spooned by the man.
"Maybe I'll show you it one of these days."
In his bedroom in Galahd were some old-school movies. When he finished the business with Lunafreya the could chill out at the bar and watch the films. Knowing the psychos though, they'd crash the date and the oracle was so sheltered that once she heard about it, she'd want to see a spy in action. Of course Libertus would want to be where the party was too and invite himself.
Wait a second…
Why the hell was he planning this out?!
Nyx jerked as his foot came into contact with smaller, colder ones. "Geez, you need to wear socks! Why are you so anti-shoes in general?!"
Imperatrix was always taking them off when they were inside the Setzer or any place they settled in. He could even remember how she so stupidly ran around Insomnia barefoot and continued that trend all the way to Longwythe.
How did she still have skin on the bottom of her feet at this point?!
"I have nothing against footwear. It is considered discourteous to wear them inside the home." The princess shared.
"A Nephilim thing?"
"A Persian one."
"Your mom's side, right?"
Imperatrix hummed, a smile came out. "With how much hot air you blow out, your capacity for listening does astound me."
Nyx snorted good-naturedly. "We just love insulting each other, huh?
"Yes, very much so."
They both got on each other's nerves and made sure to let the other know. Didn't stop them from functioning cooperatively…most of the time.
"Pshh…I guess it works. The mom usually berates the dad, it's just the way parents flirt." The glaive closed his eyes, nose tickled by the smell of peppermints and pressed closer to the origin.
"Did yours do that?" Imperatrix quietly inhaled, instinctively she wasn't comfortable with strangers touching her, but he wasn't a stranger.
Not anymore.
"Yeah, and my dad laughed it off. My mom's insults didn't phase him at all."
"A thick-skinned man. Thea is…"
"A lovable hard-ass."
They laid there for a few minutes, listening to the other breathe. The princess found it interesting how her day was slotting out to be a day for embraces and deep talks. Not what she expected, but far more pleasant than everyone closed off, hating every person present and making a show of it.
If the antics could tone just a little, the princess would be immensely happy.
"You still have not told me what weighs on your mind. Tempesta hinted at something. What is it?" Imperatrix broached softly, lulled into comfort and susceptible to nodding off in Nyx's arms.
"I can't…"
"Just try." She felt the immediate tension and reluctance he battled and twisted to face the glaive. "I want to help you. Shared sorrow is half a sorrow."
His heart pounded rapidly. Peering into those composed blue eyes allowed him to ignore the stinging remembrance of magical flames.
"Nyx, whatever it is…it will be okay." The princess pronounced despite how worried his behavior was making her.
She hadn't seen him depressed since Insomnia. What could be hurting the man?
"No, it won't." The glaive acknowledged, crashing Imperatrix to his chest so he didn't have to see her cry.
The morning after their party, the Besithia's got a phone call from the doctor since the princess wasn't answering her phone. At the man's insistence, they dragged a semi-functioning Nyx to the hospital and waited outside for the doctor to deliver his news.
His entire world collapsed from one word.
Cancer.
The doctor diagnosed him with low grade Astrocytoma and from there Nyx's mind shut down, missing a majority of the mumbo-jumbo clinical terminology, instead honing in on the scans exhibiting the benign tumor.
The headaches, vision changes, nausea, and weakness were all written off by the glaive. He experienced all those things to a degree in his days of Kingsglaive. None of them struck him as odd.
Dismal shades of yellows, blues, greens, reds, and others he couldn't remember proved otherwise. The side effects of the magic bestowed by the ring were fatal.
How? Why?
What…
What did he do to receive a tumor in the same area of the facial scarring leftover from the ring? After all he sacrificed for those Lucian Kings and Insomnia.
This was his reward?!
It wasn't fair! Was this what those old ghosts meant when they claimed his life? A slow, painful death?!
They robbed him of magic and would rob him of his bodily functions. This was the most dishonorable death a warrior could ever experience.
"N-No…how can you have cancer?! I didn't drag you back from the abyss to die…" Imperatrix's denunciation was muffled into Nyx's shirt, tears wetting the fabric.
The princess couldn't bear the thought of him leaving her. No more death! She couldn't take it anymore!
