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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
- 19
- 20
- 21
As a birthday present to myself, here's the next chapter! I'm mind-blown that I've managed to reach this age and finally got my degree in the mail. Hello real world and prepare to eat me alive! Lol, I'm so not ready for the next stage of life. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge. A great birthday present would be some reviews. I did have a user on Tumblr send me some fanart of Imperatrix a week ago and not going to lie, I cried a little. I don't care what anyone says about fanfiction, it's legit writing that touches people's lives in unexpected ways, exactly like published writing.
Latin
Veni, vidi, vici- I came, I saw, I conquered.
Ad populum- For the people.
French
Sous-merde- Someone not even worthy of being called a shit.
Sacré bleu- Sacred blue. A substitute for "Sacré dieu", meaning "sacred god" and considered blasphemy to the French for speaking the holy name in vain. Plus no one says this anymore, it's outdated.
XV
"Nyx, what is this about?" Imperatrix grilled him for the third time after the glaive cornered her in the hallway, absconding with her to his room, covering her eyes, and telling the princess not to peak.
"You'll see." He repeated for the third time, equally as huffy. "Ask again and I'll pinch your butt."
"You would not dare."
"I would actually. Done worse if you recall."
"Nyx!"
"You were screaming that too."
"Ugh!"
"That too."
The man concluded his teasing fest, bringing the princess to a stop in front of his desk. He took his hands off her eyes, leaning into her ear.
"Look, baby."
Imperatrix obeyed and gasped after looking downward. "It's stunning!"
Gone was the cluttered mess she saw previously when cleaning Nyx's room, in its place a magnificent tiara.
A great blue seashell surrounded by smaller ones made up the foundation of the circlet. The rainbow scales they'd discovered in Galahd decorated the middle section, catching the light and reflecting its prism into the world. On the top layer diverging outward, were silver branches encrusted with jewels.
An oceanic-themed crown fit for one of Leviathan's fabled mermaid children who ruled under the sea.
"It is so palatial." Imperatrix praised profusely, bending closer to admire the craftsmanship, fingers hovering cautiously near the decorations. "Did you make this?!"
She doubted the level of his skill when he told her childhood memories of crafting for his sister. The princess really had to stop labeling Nyx as arrogant. Confident would be better term seeing as his skills often backed up his boasts.
"Yeah…for you, Impera."
The woman froze, cheeks warming hotly and faced the glaive. "For me? Why?"
He grinned at the shy steak, tucking some hair out of her eyes just to fluster Imperatrix more.
Mission accomplished by the deeper flush.
She melted at the affection, smitten into smiling so tenderly that Nyx almost forgot what he was about to say. His heart started beating faster and he would have gotten the blush bug were it not for him coughing away the silliness.
Woman flustered him once at the club, it wouldn't happen again. He wasn't the swooning kind of guy.
"I told you I'd make a crown so amazing you'd want one for your sisters." The glaive boasted one last time before he sobered into a serious manner, hand squeezing a smaller one. "I know it's not a replacement, but I hope it makes up for the diadem. I wouldn't be alive if you didn't sacrifice it."
He owed her a fair bit.
"Oh, this...I cannot..." At the moment so many feelings were bubbling in Imperatrix's stomach. She babbled out rubbish at Nyx's kindness.
The princess felt giddy enough to kiss him, wanted to do so and found herself leaning closer to him. Nyx didn't notice the cue, eyes elsewhere in remembrance.
"As well as thanks for the gear." The man added.
Nebula's rant over how the princess was blowing through her income for him and Lunafreya was still fresh in his mind.
While Genius did a check-up on Nyx's equipment, he conversed with his brother about linking a lock-on and multi-fire system between a sniper rifle and a visor. Naturally after hearing all this, the glaive wanted a similar level of badass for his bow.
Imagine, a bow firing off dozens of arrows with one loose. Goodbye enemies!
Nyx Ulric the Hero was still in business, still as staggering, and still as handsome, even with his magical powers gone, kukri gone, and face sort of scarred like a broken china doll. He was a hero got dammit!
His request incited the eldest Besithia to interrogate Nyx. The glaive had a moment of idiocy when money, namely Gil, came into question.
Call him stupid...but he was under the impression that Imperatrix got things for free as the imperial princess, like some kind of promotion agreement with the arms dealers. Royalty endorsing products was income by itself.
People would buy the shit of weapons used by the Unbreakable Sword, the White Princess, the Blooming Red Lotus and every other grandiose moniker Imperatrix obtained over the years.
Nyx also admitted...to being spoiled by King Regis's magic and that was why money hadn't crossed his mind.
Everybody in the citadel pretty much used weapons connected to the Armiger. They never had to purchase replacements or worry about losing a weapon. Those chosen to wield magic could call forth an unlimited supply of weapons.
The exceptions were the Royal Arms, which could only be accessed by Caelums and bestowed on servants at their preference. From what he knew, Clarus was the only one honored with that privilege by King Regis.
No telling how Noctis felt about sharing his special collection.
The mechanics behind the Armiger didn't make much sense to him. For example, how did everybody in Kingsglaive lose magic when Regis died, but the weapons didn't disappear? Did they get expelled from the Armiger? How were they all using the same items?
Libertus owned his spare kukri and Nyx kept the other as more of a memento than a weapon. Tiny thing was primarily for warping and kill strikes, not actual fighting.
Better to not question the magic of the world. He was starting to understand that some of it had no rhyme or reason.
Just roll with it.
Nebula corrected Nyx's entire line of thinking on imperial armament.
Imperatrix got a discount since the royal family purchased gear like crazy for the Praetorian Guard and themselves, but they still had to pay thousands of Gil, fees that regular citizens or soldiers couldn't afford. Out of the royals, she paid for most the retainer's equipment, leaving more allowance money in her younger sister's accounts for them to spend on mundane things.
For a few minutes the gunman broke into a side-rant of how this was why the princess found herself often on a tight budget. She was forever using it on other people and then crying over her empty accounts when unforeseen money issues popped up.
That visor didn't move off Nyx the entire time of Nebula's creepy monologue in that voice scrambler. Returning to the original line of conversation gave the glaive back his ability to breathe.
How could the guy petrify others with a look when his face was hidden behind a mask?
Rich nobles, commanders, and the ranks above were the only ones whom could afford the Besithia merchandise. Having their products could be the difference between life and death outside the safety of the cities.
Which was why the prospect of Genius mainlining his inventions to all was such a feat.
Nyx theorized where the imperials suddenly got the cash to fund arming their entire military. It tweaked him into anger, but knowing how trigger-happy Nebula was, he didn't broadcast his disgruntled tantrum.
He also didn't want to keep coming to blows with these people since they were now his indefinite traveling companions. Imperatrix would ease up too if he was less acerbic to her friends.
The glaive left the accusation of a plundered Insomnia in the back of his head. The hunter did still call the imperials assholes as he left the cargo area where the scientist set up his lab.
The automatic door saved him from a dart in the back.
"Thank you so much, Nyx. I will treasure it always." Imperatrix promised with a radiant smile to liquefy a man's legs.
"Do I get a kiss for a job well done?"
He predicted a fail since the woman periodically played difficult -to his chagrin and amusement- but she caught him off guard by bracing herself on his shoulders and leaning upward on her toes to indulge him. It happened so unexpectedly that Nyx let her get away with kissing the tail-end of his mouth.
Close, but no dice. This one…always playing hard-to-get.
"Hey now, quit being a tease! You know what I meant." The glaive didn't allow her to back up, snaking his arms around her waist, returning her to the fold.
"So rude and ungracious. That was a proper kiss of gratitude from royalty." Imperatrix stayed still in the hold, rather liking the cage.
Earlier he missed his chance to kiss her.
Ardyn wouldn't trap her like this, responding only to her embracing him and then becoming an enclosure of love. She was very accustomed his follow-the-princess playbook.
Frequently, Nyx was so demanding and assertive in his actions. This would be new territory for Imperatrix and she would have to fight her instincts of being the initiator.
For him…she was willing to try.
"This is how you thank people in Niflheim?"
"Yes. It is how we greet and say goodbye as well. We can be an affectionate people in the right atmosphere."
"Show me."
Imperatrix sighed fondly, bestowing the consolation Nyx desired. Without the heels of her shoes, a bigger gap in their height lead to him lifting the princess off her feet in his eagerness to deepen the kiss.
Subsequently different…heated and consuming to Ardyn's cool and doting. Nyx still elicited the same blithe thrill in her chest.
She opened her mouth to his prodding tongue, giving leeway to feelings over logic. Each press of him to her roused Imperatrix for more and they continued taking ownership of the other's lips. Their actions escalated to the princess being dropped onto the desk, Nyx's hands roaming and her leaning back to encourage more touches upon her body.
