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carminite-wyrm · 3 years

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Running Onwards, To the Hope of a New Day (Part 3)

Part 1 | Part 2

(Thank you to everyone who's been reading this fic of mine so far! I've really appreciated all your comments! Also, this will eventually be up on AO3, just not yet because I haven't been able to get an account just yet.)

In which Nyx tries his best, realises a few things, learns a new skill, and commits a minor case of arson.

All in all, Nyx was feeling pretty good about his chances, on his ninth run. He’d learnt from his eighth run that, no, setting the black-market dealer’s place on fire, stealing both the explosives and the phoenix down, and quietly dumping the explosives into one of the rivers that ran through Insomnia wasn’t enough to stop the rebels from bombing the signing ceremony. Considering there was more than one cell, he was sadly unsurprised by this. He’d also figured out that whatever was attracting the daemons was attached to the tracker in the hairpin in a way that he couldn’t just remove, which was a shame.

He learned that he needed to give Crowe a phone in some sort of blast-proof container or casing, because while he’d managed to give Crowe the means to contact him and Libertus sooner, the phone would be severely damaged without one. And, because the phone would be broken, Crowe wouldn’t be able to get in contact with them soon enough to stop Libertus from joining the rebels and giving them the vital information that they needed to launch their attack on the Citadel.

He had also found out that if he told King Regis about the traitorous Glaives he knew would survive the Princess’ extraction, that the King would be able to sever their connection to his magic before they encountered them on either the bridge or the overpass.

Unfortunately, its effectiveness was limited by the fact that there were still Glaives that he hadn’t known were traitors, and so they still had ended up rocketing off the overpass when another Glaive, who Nyx belated recognised as Isra Solis (and Crowe had cursed her out even more viciously than Nyx had, because Isra was as talented with frost magic as Crowe was with fire, and the two had been close, before everything went down).

At this point, Nyx was pretty sure that as soon as they got to that first attempt to escape the city, it was almost guaranteed that they’d be crashing the car sooner or later.

At the very least, Nyx thought to himself, as he finally found an old camera case which he hoped would be enough to hide the phone, this should help with stopping Libertus from leaving. Hopefully.

A day later, he awkwardly held the box of Crowe’s things, waiting for Drautos to move out of earshot. As Libertus raged at Crowe’s apparent death, Nyx took a deep breath, and quickly grabbed Libertus, warping them into one of the nearby alcoves (why there were so many alcoves by the morgue, Nyx had no idea, but he’d take it).

“Nyx, what the hell?!” Libertus gasped, nearly losing his balance at the sudden movement if not for Nyx’s steady grip on his arm.

“Lib…I don’t think Crowe is dead,” Nyx said, mustering the most serious voice he could, which was actually pretty serious considering how much potentially hinged on him getting Libertus to listen. “Look, you know how I gave her some of my curatives, right? Well, I also gave her a phoenix down and an extra phone.”

“…Why? What has that got to do with any of this?”

Nyx rummaged through the box in his hands, searching through for any of the items in question. Thankfully (for the point he was making, at any rate), he could not find any of the things that he had given Crowe.

“They said they recovered everything, right?”

Libertus nodded slowly.

“The phone isn’t here. Not even parts of it.”

Nyx was gratified to see the dawning realisation on Libertus’ face, and silently congratulated himself for finally convincing him of Crowe’s continued survival. And hopefully now, Libertus wouldn’t have too many reasons to leave, or at the very least, no reason to give information to that rebel cell.

“So, what you’re saying,” Libertus said, slowly, almost as if he couldn’t believe it. “Is that Crowe could still be alive.”

“Yes, exactly!” Nyx internally was jumping up and down with joy, this was exactly the reaction he wanted.

“We need to go find her.”

Wait, shit. Celebrated too early.

Nyx wasn’t even certain that Libertus would be able to find Crowe, if he went haring off now. And if he lost track of Libertus, then he wouldn’t to be able to assure himself of Libertus or Crowe’s safety. And if Libertus went running off, then that would alert the traitors that their plan hadn’t gone exactly to plan, and Nyx…couldn’t risk them changing the script that drastically.

“With what resources, Lib?” Nyx hissed, holding back Libertus with a hand on his shoulder. “We don’t even know where she is! She still has the phone, presumedly. We should wait for her call.”

“But what if she can’t call? What if she’s been captured by the Niffs, or- or.”

“…Give it a day, Lib. 24 hours, and if we don’t hear anything, we’ll go find her. But don’t you dare leave without me.” Nyx scowled, hoping that his mild concession wouldn’t be necessary. He didn’t exactly want to show off the fact that he knew the approximate area that Crowe would end up in, two days from this point, but 24 hours would give him time to come up with a reasonable excuse. He hoped, at any rate.

“Fine,” Libertus nodded. “24 hours’ll give us time to prepare, either way.”

“And don’t you dare try and resign, we’re going to need the King’s magic for this. Probably.”

“Alright, alright, hero.” Libertus shook his head, patting Nyx on the shoulder. “Worry about Crowe, not me.”

“I am not going to risk losing you as well, Lib.” Nyx scowled.

Libertus’ expression softened, then, and he drew Nyx into a hug.

“You won’t, Nyx.”

But I have. So many times, Nyx didn’t say, basking in the warmth of his best friend’s embrace. So many times, Libertus. I wish I could tell you.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Nyx’s phone rang early the next day, showing the contact for the phone that he had given Crowe, Nyx was unashamed to admit that he broke down sobbing. Frantically hitting the answer button, he listened to Crowe tell him that Luche had nearly killed her, that she’d been rescued in the nick of time by the combined efforts of the phoenix down and a pair of hunters, and that (this time), for some reason, she was actually all the way at Hammerhead.

Why she was all the way there, Nyx wasn’t quite certain, but Crowe had explained that the phone had actually been slightly damaged after the fight with Luche, but when Crowe had been trying to get it to actually make a call, one of the hunters had said that there was a mechanic over at Hammerhead, who could repair it.

Nyx wondered why Crowe hadn’t gone to the outpost last time, surely an outpost as well-established as Hammerhead would have been the ideal place to take an injured Glaive to contact her allies. Then he realised that in the last run, the phone had been completely toasted, and perhaps the hunters had not realised that Crowe was a member of the Kingsglaive, until they had spotted the Imperial dropships and Crowe had gone racing off after them.

Still, he did have some other questions to ask her.

“Wait, hold up, why couldn’t the hunters call us for you? Don’t they have phones of their own?”

“Batteries died.”

Are you fucking kidding me?! Nyx thought. What were the bloody chances of that happening?!

“What.” He said instead.

“Yeah, apparently they were going to head to one of the smaller, nearer outposts because there’s some spares there, but when I told them I needed to get in touch with a member of the Kingsglaive fast, I think they broke like four or five road rules to get me here as fast as they could.”

Nyx couldn’t help but laugh at the image, before slowly managing to calm himself down.

“Can you hold for a moment? I need to get Libertus here before he does something stupid and tries to rush after you.”

“Sure, Nyx. Get him in here, I bet the big guy’s worrying his ass off about me. I sure won’t be going anywhere, the hunters said it was risky enough bringing me all the way over here in the first place.”

Nyx sped down the hallway, and raced for the stairs, almost knocking Luche down the stairs (if only) in his haste to reach Libertus. He slammed open the door, having only wasted a few seconds fumbling with his own set of keys beforehand.

“LIB!” He yelled, as he shut the door behind him.

“What?!” Libertus yelled back, from inside the bathroom, where Nyx could hear the sounds of the shower running. “It better be important, I only just got the hot water running!”

Oh, whoops.

Three minutes later, Nyx was awkwardly sitting on Libertus’ couch whilst Libertus talked with Crowe, the other man significantly less irritated at Nyx’s interruption when Nyx had told him he had Crowe on the other end of his phone. He didn’t mention to Libertus later, when the man had finally re-entered the main area of his flat and put the phone on speaker, that he had definitely heard the sound of Libertus sobbing even with the continued sound of running water. Nyx was honestly just happy that Libertus was still here, still with him, and that Crowe was still alive.

“Shit, Nyx.” Libertus finally said, after Crowe had fully retold her story. “Luche’s a fucking traitor. We should…we should tell the Captain.”

Nyx froze, from where he was preparing to head off to be part of the Princess’ escort into Insomnia.

“I…I’m not sure we should.” Nyx admitted, trying not to make it apparent that he absolutely distrusted anything and everything Drautos said or did. “The details of Crowe’s mission should have been confidential, as soon as she left the city. But despite the precautions that were taken, Luche was still able to find her, and nearly kill her. If Luche’s a traitor, what’s to say there aren’t any other traitors in the Kingsglaive? What’s to say that the Captain’s office hasn’t already been compromised?”

“Shit, is there anywhere else we can take this?”

“What about the Crownsguard Marshal? The Crownsguard deal with internal affairs, right?” Crowe chipped in.

“We could…but I’m due in for Citadel duty in ten minutes, and we can’t afford any possible traitors knowing something’s up just yet.” Nyx scowled, frustrated at how things had lined up. “Lib, can you see if you can talk to the Marshal?”

“Nyx, you know how I feel about the Crownsguard,” Libertus shook his head. “With my luck, I’d end up just pissing them off, and that’s the opposite of getting them to listen. Chances are, I’m not even going to make it anywhere close to the Marshal’s office.”

“Damn it.” Nyx sighed. “I’ll see if I can find him, when it gets to my lunch break.”

“I’ll see if I can think of any way to get Crowe back here soon, I’m certain Crowe showing up alive will lend support to our whole ‘Luche is a filthy traitor’ argument.” Libertus nodded. “Best of luck, hero.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If one were to inquire as to why Nyx Ulric of the Kingsglaive was currently sitting with his head in his hands, barely an hour after his shift had ended, on the steps just outside the Kingsglaive barracks, he would tell them to politely ‘fuck off’.

It was, perhaps, not the most diplomatic of responses, but Nyx felt it easily summed up how he was presently feeling, after the utter shitshow that was his attempt to find the Marshal of the Crownsguard.

The actual searching and inquiry itself was quite fast. He’d only had to step into the Crownsguard building asking to see the Marshal, only to find out one little thing. One key thing he honestly wished he’d known far sooner, because it explained so many things.

The Marshal was not in the damn city.

Apparently, the man was off on some sort of confidential mission, due to return the bloody day before the signing ceremony for some Astrals-damned reason.

That was too late for any of Nyx’s current (and possibly future) plans.

And there was no way he, a single Kingsglaive, could even get the Marshal to return sooner, it simply wasn’t within the bounds of his current abilities.

So that avenue was closed to him, for the time being. Perhaps there were other people in the Marshal’s office he could approach, but Nyx simply did not know who would be a trustworthy, reliable person he could talk to in that branch of the military.

He briefly considered Fortis, before shaking his head. That man could be relied upon in a crisis, he had to admit, but…to most people, the only crisis happening at the moment was the political nightmare of the ceasefire. To most, it was a matter for diplomats and Kings, not foot soldiers and guardsmen.

Scowling off into the distance, he wondered whether it might have just been best to get Crowe back into the city, so that he could at least go to the King with direct evidence of Luche’s treachery. With any luck, Luche would have spilled everything, and then they could have killed Glauca when he inevitably fought back.

It seemed a bit late to try that this time around, though. Tomorrow, Insomnia would be invaded, after all.

Nyx sighed, before readying himself for his night shift guard duty, and the Princess’ inevitable kidnapping. Time to see if he could, at the very least, keep all his friends alive for longer this time around.

The next morning, he let himself back into Libertus’ room, to kick his plan of ‘Keep The King and My Friends Alive At Least’ into motion.

“Lib, I’m…I’m going to go talk to the King,” He said, and had a moment of amusement at Libertus nearly dropping his bowl of oatmeal in shock. “Crowe’s still at Hammerhead, yeah? Presumably heavily injured, but not injured enough to be unable to hold a call, right?”

“I would assume so,” Libertus nodded, after regaining his composure. “You sure you can get the King himself to listen? He’s a Lucian, and a noble to boot. You know how the combination of the two tend to treat folks like us.”

“…I think he’d listen. We have proof, now, and the next highest-ranked person isn’t even going to be here yet.”

“I still think we should tell the Captain-“

“No!”

Nyx winced as Libertus levelled a critical eye at him, the force of his disagreement clearly a bit…too much.

“Nyx.”

“Yes, Libertus?” Please don’t ask what I think you’re about to.

“Why are you so adamant about not telling the Captain?” Libertus put down his bowl, and crossed his arms, a pose familiar enough to Nyx that he knew Libertus wouldn’t take a vague answer. “What aren’t you telling me?”

“I- I think the Captain is also a traitor.” There. He said it.

Nyx waited, as the seconds ticked by, as Libertus seemed to turn the thought over in his head. He waited, for the inevitable doubt, the claims of paranoia gone too far in the wake of Luche’s betrayal.

“I’m guessing you don’t have any evidence, do you.”

Nyx raised an eyebrow. That wasn’t a complete expression of doubt, even if Libertus did still seem highly sceptical of his not-theory.

“No. It’s just,” Nyx fished around for the right word that wouldn’t cause more suspicion, considering he still wasn’t sure he could just outright say ‘yeah I’ve watched Drautos murder King Regis like three times by now’. “A gut feeling. An instinct.”

“Well, your gut instinct hasn’t led us astray much at all, has it,” Libertus sighed, his stance loosening dramatically as he sat down heavily. “Astrals damn it. And considering Drautos is actually respected by the Lucians, they won’t be likely to take your word without actual evidence to back it up.”

“And obviously, I couldn’t exactly break into his house or office to look for evidence.”

“Well, you could, it’d just be difficult.”

“What.”

Libertus shrugged, before gesturing at himself and Nyx.

“We’ve both got magic, idiot.”

“Yes, and? It’s not exactly conducive to breaking and entering, you know. Security cameras exist, and I can’t exactly fireball my way into his office.”

Libertus blinked up at Nyx, before vanishing in the slightest glow of crystal-blue.

“Oh.”

Nyx sat down, on the floor of Libertus’ shoebox of a flat, and laughed into the palm of his hand. He laughed, until he registered Libertus (now visible again), shaking his shoulder.

“You good?”

“I. Yeah,” Nyx wiped away a tear from the corner of his eye. “I can’t believe it didn’t occur to me. Six, it was so obvious all along!”

He looked up at Libertus, and grinned. “Can you teach me?”

“What, now?!” Libertus looked around, before sighing once again. “You want to go searching whilst the Signing Ceremony happens, don’t you? Fuck, of course you are, you reckless piece of shit.”

“Well-“ Actually, I was more thinking it’d be good for a future loop.

“Fine. You’ve got forty minutes before your next citadel guard shift, you better be listening closely, hero. The others in my squad took at minimum three days to hold this for longer than a few seconds. You might be a warp-spammer, but this shit takes more focus than a shield, for all that it drains your magic slower.”

“I’m listening, Lib.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By the time Nyx had to leave for the citadel, he could hold the invisibility for all of two seconds, a feat that Libertus had briefly praised, before going right back to fondly complaining about Nyx’s aptitude with all things magical. It wasn’t enough to be truly practical, but Nyx figured he’d have time to practice it more, next loop.

“You’ll call me, yeah, if anything goes south?” Libertus had asked, grabbing hold of Nyx before he could leave.

“Yeah,” Nyx nodded. “I will.”