"Dammit, you've got a grip." The glaive adjusted to the crushing hold around his waist, reluctantly pushing against her shoulders. "Baby, baby ease up! You're gonna break a bone!"
"Nyx there has to be something you can do!" Imperatrix unwound enough to look him in the eye, seeing the same fear reflected in them.
"There's nothing I can do. Nobody knows how to cure it." The glaive said resignedly. "The very best in Lucis and Tenebrae are still stumped over the incurable disease."
Was it incurable because it was magically induced? Then they should have put that in the disclaimer when he signed up for Kingsglaive.
Liable to die in action, willing to accept uncalled for xenophobia, low pay, oh and…at the end of service, very probable to receive cancer from all the extraordinary magic.
The princess flinched. His words rang true.
No one in the entirety of Eos had developed a cure. Lucis and Tenebrae were home to magical families and if they couldn't fix it, there was little hope for science to solve an issue plaguing them for centuries.
"Guess we were all wrong about the Lucian King's ultimatum. One day they will claim my life."
"Have you spoken to Lunafreya? Maybe…she can—"
"Impera, no!" He pushed her further back, showcasing severity. "Magic caused this problem. More of it doesn't seem like the solution."
"But you don't know that. Obviously we don't know anything."
"Don't say anything to her. Or anybody else, alright?"
"Nyx, this is your life at risk!"
"Not a word, Impera! Got it?!"
"But…" The fight was draining out of the princess the more the glaive glowered at her.
"Please…" Nyx's shoulders dropped. "Quit arguing with me."
She closed her mouth in defeat. With how tired he appeared, Imperatrix wouldn't trouble him more.
Sitting up to lay a hand on cheek, the princess smiled wanly. "Okay, Nyx. I'm sorry."
"I think…I need a nap now. You really know how to tire a guy out." He put a pillow underneath his dead, drowsily blinking at her. "There was something else…"
"It can wait. Rest now." Imperatrix stroked the scarred flesh tenderly.
"Fine. Remember to keep those lips sealed."
As Nyx dozed off, she covered him with the blanket, a strange of instance of tucking in that the woman hadn't done since Persia when her cousin's children requested it after a day of playing together.
In the spirit of that motherly instinct, the princess cleaned up the mess of clothes, folding them and arranging the items into the drawers for the glaive. She didn't disturb the work station, familiar with how livid Nebula got when his things were touched. The princess assumed Nyx might feel the same.
At the end of her cleaning spree, Imperatrix found herself unwilling to leave so soon. She perched herself on the floor, upper body laying on the bed with her face nestled in her elbow. Simply watching the rise and fall of Nyx's chest abated some of her fear.
What a cruel fate for one still in the prime of age.
XV
"Where are you taking us, Nebula?" Imperatrix gazed out the large windows of the bridge, uninterested in the beautiful landscape below or the decorative night sky above.
Thoughts ran and crashed in her mind since Nyx shared his grief. She'd sequestered herself in the training room after leaving him.
Thinking wasn't needed to dance with blades. In there the world made sense, it was stances, lunges, evasions, and calculations. Not the intricacies of life that Fortuna cast about without rhyme or reason.
The serving of dinner and Tempesta whining got Imperatrix to put down the weapons, shower, change, and join the rest of the members in the dining room once more. The mostly uneaten food and her lack of conversing drew the attention of her attendants and Ardyn, but she couldn't muster more than faint reassurances to them.
Nyx…
What could she do for him?
"We're on route for Daurell Caverns, where us lookalikes will get the bones." Nebula rolled the lollipop to the other side of his mouth that wasn't dried out from the candy. "Not sure why Izzy needs bones for armor."
"I would rather not know." The princess lifted her gaze, catching the reflection of the maskless gunman on the upper deck. "Since when do you eat candy?"
"I don't, but Aranea had these custom-made for me." He wanted to gag due to the horrible flavor. "The know-it-all is a Besithia all right, torturing me with these awful things. He could've used regular flavors."
Nebula would be sure to punch the brat once they were in the field and away from the princess. It would hurt a lot more for the kid now that the shaggy mop was cut off by him. Less cushion and more skull.