The woman squeaked into his mouth at feeling something poking into her back. "Nyx…Nyx, stop!"
"What? Why?" He panted, thwarted in caressing her chest by Imperatrix twisting in his hold.
"I don't want to break it." She picked up the tiara, holding it between them.
It almost got smashed from the glaive pushing her back on the desk.
"It's both flattering and irritating that you're so focused on that instead of what I'm doing to you."
"I have no time for pleasures either." The princess lightly thrust him off, crossing her legs to staunch the ache and prevent Nyx from re-claiming the spot. "I have an appointment with Izzy and then training before we enter the tower."
"Busy day for you. Do you even know how to take it easy?" The man tugged on his pants since he was in another predicament thanks to this femme fatale.
Luckily, she was hot and a decent person, so Nyx wouldn't stay mad for long about being blocked for the dozenth time.
"Did you get any sleep?"
"Plenty. I need only four to function." Imperatrix slid off the desk after collecting herself.
When they left Balouve they weren't far from Costlemark. It was still dark when the princess landed the ship. After letting the Besithia siblings onto Setzer, she retired to her room with Ardyn. Whether or not he slept was up for debate and more concerning than her reduced respite.
How many days had he been awake now?
"You sound crazy. Nobody should be as alert as you with that kind of setup." The glaive fell onto his bed.
Unlike her, he was fine with being lazy till the next meal. Why tire himself out when they would be dungeon grinding later?
"You are the second person to commentate on my abnormality." Imperatrix mumbled, just noticing the drawer she accidentally opened in her descent. "What is this?"
Inside was another gorgeous piece of jewelry. A seashell styled as a locket. The chain link was lined with pearls.
"That's Luna's. I'll give it to her later when Ravus isn't breathing down her neck."
"You are excellent at this!" She commended. "It is incomprehensible with your looks and personality weighed in."
"I resent that, Impera!"
Her childish awe was heartwarming to him.
Working in between all their missions didn't give him exclusive focus and Nyx spent about two months on the items, projects tucked and hidden in his bag.
He planned to ask Imperatrix out while they were in Lestallum and give her the tiara at the end of the date. A cheesy, romantic gambit the glaive wouldn't normally use as a game plan, but Storm suggested it as the best course to winning over the princess than the sleezeball aggression he believed was flirting.
How she knew he'd come on strong to the princess was anybody guess. Maybe the glaive spilled a little more information to her than he thought.
Storm was ferociously sexy though and knew how to conversate with a guy. Not surprising he was a bit of a motor mouth with her after Imperatrix had him up and down on the emotion scale.
Club atmosphere and alcohol…man…
The best laid plans go to waste though. The snowy imperial executed her own stratagem. Not that Nyx had too much of a problem with how things turned out.
He enjoyed every bit of their devil-may-care night. In fact, the man wanted a repeat, was even prepared for it now after a trip to the pharmacy. They didn't have what he originally went for, but he still walked out with items to prevent another blunder on his part.
Nyx…would have to cross that bridge when it popped up. Yesterday's flight of fancy was still there, burrowing deeper and deeper, like a mole searching for its new home, but there were a lot of logistics to consider.
"I used to make things like that all the time for Selena." The glaive shared wistfully at Imperatrix inspecting the circlet at different angles, giggling to herself about something.
Probably imagining an outfit to go with it.
His sister did something similar when he gave her trinkets. She never wore them the way he intended though.
"She must have loved you dearly for it." The princess hesitated to say what was on her mind at the mention of his family, but after envisioning how her own might feel, she managed to profess. "You should visit your mother. Tell her of your condition."
The mood darkened.
Nyx stared adamantly at the floor, running his hand down his face. Imperatrix hastened to his side, gripping onto his arm to make him look at her.
"She needs to know, nay has a right to know of her boy. Such ill news is not shared over the phone."
"What was it you told me?" The glaive turned his frown to the mobile device on the desk. An ivory menace. "A shared sorrow is half a sorrow?"
He talked to his mom a couple days ago, listening to her carp about the idiot teenagers sneaking into his bar for liquor and how much trouble it caused her when the parents complained.
The ex-glaive wasn't doing a good job of policing Hypnosis. His lack of vigilance would be addressed in Nyx's next phone call to the big guy.
Ah damn.
Libertus needed to know too. The oaf was practically his brother. He'd sob worse than Imperatrix and it wouldn't be any kind of cute to witness or listen to.
"This sorrow is going to double if I share. Triple even." Nyx sighed. "Mom's gonna be devastated..."
The princess scooted closer, slipping her arms around his waist. He moved his arm to return the embrace.
"Oh, my poor Darling. There is no easy path for this and you must walk it, but it need not be alone. This is what family is for, comfort in a time of misfortune. Be not afraid to seek out that solace."
After wallowing for a few minutes, Nyx lifted his head off Imperatrix's to mumble out. "When?"
"Right after this exploration."
"You've still got one place to go." He argued the swift deadline, dread building to face reality that soon.
"I will not expose you to the rock's extreme heat and fumes." She stood, unmoved by his seeming procrastination. "Your clock is ticking, waste not a second of your time."
Nyx winced.
"If you still plan on going to Altissia with us, this could be your last chance to see your mother for a very long time. Who knows how long it will take for us to negotiate with the secretary on behalf of Lunafreya."
"Is this how you feel when I win an argument? Cause I'm bummed. I got nothing."
Imperatrix hit him.
"Hey, I'm terminal! You can't do that."
She did it again, harder for the insensitive joke.
"Too soon?"
A third time.
"Goddam it, stop!"
"Don't joke about your health, it upsets me!" The princess shoved him onto the bed. "I will see you later."
The woman got her tiara and huffed, on route to the door.
"Hold up!" Nyx seized the princess by the hips, yanking her onto the bed, sprawled in his lap. "If you're going to hit me three times, you ought to kiss me at least once. Balance it out."
Imperatrix hummed. "An intriguing proposition."
The glaive grinned triumphantly, preparing for the trophy. She leaned in, gripping his chin to do as expected. Right at the finish line, the sword master feinted, popping him on the face instead.
"Nice try. The ratio of hits should be increased and then I might agree."
Nyx laughed, rubbing his cheek. He was amused and frustrated to see Imperatrix leave.
She stopped by her room first to put the headpiece into safekeeping in her suitcase. The princess also fixed her clothing after spying her reflection, saving herself from a mortifying incident of explaining why her tunic was unbuttoned and bra misaligned.
The woman was already intensely horrified to realize she walked the hallways in a state of disarray. Thank the heavens no one witnessed this lapse!
Tempesta and Nebula already had a sixth sense for knowing when Imperatrix did something worth needling her about. Her behavior around Nyx hadn't shifted too much at lunch, but somehow, they were clued in to her new romance.
How? How did they know?!
The fist fighter wouldn't stop hooting, eyes hidden behind her mask, but still giving off a leer to the pair that they could feel prickling their skin. The gunman was no better, blatantly staring.
The sixth degree became even more aggravating when the freckle menaces added Ardyn into the ogling game when he waltzed into the dining room, to which he snickered off after realizing what was going on. With how much he began eyeing Nyx and her, thoughts running wild with illicit fantasies, things were just too heated for the princess.
She kept consuming frigid glasses of water in an attempt to temper herself…but it didn't work.
An absurd, arch part of Imperatrix wanted to behave like the chancellor, all cheeky confidence, leaning back in the chair to survey the game board. Under the scrutiny of the masses, the princess would preen boldly.
A dragon hoarding its treasure, jewels being her two consorts.
All that was utterly unseemly and she did no such thing in front of her retainers, instead bowing her head in internal chastisement.
These men were having a scandalous effect on her sense of propriety. What kind of princess was she becoming?
A terrible figure of lust, greed, and gluttony…
"Now, now. Haste makes waste, my lady. We needn't another failed mixture."
Imperatrix leaned over the railing, spying the chancellor looming over the oracle as she mixed ingredients into a beaker.
"Your Highness, how good of you to join us!" Ardyn waved genially at the princess as she descended the stairs, eyes wicked and adoring.
Once she was on the ground floor, he gestured to his newest pupil.
"Care to join Lady Lunafreya in her alchemic endeavors? She could use an assistant to keep time for her." He threw up his hands in defeat. "She either leaves it bubbling too long or too short. There's no middle ground with this one!"
"You took my advice, I see." Imperatrix stood beside the blonde, examining the table of contents.
Lots of bones and teeth from Daurell Caverns, plenty of herbs, shafts, and stones. A witch's classic potion materials.