An hour later, he was hastily calling Crowe with the coordinates he had by now memorised, as he made his way to the rest of the Kingsglaive with their orders to mobilise. As for Libertus, he’d updated him as to the situation, tasking Libertus with keeping an eye on the situation within the city, and calling him if anything happened.

Obviously, Nyx knew that things were definitely going to happen, but the point was that he wanted Libertus to not run off and potentially get himself killed. Nyx had a plan, this time around, or at least the makings of one, and he was fairly certain he’d be able to keep his friends, the Princess, and the King alive this time around.

First off though, he had to survive the Princess’ extraction.

With a deep breath, he launched himself up onto the Niflheim ship, experience allowing him to stick the landing instead of the awkward crash his first time around. With expert motions, he directed the Glaives through the ship, right up to the point where Pelna found the Princess.

“Pelna, get out of there, now. Don’t go down that corridor, I spotted a really nasty daemon that way.” Nyx said, hurriedly, as he sprinted down the hallway to meet them. He easily ducked under a traitor’s attack, ripping off their mask just before he slit their throat.

He’d forgotten to check their identities the first few times around, too busy with trying to survive and keeping his friends alive, and while he knew he wouldn’t be able to get all of them in one run, he sure could at least find out who a few of them were.

Distantly, as he expertly tripped another traitor and killed them before they could even try and attack Pelna from behind, he wondered how much he had changed, already, with how many times he’d already replayed the past five days. Before this hell week, before the ceasefire, before the time loops, these Glaives had been his fellow comrades-in-arms. He’d saved them, and been saved in turn, on countless missions, in countless fights. And yet here he was, barely batting an eye as sisters and brothers turned on them all, as he cut them down within seconds of them raising their blades and spells against their former friends and allies. Their movements were so familiar, so scripted, he knew exactly how to move to counter their attacks, how to slip under their guard and slice them apart. The only true dangers, it seemed, would be the daemons, Luche and his posse, and General Glauca.

He shoved Pelna back with one hand as they rounded the corner, tanking a fireball from Tredd with his own shield, before retaliating with his own rapid blasts of lightning. He could hear Tredd curse, ducking around his own corner just as a tentacle from the octopus daemon began to tear the ship they were on in two.

He quickly directed Pelna and Lunafreya onto the ship they would escape in, nodding to himself as Crowe suddenly warped onto the open deck with a gasp, mirroring the events of Loop 7. He quickly shoved a couple of hi-elixirs into her hand, before turning around and seeing if he could spot Luche’s escape ship. Sadly, he couldn’t, and resigned himself to seeing those assholes again later, during the overpass chase.

“Shit, Crowe!” Pelna called out. “You’re alive?!”

“Yeah, no thanks to fucking Luche.” Crowe spat, and Nyx mentally noted down that two hi-elixirs were so much better than just one single elixir. “Nyx, you need to call Libertus, let him know what a shitshow this has all turned out to be.”

“And it’s gotten worse.” Pelna agreed, pointing out the falling Wall.

“We need to return to the Citadel-“

“Yeah, I know. The King and the Ring, right?” Nyx sighed, already calling Libertus.

“Yes, exactly- Wait, how did you know that?” Lunafreya suddenly appeared in Nyx’s field of view, eyes bright with concern, just as Nyx had finished talking to Libertus.

“You’re talking to the Glaive who’s pulled the most Citadel duty out of everyone, I picked up a few things,” Nyx said, suddenly aware of the fact that the importance of the Ring was…probably not the most common of information around. He hastily changed the subject. “I let Lib know we were coming back, he’s going to be waiting for us in the Citadel garage.”

“You sure he’ll be alright? What with that leg of his?” Pelna inquired.

“He might not look like it, but Lib is a very good driver.” Nyx thought back to the past loops. In every single one where he’d actually made it to that plaza, Libertus had, without fail, successfully crashed a car into Glauca. And on top of that, he’d also successfully navigated his way through a city in the midst of getting razed, whilst Nyx and the Old Wall had been tearing up the city in their respective fights. Libertus was the best damn driver Nyx knew, broken leg or not.

The four of them made it to the Citadel in what felt like record time, running into the signing room just in time to once again see Ravus’ arm on fire. Pelna and Lunafreya quickly hustled the King out of the room, whilst Crowe and Nyx did their best to harry Glauca with alternating blasts of fire and lightning. As they ran out of the secret tunnel and into the garage, Nyx grinned as he Libertus waved at them all. As Crowe rushed to give Libertus a one-armed hug, Nyx quietly relayed the identities of the rest of the traitorous Glaives he could be certain of, as well as his suspicions about Captain Drautos, to the King, who nodded even as he paled considerably at Nyx’s revelations.

“Astrals, but am I glad to see you, Crowe!” Libertus called out.

“You too, Libertus! Better not have done anything stupid whilst I was out.”

“Cool catch-up, but we’ve got General Glauca right on our heels,” Nyx said, slamming down another shield over the tunnel that they had just left. “We’ll take two cars. Pelna, you’re driving that car over there. Crowe, you and King Regis can get into Lib’s car. Me and the Princess will be with Pelna. We’ll exit together, and Pelna will take the lead. Lib, I want you to stay as close as possible to us, me and Crowe will be taking charge of killing anything that gets in our way, but there’s no guarantee we’ll be able to clear a path, so stay vigilant. Make sure your comms stay open.”

“Got it.” They all nodded, Crowe even giving him a thumbs up as she slid into Libertus’ car.

The drive out of the Citadel went exactly as Nyx had expected, and he quietly cackled to himself even as he leaned out of the window to throw a handful of lightning at one of the MT Armours chasing them. As he spotted the ship carrying Luche, Tredd, and the rest of their group slowly coming into view, he threw a fireball at them, before ducking back down into the car. Hastily, he grabbed the Princess’ hairpin from her, the woman too shocked by the suddenness of his action to protest.

“Pelna, hand me the wheel.”

“Nyx what-“

“You’re still good at warping, yeah? I need you to warp the Princess to Lib’s car,” Nyx sighed as Lib predictably began to also protest. “Lib, get someone to hold that door open.”

“Nyx, you fucking-“

“Pelna, now!”

To his credit, the man didn’t hesitate even with his protests, throwing his dagger in a shower of blue as he tugged the Princess along, leaving Nyx alone in his car.

Not for much longer, of course, because just as Luche and Tredd leaned out of their ship to try and shoot at them all, and just as Petra Fortis in his armoured van appeared in Nyx’s rearview mirror, Nyx turned his car to face Luche and Tredd.

The look on their faces as he drove the car straight at them would be one Nyx would savour for a long, long time. Luche’s string of curses as Nyx warped out of the car just before impact, would also be on the list of things that gave Nyx so much joy.

He landed on the side of Fortis’ van with a quiet oomph, clinging onto the kukri now lodged into the metal. A few moments later, he’d managed to swing himself into the front seat, after Fortis had rolled down the window for him.

“You’re insane, Ulric. Actually insane.” Fortis said, staring at him with wide eyes even as they caught up with Libertus and the others.

“Best warper in the Kingsglaive.” Nyx replied smugly, and winced as the yelling over his comm reached an even louder level.

After that, they somehow made it all the way to within view of the West Gate, even with the occasional daemon or magitek soldier that they ran into. It seemed Nyx’s gambit with the crashed car and the hairpin had paid off, for now, and he quietly let himself relax a little, though he kept an eye out for anything else that might stop their escape.

It was that caution that had him spotting the glimmer of silver and purple before it hit the ground in front of Libertus’ car, his yell of alarm all that they needed to grind to a halt just in time to avoid General Glauca slicing their car in two.

“Shit, Fortis, you and Lib are gonna have to guard the King and Princess, we’ll try and hold him off. If you see an opening, get out of here.” Nyx said, as he chucked a kukri out of the window, and began doing his level best to once again kill Glauca.

As Crowe covered the King and Princess’ retreat to Fortis’ van, followed by a very worried Libertus, Nyx threw himself headlong into the fight, Pelna darting in and out where he could, the two of them trying to keep Glauca’s attention long enough for Crowe to be able to join in.

“Why do you fight, for a King who would abandon us all to save his throne and his son?” Glauca roared, as Nyx warped out of the way of his sword, flinging a blast of flame to hide Pelna’s approach. “Walk away, Glaives, and you will see another day in peace, the Empire has promised it!”

“The way I see it, whatever Niflheim promised you isn’t enough to justify the utter destruction laid in its wake, Drautos.”

Glauca actually froze, momentarily, as Nyx called him by his actual name. And then cursed, because Crowe had apparently figured out how to properly stash the King and the Princess away, and had now joined the fight as well with a blast of flame that Nyx could see had melted part of his helmet.

“So, you know, then.”

“Yeah, I do, you traitorous bastard.”

The three Glaives did their best to fight Glauca, a blast of lightning from Nyx actually causing the armoured man to stumble backwards a little. This…wasn’t going terribly, Nyx thought, warping past Glauca’s shoulder and swinging back down, Pelna trying to go for Glauca’s knees at the same time. They were both flung backwards for their efforts, but Crowe had used that opportunity to slam another two fireballs at Glauca, only one of which the man was able to deflect.

In the corner of his eye, he saw a daemon making its way to them, ambling towards Fortis’ van. Nyx cursed, and launched himself at Glauca, trying to herd him out of the way so that Fortis could make a break for it, before the daemon got to them.

“Crowe, Pelna, we need to get Glauca out of the way!”

Pelna nodded, grunting as he parried a punch, before warping away from Crowe’s attack. Nyx dove forward immediately after, hissing as Glauca’s sword drew a sharp cut across his cheek, but it was worth it as he managed to get close enough to unleash a pulse of lightning strong enough to send Glauca back a few vital steps. He warped out of the way of his retaliation, letting Pelna take over briefly as he cracked an elixir onto himself.

They just needed to get Glauca a little further away, and then Fortis could, hopefully, get out of the city.

But Pelna was tiring, and so was Nyx, the fighting from earlier having already taken its toll even though they had come out of that mess mostly unharmed.

Glauca, on the other hand, seemed to be fuelled by whatever cursed shit made up that armour of his, and probably a few other things as well.

At this rate, Nyx had the feeling he’d be needing to put that damn Ring back on his finger. Again.

“Shit, shit, shit!” Pelna yelled as he dodged several swings of the sword, managing to avoid getting skewered only for Glauca to catch him around the waist and fling him across the road.

“Pelna!” Nyx yelled, unable to check on his friend as Glauca was now attacking him, and thank the Astrals that Nyx had already seen some of these moves and knew how to counter them, because it should be illegal how fast Glauca could move, in armour like that.

Nyx managed to blast Glauca in the way of one of Crowe’s fire blasts, just as he heard the screeching of tires. He grinned, even as Glauca doubled his attacks at him, Nyx holding up a shield just as he felt the van fly past him, the vehicle close enough to almost him.

“You do realise that you will die here, that nothing will stop me from killing that coward King.” Glauca growled, as he batted Nyx away.

“Your armour’s looking real bad, you know that?” Nyx quipped back, nodding to Pelna as the two of the charged at Glauca, Nyx aiming a blast of frost at Glauca’s feet whilst Pelna tried for a headshot.

They both missed, Glauca almost managing to get a kick out at Nyx, but they both managed to distract him enough to take yet another gout of fire to the head.

“You. I knew I should’ve had you killed when I had the chance!” Glauca roared, charging suddenly at Crowe, a sliver of skin visible along his collarbone.

“No!” Nyx yelled, warping after him, only to get a fist straight to his chest, winding him as he crumpled to the ground.

He could see Crowe warping out of the way, but she’d never fought Glauca in melee combat before, and melee wasn’t even her specialty-

The axe that lodged itself in Glauca’s collarbone surprised them all.

Glauca’s yell of surprise and pain was nearly drowned out by Libertus’ warcry, as the man suddenly appeared, his axe in both hands as he braced himself and completed his swing, turning that sliver of collarbone into a bloody gash, although Nyx could see the silver of the armour already trying to repair itself.

“That’s my sister you nearly killed, you bastard.” Libertus spat, and ducked as Crowe tossed fireball after fireball at Glauca, before she turned and set the approaching daemon alight as well.

“How-“

Nyx didn’t give him time to finish, letting Pelna use him as a springboard to launch right at Glauca, the man plunging a dagger right into that open wound before he landed in front of Libertus and Crowe, ready to help defend them.

“Damn, he’s still going?” Pelna shook his head, flinging up a shield to briefly deflect Glauca’s next attack. “That should’ve at least slowed him down significantly.”

Nyx warped back into the fight, giving the three time to reposition themselves as he tried his best to carve out more of Glauca. This fight was just as frustrating as it had been all the times before, as even though he had his friends with him, it was balanced out by the fact he didn’t have the extra power from the Ring. For all of his experience, Glauca was the worst enemy he had to fight, and it showed.

Drautos had been their commander, their beloved Captain. He knewall of their moves, or at least most of them, their fighting styles, their habits and their weaknesses. And that meant that he could counteract them with more ease than he should have.

Which meant that Nyx had to do something unpredictable, something so utterly insane not even Drautos could predict it.

His gaze skittered over the road, looking for something he could maybe use to his advantage. He couldn’t see anything, just broken concrete and asphalt, Libertus’ by-now trashed car, the corpse of a daemon smouldering behind them-

He looked back at the car, where there was a puddle of fuel slowly leaking from its side.

His first thought was that it was a wonder it hadn’t caught alight, what with Crowe’s flames. His second thought was that surely Glauca wasn’t completely explosion-proof, even with that armour of his.

“Guys!” He yelled, sprinting back into the fight. “I’m going to try something, I need you to herd him backwards, to the car!”

“What are you going to do, trip me?” Glauca actually sounded a bit amused, even though he was, in fact, getting slowly pushed backwards by their combined assault.

“No, even better,” Nyx watched as Glauca was finally backed up to the car, and probably as far as he’d get before he’d clue into the petrol leaking from Libertus’ car. “Everyone, get back!”

Pelna’s eyes widened in understanding, as he warped away and grabbed Libertus with him, and Nyx tossed as large a fireball as he could at Glauca and the car.

The resulting inferno wasn’t quite as impressive as the explosion Nyx had been hoping for, but the screaming from within was.

“Do you…think that’d kill him?” Pelna asked, as they all stared at the flaming wreck, from a safe distance away.

“I’m…not actually sure,” Nyx admitted. “Actually, are cars supposed to catch on fire like that?”

“If they’re a good quality car, no.” Libertus growled. “Cheap piece of shit.”

“Eh, better safe than sorry.”

The three men looked at Crowe as she began to hurl more fireballs at the car (and presumably Glauca), her barrage only pausing when she had to crack an elixir, before continuing on. Nyx shrugged, and joined in, except with lightning bolts. Her logic was sound, in his opinion, even if Pelna and Libertus were staring at them with increasing amounts of fear.

There was one slightly harrowing moment as they watched Glauca actually stumble forwards a few moments later, but Nyx and Crowe’s panicked blasts of lightning and fire respectively quickly had him crumpling to the ground. They stayed where they were, for a few moments longer, to see if he would get back up, before Nyx sprayed the flaming wreck with a light blizzard, and they moved closer to see whether Glauca truly was dead.

“Oh, yikes.” Crowe muttered, staring at the body on the road.