Pain would teach Genius to respect his senior.
"Why would she do that?" Imperatrix faced her retainer.
"Get me to quit smoking. These lollipops are supposed to inhibit my addiction."
"Are they working?"
"Ehh, my taste buds are filled with ear wax, so I definitively don't feel like smoking." His deadpan got her to giggle.
"Poor Neb."
He toyed with his hairband, deciding now was a good time to get her talking. "Ulric told you about the doctor?"
Imperatrix froze.
"We figured it was something dire."
Not to mention, only something of the dire magnitude would put the princess back into one of her highly depressed moods. Gods, Nebula didn't want to deal with that again.
It was always men putting her in abysmal moods.
First Ardyn and her father, now it was Nyx raining on her parade. A happy Imperatrix was easier to deal with than a miserable Imperatrix.
The princess went up a level to the pilot's seat, propping herself on the armrest next to Nebula. "I cannot disclose anything."
She'd keep her word to Nyx.
The gunman nodded in response. Everyone had their secrets and this wasn't a situation where he needed to pry them for his liege's sake.
"Explain to me why all the freckles are going to Daurell?" Imperatrix brought up a new line of conversation. "What about the rest of us, Captain Besithia?"
"Your group will scavenge the Balouve Mines while we're in the caverns. Then our two teams will reconvene at Costlemark, rest, prepare, and then engage the tower the following night."
"Very efficient. I concur with your battle plan." She frowned in a manner that could be taken as a pout. "I have the more troublesome lineup. I can already hear the vitriol from Ravus."
The elder wouldn't want his sister exploring a dungeon, but the younger would want nothing else. He might go to extremes to prevent Lunafreya's participation, locking the girl in her room.
Gods knew what stunt she in turn might pull to get her way. The oracle was brattish as the high commander was stifling.
Daily headaches were too frequent with this cast of players.
"Siblings, eh? If only we could go back to the great days of fratricide." Nebula drawled wistfully, scrunching up his face in thought. "Though in my case it wouldn't be fratricide, but suicide."
"Oh, Neb, no." Imperatrix slumped more into the blonde. "You are so morbid and savage!"
His macabre humor exceeded even Ardyn's and she'd heard some dark rumination from the red head. The chancellor and eldest Besithia were a bad humor duo.
It was a good thing Halloween was a Lucian holiday and not widely acknowledged in the empire, because no one would survive those two's tastes.
Never again would the princess allow them to set up a haunted house.
"Don't pretend to be a wimp. You're a deceptively, dark, twisted individual."
"I am not!"
"Yes, you are, Impera."
"Evidence. I demand evidence!"
Nebula smugly lifted his eyebrow for a dressing down that destroyed people's minds. "You are a one-in-a-million eccentric that enjoys the company of daemons. Face it, you're practically wicked at the core."
Incredulity was so strong that princess didn't give a comeback, squeaking out sounds of disagreement.
"Think about it." The gunman slapped her knee harder than he meant to and Imperatrix yelped, rubbing the spot. "You affiliate with many of us clones, knowing what's under the surface and have two as retainers. You adore Tonberrys and Moogles. You don't kill any daemons that appear at night unless they attack."
There was another observation he wanted to bring up, but Nebula wasn't sure about it. It was only a hunch at this point.
Binding daemons to magitek cores was introduced to their father by Ardyn. Verstael then expounded on that research, creating clones that harbored the dark monsters to serve as the army's infantry after the massive loss of military men and assists.
How did the chancellor possess profound knowledge of the night creatures? How was he able to bend them to his will?
No human should have that kind of power.
Something about Ardyn wasn't right…but oddly enough he and the other models never felt the uneasiness that people complained of. If anything, the red and black enigma echoed of familiarity.
On the blackest of nights where even the moon was swallowed, the crooning in his head often led Nebula to Ardyn. An urge of servitude would then mingle into his mind, displacing the host to the point the blonde had a mental break, deciphering how much of his thoughts were his own and those of the daemon.
The darkness awoke to the chancellor just as it recoiled to the oracle. Nebula often wondered if Ardyn was like them or something else entirely.