The princess smothered a titter, knowing her line of thinking would get the woman into trouble with Lunafreya.
"I saw them working and became curious. I did not expect the chancellor to put me through a trial." She blew out air, carefully stirring the liquid meant to be a fire concoction.
Ardyn insisted on starting the girl off on the basics when she offered to help Genius, who was buried in multiple projects, abruptly flitting between them in chaotic pattern.
No one had been able to coax the boy out of his work frenzy.
"Well, I couldn't let you run wild. What kind of peer would I be then?" The red head lounged in a chair after completing his round of monitoring the blend. "Turn down the heat and let it cool."
Again. Why did he feel the need to butt into her affairs? Acting as Lunafreya's better?
She turned the dial, capping the bottle as it glowed orange. The blonde smiled proudly at her success. "Fire in a bottle."
"Good, good, my lady."
"I think I am read-"
"Now repeat that process six times without fail and I'll allow you to brew a Firaga." The chancellor cut her off, flippantly rolling his hand towards the bin of empty beakers waiting to be crafted into deadly weapons.
Really, why had he bothered to help her?
He could've said no when she popped in. Finished the batch in record time and moved on to the next. The chancellor could do all this in his sleep.
Ardyn was simply too helpful to these pitiful Chosen Ones, cultivating them was his Achilles Heel. He should be less hands-on. Lord knows that's how it was for him back in the day.
Tasked to set out alone by his father, a prince of light to heal the world of its scourge, to rid the world of its daemons. All of his struggle was for the people…for…
The Fool and the Star.
Lunafreya and Noctis looked so much like them…his…
No, no, no!
This kind of behavior lead to his downfall!
Love did this! Imperatrix was making him soft again!
But what could Ardyn do?
He absolutely couldn't bear having no part in her life. The year she was gone left a fissure the daemons took full advantage of, their malice twisting his soul and killing the light.
While the chancellor managed to focus on plans and get work done, he spent the nights in weeping despair among the howling winds outside of Gralea, inked tar peeling off the skin of his cheeks and burning holes into the snowy ground.
When he didn't feel like being pitiful, the red head summoned the night monsters, slashing out his rage on them for ruining everything. They showed no opposition to his executions, bowing to him as their master.
It all sickened him.
This wasn't how it was supposed to turn out! He was the Sage Prince, a Son of Light!
How did he do everything right and good, selflessly giving himself for the greater good to end up in Purgatory? Forgotten and alone in boundless torment that even death couldn't end?!
To darkness he drowned.
Ardyn hated himself.
"Don't deviate from the notes."
Lunafreya gave her approximation of a glare, which when aimed at anyone other than Ravus, honestly wasn't one. More like a ridiculous frown a kitten would mewl at.
She could thank her oracle genes for that. Couldn't have the beloved healer of Starscourge looking anything less than cherubic to fool the masses into reverence.
Dim-witted gods, especially a sword-crazed reptile that had a penchant for hiding in the Astral Plane.
Oh, how Ardyn loathed Bahamut!
He so wished to see the Draconian expelled from this world into Etro's domain. Old gods save the emperor for slaying him.
"I am more than capable of doing this without your say so."
"Your magical awareness as an oracle doesn't give you natural insight to elemancy. In your hubris an explosion could easily be caused." The chancellor put Lunafreya down without a second thought, tipping his hat up to expose more of his dangerous smirk. "Unless...that's what you want? Finally decided to kill the imperial scum you hate so much?"
His mood was thoroughly spoiled.
She gasped, appalled at the accusation. Pryna barked angrily at the offender.
He'd forgotten the wretched thing was here. Before the red head could nettle the blonde more, Imperatrix pushed his fedora down, covering the top portion of Ardyn's face.
"Ignoring the slander, he is right. Learning the basics is crucial." The princess stated, pushing harder on the accessory to counter the man tugging it up.
With how strong he was, the chancellor could've dislodged her. His playful side won over and Ardyn went along with game.
Simmered down from her indignation, Lunafreya blinked at the exchange.
This terrible man could be normal? Or was Imperatrix just able to interact with anyone, craziness unheeded?
"Have you learned this as well, Impera?"
The oracle would rather learn from the princess than this hazard. His glib comments behind a fake smile got under her skin. If the chancellor didn't like her, why engage her?
"I have...tried the art..." She crossed her arms, avoiding eye contact.
"Then..." Lunafreya prompted, hoping that would be enough for the woman.
At Imperatrix's grimace and hesitancy, the imp sniggered. "Oh, just tell her, my dear. The poor girl's feelings might get hurt otherwise."
A bark from Pryna exemplified the oracle's thoughts perfectly. He could shut his face.
"I am...unfit to teach you. Despite his barbs, Ardyn is the best."
The man removed his fedora, placing it over his heart and smiled at the one singing his praises. "Your words bring me the greatest joy, Princess!"
How they did.
Musa was the one to start his lessons in alchemy and magic, being a master of the arcane herself. Spending so much of his time on weapons training with his father left Ardyn lacking in magical abilities. Before her, he didn't go beyond healing and item enchantments.
Knowing of her previous occupation as a magus led to the chancellor guiding Imperatrix onto the same path, once more emphasizing how full-circle their relationship could be.
Many of the things she taught him in the previous lifetime, the red head now taught her.
However, Etro had a funny sense of humor in this particular case of reincarnation. The princess's extraordinary inadequacy in alchemy destroyed any hope of her becoming another grand magus with a memorable epithet.
Not only did his wife not remember him, she also lacked key attributes that would ensure her survival when the prophecy came to pass. Ardyn had to wonder if he was doomed from birth.
Unfortunate children like him often were.
Curse his father!
"You cannot be that unsatisfactory." Lunafreya maintained, finding it hard to imagine Imperatrix struggling with anything.
She seemed too versatile to be inferior at anything combat related.
"Yes, I am." The princess refuted. "Ardyn will tell you."
"Everything she makes goes up in bangs!" He provided sound effects to his rendition of a big boom. "Give her instructions, constant supervision, plenty of help and things still manage to go awry. Imperatrix is the absolute, undisputable champion of magic mayhem."
The woman wilted at the abundance of truthful insults, hardly comforted by the red head's pats to her shoulder.
"Just like your driving skills, it's nothing to be ashamed of, my dear."
"You are not making me feel better…" She pitifully mumbled the next bit under her breath. "I laud him and this is what I receive?"
The emperor banned his daughter from all alchemic endeavors in the palace and then garden grounds when she and Ardyn moved the lessons to outside.
No amount of explaining or book readings could get through to Imperatrix. She simply blanked out or things went over her head. Eventually the princess gave up, not wanting to waste the chancellor's time and tired of causing that broken expression to cross his face each time she failed.
The sessions only resulted in hurt. Her cancelling them concluded in another quarrel and period of separation for them.
Whatever fantasy the man wanted to reenact with her was out of Imperatrix's ability.
"While you may be inept at elemancy, you are exceptional with weaponry. Imperfection is an entitlement of mortals, it's how you evolve." Ardyn flicked a paper ball at the princess, hitting her on the side of the face.
At her scowl, he mimed for the paper to be opened.
"Isn't that a more exciting way to live?"
Imperatrix sucked in a breath at the big heart drawn in the middle.
"Why are you balling up the notes?" Lunafreya asked, a measure away from exclaiming and in the middle of a new project.
"I thought you were so confident in your skills, they weren't necessary?" He taunted, folding up a new piece of paper.
She bristled.
Terrible, terrible urges...
Six preserve her, this man was going to make her take a page out of Ravus's violent book.
"Shall we race, my lady? Can you finish the six spells before I fold all these?"
The notes were gathered into a pile for Ardyn to play out his game. He was already halfway through his first item. Perhaps he should slow down, give the girl a handicap to make it less boring.
"I know how difficult origami is, especially from memory."
The oracle learned how to do it from a book. When there weren't any sylleblossoms in bloom, Lunafreya would fold flowers to send Noctis.
Why did the chancellor even know such a feminine pastime?
What an odd man.
"If you lose, you're going to have to do something for me."
"And if I win, I would like that book."
Ardyn glanced at the tome. It was a Latin translated version of a volume Musa wrote for beginners. Out of boredom, he'd transcribed this one with a few additions of his own.
"As you wish, Lady Lunafreya."
Parting with the old thing wouldn't kill him. Not that the chancellor was going to lose to an oracle. Not ever again…
Thus, the match began.
Folding up flowers and handing them off to Imperatrix got the red head to thinking about the magic conundrum again.
Nothing he'd done could bring out the natural talent he stood in awe of two millennia ago. Maybe the princess needed more exposure to awaken her magic. So far, being around Lunafreya was making her sensitive to it, but not in command of it.