“That’s a lot of- I don’t think a burned body is supposed to smell like that.” Pelna commented, holding a hand up to his nose.

“Must be the armour, that shit was magitek. Must’ve had a bad reaction to all that fire we were hurling at him at the end.” Libertus reasoned.

Nyx simply marched up to the body, and stabbed what he assumed was the head. Twice.

“Alright, he’s definitely dead.” Nyx concluded. “If he wasn’t before, by some miracle, he is now.”

Crowe cackled, a little hysterically.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A little later, Nyx trudged behind his three friends as they headed for the nearest haven, presumably to rest and recover before they tried to meet up with any other survivors of the Invasion.

Dawn was breaking on the horizon, and he was simultaneously relieved by the sight, and dreading its arrival.

On one hand, as far as he was aware, he’d managed to keep all of his friends, and the King and the Princess, alive. Even Fortis was alive, and that was something Nyx hadn’t expected. But on the other hand, Insomnia was still a smouldering ruin, the Empire had gotten away with that Crystal, and Nyx was pretty certain the fatality count was up in the hundreds of thousands.

Up until now, he hadn’t managed to live past the dawn, had always died as soon as the sun had fully risen above the horizon. What if his survival now meant that the loops were finished? The thought scared him, somehow. He’d gotten used to slowly inching his way to figuring out the multitude of things that had led up to the city’s fall, and the destruction that came with it. What if he could’ve had more chances to try and stop everything from happening in the first place, if only he figured out a way to die before the dawn? What if there were parts to this puzzle he didn’t yet know about, vital pieces that could ensure everyone’s survival without the destruction of the city?

But, if he looped back now, then wouldn’t all the fighting he had just done be for naught? He looked at his friends, at their tired, but cheerful, expressions. To them, they’d just survived one of the greatest tragedies since the Fall of Galahd, and had even managed to kill the legendary General Glauca, the man responsible for the destruction of not only Galahd, but also Tenebrae, and now Insomnia.

He couldn’t- He couldn’t take that away from them.

And so, Nyx Ulric watched as the sun rose above the horizon, Pelna cheering as one of the imps that had been about to approach them almost instantly melted away into daemonic miasma.

And stopped.

He shuddered, clutching his head as a sudden spell of dizziness overtook him. He vaguely heard Libertus’ cry of alarm, as he stumbled backwards, something tugging on his chest even as the world around him seemed to flicker in and out like a bad television signal. Nyx had the abrupt sensation of the ground beneath him giving way, before his vision fragmented, like a broken mosaic almost, and he fell, dragged along by an unseen force. The swirl of colours that his vision had devolved into was nauseating, and Nyx shut his eyes, the sensation of freefalling continuing until-

He sat upright with a shout, as the world snapped back into place, and he was greeted by the familiar sight of his dimly lit apartment, sunlight streaming through the cheap curtains.

#ffxv #ff15 #final fantasy 15 #final fantasy xv #ffxv fanfiction #ffxv kingsglaive #nyx ulric #libertus ostium #crowe altius #pelna khara #carminite writes #Running Onwards (A Timelooping Nyx AU)#Loop 9 or as I like to call it #the one where Nyx finds out what it feels like to get yeeted back in time

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nothing-but-dreamy · 3 years

Text

CRASH

Pairing: FFXV! NYX ULRIC x GENDER NEUTRAL!READER

Words: 2.050

Warnings: none;

Summary: One morning on your way to work, you crash into a cute guy not expecting seeing him again in the evening.

You were running late. Again. There was no way your boss would buy another lame excuse if you wouldn't hurry. Maybe, if one of the six would be with you, you still could make it on time. If you were fast. Well, faster than fast. Maybe fast like a chocobo…

You were so deep in your thoughts with your eyes glued at your phone that you barely noticed anything around you. You knew the way. Blindly. Flying down the different streets in the heart of the city for two years. You knew every single light signal, every street sign and every building by heart.

What you didn't know was that big rocks could suddenly emerge from the ground because as you ran into something it felt as if you were slamming straight into a massive wall made of stone. You bumped into it, bouncing back from the rock before you fell.

But there was no impact on the ground…

"Hey, it's okay. I got you. You can open your eyes.", a soft male voice spoke close to your ear.

Only then, you felt two strong arms embracing your waist. As you raised your gaze, you got greeted by ocean blue eyes filled with concern, "The… the rock can speak.", you breathed startled, '...And is handsome as hell.', you thought further.

"Excuse me, what did you say?", the man asked confusedly and checked on you. He had noticed that the impact had been hard, you were straight crashing into him with some kind of speed, but it shouldn't cause any real trouble for your health.

You shook your head quickly to get your mind under control again, "I- I'm sorry.", you breathed, showing the man, who steadied your stand, a huge smile, "Thanks for catching me so quickly."

"It was my pleasure- hey, where are you going?", the man asked surprised.

You were already back on your way, "I'm sorry. I have to go. But it was nice crashing into you.", you called out before you hurried down the street.

Nyx stepped forward, following you but stopped again as his feet kicked at something. A small smartphone slid over the stones of the pavement. Nyx caught it before it could fall on the street and would get hit by a car.

Without a second thought, Nyx ran after you, trying to catch up but as he turned the corner of a coffee shop, you were already out of sight.

***

"Hey, what is that? Fancy new phone?", Libertus asked as he sat next to his friend.

Once again, Nyx nudged the display to turn it on. A picture of you with a cat showed up. Your eyes were sparkling and your smile breathtakingly beautiful. Only the little box with the PIN request threw a shadow of the image, "Actually, I… I found it this morning. It's theirs.", he said and pointed at the picture that glowed up again.

Libertus turned the phone over, "Looks cute. Seems to have money if they can afford such an expensive thing."

"Yeah…", Nyx breathed and frowned. It was indeed the newest model and didn't even have one scratch. And even if he had been distracted by your eyes and smile, he had noticed your expensive looking clothes, your styled hair and even the fancy shoes.

"But… Why do you have their phone?", Libertus asked.

Nyx got brought back from the daydreaming about you, "They crashed into me this morning. I guess they were on their way to work because they left pretty fast. I found the phone on the ground and ran after them but they were already out of sight.", he explained.

"Have you tried to find a number?", Libertus asked.

Nyx chuckled dryly, turning on the display once again, pointing at it, "What do you think this is, huh?"

"A cat.", Libertus answered, not getting the reason behind the question.

Nyx leant back in his chair while running a hand over his face, "I meant the PIN. I need a PIN to unlock the phone or otherwise, I don't have access."

"Oh... Well, but maybe Pelna can help-"

"Glaives! Into the briefing room!", Captain Drautos called out and within seconds your phone disappeared back into the pocket of Nyx' uniform jacket.

Unfortunately, it stayed there for the rest of the day…

***

Nyx was bushed. Because everything was pretty calm at the moment with no new attacks on Insomnia by Niflheim, Nyx and the other Glaives should train to stay focused. At the end of the day, Nyx scuffed into the locker room completely exhausted. He sat down on a bench and raked his fingers through his hair to relax a little bit.

"Hey, Nyx! Libertus! Wanna stop at Yamachang's?", Luche asked.

Nyx nodded without looking up. To get something to eat and to drink would be nice after a full day of training.

"Haven't you forgotten something?", Libertus asked and nudged Nyx' shoulder.

"What do you mean?"

"The fancy phone you found? Or do you wanna keep it after all?", Libertus asked with a grin, knowingly exactly that Nyx wouldn't do something like this.

Nyx' head shot up as he remembered, "Fuck… I totally forgot the phone!", he whispered and jumped up.

"Where are you going?", Luche called out, looking confused after his friend.

"I have to find Pelna!"

***

Thirty minutes later, Nyx had the address of your place. Once again, Pelna had worked his magic when it came to technology and information. Very quickly, Pelna found out your name and that you lived in the heart of the city not far away from the point where you had crashed into Nyx.

So, Nyx was on his way to get to your place. He was sure you would be grateful to get your phone back. He cursed himself that he had forgotten about it the whole day and hoped you wouldn't be too mad.

Accompanied by many pedestrians which were going home or into bars, Nyx made his way through the streets and was taken aback as he found himself in front of one of these high, luxurious looking apartment buildings.

Maybe Libertus was right and you had indeed a lot of money. Nyx swallowed nervously as he stepped through the entrance. The lobby was decorated with a bunch of plants and framed paintings. Even a leather couch stood at one wall. His boots made soft noises on the marble floor.

A couple was staring at him suspiciously. People like Nyx weren't liked to be seen in such places. For everyone, it was okay that he and the others risked their lives to fight for safety but at the end of the day, the refugees should stay where they belonged: in the underground.

Nyx hurried over to a board with names and searched for yours. He found it quickly. You lived on the eight floor and moments later, Nyx stood in one of the elevators with mirrored walls and a golden handrail.

Nerve-wracking slowly, the elevator brought Nyx to the floor he wanted. There was something strange when he walked through buildings and streets like these. It wasn't just that he was an outsider for all of them. It was rather just not his world. Even back in Galahd, such luxury wasn't common and so, he felt misplaced.

Nyx walked down the hallway while taking out your phone. He looked at the shining material. This was your world. You lived like this and maybe you didn't even know something other than having money.

As he reached your door with the golden apartment number, Nyx just needed to knock. He could knock and you would open the door. Maybe accusing him of stealing your phone. Maybe yelling at him that he needed the whole day to bring you the phone back. Or, you would call him stalker because he had tracked you down.

One last time, Nyx turned on the display and looked at the cute picture of you with the cat in your arms. Both of you looked so happy. You looked so nice and sweet. And even this morning, you had been nice to Nyx. At least, you hadn't been unfriendly.

As the display went off again, Nyx saw his mirrored expression on the surface. He saw his tattoos and braids and knew that this was not his world. So, he did the only thing that came to his mind: placing the phone in front of your door and to leave.

"Minka, what is- you!", you said surprised as you opened the door, seeing the cute guy from the morning in front of you. The whole day, he had occupied your thoughts and now, he was there.

Nyx looked up and greeted you with a shy smile. You stood in your doorframe, holding the door in your hand before you opened it even a bit more, "Hey, uhm… I- I found your phone this morning. You know...after our crash.", he stammered and presented the smartphone in his hands to you.

You stared at him and then at his hand for several moments before you jumped against the unknown man, snaking your arms around his neck to squeeze him tightly, "Oh, god bless! I had no idea where I'd lost it! You're heaven-sent!", you said over excitedly. Suddenly, you remembered what you were doing and so, slightly sheepishly, you stepped back again, "I- I'm sorry. I know, boundaries. It was just... I'm so lost without my phone. The day was a living hell.", you said softly.

"I'm sorry that it took me so long to bring it back. The day was a bit … busy.", Nyx said, scratching the back of his neck. He still felt bad for forgetting the phone at all.

You waved his apology aside. You knew what it meant to have a rough day. Only then, you noticed what the man in front of you was wearing, "You… you're a Kingsglaive.", you whispered in awe.

Nyx saw your astonished and excited expression and took the opportunity, "Yes, I am. Nyx Ulric at your service.", he said with a smile as you were still gaping at him.

As you noticed that you were still staring, you swallowed, "I’m sorry… It’s just that.. I'm such a big fan of you all. I mean, what you do for this city … we all owe you so much.", you said honestly.

Nyx was taken aback, "A fan? Never met one before to be honest."

"I know. You guys don't get appreciated enough. At least, not as much as you all deserve it. But- wait! I have an idea. Come in. Have dinner with me. Please.", you asked as you saw Nyx' refusing expression.

"Thank you. But it's not necessary.", he said politely even if he wanted to say something else. He would love to spend more time with you and your light attitude that made his heart jump a little.

"Please. You rescued me and my phone. You even brought it back. Plus the things you do as a Glaive. Inviting you in is the least I can do to thank you.", you tried to convince Nyx with your winning smile.

"I… I don't know. It wouldn’t be right…", Nyx said and just meant it half-heartedly.

"Please.", you begged, "If you leave, I just have Minka for company."

Nyx chuckled and even if he already sensed the answer, he asked anyway, "Who's Minka?"

"My cat.", you answered, looking down at the stripy, little troublemaker sitting next to your feet.

Nyx followed your glance and chuckled, "But she looks sweet.", he said amused as the cat tilted its head.

"Oh, she's sweet. Most the time. As long as you have food. No food, no sweetness. Trust me, she will turn into a vicious monster if she wants to.", you whispered conspiratorially.

Nyx was hooked. He liked your eyes, your smile and you were funny. The whole package was simply perfect. In fact, he didn't want to leave so quickly, "Did you say vicious monster? If that's so, I guess, I should accept your invitation. I mean, someone has to protect you."

"And who would be better for this job as an honorable Glaive.", you said with a huge grin, stepping aside to let Nyx into your apartment, into your life and into your world.

#nyx ulric x female reader #nyx #nyx ulric x gender neutral reader #nyx ulric x male reader #final fantasy nyx ulric #kingsglaive nyx #ff15 nyx ulric #nyx ulric x reader #nyx ulric #final fantasy xv #final fantasy kingsglaive #male reader #female reader #gender neutral fanfic #gender neutral reader

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secret-engima · 4 years

Text

spideypoolalways

Does Regis ever ask how Titus has papers for the boys? Whats Cor or Clarus' PoV of this? What are some things (fluff or humor) that the boys get up to? Because I can see them getting adopted into the Ulric Clan because of shenanigans and Nyx going 'Yes, these are my people' since LCs just remind me of Ulrics with magic. And how do the Galatians take to the nephew of the Nif Chancellor and clone of the Crown Prince? Since I'm imagining that Titus told some of them and the

spideypoolalways

rest are guessing anyway. And does everyone assume that Noctis and Nox's magics resonated since they're kinda sorta close to each other/are the same person? How does Regis take the news that the only reason that Noctis got healed is because Nox pretty much felt everything Noctis did? /Both/ of his sons were basically attacked by a daemon and he only knew about one of them at the time and didn't do anything to calm or reassure Nox? (Clarus: Only because you didn't know

spideypoolalways

About him, Regis. Regis: Thats no excuse, Clarus.) Does Iris get to be a Shield or did Nox latch onto Axis or one of his kids? Does Acastus find Prompting and drop him off with Noct/Cor? Does Nox hang out with Noct, Ignis, Gladiolus and Prom all the time or does the memories act up enough to make him feel weird about it? How does Regis take his brother and son's Sick Days? What about Dissidia? The 3 youngest Royals getting snatched and the group watching on Crystal

spideypoolalways

Vision? Dad Titus/Regis freaking out over their kids having been summoned to a death match? And how exactly does Titus see the boys? Sons, brothers, cousins? Oooh, more Trauma. Noct, Nox and Acastus w/others playing and end up in the Crystal room. Cue the boys lighting up, maybe passing out because the magic hits their young system really hard (its why Royals aren't supposed to be Presented until 18) and everyone freaks out, and news makes it to Regis and Titus that they

spideypoolalways

Are in the infirmary and the gist of what happened via panicked guards and rush there immediately and are jumped by panicked kids talking and crying about what happened. I didn't realize I had so many questions. But now I need to know. 👀👀 Please!🙏

spideypoolalways

Oh! Just remembered a little more! Does anyone pick up on the people/places that he shouldn't know? Do they assume that Nox got some of it from Noct, like with the Marelith? Or are they assuming LC/ Oracle DNA mix?