"Whether you know it or not, you love daemons as much as you love humans. That's not normal, Impera."
Him, Tempesta, Genius, a few other Besithias…and Ardyn. They all were fortunate enough to be given the love of a princess.
Unfathomable…
"I never…thought of it that way…" She couldn't refute him and hung her head in concession. "I suppose I am irregular…"
"S'not a bad thing for a person. Some might even say it's noble. Your Persian name is very apropos." The gunman chewed on the remains of the lollipop, translating the woman's many names into a phrase. "The empress whose heart is for the land."
Imperatrix lifted her head, mood improved.
Janan meant meant heart in her mother's language. Empress for Imperatrix and earth or land for Tellus in Latin. Aldercapt was a more difficult name to explain. She knew it originated from her ancestor being of the house Alder from ancient Gralean nobility. No one knew where the "capt" portion came from.
"Aww, Nebu—"
"It's diastrous for a princess to be so kind-hearted. You try to please everyone when it's impossible and get taken advantage of, or worse, stabbed in the back." The elder Besithia spat out the leftover stick, crushing it in his hand. "Taking care of you is a laborious task."
Her mood plummeted again.
"But I'll manage."
The bar of energy rose and Imperatrix covered her attendant's mouth before he could rollercoaster her emotions more.
"Thank you, Neb, my darling." The princess kissed the top of his golden hair, humming sweetly as she moved off the armrest. "I have such lovely retainers. My sword and shield, how I cherish you both."
The corner of his mouth moved up, the most amount of happiness the man could express without it appearing overly faked.
"I am retiring. Do not fly through the night."
"Ehh, that's not a bad idea. Save myself from Tempy and Izzy's nonsense."
He primarily liked flying because it relaxed him and reminded Nebula of Aranea's lessons. Woman was an aerial beast.
In general she was a beast.
The army might be filled with men, but the few women in the ranks were all forces of nature not to be trifled with. If half of the males had the female's tenacity, the army would be in a higher class of fearsome.
Too bad men were meatheads majority of their lifespans.
"Be nice." Imperatrix warned jokingly, door to the bridge closing behind her.
She still managed to catch the negative affirmation from the gunman before walking off. One more stop before her room.
Entering the dining room, the princess opened the fridge, retrieving the desert uneaten by her. A delicacy of chilled peaches in wine.
Nebula knew her favorites well.
For some reason her stomach was now deciding food was acceptable.
The chirpy dinging coming from the pocket of her kaftan frightened Imperatrix into dropping the spoon into the drawer.
"Who?" She began, paused, and took an educated guess to who would still be awake at one ante meridiem.
True to form, Ardyn's name popped up on the screen, or rather it displayed as Caesar after she changed it back in accordance to their rekindlement.
May I call on you, Princess? Or do you want space?
His attentiveness was touching.
Wait in my room. I will be but a moment.
He replied with a swarm of hearts and every other cheesy emoji available. Imperatrix was stuck between an exasperated sigh and a girlish giggle. She replaced the spoon and picked up the glass. Eating in the kitchen was out now.
Passing the living quarters section, the princess heard nothing amiss. The hallway lights were dimmed and the occupied rooms didn't have arrows of light streaming across the floors.
Everyone was asleep.
Opening the door to the commodore suite, Imperatrix found the exception to the norm. Well, they both were exceptions.
Ardyn didn't sleep very often and she slept very little when not crashing from being awake for days.
"Don't you know it's bad to eat sweets this late?" The chancellor turned a page of the journal he was reading, comfortably reclined on the bed.
"Thank you pot. Do not forgot the tea in the kettle."
How many times had he snuck into her room well after dark, arms full of stolen kitchen goods? Honestly, a drawer of her vanity was specifically for Adyn's sweet-tooth needs and she didn't let the maids go in it.
They probably thought the locked drawer contained some nefarious item. Wait till someone broke into it and received a huge disappointment.
"So clever and cute. I ought to keep you in my pocket." He laughed, lifting his arm and wrapping it around the princess as she leaned into him, legs laying atop his and head resting on his chest.
The red head melted, cheek resting on white hair. The nearness and warmth of Imperatrix bestowing serenity.