The fact that Eos was so deprived of magic in this age was another issue. The Astrals were the last remaining gods and they weren't inclined to share that mystical essence with unchosen mortals, not after the Ifrit catastrophe…and then his debacle.
Whew…two thousand years had undoubtedly set humans back.
In his day practically everyone could use magic, it was commonplace. Now the Fleurets and Caelums were the sole magic users and they were disgustingly weak compared to their founders.
A king and an oracle...the Fool and the Star, the traitors.
Imperatrix would require something substantial to reach the next level of advancement. Couldn't have her falling behind Noctis.
"I do not understand the theory. All of it…addles me." The princess described at the behest of Lunafreya, laughing when Umbra jumped into her lap, licking at her face. "Do you understand it, Luna?"
She scratched at his ears. The ebony dog always tried to cheer her up.
Ardyn glowered at this interaction. He wanted to snap the canine's neck. The Divine Messengers irritated him as much as the Astrals did.
All their ilk made him want to rage.
The little shit and Pryna also used to be humans. For that reason, the chancellor knew Umbra's friendliness with Imperatrix wasn't as innocent as she thought.
"As clearly as music." Lunafreya responded to the princess, mouth twitching negatively at the pile of flower cranes on the other side of the table.
The oracle was losing and that meant the book would be out of her reach! She wanted more time to study the notations on formulas.
How could a spell be of two natures? Harmful to enemies and helpful to companions by adding curative materials to offensive spells?
It made no sense!
Neither did dual casting. Two spells crafted into one vial could unleash a blizzard and a fire in succession.
Magic could be madness! There was so much for her to learn.
"How is your other power coming along? Song Magic is a gift of the oracles." Ardyn crossed his legs at the ankle, reclining in the chair to take a break from showering his favorite snowdrop in paper lotuses.
The man looked like he was about to throw the match in favor of covering his face with the fedora and taking a nap. Maybe his fingers went numb.
The book was still in Lunafreya's grasp!
"You must be so lost without your family grimoires."
"How do you know about that?!" She nearly spilled the burning liquid on her fingers. "And they are not 'grimoires', they are sacred texts!" The oracle shrieked when a stray fleck from the bubbling concoction did burn her. "Sacré bleu!"
What an ugly connatation to use! Her family wasn't a hedge of witches, casting hexes and curses on people!
Why did the chancellor have to be so callous to her?!
"Did she just…who says that anymore?" Imperatrix mumbled to Umbra, who batted his nose into her face. "Ack, sorry!"
"Ravus keeps all those nifty Fleuret artifacts in the Papal Basilica of Nox." The red head shrugged, minding his own tune and dancing for no one else. "Doesn't want just anyone getting their hands on them after that awful security breach so long ago."
What a saint Ardyn was, dropping all these helpful hints to a thick-headed disciple.
Lunafreya glazed over the poke to a devastating event in Tenebraen history to zero in on the actual piece of importance. "Do you speak of the trid-"
He brought a finger to his lips, shushing her and looking beyond the girl's head. The oracle felt a malice creep up her back. Turning around, she glimpsed Ravus interrogating them with his mismatched eyes.
The high commander couldn't have heard anything since he was still composed. She would get more answers later.
"Hello, Ravus. Are you feeling better?" Imperatrix, ever the gracious one, encouraged him to approach.
She grunted as Umbra leapt off her lap to circle around the elder Fleuret. Pryna finally rose from her position of faithful guard to the oracle, joining her brother to dance around their other charge.
"Yes." Was his clipped answer, frown softening from the attentions of the princess and the canines. "Has Genius forgone his stipulation of assessments?"
"Not exactly." She leaned over the back of the chair, sighing at the teenager in the same mania of maintenance.
It was late afternoon now.
Her tiredness after flying kept Imperatrix from prohibiting the scientist from working instead of sleeping, but she ought to have denied him. Weaning Genius off unhealthy habits was one step in the direction of rehabilitating him into a functioning citizen.
The empire didn't need another Verstael, a man with no value or respect for human life. The youngest Besithia's brilliance was perfectly fine and she supported his aspirations, but he would forge on with a capacity for empathy.
There could be no good without bad, balance was upheld by permitting one mad scientist in Gralea. With the war concluding there wouldn't even be a need for the research chief and his vile tendencies would end.
Imperatrix loved the Besithias but their lives were tragic. All of them deserved better and it would be given to them.
"Should you not intervene?" Ravus provoked, eager to get this over with.
He was obligated to receive periodic check-ups on his magitek arm and Genius could send a report to his father for this month, saving the high commander a trip to the facility.
"I will try." Imperatrix got up, hovering behind the albino. "Izzy?"
He didn't respond to her, methodically switching between scribbling notes and squeezing drops of a chemical onto bullet rounds. She slowly touched his shoulder, shaking it when Genius didn't react aggressively.
Experience with Nebula's work ethic made it clear that the hyper-focused Besithias needed to be disturbed with extreme caution.
The princess lost count how many times the gunman almost harmed her for snapping him out of a workflow. His brothers were all as volatile, but far less dangerous than the ace of the family.
"Izzy? Darling, you must take a break." Imperatrix became distracted from shaking the boy after the computer screen nabbed her awareness. "Oh! Are those the Aurora designs?!"
The one displayed was a similar setup to the magitek soldiers. Variation in color scheme and slimmer casing distinguished it from the standard.
Imperatrix grimaced.
She couldn't let Genius go through with the option. Utility trumped most factors, but even the princess had limits for how much presentation could be sacrificed. The armor would become a second skin for her. To be worn for a lifetime or until it fell apart, the getup had to be more to the woman's taste.
While the scientist continued ignoring the princess, she scrolled through the layers of designs.
A model of armor comparable to General Glauca's made Imperatrix pause. Honoring her mentor wouldn't be so bad. For all his faults, the mystery man elevated a weak girl to a fierce sword master. She could stand here today because of him.
She hoped he was alive somewhere...finding his truth. Not a rotting corpse in ruins.
One day he might return to her and tell Imperatrix of the man behind the metal. Glauca or Titus Drautos?
The princess wanted closure.
"As emblematic as it would be...I desire variety."
The albino still paid no mind to the older woman's ramblings, calculating formulas for his projects. He scratched at his head, digging in too deep from forgetting how less shaggy it was from the haircut. His scalp burned, but only the scorch in his mind registered for Genius.
Things weren't coming together for the sword. Something was missing.
"Oh! I love this!" Imperatrix enthused, captivated by the final layer, a divergence of style from the others and very familiar to her.
By Ardyn's hand, a masterpiece was crafted for the princess.
The armor was sleek, lightly plated for speed and maneuverability. A beacon of silvery-white with red accents lining the entirety and on the chest plate, creating a lotus. The under suit fabric was a deep violet. At the shoulder pads were crimson capes fluttering to the knees. The crowning feature was the helmet, styled like a dragon.
All that magnificence alone was enough to awe Imperatrix, but the chancellor made it his job to completely overwhelm people.
A sword and shield were featured in the drawing as well.
Golden twin dragons facing one another made up the majority of the burgundy shield; a gleaming protector to repel all attacks.
A greater sized xiphos of the same coloring would be the blade to cut through all, glorious in its middle interior of intricate gold embellishments and crystal components. What truly astounded her was the side notation for an inscription inlaid in the metal.
"Veni, vidi, vici. Ad populum." Imperatrix teared up at the exquisiteness of it all.
Ardyn saw her in a way no one else did or ever would. In that moment she wanted to hug him but couldn't with everyone else present.
The chancellor broke off from a Fleuret discussion over their dogs to go to the princess, who was giving him those eyes of love that swept everything else away. It was a look that made him imagine music in the background, Muses themselves weaving together a moment of flawless beauty between two lovers.
Musa...
Oh, how her first mother named a child so perfectly, for she was a divine creation of the nine Muses. To gaze upon her was the spirit of contentment.
"There was no doubt in my mind... I knew you would like it..." The red head breathed out, amber fixated on cerulean, fingers itching to touch Imperatrix's cheek, desperate for a connection. "How could I go wrong using Tellus as a guidepost?"
Where other memories were lost or faded, the ones of his treasured friends shined bright. He was happiest with them after being tossed out into the world on an odyssey by his father.
Much of the drawing was a deviation on the founding emperor's armor, what Ardyn could remember of it. Although, Tellus favored more gold and intricacies on his armor, befitting his station as an heir presumptive of two kingdoms.
He adored red more, life's color...white became a Gralean style fixture long after his reign…
Origins aside, the impressive man seemed more like an incarnate of light than Ardyn did when he was human, which was ironic. A sun in his own right with all that charisma and potential.