Me: Yes, Regis asks about the papers and Titus doesn’t OUTRIGHT admit he did an illegal but he does grudgingly explain that he needed papers in case the NIfs came looking and he ... knows ... a few people who can help ... “recreate” papers for refugees who lost theirs in whatever fire or tragedy drove them from their homes.

Regis mulls over that for ten long seconds then blatantly pretends he never heard it in the first place. Those “people” likely saved the life of his son and half-brother, he can let it slide this once.

I need Nyx Ulric to adopt these two now JUST so Nyx can tease that he’s related to Captain (then later when he learns that they’re Lucis Caelums he can quietly die in a corner because OH NO HE’S RELATED TO THE KING). Not sure how or when Nyx adopts them, but he absolutely does.

It probably happens when he's just a wee bit sloshed. Not enough to be incoherent or insincere, but enough that he doesn’t feel any fear offering to adopt the pair while babysitting them because Captain had to work late and Nyx is off the combat roster until his ankle heals. Once he’s sober he is a Panic™, but Captain takes it surprisingly well and Nox loves his new braid. Acastus just looks Amused™.

Lib slaps Nyx over the head because IDIOT THINK THIS STUFF THROUGH then gives him another drink because TWO MORE ULRICS. It’s a good thing Nyx is an Ulric Keeper in this AU, because he can teach them most of the Ulric Clan stories and dances and make them proper Ulrics.

Acastus loves introducing himself as Acastus Ulric Drautos, both because it’s fancy like “Lucis Caelum” is and also because it made both Titus and Nyx spit their coffee the first time they hear it.

The Galahdians ... have mixed feelings at first. But the predominant one is that it doesn’t matter that this kid is clearly related to the Chancellor (at first they all think the Chancellor bedded Captain’s Aunt, since they don’t know about the LC blood, and that’s why he looks like Ardyn) because Captain has clearly staked a claim on him. Galahd (in my HCs) is a Very Adoption Heavy culture and big on judging people by their current family rather than any previous blood ties, so ... mostly the Chancellor thing gets intensely ignored. Acastus isn’t an Izunia, he’s a Drautos (and then later an Ulric). So they will treat him as such.

But in private there is some debate on exactly what happened, for the Chancellor to vanish around the time his ... relation (son? They mostly assume son), shows up in Drautos’s care.

No few number of them think Titus stumbled on Ardyn with the two kids and killed the Chancellor to save them.

For Nox ... the Lucis Caelum blood is basically impossible to hide. This boy LOOKS like a literal carbon copy of the Prince but younger and he’s young so his control over his magic is ... not. Not that good. Especially not when there’s so mUCH of it.

All of Galahd listened to the Glaive who was on babysitting duty when Nox had a rare tantrum and skewered the wall with ghostly blades and all privately, immediately agree to Never Tell Anyone. Ever.

Well. To be fair, they do debate whether they have a duty to tell Regis, but again the Adoption Culture comes into play and they decide it’s up to Titus to spill that secret. A few Glaives do ask Titus about it (Titus nearly has a heart attack because SINCE WHEN DID THEY KNOW) and when they ask if they know who the mother was, Titus looks very grim and very, very quiet for a long time, then admits:

There is no mother. There never was.

They stare at him in confusion until Acastus, lurking nearby with too-sharp eyes, gives a smile that could cut and says brittlely that “amazing things that can be done with science these days you know. Truly amazing. Why, get a blood sample and a tank of the right solutions and you could probably grow anything you wanted”.

The Glaives are Horrified™. So is the rest of Little Galahd when it gets around and then is made a Clan Secret by all the Clans unanimously. The secret never leaves the borders of their little slum.

Also yes, people assume that Noctis’s and Nox’s magic resonated because Nox is a clone and it freaks them out.

Regis is Such A Guilt when he finds out how Acastus knew about Noctis’s injury. No it doesn’t matter that he DIDN’T KNOW NOX EXISTED. One of his son’s (his FIVE YEAR OLD son) was suffering. Was screaming in agony and terror and Regis didn’t do a THING about it and no amount of logic can make that better.

Nox latches onto Axis’s triplets in this AU so while Iris will be best friends with him, his Shield, Hand, and Sword are actually all made up of Axis’s three kids. Axis is a BIT of an internal Scream when Nox is at the age people start making noises about him building a Retinue and taking Iris as his Shield and Nox goes, “NO. I have a Shield already! A Hand and Sword too!” And stuff spirals out to reveal Axis as Clarus’s kid (Clarus takes it much better than Axis thought he would, tho Axis didn’t expect to see Lord Amicitia go deathly pale and sit down hard in the nearest chair).

Honestly Iris might be the future love interest in this AU you never know. It would be hilarious if nothing else.

Bold of you to assume Acastus didn’t find Prompto early and bring him home to NOX because “Look Beloved Nibling I Found You A Friend!”. Prompto is a confusion because Nox is like- 4 at the time. But Prompto likes babysitting and playing with Nox and hearing Acastus’s stories and Titus just kinda- sighs his way through the playdates until he realizes that Prompto has been staying in his house for about two weeks with no sign of the parents.

Titus, after much snooping later, sitting at the kitchen table of Grandma Ostium quietly pulling his hair out: HOW DO YOU ADOPT A THIRD CHILD. DOES IT COUNT AS KIDNAPPING IF THEY COME OVER AND STAY WITH YOU FOREVER AND THE LEGAL PARENTS NEVER NOTICE. ACASTUS WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO ME.

Acastus: I regret nothing. Do you want me to fake Prompto’s death? I’m sure there’s enough Prompto’s out there that nobody will notice if you gain a nephew called Prompto Drautos.

Titus, holding his face in his hands while Grandma Ostium laughs at him in the corner: NO, ACASTUS. DO NOT FAKE THE DEATH OF THE CHILD. How do you even know how to do that? Nevermind I don’t want to know.

Roughly a year later when Everything Gets Revealed, Titus and Cor: *intense staring contest over Smol Blond Child*

Cor: You don’t know where he-

Titus, growling like a cranky Behemoth that might very well bite off someone’s head: He’s a Niflheim created clone. I know.

Cor: ....

Titus: He's been living in my house for a year. I’ve seen the barcode. It’s not like I wasn’t raising one already.

Cor: His legal parents-

Titus: Is me. The Argentums were emotionally neglectful and didn’t even notice when he hadn’t come home for a week and a half.

Cor: *guilty angry silence*

Titus: ...Kid could use an uncle. If you want to man up and be part of his life.

(hgfhg this is post is getting long Imma try to speed through the last questions a bit)

Yes, Nox hangs out with the Chocobros when he can because he adores them (especially Brother Prompto and Team Mom Iggy) but he also has his own friend group in the Little Galahd community so it doesn’t strike anyone as odd really. Nox is a naturally loving child for all he’s shy and Iggy and Gladio are Noctis’s friends and Prompto is his adopted brother (and later Noctis’s best friend).

Regis does Not take the Sick Days well. It makes him alarmed and angry because Lucis Caelums aren’t supposed to get sick days from their own magic and it speaks of BAD THINGS that both of the presumably experimented on and tortured LCs have them.

I’m going to have to come back to Dissidia another time (someone remind me) because this post is too long to ramble here but it would be- it would be Great. Honestly. It would either be the 3 littlest, just Acastus, or just Acastus and REGIS for some brotherly bonding and any of them would be Great and Chaotic. Crystal-o-vision absolutely happens.

The Crystal Room is under 24 hour guard so I don’t think the kids could wander in by accident, plus Acastus would actively avoid the area because of his Trauma.

Now Acastus being presented when he turns 18 on the other hand... >:))))))

Short Version: Much shouting, much alarm, much angst from Regis and Titus and everyone and also the first Sick Day Acastus has had since he turned 17 and by far one of the worst he’s ever had in his (second) life.

I might to a longer version later but not right now.

For Nox’s oddities and odd knowledge they kind of assume both? At first they think it’s just him resonating with Noctis so deeply that there’s a transfer (cue angst from Regis because what is going to happen to Nox when Noctis fulfills his destiny as Chosen King???) but then when Nox starts knowing stuff Noctis doesn’t/can’t know, they start to wonder if the scientists ... Tampered with his DNA. If they got their hands on Noctis’s, which should have been impossible, then it’s not all that out there they got their hands on Oracle DNA.

Sylva is ... very alarmed and very confused when Regis secretly contacts her on a secure encrypted line to ask if there were any ... symptoms to look for in an Oracle child. Because- yes there were but WHY DO YOU NEED TO KNOW?

Regis: they wouldn’t happen to be *lists very specific things*

Sylva: ....Have you seen any Messengers nearby lately.

Regis: Carbuncle, a black puppy that disappears into thin air, and a bird woman who can summon wind storms. She calls herself Garuda.

Sylva, having a minor crisis behind her Queenly Facade: I am Very Sure I only have two children so please explain this. Right Now.

Regis: Well............. NiflheimclonedmysonandIthinkmixeditwiththednaofyouoryourdaughterandhehasseerpowersandImayormaynotbepanickingrightnowpleasehelpme.

Sylva, slowly running that over in her mind and figuring out what Regis just said:...

W H A T.

XD Honestly Niflheim might invade Tenebrae only to find the royal family gone because Sylva coincidentally packed her backs and took her and her children on a secret trip to Lucis to have a look at Nox, then since they’re there when Niflheim invades and a spy gets word on what just happened Sylva and Co just- stay there. Oracle Mom Death averted.

Also they absolutely think that it’s Luna’s DNA they used to make Nox because of how instantly Nox gloms onto Luna like a limpet- JUST like he did with Noctis and Regis, and how Luna gets this dazed look in her eyes as their magic tangles and she whispers, “I ... I know you. I know you, don’t I Little Prince? I met you in a dream.” Luna starts crying softly as she pets Nox’s hair and when Sylva asks in alarm why she’s crying, Luna blinks and whispers, “Because he was crying in the dream, and I couldn’t comfort him.”

Acastus lurks in the shadows, watching it all with ... very mixed feelings.

Oracles. He could have gone his entire second life without meeting anymore Oracles. Aera she looks so much like you is that what our daughter would have looked like and oh astrals I KILLED her. I killed the girl with your eyes and your smile and laughed about it later.

#Secret Engima Rambles #Sweet Sixteen verse #Nox verse #long post

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amarabliss · 4 years

Text

Distance - Nyx Ulric/Reader

I’m sick...and I’m sad...Cause I have COVID.... so you get a sad story with Nyx Ulric.

You saved the King and now you were paying the price...life isn’t always fair...

“This sucks...” You took in another deep breath as you watched Nyx pace across the room, “This...”

“Sucks...I heard you.” You crossed your arms as you stood there, “But it’s necessary.”

“...so explain to me again...” He stopped and turned to you putting his hands on hips, “What exactly happened?”

You sighed turning from him, “I was escorting the King and on the way into the the auditorium a man lunged toward him. I intercepted the man. We fought, tossing a few blows at one another until...”

You trailed off putting your hand to your neck where the dark bruising was left behind, “...until he pinned me. He chocked me...that’s when I saw the scourge on his face...I managed to flip him off and when everyone rushed in I told them to stop...I needed to limit exposure.”

“So now... because of some...” He stepped toward you making you step back, “Some disease we’ve never dealt with until we moved here...I can’t touch you...”

“We have to be sure it doesn’t spread.” You crossed your arms again, “It’s important that we follow the order so we don’t spread it to anyone else.”

“Screw that...” He took another step forward.

“Nyx stop...” You raised your hands up taking another step back. He didn’t listen and you became desperate, “Nyx stop!”

He ran into the barrier sending a shimmer across the room. His hand fell against it as he stared at you through it, “Y/N...”

“I can’t...I...” You teared up stepping close to the barrier, “I’m sorry...”

“You’re my better half...” He pressed his head against the barrier, “How am I supposed to live each day with you here...”

“You’ll do your job.” You raised your hand up pressing against the barrier where his rested. You looked into his eyes and smiled, “You’ll fight and come home to see me.”

“I’m not going anywhere. Not when this could take you from me...” You frowned looking away from him, “Y/N, that’s what they say...the scourge is fatal unless some priestess...”

“Oracle...” You corrected looking at him, “And we have time. They’re reaching out to her.”

“You know as well as I do that Tenebrae is under Nif control.” He growled shaking his head.

“You always look so dashing when you’re frustrated.” You smiled at him.

“Y/N this isn’t a joke.” He glared at you.

“I’m not joking.” Your face was firm as you spoke, “Nyx, everything will be fine...”

Nyx stared at you before putting his hand against the barrier waiting until you matched yours against his, “I can’t lose you too...”

“You won’t...” You smiled at him, “I’m too stubborn for that. Go be a hero.”

Three weeks later you sat up on the bed looking over at Drautos. There was an angry rage building inside you and you were keeping it at bay, “You’re certain.”

He sighed before he nodded, “I’m sorry...The Nif control is just too tight at the moment to try and send a message to the Oracle.”

You stood up shaking your head as you stepped toward the small window that gave you a little bit of the outside world, “So...I’ll need a...lawyer? Maybe a priest?”

“I can arrange that for you.” You looked over at him and he frowned.

“Do I look that bad?” You put a hand to your face, “They won’t let me have a mirror...afraid i might break it and do something stupid.”

“Do you want the truth?” You nodded turning to him as he sighed, “You look half dead...are you sleeping? Your eyes are dark...”

“Struggling...” You sighed remembering the nightmares. Dreams of becominga deamon and ripping your friends and family apart.

“Let me know if I can do anything else...” He said quietly.

“There is something...” You reached up to one of your braids and began undoing it slowly.

Drautos shook his head, “There’s no need...”

“Titus I’m dying...” You smiled at him as you pulled off the bead, “My husband is out fighting a war and there’s no way of knowing if I’ll be here when he gets back...I know you’re hard on him, but I also know you’ll respect my wishes.”

You set the bead down on the coffee table. Drautos took in a deep breath before taking the sample bag from the door and picked it up, “I hope I don’t have to deliver this to him.”

“Yeah...Me too...” You swallowed before watching him leave.

“You’ve got a visitor.” You looked over to the door as the soldier exited the dimly lit room.

Your eyes widened as you sat up quickly seeing King Regis step inside, “Your majesty...”

“At ease please...” He raised a hand as you began to lower yourself to your knees, “There is no need...not between us...”

You looked at him carefully seeing a sadness in his eyes. It had been a month since you saw him, the day of the attack, “Thank you sir.”

“No joke...I gave you a wide opportunity.” He titled his head a little.

You smirked a little, “I’m afraid this has taken my funny bone sir...not much to laugh about in this box...”

He looked you over for a moment before shifting a little bringing his cane in front of himself, “I see everything has progressed quickly...”

He was referring to the disease. It had spread from your neck down your arms quickly. The nightmares were constant. You’d practically stopped eating and light wasn’t the most friendly source anymore, “Yeah...they said the gentleman I took down was an advanced case...passed on a more advanced strain.”

“Hm...” He nodded slowly before taking in a deep breath speaking, “I wanted to come here and thank you myself.”

“That wasn’t necessary sir. I was just doing my job.” You told him burning resentment filled your chest.

“And that job is costing your life.” He didn’t frown when he said it. He just held the same stoic look he always did, “I am sorry for that. You’re much too young.”

You felt yourself tear up, “We...we all knew what we were signing up for.”

“It’s not fair what must be done...” He let out a sigh, “I do understand that.”