A twinge of light reacted to her and as seeped in darkness as he was, feeling any echo of it was akin to an addict's relapse.
Falling into their routine was proving detrimental…
Mercy be though, Ardyn was weak for her. That hadn't changed during the second wind of their fateful wheel's turn.
"What secrets are hidden in your journal?"
"Ah, ah, ah!" The chancellor held his initialed gift out of Imperatrix's reach, voice taking on a note of scandal. "Not with those sticky fingers, you naughty girl!"
"Oh, my apologies." Without a thought, she licked the sugary nectar of peaches off her fingers. "I forgot."
"Musa." Ardyn sang seductively, fingers ghosting over the soft fabric of her dress, just beneath the chest.
The princess halted the action of cleaning her fingers, hyper-aware of the changed atmosphere.
Heart pounding, body burning, and breath hitching, she brazenly traced her thumb over the chancellor's bottom lip, coating it in the desert's flavor. His tongue immediately swiped over the line and wanting more of it, the red head trapped her thumb in his mouth.
"Don't you know it's bad to eat sweets this late?" Imperatrix tossed the tease back at its owner.
"I'm afraid I can't help myself. You've got hooks in my soul, Dearest Musa." He repeated the sensual pattern on each finger, even the ones free of peaches.
In this moment his sense of taste was so clear. The sweetness and saltiness alone got him to moan.
Regular mortals didn't know how lucky they were to have fully functioning taste buds. Since daemons didn't eat food, instead feeding off the magic present in the world, Ardyn often couldn't taste anything he consumed.
Sweetening things to ridiculous portions was the closest form of enjoyment the man could obtain from food. Strong bitter flavors were also in his taste, but wine was the only tart thing he'd yield to. How fortuitous desert included both.
Right now, peaches, wine, and Imperatrix were the best combination he'd tasted in a long time.
Ardyn dropped his book onto the floor, forgotten in favor of holding onto the princess's waist as she climbed atop him, leaning forward to kiss him with a peach housed in her mouth, transferring it to him like the drinking games people played in the clubs. Their lips moved slowly, savoring the sugar and catching the slips of juice with their tongues.
What began slow accelerated.
Ardyn drew the princess closer, hands caressing all over her body, chucking the phone in her pocket to the other side of the bed, and then untangling the braid to free up her exquisite, moonlight hair. When the lack of oxygen made her chest ache, Imperatrix clasped the red head by the neck, separating him from her with a firm grip.
"Undress for me, Caesar." She gasped out, eyelids sinking with a steaminess from his easy obedience.
He'd come to her room garbed rather light. Ruffled dress-shirt, patchwork trousers, and gloves the only impediments. His boots were already off to the side.
It didn't take long for him remove them, though Ardyn was a little miffed the princess didn't help, running her hands over his skin aching for her touch like he wanted. His curiosity for what she would order him to do next kept him quiet.
"I want to make you mine."
The possessive urge to claim sections of her heart hit Imperatrix with an urgency and fortitude she wasn't used to. The despondency and speed of inevitable loss wouldn't permit her to dally on these matters.
Time was the enemy. Life was fleeting. Shown that recently, how could she afford to waste any given time with her suitors?
"Musa, you are making me blush." Ardyn laid on his back as directed, naked skin tingling all over in anticipation.
"I will cause you do far more." The princess promised, tilting the cup to swallow the first prize.
The blush spread across his face, wicked grin broadening. "Not too much, I hope? You don't want everyone to hear me, do you?"
She left the answer to his imagination, eyeing him heatedly.
The prize was fed to him by the mouth. This time Imperatrix didn't dwell too long on lips, obtaining another treat, pressing the peach to Ardyn's neck to begin the mapping process of scarred flesh.
The whippings, the nailing, the strangulation, the stabbing and cuttings. All of it would be given newer, more pleasant associations.
A beautiful thing was never perfect.
Out of suffering emerged the strongest souls. The most magnificent characters were seared with scars.
"I haven't the faintest what's brought this on, but you're driving me crazy, Your Highness." The chancellor swallowed thickly, head swimming from the coolness tracking down his stomach and pooling flames on the inside. "Please don't stop."