Of course Tellus's descendant should be equally as illustrious.
Even though she couldn't remember it, Imperatrix deserved to have this connection. He should have grown up alongside her…but fate wouldn't have it.
The mother in this lifetime birthed only one of the two Alders. Any one of the miscarriages or the stillbirth could have been his dearest Tellus.
Valeria would have instinctively named the baby Majeed, re-drawing the circle of life as she did with Imperatrix by naming her Janan. Persian and Gralean identities…
Maddening wheel…
"Ardyn..." The rest of the princess's watery speech went into Farsi, proclaiming a depth of love for the chancellor as she embraced him.
He stumbled back, catching her in his arms. The Fleurets were mystified at the woman's sudden elation and animated exclamations in a foreign tongue only Ardyn could understand.
The red head was both happy and astonished by Imperatrix's open display. Did she no longer care for her reputation?
He assumed her newfound indifference to discovery to be a joke. Which was why he still snuck out of her room and didn't initiate too much contact in front of judging eyes.
Clearly, the princess hadn't been kidding. A certain glaive was bringing out ample rashness in her.
How was he to deal with this new boldness? How was he to deal with her in general, when she made him question all his plans?
"Do you see, Izzy? I told you, Impera would choose mine." Ardyn bragged to the scientist, but when there was no response, the chancellor decided to solve everyone's problem by kicking out the boy's chair, making him tumble to the ground.
"Ardyn! Why would you do that?!" Imperatrix let go of him, rushing to help Genius and checking his head for bumps.
"My foot slipped." He raised his hands blithely.
The red head also detested an audience ignoring him. One person got off for doing so.
Speaking of, he hadn't penalized the princess for the year-long silence. A nasty prank was coming her way sooner or later.
"Need something, Maestro?" The teenager for his part showed no signs of anger at the treatment, gazing around the hangar in a daze. "When did all you get here?"
"Never mind that! Get the assessment going already." Ravus fumed.
"Right, right." He reached for his laptop, but Imperatrix griped the collar of his shirt, tugging the boy backwards.
Genius was a hostage of the crown.
"Yes, Impera?"
"Clean yourself up and get Nebula to feed you."
"I am not waiting-"
"Look at him, Ravus. Is Izzy in any state to go outside?" The princess deadpanned over the high commander.
Lo and behold the albino was still decked out in his pajamas. His red eyes blinked incoherently at the attire she found unacceptable.
"Heh...I forgot to shower."
Imperatrix sighed. "You would forget to breathe if it were not an instinctive function."
"Probably."
She gave another helpless look to the elder Fleuret.
He growled, waving snappishly. "Hurry up and recuperate, Genius! I do not have all day."
"You're so unpleasant. This is you have many complaints filed against you." The boy then slugged off at gentle push from the princess.
"Who cares about that?"
"You should." The princess stated.
Lunafreya let out a shudder once the scientist was gone. "His eyes were red..."
Never had she seen a color like that on a human…and they were so blank. No wonder he wore those glasses.
Pryna rubbed against the oracle's leg and she scratched at her ears. Ravus sitting back down at the table caused the younger Fleuret more unease.
After touching the prosthetic, she was beginning to sense more darkness, more chill in her surroundings. Or maybe Lunafreya in her blindness, sheltered from the world, was just now noticing these things.
There was darkness all around, mixing or overwhelming the light. A strange occurrence.
Things weren't black and white.
Her life was growing more complicated by the day.
XV
"Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's a flying princess!" Ardyn narrated into a microphone provided by Genius, supplying a play-by-play for the spectators.
Nebula tilted his head up from cleaning his gun, visor scanning the enemy Imperatrix was in full speed retreat from, legs moving so fast that she did look like a bird in flight.
A Hundleg -a centipede-like monster- was on her tail. The creature was weak and no problem for his liege.
"She'll live." He resolved, returning to the cleaning process.
"Impera is deathly afraid of all insect species." The youngest Besithia typed away on his computer, recording statistics of all the current fighters. "How strange for someone like her to have a common phobia."
Nyx, Lunafreya, and Ravus showed no problems with the Hundlegs. Tempesta mostly stood off to the side laughing at Imperatrix.
What a terrible retainer. What terrible retainers both his older siblings were.
"Humans in general tend to dislike species far in appearance from them." The chancellor shivered at the large scissor-jaws clamping at the princess and the slitter noises of the bug's movements. "I'm not a fan of them either. They're so inelegant!"
The high commander chopped off the creature's head, berating Imperatrix for losing her composure like an incompetent girl. The gender slight ticked her off and she clicked the button for elemental activation.
Her sword burst into flames, scorching a series of Hundlegs that snuck up on Ravus.
"Fled in the beginning, but didn't hesitate when someone else was in danger...so illogical..." The scientist mumbled to himself.
"Careful of forest fires, my dear!" Ardyn reminded to the bickering commanders.
Imperatrix startled, sheepishly disengaging the fire asset.
"Why are you doing this?" Nebula asked his younger brother, shooting a stray enemy that slipped past Lunafreya. The remains gave off a charred smell that the chancellor gagged at, pinching his nose shut. "You already have footage from when they were in the mines."
The colored, mechanical birds floating around them were toys of the scientist, used for a variety of things: fighting, friendly company, and video surveillance.
The second group were unaware of the bird AI that followed them into Balouve.
"Impera doesn't know that. I don't want to get into more trouble." The albino grunted noisily. "What if she takes away my toys next? I'll be so bored!"
A blue bird landed on his head, wings flapping and chittering out Genius's name.
Besides building weapons, the youngest Besithia was prolific at creating machines modeled after animals.
Tempesta had a cat. A few other siblings had assortments of pets. These mechanical pals didn't need to be catered to like the regular versions but provided the same comfort.
Genius preferred the AIs to people, they were uncomplicated, loyal, and not replaceable. His creations were unique, unlike all the Besithias.
"Things are heating up in this corner!" Ardyn pronounced, singling out a tussle between Tempesta and Nyx now that the Hundlegs were wiped out. "Will the Hero have to go into retirement?! None have survived a round with the Thundercat, the vicious storm of ferocity!"
"Who's going into retirement?! Not me!" The glaive cried out, in the middle of untangling himself from a chokehold.
"Quit yapping and tap out, punk!" The fist fighter sent them to the ground.
"Never!"
"Don't be a sore loser! Take the beating like a man!"
"No surrender!"
"Play nice, children." The red head guffawed, having too much fun as a commentator. "Or don't."
What started out as an outdoor bout between comrades for Genuis to evaluate the magitek, turned into a battle for survival against a wave of insect vermin. Any that escaped were gunned down by Nebula before they could reach the workshop table hosting the chancellor and youngest Besithia, the unarmed observors.
Not that Ardyn was in any way vulnerable. With a snap of his fingers, blades could rain down in a meteor shower.
Alas, a good magician saved his best tricks for last.
"Lady Lunafreya intervenes in the retainer match! Doesn't she know imperial brawls can only end one way?" The chancellor tittered as the fist fighter flipped the oracle onto her back for helping the glaive. A spectacular display of wrestler might. "Death or glory!"
Tempesta cackled loudly, arms up to the sky for downing two opponents. "Eat that, losers!"
"But it might be too soon to celebrate."
In revenge for his sister, Ravus tackled the boaster.
The stronger of the two slid back from the force but stood strong against the surprise assault. The high commander fought to overwhelm her, his best only bringing them to a groaning standstill.
Normally the Fleuret wouldn't be a physical match for the Besithia, but his arm upped the man's stats.
Ardyn did a theatric twirl, snapping his fingers into a finger-gun at the fighters. "Round two, begin!"
He should sign up to host the next Olympic Games. Add some life to it, instead of sitting in the royal box with the Aldercapts.
Getting paid to insult people trying to kill each other. He was missing out on so much fun!
"Stop instigating, Ardyn!" Imperatrix yelled, ducking the stray bolts of lightning and blocking chunks of flying wood with her shield.
Ravus and Tempesta were tearing up the surrounding forest.
"Without me setting things in motion, the wheel would never turn." He drew circles in the air, beginning to hum "O Fortuna" into the mike, intensifying the drama.
"The Maestro is at work." Genius clicked a song on his computer, riveting chorus taking over for the grinning red head.
"This is why you're my favorite pupil, Izzy." Ardyn patted the boy on the head, moving his hands in accordance to the melody.
A conductor of havoc. They would all dance to his tune.
By the end of the symphony, the forest in their vicinity was destroyed and the guilty demolishers prostrate out on the ground.
"What'd you think of the prince?" Nyx rolled to his back, gazing up at the orange sky.
Lunafreya was close enough to them to overhear and awaited Imperatrix's answer.