“Sir...if you’re here...to just look me in the eyes and feel better that you said thank you...” You looked down to your hands.

You jumped when you felt his hand land on your shoulder. You made a motion to move but when you looked at him you saw the barrier rippling around his body. What amazing control of the barrier was impressive.

It was his smile that brought you back to reality, “They told me that there isn’t much time...I came because I thought you might need someone to hold your hand...”

You swallowed and nodded slowly as a tear fell down your cheek, “Th...thank you sir...”

Without even asking he pulled you into an embrace. You had forgotten what this felt like and instantly you were breaking down in front of this man. You let out a sob as he just stood their holding you for a long time.

Eventually he spoke, “Whatever you need...ask and I shall personally see that it is done.”

You took in a deep stuffy breath pulling away from him, “Actually sir...there is one thing...”

Nyx sat in the empty bed in the place you stood days ago. He twirled the marriage bead around his fingers over and over seeing your smile. They said...in the end you didn’t smile...you weren’t you...

He took in a deep breath clutching his hand around the bead before pressing his lips against his hand. He shut his eyes as he began to shake feeling the emotions beginning to take him over.

“Nyx Ulric...” He sniffed looking up seeing the King.

“Sir...” He wiped a hand over his face standing up.

“Come with me.” Regis nodded for him to follow. Nyx was only hesitant for a moment and quickly caught up to him in the hall, “I had the privilege of knowing you wife. She served me well and made me laugh often.”

“She has....” Nyx swallowed as his eyes began to water again, “had...a strange sense of humor.”

“That she did...I owe her everything...and there was nothing I could do for her in the end.” Regis opened a door to an office were a computer sat, “But I did do the one thing I could.”

Nyx looked at him before stepping inside sitting at the computer. He looked back at Regis who simply bowed his head and shut the door. Nyx looked back to the computer shaking the mouse. The screen lit up with your face paused on it.

He teared up seeing how much the scourge had destroyed you before he reached over and pressed play.

“Nyx...Nyx...Nyx Nyx...” You gave the camera a smile, “I know you’re angry...I’m angry too, but you know what I say about anger...”

“It’s unproductive, turn it into something...” He spoke with you feeling a tear fall down his face.

“So you have to do something with it. Cause I know you...and you’ll hold onto this for a long time. You’ll do something stupid and Titus will get mad at you and it’ll just be this cycle over and over...” You giggled shaking your head. You looked away from the camera your face falling a little, “Please don’t do that...”

“Nyx, I’m gone...I’m buried...you can’t change it, but my love for you is real. Nothing can take that away.” You smiled at him before touching you lips blowing him a kiss, “Nothing is going to make it better...but I love you...remember that.”

“Death is only a distance unmeasured by the human mind...you’ll walk across it’s vastness someday...” Your voice held so much pain, “You just have to wait...please promise me that you’ll wait as long as you can and live for both of us.”

“i love you.” Your face froze on the screen smiling at him as he cried.

You knew he could never say no when you asked him to promise you something. So of course he would live for the both of you...because he loved you...you were his better half.

#distance #nyx ulric #nyx ulric reader #nyx ulric/reader #kingsglaive #kingsglaive imagine #ffxv #final fantasy xv #ffxv imagine #final fantasy xv imagine #nyx ulric imagine #regis lucis caelum #titus drautos

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writingformeandyou · 5 years

Text

A/N: Here’s another set that I managed to finish! I’m wanting this to lead into some comrades HCs so if you can give me opinions on allegiances before the fall of Lucis that will be great! I’ll probably also write your roles during the fall also because that sounds fun and slightly chaotic. I’ll leave things at this and I hope you have a good night/day. I LOVE YOU~

~mod Amic

Chocobros x Kingsglaive S/O

Noctis

At the beginning of everything, Noctis is with a Kingsglaive that actually went to school with him.

You are Lucian by birthright but their proficiency with magic didn’t go unnoticed so they were recruited into the Kingsglaive just before high school graduation.

Soon after that you and Noctis started dating, it was a sweet relationship.

Noctis and you would go out for dinner, you two would spar, you two even moved in together around the age of twenty.

Later though this would be all lost, Noctis was to be wed to Lady Lunafreya of Tenebrae, something that even upset King Regis.

Regis was fond of you, he didn’t just see you as just a Glaive but he saw you as the person that his son loved but he knew he also could not command the old wall for long so he had to do something to help gain peace with Nifelheim.

Noctis was understandably upset when he was told that he had to end the relationship, he didn’t want to marry Lunafreya but as the prince he has a duty and this duty he has to take.

The guys are not surprised when you opted to remain in Lucis instead of joining them but when you send them off each one seems to bear his own emotion about the whole situation.

When leaving Noctis looks back at you with sad eyes and leaves..

You are left to your own vices so you return to the Kingsglaive base and hang out with some of your teammates.

The announcement of the treaty and it’s agreement has your teammates going mad and you have to resist the urge to complain as they do.

You love Noctis still so you don’t want to disrespect his father but yet… wasn’t his father the one who broke you two up?

You’ve heard whispers of an upcoming betrayal to the king but yet you still can’t will yourself to do such a thing.

The choice will need to come. Will you lash out at the king that destroyed your relationship or protect him as loyally as you have for the past couple of years.

Prompto

Need I explain how much you means to Prompto?

Prompto holds his relationships close to his heart so an S/O is not an exception.

We’ll go with the same background for the glaive, they are Lucian by birthright but their proficiency with magic didn’t go unnoticed so they were recruited into the Kingsglaive just before high school graduation.

I believe that this relationship might’ve happened sooner than Noctis’s so say you and Prompto became exclusive around prom.

Prompto loves you greatly thus meaning when he had to leave to pick up Noctis’s bride to be and you stayed behind deciding to resume your duties he would give you a big hug and would ask you to stay safe while he’s gone.

Prompto promises you that he will take a multitude of pictures and would bring you souvenirs from the trip so that he can share his experiences with you.

After the Regalia leaves your field of vision you decide to return to your duties and possibly get some sparring in with your teammates just to arrive in time for a briefing.

The briefing leaves your comrades disgruntled.

The briefing is about an upcoming treaty between Lucis and Niflheim… but all Lucian territories will be surrendered.

You are of Lucian blood but you can understand why your brothers and sisters in arms are so bothered.

There are rumors of an uprising, two different forms too. One that is meant to be a distraction, and one that is meant to draw blood.

What path should you take? Should you defend the crown’s decision, should you defend your friends’ decisions, or should you do your best to not involve yourself?

Ignis

You come from outside of the borders of Lucis.

Let's say you originate from the country of Tenebrae.

You and Ignis have a very patient and understanding relationship so the two of you understand that the other may not be around for all hours of the day.

With him handling duties with the crown prince and you fighting battles it is a wonder that you even manage to get time together.

Nonetheless the two of you support each other happily.

When Ignis leaves for his excursion with the guys you are there for the send off.

Ignis reminds you to take care of yourself, also reminds you of how much he loves you, gives you a kiss on the top of your head, and begins walking away though you can see he is almost reluctant to release your hand.

Before entering the Regalia Ignis gives you one more glance and waves.

You knew that you had a duty to attend to so you decided to leave even though the car was not out of your line of sight.

You arrived to where the glaive would often congregate and discuss the current happenings with a glaive when Drautos walks in.

You are floored when the news of the impending treaty reaches your ears.

You did not understand the point of it all and things turned for the worse when your comrades started getting at each other’s throats.

You’re fairly certain that you stopped a murder from taking place when everyone started fighting.

But you understand the tension.

You might’ve lost your home years ago but your brothers and sisters in arms haven’t and yet it will happen in only the span of a few days.

You are very disgruntled about the fate given to the territories.

Whispers of a rebellion have circulated and it is quite evident that something is happening.

What line will you walk? Will you seek out the rebels or remain steadfast and loyal?

Gladio

For this one you are from a Lucian territory, your choice.

Let’s be frank, the two of you met during your careers in the Lucian military.

The two of you understand very well what your careers entail and because they are similar the two of you actually get a fair amount of time together.

There’s only one difference of importance between your careers and that is he is responsible for the crown prince and you are responsible for the country.

The two of you tend to ‘argue’ about who has a larger responsibility.

The ‘arguments’ amuse Iris greatly too because you or Gladio always cracks at the end and questions what the hell the two of you are doing.

Anyway Gladio loves you and feels bad to be leaving you for an unknown period of time, especially since you can go into battle at anytime but nonetheless you shoo him off and make sure he goes.

When at the send off Gladio is hugging and kissing you because he loves flustering you.

Just before leaving Gladio tells you to behave yourself and to not cause trouble with the other glaive.

You tell him that you can’t promise anything so he gives a hearty laugh and kisses you again before saying goodbye and walking towards the Regalia.

You know that as long as Gladio doesn’t cause any trouble he can protect the others from it so you walk away with a smile as the car pulls away.

You enter the congregation hall and talk to Tredd about possible upcoming battles and talk about plans that you and some of the other glaive have.

When Drautos enters the hall he comes in looking very… you couldn’t explain it in the moment but there seemed to be concern and something restless about him.

Drautos got to explaining some news you never wanted to hear.

Lucis was giving up its territories to the Nifs.

You never felt so betrayed before.

You’ve fought all these years to protect your home just to lose it.

Madness broke out as your comrades began arguing and you did nothing because you felt so unsure.

Eventually you received an email inviting you to join a rebellion- no revolution that would remove the king from power and give Nifelheim the advantage… but free the territories.

You do not know how to go about this because while you want to protect your home you’ve remained loyal to lucis for so long.

Your thoughts are treading a thin line and the decision is coming close.

Should you fight alongside the insurgents to restore your home’s freedom or should you remain as is and defend the king that betrayed your trust?

#gladiolus amicitia #Gladio #prompto argentum #Noctis Lucis Caelum #ignis scientia #noctis caelum #noct #noctis x reader #prompto x reader #ignis x reader #Ignis Stupeo Scientia #gladio x reader #FFXV #ffxv headcanons #~Mod Amic #final fantasy 15 #final fantasy xv #Comrades anybody?

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aij-writes · 5 years

Text

Quarter Past Wrong, Pt 1

Rating: Teen, Swearing, Mild Fantasy Violence

Pairing: Ignyx (Ignis/Nyx)

Summary: Ignis is fifteen and at the start of his Crownsguard training. Nyx is twenty-four and a bit of a show-off, already earning his Hero moniker from battles with the Kingsglaive. Cor Leonis decides Noctis’s retinue might need magic training. Ignis is eager to show off in the ring. Nyx thinks he’s only helping. Ignis wants to get away and Nyx doesn’t want him to give up.

Warnings: So...these characters first interact at a questionable age but there’s no romancing (yet). Age range is nine years because I accidentally bump up Ignis’s age to three years older than Noctis (instead of 2 1/2 of canon) and Gladio a year older than Ignis. Also, I have a headcanon I’m carrying over that Dragoon is a race and Ignis is a Dragoon. If I ever write an explanation to this I’ll link it.

Other Tags: Canon compliant, Brotherhood Era, Best friends Gladio & Ignis, Slow burn?, Trying to be your mentor but you just find me annoying

For @ffxvignyxzine using all the prompts on day 1, why not? “Stay with me”/”Don’t go”, Ring, Help/Rescue

First part of a multi-part fic trying to tie it all together

“Glaives!” Drautos called over his men. “You see we have a few guests joining us today.” He spread his arm out. “The Marshal and two Crownsguard recruits.”

“Sir!” they yelled in acknowledgment.

Cor eyed the men, before turning to Gladiolus Amicitia. “Recruits, he says,” he said in a carrying voice.

“Well, you look good for your age, Marshal,” Ignis Scientia said in a droll tone. “Perhaps they have you confused for me.”

Cor shook his head, but there was a slight twitch in his expression. He ruffled the kid’s grey hair. “You’re a hoot.”

“Is something funny, Leonis?” Drautos asked.

“No,” he said. “I leave two of my most promising soldiers to your dexterous hands, Titus. I have others to babysit.” He shook his head to Gladio. “Don’t hold back now,” he said, calmly walking away.

Drautos shook his head, sighing. “Most Crownsguard don’t fight with magic,” he explained to his battalion in a carrying, commanding voice. “That’s why the King has so graciously extended his magic to the Kingsglaive. But these two pipsqueaks are a special exception. I want you all to meet Ignis Scientia and Gladiolus Amicitia. You may know them as our dear Prince’s babysitter and manhandler. As they’ve recently began practicing magic as connection to our future king, they need training the typical Crownsguard does not receive. Something to say, Furia?”

“How old are they? Sir?” Tredd, a red-headed Glaive asked, bumping Luche with his elbow.

“Old enough,” Drautos offered. “Everyone knows us to be war heroes. Now let’s prove that we know how to play nice. Exception being they will not being joining us in warp practice. Now! To the training yard!”

They were put through the paces, starting with perfectly normal training exercises. Warm ups that lead to sprints. Ignis was fast, but he was young so the older Glaives had him beat. Gladio didn’t even try to compete, comfortable in his stance, but Ignis had a hard enough time proving himself in Crownsguard training to not feel discouraged.

Luche, the unofficial second-in-command, pulled them aside when warp warm ups were announced. He took an appraisal of their abilities. Gladio could summon his sword after a few tries, but was hopeless with elemental. Ignis had his daggers in hand before asked, but only seemed to be able to get a small flame going across them and had no projectile or release abilities. Luche tried not to come off as condescending, but it was hard. They were kids.

“How’s it look? Drautos asked, coming up behind them. “Anything?” He listened to Luche’s summery and frowned. “Alright,” he said with an annoyed sigh. He eyed them. “Alright,” he repeated. “Okay, so how old are either of you?”

“Fifteen, Sir,” Ignis answered respectfully while Gladio answered over him a gruff and defensive, “Sixteen.”

“How long have you been tapped into Prince Noctis’s magic?” he asked, eyebrows raised.

“Uh...about a year,” Gladio answered. “Since he turned thirteen I guess?”

“For eight days now,” Ignis said.

Drautos’s eyebrows raised further. “Let me see you summon fire.”

Ignis looked at him with a calm expression, but argued quietly, “With all due respect Sir, I can’t--”

“I want to see you do it so you’ll do it.”

Ignis, the picture of control and respect, gave him an icy look. “I can only enchant things.”

“Fine,” he said, hand waving. “Wouldn’t want to burn the little adviser's hands now.” He turned his back on Ignis, smirking at his crew.

Ignis frowned, throwing his hand out. Though he’d not managed to do it before, Ignis’s hand sparked briefly with fire.

Luche nudged Drautos, speaking in an undertone about what Ignis had managed to do. Turning back to him, Drautos gave him a grim look. “Be careful being motivated by anger, no matter how checked you keep it. You’ll have to dig deeper and deeper for your fuel. Finding out how deep the vein runs is dangerous.” He eyed Gladiolus. “Alright, Shield-in-Waiting. You focus on getting a little more graceful and Scientia, you go with Altius. She’s my best mage. Maybe she can teach you a thing or two.”

---

“You ever get tired, Iggy?” Gladio asked, doing squats in front of their tutor’s office.

Ignis looked up from placing a tab on the report. “All the time,” he said, tilting his head. “I require sleep like everyone.”

Gladio laughed, huffing and falling down on the bench next to him. He shared a smile with his best friend. “Wiseass.”