She'd just finished lavishing the puncture scars on his palms with wet kisses. Then the woman smoothed her hands everywhere but the main attraction while her tongue licked and her lips pecked his taunt abdomen.
Not that she needed to touch him there. Ardyn was so aroused at this point the slightest contact to it would send him over.
"Hmm, you might be more sensitive than me, Darling." Imperatrix ate the last of the desert off the red head's stomach, sitting up on his legs once done.
An artist admiring their canvas for the final, grand addition.
"I'm so weak for you, it's inconceivable." He shuddered at the sheer amount of longing filtering inside him, brushing all his meddlesome hair behind his ears for a perfect view of Imperatrix…well, nearly perfect with one adjustment. "Will you undress now? Allow this unworthy servant to see that glorious, bronze figurine crafted so wonderfully that a man would dedicate poetry to it?"
"My Darling Caesar, ever the flatterer. I'll not deny you." The princess smiled dotingly, first putting the cup on the floor, then pulling the dress over her head.
She was down to the lingerie now.
The chancellor shot up, sighing blissfully at the remote skin-to-skin contact. Needing more, he aided in unhooking the bra, kissing the revealed mounds. The second article he approached with less care, desire beginning to make him sloppy.
"Don't tear these! I'll have no bottoms at this rate." Imperatrix grumbled, pushing Ardyn from her chest and pining him to the bed.
"Pity that." He snarked.
More carefully, the chancellor dragged the lacy material down, moan rumbling in his throat from the princess laying flat on him to make removing them easier.
"Musa, I need you! No more teasing please?" Ardyn begged with that enticing warmth right above his anatomy.
"I won't, Caesar. I'll give you rapture." She softly pecked his forehead, moving downward. "Close your eyes."
He was thrown off by the order.
Watching her in control astride him was a thing of great pleasure for the red head. Why would she deny him that?
Imperatrix placed a finger over his mouth before Ardyn could speak. "Do it for your princess."
The chancellor drank in that sultry radiance for a minute, then gave his compliance. With his eyes closed, the man couldn't see what she was about to do.
He took to devouring her with ample eagerness, but shrunk back from the same being done to him. Give and give with little take.
The princess wanted him to accept more of her love, more of her attentions without feeling ashamed for it.
She saw him in the darkness. A blinding light right where his heart was. This love, the first love, she'd never give up on it, even as tears came and went, or smiles came and went.
This was theirs. All its ugliness and beauty was theirs.
"Ah! Impera!" As expected, Ardyn protested through his groaning, hands fluctuating between trying to tug the princess off her course, and tangling in the long strands fanned out on her back to guide her into taking more of him in.
His half-hearted resistance and heavy blushing increased the ministrations on a part of the red head she rarely was allowed access. The chancellor's head flopped backwards onto the pillow, losing to the delightful dance his hips instinctively followed.
"I swear, you're being positively naughty! This isn't how a princess should behave. Not even for her most devoted servant." Ardyn's breathing became haggard, amber eyes fixated on the immodest image of Imperatrix consuming him and being smug about it. "This so lewd…and provocative… I can't take much more…"
His hand bunched up the hair at the nape of the woman's neck, intent on dislodging her. A moment more and he couldn't stop the wire from snapping.
She of course resisted the unspoken request for her to stop, applying more to please him.
"M-Musa, p-please stop! If…if you want me to come…let me do it encased in you!" Ardyn presented throughout his panting, knowing it to be the only other option that the stubborn female might accept.
She couldn't get pregnant while taking the injections.
He didn't have to withdraw every time and deal with the hurt faces and complaints. The red head didn't do it to demean her as she thought, but rather, fear on his part.
If…
If Ardyn had the ability to father a child, he feared what kind of life it would have. Would the child be more like him, a monster? Or more like Imperatrix, a treasure? Or a combination, treasured monster?
There were so many unknowns with his condition and no manual for it.
"You promise to do as you have said?" The princess cleared her palate with the leftover wine, presenting the cup to Ardyn.
"Yes, my Dearest. I never lie when it comes to our lovemaking." He leaned forward for the offering, pouting when she took the rest for herself. "Such a minx tonight, it's downright agonizing!"