"When he was not trying to kill me?" She jested offhandedly, eyes fluttering closed and body relaxing. A messy sort of serene in her posture. "The average whiny brat. I cannot believe he is a prince."
Noctis's anger at her was warranted and the princess took the onslaught of enmity with silent resignation.
What she hadn't taken lying down was his rampant bellyaching during the engagement with the Red Giant. At every interval he complained to the daemon, as if it would lay down its claymore and apologize for being an inconvenience. Gladiolus would then curse him out and demand concentration from the prince.
Those two boys got on her nerves.
Prompto was a bit spastic and wholly unready for real time fighting, more a civilian than a professional like his comrades. His open and expressive personality dug at her conscience.
What could have been for his blood kin...
Getting the others too his level was painstakingly tough. He was everything she wanted for them...
Despite his distaste with her, Ignis remained the most cordial…and shockingly helpful, offering assistance when the Red Giant overwhelmed the princess or she stumbled from injuries.
Contempt aside, Imperatrix liked the advisor best. He was the smartest of the boys.
"Funny. I think the same about you, Impera." Nyx groaned as a foot collided with his leg. "See what I mean?"
"Noctis is not a brat. He is a sweet boy." Lunafreya defended her lamb.
A sweet boy with the weight of the world on his shoulders and no reward in wait.
"How would you know? You have not seen, nor spoken with him since childhood." Imperatrix argued, giving a critical eye to the blonde.
She suspected the two were in contact via Umbra and the red book. Why else was the dog always venturing out of his master's presence?
There was also the way the oracle spoke of the prince, in present tense, rather past reminisce. Supplementing her theory was the way the girl never seemed worried like someone unaware of their loved one's circumstances would be.
Lunafreya was too calm and assured about the boy. How else was she getting information?
Gentiana wouldn't waste her time on babysitting a prince…she might though if this prince were the main feature in an ancient Cosmology tale.
Still…it was difficult to imagine the Divine Messenger doing so.
"I know." The blonde affirmed, laying a hand over the seashell locket gifted to her by Nyx.
Within the necklace rested the Ring of the Lucii.
Another duty for her to uphold, protecting the ring until its deliverance to the Chosen King. This obligation was the easiest of them so far. Neither Nyx nor Imperatrix were interested in the item, often pretending it didn't exist, aloofly inquiring if it was safe and then leaving it at that.
Lunafreya didn't understand why the princess never mentioned the Lucian artifact to her fellow imperials, but the oracle was glad for it.
Perhaps witnessing the repercussions of all the unworthy wearing the ring frightened her. Or maybe the she was wiser than others, resisting the temptation of power.
The younger Fleuret need not fear the ring reaching the emperor's hands by way of his daughter.
"Do you now?" Imperatrix goaded, tilting her head to catch the setting sun.
Was a sunset beautiful from its colorful backdrop? Or was it beautiful as the last stroke before night?
"Ravus told me what Noctis...what has transpired at the bases..." Lunafreya clenched her sweats, glaring at the ground. "He was happy to share this information and you were not. Why?"
Her brother was positively gleeful in his malicious slandering of the prince. He informed his sister of how dozens of deaths were at Noctis's feet and worse, how his destructive sprees left the nearby towns defenseless.
The boy's tunnel vision of revenge was putting innocent people at jeopardy and now the high commander was responsible for fixing the situations when he was supposed to be overseeing the reconstruction of Insomnia.
Ravus could be sous-merde. She wanted to slap sense into her brother.
Imperatrix looked from the sky to the oracle, engrossed by the halo around the girl from her elevated position in the princess's eyesight.
Lunafreya was always loved by light. It could make a person envious.
"I have no excuse other than not wanting to hurt you. I apologize, Luna for the secrecy."
The princess knew first-hand how a lover's actions could sour their partner's feelings. Ardyn's excessive promotion of MTs and stealing the emperor's ear were points of contention between them. He knew where the soldiers came from and still pressed for more.
MTs were a complicated subject to handle. The empire's population had declined by a large margin and there weren't enough people to occupy the ranks, which was where the clones filled the vacancies.
Gods, it made her ill to expend the Besithia children as they did…but what could they do? Cities needed to be defended, a war needed to be fought. They didn't have the people after the Glacian's wrath!
Being royal meant making ugly choices and living with them for the sake of the people. The princess had to staunch her tears over treating Verstael's clones like their lives didn't matter.
None of them asked to be born to die…but the crown required it…
The things Imperatrix did for the empire…
"What're you talking about?" Nyx sat up, dusting dirt off his shirt.
"Noctis has destroyed numerous imperial bases." The oracle's shoulders sagged.
Pain beget pain. Hatred beget hatred. Why did their world function in this manner?
"Wait a minute...like...Saxham?" He deduced, recalling how they aided the town.
That Loqi guy was the boss and he was wrapped up in bandages. No telling what pretty boy's face would look like once they came off.
Noctis, a kid younger than Lunafreya...did all that damage. Nyx knew how he would have responded to this before, but now after being around imperials for months...
He could...sympathize a bit with them now...instead of rolling his eyes and sneering out how they earned the destruction.
"Yes and many more."
The glaive nudged Imperatrix. "You never thought to mention that? In fact, you don't seem mad about it."
"I am angry about the matter. The prince has cost us lives, resources, and money. Not to mention endangered the settlements we established, thus ruining our future plan of relocating citizens to a safer environment." She refuted in a calm voice, but her eyes were livid. "However, ranting over events out of my control benefits no one."
Another part of her knew these transgressions were nothing compared to the one her people committed. She couldn't cast stones at the boy.
As the imperial princess she had to bear the shame and guilt of Insomnia.
Shame and guilt, the princess's known companions since late Valeria died protecting her. Only she emerged from the villa alive, only she would walk away from catastrophes alive…
"You protected Noctis in the end, even with that resentment in your heart." Lunafreya remarked, heart lifted somewhat.
Whether he knew it or not, the prince had an ally in the empire.
"I promised his father, did I not?" Imperatrix frowned heavily. "But as I assumed, the fulfillment of such is complex. His actions make it difficult to distinguish the forest for the trees."
She was flirting too much with pessimism right now.
"Keep trying, that is the path to redemption. Helping Noctis is how you save the world."
"Always the impossible..." The princess chuckled weakly. "Yet, I must be unbreakable..."
The three winced at the screech of a gun going off.
Tempesta hastily dropped the incriminating evidence, pointing at Genius when Imperatrix leveled a wordless accusation with her stare.
"Blame Four-Eyes!"
"That's so dumb and irrational no one would believe it, Tempy." He picked the handgun up, returning it to the chaotic fold of Nebula's work area.
"Shut up, pipsqueak!" The fist fighter punched her brother in the head, knocking off his glasses.
"No. You shut up, Pest." The eldest kicked the middle sibling in the back, sending her careening into the air.
Ardyn side-stepped this collision, clicking his tongue at the waft of dust kicked up from the girl face-planting into dirt. He used his hat to clear the air.
"How many times have I told you not to touch my weapons?!
"Ugh...Dandy, help me. I think my back's broken..."
The chancellor kneeled to inspect her, poking at the specified place. She wailed.
"Why yes, it's broken. No movement until it heals. Wouldn't want you turning into a hunchback. There's no bells for you to sing from and ring here."
"You and the Shitty Princess are so freaking stupid with your stupid references." Tempesta hissed at him and then raised her voice to threaten the perpetrator for her current crippled state. "I'm gonna kill you, ya evil, shit-faced Geezer!"
"Oh, really?" Nebula cocked a gun. "Please step aside, Lord Chancellor."
The fist fighter got a chill. "Hey, hey, don't leave me to that monster, man! Aren't we cool?!"
"You're pulling my heartstrings, little lady." Ardyn cocked his head at the gunman.
Before a word could be uttered, a dart lodged itself into the girl's back. The red head sighed mournfully at failing his mission.
Tempesta belted out the appropriate level of agony, righting her spinal problem in the spasm. She felt the cold itchiness of the daemon healing the injury.
"I freaking hate you so much! Just go back to smoking packs and die, bastard!"
"If Neb dies, who would cook for you?" Genius retrieved his glasses, blowing off the debris.
The middle Besithia went quiet, hostile posture loosening up. Ardyn patted her helmet as he passed, finding the girl's simple nature quaint.
"Impera would." The fist fighter mutinously crossed her arms.
"You complain all the time that she's an infuriating herbivore eater and the Persian dishes are too spicy."
"What?! Is this truly how you feel?!" Imperatrix bawled out, betrayed.
How many times had she cooked and secretly the dishes were hated?! This was a rejection of her carefully crafted love!