“Better than being a dumbass,” Ignis shot back. He took his binder and bopped Gladio on the head. “Of course I’m tired. But I worry that if I don’t attend to it, it won’t get done.”

“Are you doubting me?” Gladio asked, throwing an arm around him. At sixteen, he was already larger than many men. “I’m here to kick the princess into shape and you’re...well, what are you supposed to be doing?”

“Right now I’m making sure he has all the required--”

“Nah, Iggy, right now, you’re doing stuff you’re not supposed to be doing but do anyway to coddle him. You’re his adviser, not his--”

“I’m his chamberlain,” he pointed out. “I manage His Highness, too.”

“No one can manage him,” a new voice spoke up. Nyx Ulric slid against the wall rounding the corner still leaning against the new wall. He was a tall Galahdian with bright blue eyes. “I commend you both for trying.”

Ignis scowled and Gladio glared.

“Alright, alright, protective to a fault.” Nyx put his hands up in defense. “But you know, the Shield’s got a point, kid.” Nyx was in his twenties, already a veteran of so many battles against Nifleheim and Tenebrae forces. He had seen battles Gladio and Ignis had only simulated. He was the Hero of Insomnia. He leaned against the wall, arms crossed over his chest and smiling. “I mean, you have to admit, Scientia. No one’s expecting a servant to take on actual battle duty.”

Gladio stood up so fast he nearly bowled Ignis over. He got into Nyx’s face. “Ignis isn’t a servant. He’s smarter, sharper, and ten times the tactician than most Crownsguard and he’s already nipping on the heels of any Glaive in magic.”

Nyx laughed. “Sure, big guy. I bet he’s juggling that along with the rest of everything he does, but honestly, who’s he to lay down his life for the Kingdom? That’s what I do. That’s what you might have to do if not the Prince himself. But Ignis Scientia? No one’s going to expect more out of him than a spare pen. So honestly? You’re both wasting your time. Maybe go act like teenagers for a minute while you still can. You’re going to hate it when there’s nothing left but full time duty.”

“Thank you for the unsolicited advice, Mr. Ulric. If I wanted to know what you thought about my ability to balance my work, I’d have asked.” Ignis raised his eyebrows, shooting him a sharp look learned from raising his own kid since he was six.

Nyx shrugged. “Only trying to help.”

---

Drautos yelled commands before finally giving up. He fell back, frowning. That disappointment rippled through the practicing Glaives until one by one they stopped, settling their gaze on him. He raised his eyebrows. “Oh, now you stop?” he asked, shaking his head. “Alright, well, I didn’t know this was an exposition and not a practice. Someone else must have ordered it.”

“Sorry! Sir!” they called in unison.

“Are we here to help the Prince’s retinue or make asses of ourselves showing them our flashy moves? What if they go back to the King and Shield, reporting the waste of magic? Enough! One-on-one sparing. I want you all practicing form and observing, so two in a ring a time. No warping! Practice knives only!” He eyed Gladio. “Good luck.”

Drautos moved through the group, jostling people together and pairing them off. He gave each of them two minutes to knock one of them out of the ring. But as Gladio approached, he glared. “I thought I put Ulric with you.”

Libertus eyed Drautos warily. “Well, uh, Sir...we switched.”

“Did you now?” he asked, unimpressed by the initiative. “Why?”

“I thought it’d be helpful if the bureaucrat didn’t get crushed so soon,” Nyx offered. “Motivate him to keep trying.”

Ignis scowled but didn’t voice his displeasure. Gladio wasn’t quite so tactful.

“That’s bullshit!” Gladio jabbed a finger towards Ignis. “Ignis has been training with the Crownsguard and he’s not merely a show piece!”

Nyx shrugged. He was flipping a practice dagger in his hand. “You can be quick and still lack any strength behind it. He needs to work on his physique to be any good. Otherwise, he needs to stay on the books and let the men battle.”

Drautos stared at Nyx, but allowed a faint smirk. “Alright, Nyx, maybe you’re right. Maybe Ignis doesn’t belong here.”

“That’s--” Gladio started.

“You know, I think maybe my authority here wasn’t properly explained by the Marshal, since now I got everyone telling me how to train these Crownguards. Okay, Nyx...you run practice with Ignis and I’ll observe. Make it a real show.”

Ignis let his daggers appear with a blue flash. “Real weapons then,” he said, unable to more than set the wooden knife on fire rather than enchant them.

“Alright,” Nyx agreed, pulling out his set of kukri. “No time limit. No out of the ring BS. First person to yield.”

“Feel free to warp,” Ignis offered, taking his glasses off and handing them to Gladio for safe keeping.

Nyx raised his eyebrows. “Oh boy...skinny, blind, and turned around. Make sure you say uncle before I kill you, kid.”

“I don’t need anymore of your help, thank you,” Ignis replied crisply. He joined Nyx into the ring, offering him a handshake as was custom in the Crownsguard.

Nyx took it and bowed as was custom in the Kingsglaive.

Ignis darted back as soon as he released. He was quick. Rapid and smooth with movements, but as Nyx soon critiqued, “You waste energy staying on the move.” He dove towards Ignis, not quite aiming with his knife. He did grin though as Ignis swept and turned, rolling his back against Nyx’s and catching him on the side with a well-placed slice.

The Kingsglaive as a collective let out a groan.

“Alright, teasing?” Nyx asked. He caught Ignis as he swung around, blades clashing. They traded quick swipes, each catching the other. Nyx pushed out with his hand, knocking the much smaller kid back easily. “See, you can’t possibly--”

Nyx’s advice was cut off as Ignis had performed a handstand only to flip back and kick him in the mouth. He fell back, but caught himself. He stayed crouched, eyeing Ignis as he wiped blood off his mouth.

“Sir?” Pelna spoke up.

Drautos raised a silencing hand. “Let Nyx learn his lesson.”

“Sir!” Libertus and Crowe insisted.

Ignis darted around Nyx, avoiding his furry of swipes. He was as quick on his feet as suspected and left Nyx little time to offer his brand of help. He finally took the chance he saw in Ignis’s opening, throwing his kukri at one of the looming stone pillars. He warped to catch it before releasing it and diving at Ignis.

Raising his head, Ignis watched Nyx’s falling form, the Galadian all smiles and him a frowning concentration. Gladio tried to shout a warning for Ignis to Wake up! but he waited for the last possible moment. His knives disappeared with a flash and in their place was his polearm. Not quite as practiced and with admittedly all the problems of lacking core strength, Ignis relied on whatever reserves he had in magic to get more lift in his Jump.

Now Nyx was the one looking up, stunned. It wasn’t a warp technique, that was for sure. He didn’t even respond, just letting Ignis land on him, kicking him onto his ass and standing over him. His staff was stabbed into the mats right next to his head at the crock of his neck.

“Wow...” he said unabashedly.

Ignis was heaving his breath, though. That’s taken all of it out of him. He slid down the pole only to sink to one knee. He huffed before tapping the mat. Using the leverage again, he stood up and started to walk away. “You’re right,” he said over his shoulder as he let the polearm fade into the Armiger. “I have to get stronger.”

“Hey wait!” Nyx called, looking devastated. “Hey...come on! Don’t go!” He watched Ignis pick up his pace as he scurried away but for some reason couldn’t move after him. Gladio glanced at Nyx and didn’t wait to be dismissed by Drautos before going after him.

Nyx glanced at Drautos, frowning. “I think he won fair and square.”

#ffxv fanfic #ignyx #ignis scientia #nyx ulric #ignyx week #ffxv: quarter past wrong #wordcount: 2143

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singlebecauseofthechocobros · 6 years

Note

96. “It’s Christmas, don’t be mad at me.” for Tredd x Reader, please? Prefer fluff if possible. :D

Your tree stood in thecorner of the living space, decorated in lights and tinsel that caused the room totwinkle. Gifts were placed neatly and perfectly wrapped underneath the tree andthe stockings were stuffed and handing over the small fireplace. It was a beautifulsight to see, perhaps on Christmas Eve but it was Christmas day and nearlyseven at night and everything was untouched.

He was supposed tohave been home yesterday but there were complications on the mission, or atleast that is what he had explained on the phone. The last things you heardfrom him was his voice saying he loved you as the line cut and the noises inthe background went silent.

You sat on the couchwrapped in a blanked with your knees to your chest, your eyes puffy fromcrying. Was he alright? What was happening? Was he even still breathing? Neverin your life had Christmas been your least favorite time of the year but as ofright now you wanted to just burn down the damn tree along with the giftsunderneath.

With the noise comingfrom the television, some holiday movie playing, you almost didn’t notice the soundof the door handle jiggling, following with a figure entering the apartment.

You jumped up andlocked eyes with your boyfriend, who was covered in cuts across his face. If hewas hurt anywhere else, it was unseen due to his coat and other attire,bundling him up.

“Tredd,” you gasped asyou rushed over to him. He dropped his bags and caught you as you jumped intohis arms.

“Hey babe,” hemumbled, his head burrowed into your neck.

“I was so worriedabout you,” you cried, a few tears running down you cheeks, which he wipedaway.

“I’m sorry,” he saidshaking his head, “We got ambushed by some Nifs out in the field so I took abit longer to make it back.”

“Why didn’t you callme again?”

“Lines went dead andtech couldn’t get them back up until we were back in the city this morning.”

You backed up fromhim, crossing your arms, “You were here all day and didn’t tell me?”

“Drautos wouldn’t letme call-“

“Screw Drautos,” youspat.

“Babe, “It’sChristmas, don’t be mad at me.”

“Don’t you fuckingdare use that as an excuse. Gods Tredd, I thought you might have died!”

“I know,” he pleadedmoving towards you, which you proceeded to recoil from him, “I had to getpatched up so they wouldn’t let me do anything else-”

“Patched up,” you interjected.He then slowly began to take off his jacket. Moving his arms around he grimacedin pain as he finally shed the attire and lifted his shirt to show a deep gashrunning across his abdomen.

“I’m fine now, justsore as hell,” he scowled again as he let down his shirt, “I swear I wanted tocall. I wanted to say fuck it and just come home but they had to fix me first.I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”

Shaking your head youfelts tears begin to roll down your cheeks again as you moved closer to him andhugged him tighter than you ever had before. He wrapped his arms around you as he stroked your hair, kissing the top of your head. Most people didn’t know Treddto be this way, but it was one of the reasons you loved him.

“I won’t ever do thatagain,” he mumbled into your ear, “I love you too much to hurt you like this.”

“It’s fine,” you said,looking up to me, “As long as you come home I can’t be mad at you.”

He took your hand inhis and pulled it to his chest, while using the other to tilt your head up andkiss you softly. Soft was the exact opposite of who Tredd Furia was, butperhaps this was just another Christmas miracle.

#final fantasty #final fantasy xv #final fantasy 15 #tredd furia #tredd x reader #ffxv kingsglaive #my work

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cha0ticmimzy · 6 years

Text

Chapter III: Niflheim

Author’s Note: And so we delve into the mysterious land of Niflheim. Word Count: 3885 Warnings: Mentions of violence. Rating: M

“The homeland of primordial darkness, cold, mist, and ice.”- Norse Mythology, official description of Niflheim

Snowcapped mountains surrounded the city, a natural shield from the outside world. Eternal winter laid claim to the land, the ice melting for a mere two months each year before falling upon the Empire once more. The people had adapted, had grown used to the biting wind, the snow, the darkness. One would assume that no one would dare ever live in such an inhabitable place such as Niflheim, but then again, one would also assume that anyone who would live in Galahd would be insane.

Volcanos were tricky, temperamental places to live.

Ardyn Izunia pulled the bane jacket closer to himself, chin tucked down beneath the collar as if it would aid in keeping him warm. Damn Iedolas and his harebrained idea that the walkway leading into the palace should be a mile long, surrounded by snow dusted evergreens on either side. The gold peaks of the palace gleamed in the rare glimpse of sunlight- sunlight that gleamed off the snow, assaulting the sensitive corneas of his eyes.

He really hated the snow.

“Afternoon, gentlemen,” Ardyn crooned to the guards stationed along the edge of the stairs as he all but sprinted up the steps, quickly making his way into the manor, the feeling of heat greeting him as soon as he opened the doors a welcome sensation. Slipping the gloves from his hands, jacket sliding off his shoulders, he glanced around, taking in the bustle of activity. A soundless chuckle shook his shoulders as he wove his way through the bustling secretaries and military grunts, making his way up to Aldercapt’s office. He was late, but fashionably so.

Or, that’s what he told himself.

“About damn time you showed up,” Verstael croaked from the table, a cold smile curling the elder’s lips. A scowl tugged at the corner of Ardyn’s own, but he suppressed it, instead flashing an equally cold smile at the commander. Breezing into the room, he managed to pause and bow to Aldercapt, who looked rather amused at the argument between the men.

“Pardon my late arrival, your grace. My… Informant was running late.” The auburn haired chancellor explained as he took his seat across from Verstael, to Iedolas’ right. Brows raising, he looked around the room curiously. In the corner stood a pair clothed head to toe in black cloth and silver armor, their faces obscured. “My, my- Glauca, Wraith, it certainly has been some time since I’ve seen either of your faces in this room! Tell me, how fairs our friends to the south?” Golden hues studied the pair; he honestly couldn’t remember having ever seen either’s face before.

That would need to change.

“We were just discussing that. Wraith, love, please continue,” Iedolas murmured, voice more of a light rasp than anything else these days. Oh, the torture of aging! Ardyn himself wouldn’t know how that felt- well, in theory, he did age, just not… Quickly.

“As I was saying, Tenebrae is suspicious, but not to the point of sending out any birds to scout. I’m most certain that they won’t make a move without Regis’ order-”

“They’ve done that before, dear. Before you were born,” Ardyn interrupted with a shake of his head. “They moved in quickly with the cover of a blizzard and slaughtered all of our poor, poor shifters. Though, that happened… How many years ago, Verstael?”

“One hundred and twenty.”

“Ah, yes, one hundred and twenty years ago, when the war came to an official end.” He finished, flashing a cheeky grin around the room. “And who of us was alive to even see that?” When no one answered, Ardyn nodded slowly. Oh, he’d been there. He’d been there and had watched as his brethren, as his kingdom, all came tumbling down. But no one here needed to know that.

No one at all. At least, not yet.

“As I was saying,” Wraith began once more, through obviously gritted teeth behind the black cloth that hid her face from view, “They will not make a move without Regis’ order, due to Regis now overseeing the Glaive. Aside from that, there’s also the fact that the Fleuret coven is currently residing within Insomnia on a vacation of sorts.”

“He wouldn’t risk sending out any sort of armada right now. Not when everything is peaceful and the people are prospering.” Glauca added in, shifting, the should of metal rubbing against leather whispering through the room.

“Good, good… Now, tell me, Ardyn, what did your little informant tell you?” Iedolas probed, turning the attention from the pair in the corner to the man dressed rather flamboyantly in royal hues of reds and golds.

“Well…” Ardyn began, straightening up in his chair, resembling a lion standing over his pride. “He said that there is a boy that matches the description that works for him in Insomnia. Blond hair, blue eyes, freckles… He’s quiet, and he used to have a brother… Verstael, didn’t your escaped experiment have a brother? Oh, what was his name…” Ardyn trailed off, golden hues zeroing in on the scientist. The temperature in the room seemed to drop as the man shifted, jaw clenching.