She smirked coyly, discarding the distraction. Imperatrix surged forward to mesh their mouths, arms snaking around the man's neck. The wine passed freely from princess to chancellor, dripping down their chins to their chests.
Between the sugary peaches and wine they were dirtier than usual during their relations.
Imperatrix rolled them, pressed to the bed by Ardyn's weight. He reached between the little space of their bodies, guiding himself inside her to fulfill his word. Their lips broke the kiss at the first gush of connection.
For the princess it was her introduction to bliss and for the chancellor it was the precipice to climax. He quivered for the looming challenge given to him.
Ardyn was in sensory overload and getting his woman to come before him seemed impossible when the slightest movements in the blossomed flower tingled deliciously. A siren's call to give in with every click of his hips.
Imperatrix tested his control like no other!
"I love you, my Darling. Do you know that?"
And of course the sweet things she whispered in his ear while nibbling on it didn't help him control himself at all!
"I can hardly believe it, thinking it must be dream. I spent so long waiting for you with no hope you'd appear." Arm a vice around the princess's waist to facilitate his slow, small thrusts going deeper with every mewl, his hand squeezed hers. "No more. Never again will I go without you."
"Goodbyes are only for those who love with their eyes. For those who love with their heart and soul, there is no such thing as separation." Imperatrix crooned against the crown of red in the original language of Persian that the poem came from. "Lovers don't finally meet somewhere, they're in each other all along."
The hitch in his throat made the chancellor shut his eyes. When he cried his eyes bled, a lesson that quickly quelled the fits of misery he experienced in the early years of his solitude.
Without knowing it, Imperatrix was repeating words she'd uttered to him in her previous incarnation. She was always doing so without realizing it. The familiarity of her words could break his heart and mend it.
"Oh, Musa, my Dearest Musa. I want to be yours always!" Ardyn sped up, kissing all up her jaw at the princess whimpering his name. "I love you, I love so much! Don't ever doubt that."
She writhed, arching into him, crossing her legs around the chancellor's hips, limiting the momentary absence of space between their union. Imperatrix wanted to have him as physically close as possible, reminiscent of the entwined soulmates sculpture she saw in the art museum at home.
His lips landed greedily on hers, writing a story of devotion. Their clasped hands dragged across the sheets, grip crushing for the high of physical expression possible only by two people with intimate understanding of their partner.
Ardyn knew how to align his body to have Imperatrix letting out musical notes of satisfaction, having been well studied with her body for years. Now she was at the precipice and he could finally climax with her.
He murmured in Farsi. "Come for me, Dearest, and I'll fall with you."
"Yes, Ardyn, with me!" She loosed a long moan, body clenching up everywhere and the princess held onto his neck tightly as the euphoric sensation took the forefront.
Her noises of content were joined by the chancellor's, propelled into the same pleasurable haze that elicited shocks in all the pores of his body throughout the expelling of his essence into Imperatrix and well after when he finished. He loomed over her, breathing raggedly. She directed him back into her amorous hold, running fingers through his hair.
The afterglow of their consummation was filled with affectionate kissing and caressing. Sleepily, the snowy haired woman traced letters on Ardyn's back. He in turn stroked her thigh.
"I'm afraid you're filthy, my dear."
"You have said. I could have done worse." She looked down at his lazy, sly grin.
"No, Musa. Your body is filthy from the sugar on me." The chancellor tracked his tongue up the middle space of her breasts to her neck, sampling the perspiration and spilled wine. "So sweet…"
"Right...that." Imperatrix sighed at length. "I'm too sluggish for a shower…but sleeping like this is unwise…"
"I could give you a bath." He continued licking around the sticker spots on her skin.
Already, excitement was working life back into his body, more of this would have him going a second time.
"Too tired…"
Or perhaps not.
"Do you know how adorable it is to see the mighty tuckered out?" Ardyn abruptly hopped off the bed with too much energy for someone just off coitus.
"Where are you going?" The question came out more of a whine than she meant and the princess covered her mouth, abashed.
"Hush now, Dearest." He pulled the hand off, planting a passionate kiss on her lips. "I'm going to take care of you."