"Izzy, you dipshit! Learn to keep your mouth shut!"
He did so, gesturing to his mouth after a few seconds of silence.
"Are you intentionally messing with me?!"
"Oh, my god! Why are you all so crazy?!" Nyx shouted over the bullshit.
Everyone gathered just sort of stared.
"Do not include me in that statement." Ravus deadpanned, getting startles out a few people since they forgot the broody man was present.
A gloomy cloud that would slowly creep up on the sun…he was more a mood killer than Nebula.
"No excellent soul is exempt from a mixture of madness." Ardyn declared, smiling at his audience of neophytes. "Madness need not be all breakdown. It may also be breakthrough. It is potential liberation and renewal as well as enslavement and existential death."
He knew this best.
Only through a level of insanity could he tolerate what a beast he'd become over the years and the path set upon him by higher powers for a decisive end to his heinous existence.
Ardyn was far from who he used to be.
The previous man, the sage, the healer wouldn't have unleased horror and death upon Eos, plotting the careful downfall of all his enemies in the same manner they'd done him.
Madness gave birth to his revenge and his end.
"Dandy's actually pretty smart, huh?" Tempesta lifted the folded table like it was nothing, lugging that and some other equipment up the ramp of Setzer.
"That shouldn't surprise you. He helps at the facility and the emperor wouldn't have a dummy as his right-hand." Genius iterated in his droll, condescending voice reserved for everyone outside of the royals, his father and the chancellor.
He hopped over the outstretched leg meant to trip him, examining the dirty subjects before him.
"Roll call. Who's entering Costlemark Tower?" The scientist probed, raising his hand to volunteer himself. "I'll be going to collect materials, so don't expect me to actively fight enemies."
"I have entertained your nonsense enough. My assistance ends here." Ravus answered, walking off to text on his phone. "Military matters must be attended to. No one disturb me."
Imperatrix jumped on the opportunity at seeing a gleam in a certain girl's orbs. "Do you protest Luna joining?"
The high commander paused his ascent up the slope, looking down on them. A long, grave observation period followed.
Lunafreya dared not strike his temper by belting out how she proved herself capable and didn't require her brother's permission. Instead she met his gaze, unrelenting resolve to his harsh scrutiny.
"Bring her back in peak condition, Imperatrix." The elder Fleuret decreed, taking a call from Olberg as he went inside the ship.
He trusted the woman to do as asked. She proved able by safely seeing his sister out of Insomnia. A task he couldn't do.
One more failure on his part. One more time he failed to protect his family!
Ravus could hardly remember anything after the Lucian Kings seared off his arm. The pain had been excruciating.
"That was a victory for you, Luna." The princess smiled encouragingly.
"Yes...as you say." She sighed, still feeling belittled.
"Perk up. Small victories lead to greater success." Imperatrix poked the blonde's cheek.
"So that's four. Are you coming?" Genuis questioned Nyx, the last to enter Setzer.
"Four? Don't you mean three?"
The teenager rolled his eyes, pushing the button for the ramp to rise. No one wanted Hundlegs sneaking onboard while they were eating and preparing for the night quest.
"Tempy doesn't turn down a chance to swing her fist." He elaborated for the other Besithia as well. "Neb won't be bothered with another dungeon."
The glaive laughed darkly. "I'm going to get her back. So yeah, count me in."
"A party of five then. I won't have to do anything." Genius stroked the head of his green bird.
Nyx blinked at the kid.
"Yes, Sir Ulric?"
"Your eyes...are red?" He babbled out. "How is that possible?"
"Albinism." The teenager lowered his beamers he'd forgotten to put back on.
Since he switched the shades to night mode, they were displaying the typical information of creatures in the pathfinder.
Strange how the glaive gave off absolutely no magical energy. Every human did, though the numbers were abysmally small quantities that couldn't be used.
Looking at people through these lenses and seeing how inept they were made it hard to believe that a millennium ago magicians, mages, witches and all the other kinds of arcane masters were widespread.
What happened to the magic?
The Fleurets were high in the charts of magical readings. They were living proof that once miracles were accessible to everyone. Exceeding them was the chancellor, who couldn't be properly measured. The computer would give up trying to quantify him, finding the man too powerful.
Ardyn probably knew the answer to why humans stagnated. The red head had to with how knowledgeable he was. He also had to be from the Fleuret or the Caelum families to have so much magic.
Genius itched to know! His mentor always changed the subject or distracted him though.
"Hey, Sav! Catch."
Nyx did so, eyeballing the square pouch with mirth. "Can't remember the last time I had one of these."
The glaive strolled over to the others mellowing out with fruit punch juice boxes.
"What? No beer?" He joked.
Tempesta scowled, noisily slurping the rest of her drink. "Stupid Neb took all the good stuff."
"Hilarious as it is, I can't have you spiking people's drinks. Alcohol and drugs are a dangerous combination." The gunman slapped his sister's hand from the set of beverages. "And I don't want to deal with your drunken fiascos in these close-quarter circumstances."
"Oh, yeah? Well I don't want to deal with your bipolar nicotine withdrawal symptoms." She groused, interlocked in a game of swiping another juice box and failing to get past the older sibling.
Why was the bastard so sharp?! Lazy bum shouldn't be this good!
"Why can't I have another?" The fist fighter whined.
"That's Izzy's. Everybody got one. Don't be greedy."
The middle blonde growled, dropping to the floor in a cross-legged huff. Nebula ignored this tantrum, giving the last red and yellow box to the youngest Besithia.
Genius studied the item, liquid sloshing around in his uneven hold. He knew what Imperatrix would want him to do.
A hand latching onto the top of his head stopped the teenager from preforming the act of generosity and earning the princess's praise.
"As a scientist you've heard of positive and negative reinforcement, eh?"
The youngest nodded, feeling sweat gather at the back of his neck for the tightening grip.
"Don't encourage the pest. Impera might find these stunts endearing but I don't. Got it?"
He nodded again and the pressure left his skull.
Nebula could frighten anyone.
Genius pocketed the juice, not in the mood for it. He held out his arm. The mechanical birds perched on him, tweeting dribble or parroting snippets they heard from conversations.
The boy felt at ease.
Machines were better than humans, better than daemons. So simple and pretty.
"Luna your talents will be best served as support this time." Imperatrix dictated, noting how the Besithias were tensed but at least the air didn't read violence. They'd resolve whatever it was. "Tempesta, myself and Nyx are enough force. Izzy can defend himself but he might need assistance."
She needed to tell them about the boy in Noctis's retinue when a chance presented itself. Prompto was somehow their lost brother.
How did the he end up with the prince?
"Understood. I will focus on healing and light spells." The oracle agreed, slowly savoring the fruity liquid.
"Where'd you come up with all this power? Would've been useful in Insomnia." Nyx chewed on his straw, stealing the princess's refreshment in her spacey daze.
Lunafreya shriveled, feeling like she let the glaive down when he needed her most.
He was right. If she had these abilities back then, the oracle could have saved them a lot of trouble and worry.
Nyx wouldn't be scarred with spider-web liaisons from face to arm…
How bad did the ring damage him? He acted fine but then Nyx went to the hospital, coming back gloomier than Lunafreya had ever seen the man.
Something was wrong. Why wouldn't he tell her?
"My mother showed me what I was capable of." The blonde mussed, eyes misty and swelling with affection. "She shows me things in dreams. This is where the song magic comes from since I do not have our texts."
A garden of sylleblossoms, flowers singing to her. If only Sylva would appear before her daughter, it would be the perfect dreamscapes.
Those idyllic sceneries were her lessons, guided by the previous queen to hone the next ruler into a true oracle. Together they composed sweet melodies.
Between her mother, Pryna and the gods, Lunafreya's head was filled with visions.
"Would you like a notebook, Luna? For writing your thoughts upon waking?" Imperatrix suggested, disturbed like Nyx but more used to these things and able to offer a solution.
The oracle smiled. "That would be useful."
"I have spares. You may have one."
Nyx grabbed the princess before she could walk off.
He waved at Lunafreya when she turned to see why she was going into the hallway alone. "Give us a second."
The blonde moved on, assuming they were going talk out their problems. The two were bizarre all yesterday.
"Are you weirded out by her, too? The kid hallucinates on the regular, loses her memory, and talks crazy. Do we...need to get her medication?" The glaive whispered once they were a duo and not a trio.
Imperatrix pushed him to the wall, which got a confused smirk out of the man.
"That is not an option. Never suggest it again." She stressed, looking out to the stairs where the elder was huddled over the balcony speaking worriedly in French to his wife about Eros's visit to the vet after she ingested something bad at a dinner party.
He may have been too distracted to hear them.