“Oh, right- he was named after the Trickster, wasn’t he? Loqi, that was his name…”

“Loqi Tummelt. The other one hadn’t been given a name yet- he was still in the testing stages when that brat took him and fled.” Verstael hissed out, hands smoothing over the surface of the table. His hands were pale, scarred, the signs of endless hours in the lab evident.

“Glauca, Wraith- I want you both in Insomnia… I want you two to find the escaped experiments… Without them, Niflheim will fall.” With that, Iedolas stood, which prompted for the other occupants to quickly rise as well and bow, holding position until the Emperor walked out, Verstael following suit. Ardyn lingered, watching as the secretaries scattered, running off to inform everyone of what they’ve learned, no doubt.

They’re all mice. Scattering so quickly, so easily.

Pawns in a game of thrones.

Humming under his breath, he made his way over to the pair who were talking quietly with one another, though the conversation seemed to halt once he was within earshot. “Oh, no, don’t stop on account of me.” He taunted, reaching out as if to touch the edge of the mask covering Wraith’s face. So close…

Her hand shot out, an iron grip wrapping around his wrist, the edges of claw-like hand guards digging into his skin. “Did I say you could come near me, or touch me, Izunia?” She hissed, voice lilted with the Tenebraen accent. “I did not. Touch me again and I will have your head resting on a spike, you disgusting mongrel.”

“Oho, Glauca, you need to keep a tighter leash on this one.” Ardyn mused, all but ripping his arm free, ignoring the sting from skin being ripped open. Oh, well. It would heal shortly. “Otherwise, she might end up in an unsightly position… And we wouldn’t want that, would we?” Humming once more, he breezed from the room, head held high, a pep in his step.

“I hate him.”

‘Oh, darling, everyone hates me. I’m the reason the war began, after all.’

“Explain to me again why we have to listen to that disgusting man once more?” The woman asked, pulling the black fabric mask from her face, icy hues falling closed as she allowed her skin to breathe. The man beside her let out a snort of laughter, removing his own helm before running a hand through his short, brown hair.

“Because we owe him our lives. He’s the reason you’re alive, Ater- or, should I say, Wraith?” He replied, glancing down at the petite vampire with a fond smile, whiskey hues surveying her appearance as she undressed. The scars that stretched down her back were a painful reminder of just what sort of beast he was, what sort of beast they had made him to be. If she had been human, he would have killed her.

He almost did kill her, even so.

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever, Titus- or, should I say, Glauca,” Ater snapped back, undoing the metal hand guards and allowing them to fall onto the hotel bed. “… So, Insomnia. I’ve never been there… What’s it like? I heard it’s the City that Never Sleeps…” She trailed off, untying her black hair from the bun it had been in, allowing it to cascade down to the small of her back in gentle waves.

“It’s a lot louder than Tenebrae, and more… Free. Regis reigns over it, sure, but the public has a loose leash. The blood banks are more taboo here than in Tenebrae, as well.” Sighing, he pulled the metal-enforced shirt over his head, relief flooding through him as the weight disappeared. “It’s a corrupt place, really… Now that I think of it, it’d be right up your alley.” Reaching over, he traced a finger down her spine, watching the way a shiver followed in its path.

“We don’t have time for this- I need to get back to Tenebrae before hauling ass to Insomnia, and you,” Ater paused, turning to place a hand in the center of Titus’ chest, directly over three gnarled scars, “need to return to Insomnia before I do. We can’t have Regis getting curious, now can we?” She purred, lifting up onto her toes to place a kiss against the corner of Drautos’ lips.

He turned his head, capturing her lips in a kiss before she could pull away, a hand coming up to grasp the back of her neck, holding her in place. Deepening the kiss, he ran his tongue along her lip before pulling back, a satisfied gleam in his eyes. Ater huffed, reaching up to pat his cheek.

“I’ll see when you when I get to Insomnia, alright? Stay safe, stay hidden.” Ater murmured, brows furrowing as she dropped her hand and stepped back, shoulders squaring. Slipping back into the persona known as Wraith, an assassin hidden within the shadows. Sighing, he stepped aside and let her slip past, starting to redress in traveling clothes. Black on black on black- no metal in sight, though he knew for a fact that her bots were lined with metal, and the undershirt she was pulling on had reinforced leather that could at least dampen the damage of a fist. Seeing her slip so easily into the Wraith sent a chill down his spine, though he knew he was the exact same when it came to becoming Glauca. Drautos sometimes wondered which side of her was the real Ater.

Sometimes he wondered which side was the real one- Wraith and Glauca or Drautos and Ater?

The halls echoed with each footstep, a reminder of how the times have changed. Once, these halls teemed with activity. Once, these halls held the images of his ancestors, the line of the Lucis Caelum, before they were tainted. Tainted because of what his father did. Tainted, forever cursed. The archways before him lead into a grand ballroom- or, what was once a grand ballroom, no doubt.

Now, all that stood was a ruined marble floor, marble columns, and a ceiling that no longer existed. The sky was now the ceiling, and snow had gathered on the floor in drifts, icicles hanging from the broken off pieces of what was once a domed ceiling. Oh, the parties that had been held in this hall! He could remember listening to the string quartet in the corner, the voices of the royal families and their friends drifting, mingling.

Now, all Ardyn could see were the stains of the fallen beneath the snow drifts.

His jaw clenched as memories of that night drifted into the forefront of his memory. There had been a ceasefire declared between Niflheim and Tenebrae. An entire ball had been thrown together, and all of Niflheim had turned out. Insomnia had politely declined the invitation, stating they wished them all well, but they needed to focus on grieving King Mors’ death. Tenebrae had also declined, but had given no formal explanation.

That in and of itself should have sent up warning signs, but all attention was on the ball and the end of the war.

The blizzard had rolled in during the most auspicious of times, cloaking Niflheim within its wintry grasp. But that didn’t stop the populous from donning their finest of dress and suits, making their way to the grand palace for the night’s events. The ball was a sign of the war finally coming to an end after all these years, a sign of peace and tranquility.

Ardyn had been groomed and made to look presentable once more, dressed impeccably in a suit of dark maroon and gold. Somnus had come in and reminded him once more of their time being pressed, which was no real worry. Fashionably late, as always.

The wind was cold, colder than any wind he’d ever felt before in his life. It cut him to the bone, and sounded as if the skies itself were crying, howling, screaming into the dark night. It sent a chill through him, his hair standing on end. But the wine he was offered the moment he entered through the large golden doors warmed him; wine imported from the northern most portion of Tenebrae.

As time passed, it seemed to slow. The dancers moved in dazzling circles, Ardyn amongst them dancing with first one girl in a dress of gold, then another in a gown of red, over and over until the faces began to blur. The time of his life, he’d thought to himself. It was a relief, to be away from the carnage of the battlefield, to be celebrating with his people.

Then, the doors were shutting.

He’d thought nothing of it- if anything, it would keep the warmth within the ballroom and keep the chill of eternal winter outside. In fact, he was certain that was what everyone was thinking. The more warmth, the better. Shifters they may be, but not all of them were fit for the cold. He himself was gifted with being able to handle the chill of winter, but others…

That was why there was a colony of werewolves in Galahd, where winter never reached and summer reigned supreme.

He thought nothing of the way the girl in the blue dress, hair the color of silver, of mercury, lead him off of the floor and to the side, a smile of promise upon her blood red lips. The way her violet eyes danced with mischief behind the ornate ivory mask that graced her cheeks. No, his mind was far away, drunken and swimming. He didn’t register something had happened, something was wrong, until she leaned forward and her lips brushed against his cheek.

“That was for my father, Achilleus.” She had whispered into his ear as the pain began to settle into his stomach, and as he looked from the flawless face, the tears streaming down it, to his stomach, where a blade of black was pulling free from his clothes. Blood had already begun to bloom out, turning the maroon darker, almost black. He made a croaking sound- he tried to cry out, to yell, to warn everyone that Tenebrae was here.

That Tenebrae had come, and brought swift revenge with them.

He’d slipped to the floor, hands grasping at his stomach, and watched in horror as the flames in the ornate fireplace grew higher and higher until the embers began to roll out, and with them came the horrid screams and the scent of burning flesh. The torches had been doused, and all Ardyn could see were the burning corpses of his people. He wanted to get up, to move- but his limbs wouldn’t listen to him. It was as if he was chained to the ground, as if lead had been poured into his veins.

Somnus was fighting, was trying to shift, his skin beginning to tear- but he was stopping, unable to finish the shift. His teeth had already fallen out, the muzzle of a grey wolf ripping free of his face, the human skin pushing back, blood running like tiny rivers across his maw, his eyes- the eyes of a wolf had overtaken those of a human. But the human skin was still there, the shift unfinished. And then, he was falling, falling, the sword pulling free from his back. He hadn’t made a sound, not one, but Ardyn knew- he knew the pain that it must have caused.

And as if that wasn’t bad as is, that damned silver haired bitch lowered a torch to his corpse- to SOMNUS’ CORPSE- and lit it aflame. And then she just stood, and watched.

They all stood and just watched as they burned. As his people burned. He could hear the screams from outside, the townsfolk screaming. Gods have mercy, they were slaughtering them all. Tenebrae had come and reaped all their souls like the damned soulless bastards they were.

“Somnus-SOMNUS. Don’t…” Ardyn croaked, lurching forward to half crawl, half slide towards the shifter, towards his mate. Even if they acted as if they hated one another, it was never true. Not behind closed doors; he could never hate his prince. He barely noticed the boots that were walking slowly beside him, nor the blade whose tip drug along the ground. He reached out with shaking hands before he was roughly dragged backwards by his ankles. A ragged scream wretched free from his lungs as the wound in his stomach tore more and more, ripping open.

He flipped himself over, staring up at the young face looming over him, lilac hues surveying his prone form. The left side of his body seemed to be burned- had he caught fire? Good. He could reach up, he could punch- but his energy had already been spent just crawling over here. Now- now, he was at the mercy of this… This vampire. “You… You killed my father. Achilleus. I watched you rip his head from his shoulders. I was there. A son should never have to watch his father die, don’t you think? I find this… Beautiful. A beautiful play of revenge worthy of song. Remember my name- I refuse to kill you. I want you to tell of this day. Ravus Nox-Fleuret. Remember my name, filthy mutt.”

The man, no, the boy sneered down at him as he straightened, the tip of the blade dragging slowly across Ardyn’s throat. Not pressing down, not tearing the skin- only a threat. His mind was fogging over- was the dagger poisoned? That would make sense, because his hearing was going out as well. Or maybe he’d simply lost too much blood. Either way, shadows were creeping in at the edges of his vision as he watched the group of Tenebraen vampires walk out, leaving the doors open, allowing the winter to find solace in this temple of burning corpses.

“Somnus… Don’t leave me. Don’t leave me alone in this world… please… don’t…”

Ardyn shifted, reaching up to wipe the single tear that had fallen down his cheek. A scowl turned his lips downward as he turned sharply on his heel, stalking away and out of the ruins. They would pay. All of Tenebrae would pay for the sins their monarchs had committed against the good, innocent people of Niflheim. He remembered waking days afterwards, nearly frozen and to the sounds of weeping mothers. The sight of houses burned to the ground and of the funeral piers of those not having perished in the flames.

They had reached out to Insomnia for aid, and received no response.

Tenebrae would pay. Sylva Nox-Fleuret would pay. Ravus Nox-Fleuret would pay.

They would burn, just as his love had, just has his people had. Just as his empire had.

“Ardyn, could I spare a moment of your time? I need to go over where we will be sending our troops…” The voice of Aranea Highwind called to him, making him pause in his steps, a cold smile curling his lips upward. Yes, Tenebrae would pay in blood and bone, and so would Insomnia, and soon.

“Why, of course, my dear….”

#bis vivit qui bene vivit #bvqbv #ffxv #final fantasy xv #final fantasy xv fanfiction #somnus lucis caelum #ardyn izunia #aranea highwind #titus drautos #ater trabes lunam #oc #iedolas aldercapt #verstael besithia #my writing

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terinangel · 6 years

Text

Day 6 Nyx Ulric Week

Day 6 - Another Life

Prompt - Happy Ending Re-beginning

Rating - Teen

Main Ship - none

Words - 675

Summery - This is part of a longer work that I’m writing, where Nyx gets sent back in time to change the outcome of the Prophecy of Light.

Nyx wakes up. And that’s when things really start to change.

He was alive.

He hadn’t thought it would work. He’d wanted it to work, but it actually did. He was alive, back in the past. When, he didn’t know for sure, but that hardly mattered in the face of the fact that he was alive again.

He groaned as he forced his eyes open. Where was he, even? This wasn’t his apartment. It took a minute for him to realize the beeping he was hearing was coming in time with his heart. There was an I.V. drip in his arm, and the room reeked of sterility. Hospital, he realized, and frowned. He hardly ever went to the hospital. Had the Astrals dropped him back in the middle of a mission and caused him to mess up? No, that wasn’t right…

He flexed his fingers and toes, taking stock of his own body. He felt like he’d been trampled by a Catoblopos, but everything seemed to be where it belonged and in working order. There were bandages all over his left side, though. What kind of injury…

Oh. Right. The Ring of Lucii.

Had the scars from wearing the Ring come back with him? Fuck, how was he supposed to explain that? The beeping of the heart monitor increased, and Nyx forced himself to calm down. He couldn’t have people coming in here and asking him questions when he didn’t even know how to answer them.

Just saying ‘I’ve lived this part of my life once, died, saw the end of the Prophecy of Light, and got so pissed off I backtalked the Astrals so they sent me back in time’ would probably get him nowhere. At best, no one would believe him. At worst, they would think he was insane. And besides, he thinks, Drautos’ face flashing in his mind, there were people who he couldn’t afford finding out about his… unique circumstances.

But then, how was he supposed to go about changing things? He couldn’t tell anyone, he didn’t know when he was, and he was trapped in this hospital, likely because of the Ring of Lucii. He sighed in frustration, tilting his head back to look at the ceiling. “A little more warning would have been appreciated,” he complained, before rolling his neck to loosen out some of the kinks. A bit of color caught his attention, drawing his gaze to the small table beside his bed.

There’s a pile of rune-stones, most marked with signs for health and protection, and a stack of letters beside them, and he suspected those were from the Glaive’s. But what held Nyx’s attention was the vase of Sylleblossems. No Glaive would have brought him those. They were to rare outside of Tenebrae. The only one he could think of who would bring him Sylleblossems was…

A half formed memory of a flower growing out of rubble. A voice he knew, from so many stages of life, telling him to get better. His Prince. His King of Light. His reason for returning.

Suddenly, the door slid open quietly, and Libertus stepped in to his little sterile room. Oh fuck. Libs. His best friend. Libs was here, alive and well, if looking exhausted and sad. And he hadn’t seemed to notice that Nyx was awake. Nyx’s mouth was forming words before his brain could think better of it.

“You look like you’re going to a funeral. Who died?”

Nyx managed a tired grin as Libertus damn near jumped a foot in the air before spinning around to look at him in wide-eyed shock. “Nyx,” he asked disbelievingly, and Nyx felt his grin widen just a fraction.

“Sorry, buddy, but I’m still here.”