Singing a song, the red head ventured into the bathroom, cleaning himself first, then returning to do the same for Imperatrix. The entire time he sang in a language she couldn't understand.
The meaning of the words escaped her. Yet, the tune invoked nostalgia.
"I know this but from where?" The princess hummed along to the chancellor's silky tenor.
He smiled, melancholic and reflective now done with the washing.
Ardyn reminisced how she used to sing with him all the time on their travels, to the irritation of their third companion. Tellus fussed constantly of how their lives played out as a musical composition when it was supposed to be an epic saga for generations to come.
Sadly, their tales were erased from history. The Alders associated with him, unrecognized and cast into darkness. Although, the Persian Prince managed to carve out his own legend of Niflheim in his lifetime.
One silver lining out of their three fates.
Oh, Musa…she got the worst of it. He failed her terribly.
"Why do you sing this song, if it brings you sorrow?"
A hand curved along his smooth jaw.
"So I don't forget." Ardyn whispered, leaning into the touch.
Privately, he admitted to singing the old hymns as a ditch effort on his part to trigger memories for Imperatrix. The ploy didn't work, serving to agitate the daemons since it was remnants of his light magic.
Perhaps it was for the best. She need not ever know the tragedy he brought upon her.
"Ready for bed, my dear? The hour is late…or is it early? Time is so confusing!" The red head waltzed around the room, naked and flamboyant as he collected his clothing.
"What are you doing?" The princess propped herself up by the elbows, disappointed to see him retreating behind gimmicks.
He inclined his head, expression communicating sarcasm. "Why, leaving of course."
"I want you to stay here." She didn't let his tone affect her, knowing he was doing it out of crossness for a past still lingering over his present.
"And…expose you?" Ardyn lost the mockery, surprise replacing it for how bold the princess was being in her request.
They courted secretly for years out of respect for her reputation and station as royalty while he was no more than a rich plebian with a title.
No Tellus Aldercapt in his family tree like the other prestigious blue bloods of the empire. Though if the fools knew his real family tree they'd sing a different tune.
Scratch that, most likely the same tune since his origins were better than they thought, but still problematic from a standpoint.
"I…I do not care anymore…" Imperatrix gained a tone of color in her cheeks, batting her eyes coquettishly beneath the bangs. "Won't you stay with me, Darling Mine?"
The tall man became a touch timorous, reddening at the swelling of agape making the decision for him. "How can I say no…when you look at me like that?"
The lights were turned off and the chancellor sat on the bed, redressing for a different purpose now. Being skin to skin with his lover was sublime, but watching her shiver in his embrace throughout the night wasn't.
"No, no! Leave it." The princess snuck her arms around his chest when Ardyn leaned forward to pull on his pants, tugging him backwards into her.
"You will get sick." He didn't put too much effort into resisting, kicking off the trousers he barely got on at her insistence.
"I will not. Now come here." She managed to get the hefty man to the middle of the bed, breath catching at the effort.
"So spoiled and demanding!" He twisted to lay properly on his side.
"I am a princess, that is to be expected." Imperatrix snuggled into him with the covers.
"It is and I shall be answering your every beck and call, Your Highness. You have my most steadfast vow." Ardyn sighed contently at the press of the smaller body to his. "Are you sure I shouldn't dress? You've gotten used to moderate climate here in Lucis. This isn't the bes--"
"I want to be close to you." She insisted. "Besides, am I not warm enough to counter your chill?"
"You certainly are."
"Then there is no need to worry, only to enjoy. I am and so should you."
"As you command, Dearest Musa."
The red head wasn't drained enough magically to need sleep and he didn't want to risk a nightmare ruining this, so the chancellor burrowed close to the ephemeral human, peppering her with affection. This would be another night of just watching her and being grateful that he could once again do so.
The scent and feel of her was so soothing, so peaceful for his tainted soul.
His plans…his revenge, both were looking dimmer by the minute. One path, one destiny laid out for him. A vulnerable, little mortal whom Ardyn loved dearly was making him reconsider things already set out for centuries.
Oh, Imperatrix…
She was his weakness.
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