"Do not let Ravus hear you connect instability to his sister. Do not let anyone hear that!"
The church of Tenebrae placed severe stigmas on mental illness. If the cardinals got even a whiff of it in the Fleurets, those men in white wouldn't hesitate to damn the royals as sinners and burn them at the stake.
Zealots the lot of them. As the senators were Gralea's thorn, the cardinals were Tenebrae's.
"Geez, I don't think the kid's crazy…crazy." Nyx scowled, affronted. "Just...I don't know! S'not normal what she goes through."
"Are you comparing her magic to the Kingsglaive?" Imperatrix eased off. "You know they are completely different, yes?"
"They function differently but it's still magic. None of us had side-effects like Luna's."
"Are you so sure?"
The princess recalled Regis mention her walking a different path. Were those words literal, as in he saw the possibility in a vision?
Did he have visions of Noctis ascending as the True King? Was Insomnia and its people worth sacrificing for this end?
"Course I am! I never saw anybody have blackouts, memory lapses, or freaky episodes of possessed behavior. Our magic drained us of vitality, that's it!"
Imperatrix halted, stepping closer to the peeved man, expression pained and sad. "Did that never concern you? Magic has a price. Each miracle preformed chipped at your lifeforce."
"I mean, we all saw it happening with King Regis. Guess it…never really hit home."
The past weighed on the glaive's present, blinding his future to fighting and revenge. Nothing much mattered to him then.
Flings, parties, training, a lonely apartment, drinking himself silly, sparse calls home…his days were a blurry of meaningless and repetitive.
She gripped his hand.
"What was it all for?" Nyx gushed out, overcome with a moment of bleakness for where he ended up.
Insomnia was gone. All his friends were dead or turned traitor.
He'd be in the grave soon…
"That is for you to figure out, my Hero." The princess stroked the bigger, more calloused hand, far more gentle with the scarred sections.
Reflection and contemplation.
He needed time to himself. After this Nyx would go to Galahd.
A path would be chosen by the man. No kings, oracles, or princesses would sway his future. He would walk to a destination of his own volition.
XV
"For the last time...the answer is no, Tempesta!" Imperatrix tossed the excited girl off. "I have obliged your wants enough already!"
The snow-haired woman was aptly dressed as a princess.
The tiara Nyx gave her rested within white locks intricately styled into a braided bun. The violet overcoat she wore might as well been a battle dress with its flare and the way it clung to her figure.
She was too pretty for a dungeon!
"This is the perfect setup. We should totally go with my plan. Back me up here, people!" The fist fighter jabbed her finger at the first man hopelessly in love with her sovereign. "Dandy?"
He hummed thoughtfully. "I will admit, it sounds like a fun game. There is no more perfect a player than Her Highness."
The princess whirled on the chancellor. "Do not support this ridiculousness. We are not re-enacting some video game plot!"
Why did she humor Tempesta in the first place?!
Oh, because Imperatrix wanted to make the girl happy in light of her recent sad outing! Without fail the blonde cat of shenanigans took advantage of her kindness in the most mortifying way.
Why the hell did the freckle peril want her to play the stereotypical princess locked in a tower waiting for a prince's rescue?!
Why did people do these things to Imperatrix?!
"I fully support this endeavor but our maiden isn't in the tower. The scenario doesn't work." Ardyn sighed dramatically, pacing around the hangar with a put-out air. "I would've loved to play along."
These kind of games were entertaining. He remembered a rather melodramatic experience.
Musa unfortunately got on the bad side of a goddess and was cursed under a sleeping spell. The only way to break the curse was with the purest form of light. He believed it would be a simple fix with his magic but his foolish self was proven wrong.
He and Tellus were stumped for days as the Persian Princess slept like the dead.
She was the mastermind of mystics and without her, the males didn't have a clue how to save her. They had no way of convincing the malicious goddess to lift her malediction either.
In the end, Ardyn accidentally stumbled on the solution.
A confession and a kiss broke the curse. That moment when she gasped for breath and opened her eyes to him, sealed their fates.
True love proved to be the purest form of light magic and the most fatal of downfalls.
The romantic in him liked to internally gloat that every fairy tale he now read or watched with the concept of a kiss of true love breaking curses was inspired by their experience. Tellus loved to have their adventures documented and of course that one would be shared with the scribes.
Too bad historians embellished and changed things from the originals.
The Epics of Tellus Aldercapt, the First Emperor, masterpieces that most children loved as bed time stories. Cute, but inaccurate.
If he hadn't spent so much time locked up, Ardyn could've collected the authentic tales!
Ugh, too many prisons and too much time in lonely misery.
"This is more of a 'slay the beast' quest." Nebula gave his two Gil, visor analyzing the entrance of Costlemark Tower. "The Lucians supposedly found a powerful creature inside and the high readings support that rumor."
Would they just leave already? He wanted to sleep.
Lunafreya and Ravus's presence were agitating him too much. At least the bigger itch would be gone and his yipping daemon would shut up.
"Kill the beast and retrieve the orichalcum before sunrise."
"Why do we have a time limit?" Tempesta stretched her back, working out the kinks.
Genius took over before the eldest could insult the middle sibling for not listening at the debriefing. "The entrance is guided by runes. It's only open at night. If we're still in there by sunrise, game over cause we're stuck."
She nodded and then clapped her hands, managing to convey her mischievousness through the voice modulator. "Alright! Whoever kills the boss gets to kiss Princess Imperatrix. That's how these things go."
The sword master's jaw dropped, snapping into a denial of this suggestion.
Her protests went unheard by Nyx agreeing, followed by Genius, and Tempesta gloating of her assured victory. Lunafreya looked uncomfortable, moving her lips to come to Imperatrix's defense, but the glaive covered the blonde's mouth.
Covering her face in dismay, the princess internally wept for her circumstances. Nebula was right, she let people walk all over her.
"Fine. A kiss to the mightiest of us." She conceded, getting differing levels of cheer.
No matter, Imperatrix would defeat the daemon, thereby nullifying the ante.
"I burn with envy for whoever gets to claim your lips." Ardyn whispered huskily over the princess's shoulder. "I almost want to go with you."
Like old times.
Together, they saw the world, solved its mysteries, braved its terrors, and basked in its joys. Husband and wife, together in all.
"I have not seen your combat proficiency. I would not have you risk yourself for so little."
The chancellor stepped in front of her, blocking the woman from following the group. He wagged his finger reproachfully. "Don't be so humble, Dearest. I and many others would risk far more for a token of affection from you."
The red head wasn't exaggerating.
A lifetime ago men gambled their lives, fortunes, and kingdoms for a chance to marry the illustrious Princess Janan, second heir to the thrones of Persia and Gralea.
All but one failed to win her hand.
Three guesses for the who won the princess's hand in marriage.
All it took was successfully answering three riddles. Ardyn needed to re-watch his favorite opera.
"Chancellor, if you don't stop flirting with her, Impera will never leave." Nebula droned, pushing the button for the lift.
The princess squeaked out the gunman's name in exasperation, leaping off the slope before it shut.
As the ship closed to her, she blew a farewell kiss to Ardyn. He caught it, swooning with his fedora over his heart.
Nebula's garbled sigh was lengthy.
Ramp locked, Imperatrix joined her companions to enter the barricade. The sealed door of Costlemark glowed and then lowered to reveal a stairway.
"Mission Impossible, start!" Tempesta jumped down the flight of stairs, all boisterous energy.
"Prepare to lose, brat!" Nyx taunted, on her heels just as fast.
"Why is it I am teased for being childlike when they behave so?" Lunafreya shared her thoughts out loud, channeling power through her staff to serve as beacon.
Using a medium drained her less, a simple observation the chancellor told her as they stood in the hangar, like he was commenting on the weather and not matters the man should know nothing of.
He perplexed her to no end!
"I understand. It's a mystery." Genius agreed, four colored birds flying around his head, then nesting on his head and shoulders as he went down.
"Should he have those in here? Where are his weapons?" The oracle wondered if she would have to devote more to defense than she thought.
The teenager lacked any gear on him, dressed light in his sweater and jeans, supply kit slugged over his shoulder. This wasn't some field trip for him to collect neat objects that caught his eye.
He could get hurt!
"The birds are his weapon." At the gaze of confusion, Imperatrix elaborated. "Transformative items are Izzy's hallmark. I have seen them become a crossbow and they can eject flasks of magic. He may have installed new features since they look different from the previous time I saw them."
"That is...amazing..." She couldn't wrap her head around it.
"Humans can achieve phenomenal things."
Calamitous feats were also in mortal's aptitude. They walked a dangerous line from beginning to end.
Such was the Age of Man.
- 19
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