And suddenly Libertus was at his side, touching his hair, his face, his shoulders, and Nyx basked in the attention of his best friend. He’d missed this. He’d missed Libertus, more than he ever thought he would. “Still here, Libs,” he reassured, and felt more than heard the laugh that his best friend managed to choke out. “Not going anywhere. I’m alive.”

He was alive.

#nyxulricweek #nyx ulric #final fantasy xv #ffxv #fanfiction #my fanfiction

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sparklecryptid · 2 years

Note

In the Titus-revealed-as-a-Furia!AU: Mental image of Luche, with an expression that implies he's dead on the inside, hosting - auditions, really, with his classmates, to see who would want/be suited to acting as the Captain's Lazarus.

oh i love this!!

have a thing!

Luche's head hits the surface of his desk silently; the man not even uttering a grow when the impact sends a shard of shooting pain rattling around his skull. Normally Luche wouldn't be stressed enough to muffle curses into the wood of his desk but desperate times call for desperate measures.

His Captain is a Six-damned Furia. His Captain is reckless and steady as rock but he's a Furia. His recklessness is calucated, he doesn't take risks without thought and choice. Titus' actions are carefully thought out and made while accounting for as many possibilities as he can.

But he's a Furia. Titus Drautos is a Furia and Luche hates how that makes sense. Luche hates how that makes sense in the fire that burns in Titus' gaze - as though it's barely being contain behind a wall of rock and stone - and Luche hates how that puts his Captains affinity for fire and careful rage in a new light.

(Luche has seen Titus at his worse, with the armor forced on Titus peeking out of his skin and his eyes sharp and wild. Luche has seen Titus half-man half-monseter and ready to tear into anything that dared to harm Luche and the men and women Luche was protecting.

It is not a sight he can forget.)

So Titus is a Furia. Titus is a Furia without someone to keep him steady. Titus is a Furia without a Clan (Tredd's working on it) and Luche cannot simply let that be.

Family is everything. Blood or bond, whatever you chose, family is everything.

So Luche has been working, he has been going through the sparse population of those of Clan Lazarus in Insomnia and asking them for a moment of their time to see if they would be a good match for his Captain. So far he's found no one.

A knock at his door makes Luche raise his head and glare at the door. The knock comes again and Luche sighs.

"Come in," he says.

A man with green hair and gold eyes walks through the door. Latona Ultis, a man who has been with the Glaive for years and one of Luche's best undercover operatives comes in. Latona had been feeding the Glaive information he's gleaned from Niflheim Resistance groups for the past six months and it's rare that Latona is stationed within Insomnia. He usually opts to be stationed outside of the Wall when he's not undercover.

"Your report?" Luche says, rubbing a hand over his forehead, "Place it on my desk, I'll go over it tonight."

Latona nods.

"Of course, Sir. While I have already told both you and the Captain anything of import anything I may have skimmed over is explained more in depth here."

"Including how your status was detected?"

Latona grimaces.

"I believe I told you how that happened."

"You were in the Capital with Axis when someone recognized him. In order to allow him to escape you revealed yourself and the two of you split up."

"It was easier to separate the group that way."

"Yes," Luche says dryly, "I imagine it was, but it was reckless-"

"If I may," Latona intones, "With respect, Sir, I don't believe that having a plan is something reckless."

"Plans can be reckless," Luche says, "But you know this."

Latona smiles and it lights up his face.

"I do," he admits, "But in war all plans are reckless, this one was the best both Axis and I could come up with on such short notice. I wouldn't call it reckless."

Luche pauses and stares at Latona, there is something familiar in the line of his face. There is something in the way that Latona holds himself that makes Luche thinks he could like Latona if Latona deigned to stay around more often.

"You're stuck in Lucis for the next six months because of that plan," Luche says, "There's a bounty on your head."

"Better me than him."

Luche sighs and waves Latona away, when the nagging feeling of something familiar prompts him to call Latona back from the door.

"Ultis," Luche calls, "What Clan was your father from?"

Latona blinks, his face a perfect mask.

"I don't see how that matters," Latona says, "Is there something wrong?"

"There is something familiar about you," Luche says and Latona covers his mouth to hide a laugh.

"My father," Latona takes his hand away from his face and smiles at Luche, "His name was Hermes. Hermes Lazarus."

"This changes nothing," Latona adds, "I've no desire for special treatment."

"You'll get none," Luche retorts before adding, "Did you know that the Captain is a Furia?"

"I had suspicions," Latona says with a shrug, "He hides it well, but there is still a flame burning too brightly for him."

Luche looks at Latona and considers a few things.

He smiles.

"You're training with me and the others tomorrow," Luche says, "That's an order."

#latona: *knows exactly what luche is planning* i cannot take care of myself pls no #luche: too late go take care of the captain #latona: hes not my furia!!! *spends time with titus and gets to know him* SHIT HES MY FURIA

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thedarklordmegatron · 6 years

Note

The last ask: One day the King gets reliable information about the scar and its meaning. It's an awful thing to think of and then they see Drautos and just Know. IDK what happens then, maybe Drautos gets asked about it in a full throne room, Guards all around and he's like 'well since I've been outed' and goes full Glauca on them. Of course, he loses because Cor

Okay but this is amazing.

I love the idea of Regis getting information from a possible insider inside Gralea. He’s sitting in his office going through the documents with Clarus when he stops, sits up straight and just looks at his Shield. They just stare at one another until Regis finally speaks ‘I’ve seen this before.’ Neither man really knows what to do. On one hand they’ve just discovered the torture these kids have been put through, and it’s really bloody horrifying. But on the other, this means that the Captain of the Kingsglaive is a traitor and Astrals damn it that’s one hell of a problem. If he’s been betraying them, what’s to say he hasn’t converted a number of the Glaives? Spoiler: he has.

Regis calls him to the throne room, the room lined with a significant number of Crownsguards, Cor and Clarus on either side of him - Drautos is undeniably skilled and it would be stupid to underestimate him. For a moment the man seems almost sorry, his head bowed as he explains everything he went through, how he watched the Empire butcher his father all because Mors withdrew the Wall and chose to protect the few hundred thousand people in Insomnia, rather than protect the millions in Lucis itself. And just because I’m a huge Draucor shipper - he turns to Cor and says ‘I do love you. That’s the one thing I’ve never lied about.

He calls upon his armour but there’s really very little effort put into the fight. Drautos knows when he’s beaten and there’s frankly no chance of him walking away from this a free-man, he’s good but he’s not that good. And there’s no way he’s prepared to kill Cor. Eventually he’s forced to his knees, Kotetsu at his neck and Cor standing in front of him, tears in his eyes, masked by the anger on his face. And despite having spent literal years preparing for Lucis’ downfall, Regis’ death, there’s a small part of him that’s relieved the truth has come out. Maybe now the King will realise what his father’s decision has cost the people of Lucis.

#You evil bastard <3 #I love you anon #Greycloak army #titus drautos #general glauca #FFXV AU #regis lucis caelum #cor leonis #cor x titus #draucor #vex writes

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nothing-but-dreamy · 3 years

Text

COMRADES

Pairing: FFXV!NYX ULRIC x MALE!READER

Words: 1.567

Warnings: cursing

@furtato5ever Thanks for your request! I had fun to write it and I hope you will like it

Synopsis: Sometimes, things get messy and go wrong and in these times, it's good to have a friendly supporter by the side

Exhausted, Nyx sat down on a bench in front of his locker, raking his fingers through his hair to loosen the strands and to get the sand and dust out of them. With closed eyes, he enjoyed the silence around him. The first time in hours there was no noise. It was just quiet and peaceful. Nyx was just sitting there for a few more minutes as he heard something soft coming from some distance. The sound was low, even muffled but Nyx recognized it as crying.

Frowning, Nyx stood up and was about to follow the sound as Luche stormed into the locker room, furious with a raging expression and gritted teeth, "Damn it!", he called out and punched into the nearest locker that the metal was screeching nasty.

"What's the matter?", Nyx asked, looking warily at his friend who was usually calm and composed.

"What's the matter?", Luche hissed, mimicking the question while narrowing his eyes on Nyx who flinched back by surprise about the hate-filled eyes.

"Four Glaives are injured and in hospital! Four! Drautos yells and screams how messed up things were just because this idiot is too clumsy for his own good! I tell you what, just to have the ability to use the King’s magic shouldn’t be enough to join the Kingsglaive. He’s the best example!"

"Who do you mean?", Nyx asked and regretted it immediately as he saw Luche's gleaming eyes.

"Who I mean? The newbie, for fuck saken! I tell you, this guy will be our end! He can't do the easiest things. During the last training? He almost killed his partner as his blade slipped through his hand in the middle of a warp!”, Luche screamed and threw his hands frustrated in the air before he turned back to Nyx, “Oh! Or during the training with the fire magic? He almost burned down the whole Kingsglaive headquarters! On the battlefield earlier? He should secure the left wing but no! The idiot was hiding behind a wall like a coward just watching how the Behemoth ran through the line which is the reason why four of us are in the damn hospital now.", Luche called out and as he was done, he was panting for air. Without saying another word or waiting for Nyx to respond, he grabbed his things and left the locker room to get off some steam somewhere else.

As Luche was gone, the silence seemed to be even louder than before and through it, the muffled sound of new cries caught Nyx' attention again.

Slowly, Nyx followed the sound through the room to the last row of abandoned lockers, walking around them to find the source of the soft cries in a corner: Yn, the newbie.

Yn sat on the ground, leaning against the old, used metal of spare lockers. His head hung low between his shoulders. He was still dressed in his dusty battle uniform, just the hood laid loosely around his neck and the gloves in his lap. All in all, the sight of him screamed for misery.

Without a word, Nyx walked over to his comrade, kneeling down to sit next to him, leaning against the same locker as Yn.

Yn noticed the other Glaive but he didn't dare to look up at him. Yn felt ashamed. He blamed himself for everything Luche had said earlier. He was the reason why others were injured. The mission had almost failed because he was a coward. With a bit of force that the door of the locker clacked, Yn leant his head back, staring at the ceiling, "I don't think I can do that. No! I’m sure I shouldn’t do this.", he whispered.

"It wasn't just your fault.", Nyx said calmly, remembering how messy things had been on the battlefield.

Yn released his breath, "You heard Luche. It was my fault.", he whispered, squeezing his eyes shut but couldn't stop new tears from falling down. Now, he even felt ashamed of crying in front of the famous Nyx Ulric.

Nyx watched Yn. He had been in his position before as well. Doubting himself. Asking what he was doing with the Glaives. All Glaives felt like this from time to time. That was just naturally and came with the job they were doing. But to let these thoughts sink too deep into their minds could end deadly, "Well, you're new-"

"Yeah, I’m the new one and I messed up! Again.", Yn hissed, angry about himself.

"Yes, you did.", Nyx said honestly, shrugging with his shoulders, "But we all did before. No matter what plans the Captain or Luche have...on the battlefield, things are different. Things get out of control."

Slowly, Yn turned his head to look at the man next to him who got called ‘hero’. He had heard so many incredible stories about Nyx that Yn saw him more as an idol than just as a soldier, "Yeah… right. I'm sure you also did things wrong, huh?", he scoffed, unamused.

Nyx chuckled low, "Oh, trust me, I did. By the sight of my first Behemoth? I was rooted to the spot in the middle of the field. I couldn't move, at all. I mean, these demons are scary as hell. Niflheim uses them to intimidate us and guess what? It works pretty well the first few times.”, Nyx said and remembered his first fights behind the wall all these years ago.

“And then? What happened? Were you also ‘hiding behind a wall like a coward’?”, Yn asked, quoting Luche’s words.

“Oh, no. No. I wasn’t hiding. Like I said, I was rooted to the spot. Libertus had to push me out of the way or otherwise I wouldn’t sit here with you right now. I was so scared. I expected to die there. I mean, have you seen these things? They’re big, mean, vicious monsters. with their huge teeth and horns.”, Nyx explained with a grin.

“Hell, tell me about it…”, Yn breathed, agreeing with Nyx while remembering how the big paws of the Behemoth were drumming mercilessly on the ground and the claws were burying into the sand just inches from the spot where he was crouching.

“It’s okay to be scared. We’re not machines like Magiteks. We feel things when we’re fighting. We’re humans after all. Yes, some of us got injured but they’re still alive and they will make it. I know the guys, they’re tough. And if you ask me, I’m still convinced that it was the wrong decision to send you to secure a line without backup. No one expects you to know everything just yet. Wielding blades and using magic is one thing. Learning to live with fear is something else, something that needs some time and practice.”, Nyx said reassuringly and nudged Yn’s shoulder with his own.

The mission order had been a stupid decision in the first place but then, Nyx remembered how he got tested by the Captain in almost the same way. Maybe it was just one of these cruel ideas to see if the new one was cut from the same cloth as the Captain himself...

“I should quit. I will mess things up again and again. It’s just a matter of time until someone dies because of me. I couldn’t forgive myself.”, Yn said low, casting his eyes to the ground.

Nyx watched the young guy. He had seen a fire in Yn’s eyes that told Nyx that he wanted to fight against Niflheim. Yn had his own reasons to fight against Insomnia’s enemies and now, he just had to learn to use these reasons as his drive. Nyx nodded slowly, “You could quit but as I see it you don’t want to. You wanna fight. You wanna kick asses. You just have to get better with your skills.”

“Yeah, and how? The last time I tried to train, I almost blew up this place.”, Yn said crestfallen, fumbling with the gloves in his hands.

“Then, we train together. I will show you a few tricks. You know, Libertus sucked at using lightning magic. One time, he even knocked out himself. I’m not even sure what he tried in the first place and then, he laid shocked on the ground. I swear, I even saw small clouds of smoke evaporating from his ears.”, Nyx said grinning and was pleased to hear Yn chuckle, “And now, Libertus used these powers regularly without hurting himself. Just one tip, if he uses magic? Keep some distance. Just in case.”, Nyx said with a wink.

Yn laughed and wiped the tears from his eyes. He still felt miserable for failing the mission and his comrades. He was sure, the Captain and Luche were disappointed and Yn expected to get a speech about it...or even some impositions. But Nyx’ words had been reassuring. Now, he felt less alone with the fear he had felt before, “Thanks. This talk was … I guess I needed that.”, Yn said, feeling better than before.

Nyx stood up, offering his hand to his comrade who took it and stood up as well. With a grin, Nyx looked at Yn, “You’re welcome. We're Glaives. We fight together. We fall together. And, most importantly, we drink together. Come on, the first drink is on me.", Nyx said and just like that, Yn had found his first new, real friend and supporter.

#ff15 nyx ulric #nyx ulric x reader #nyx ulric #male reader #final fantasy nyx ulric #final fantasy xv #final fantasy kingsglaive

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secret-engima · 4 years

Note

I am horribly sick and just want to stab everyone that tries to make me use my incredibly sick throat. May I get a ramble on fangs and feathers? Or even Prompto-Cloud thingy bit thing. (Uuughgi. Sickness makes my memory WORSE. I can't remember its name and honestly F&F was a hit or a miss but it LOOKS RIGHT SO.)

I’m so sorry to hear that!! Ummm let’s go with the Prompto-Cloud thing (Clouds and Moonlit Skies verse btw). Actually *grins* let’s go with a nutty xover.

-Zack and Cloud are ten years old in this. They trip into another dimension and at first don’t realize it. They were busy exploring an old part of the Citadel, Seph is with them, having abandoned his paperwork on Zack’s puppy eyes and Cloud’s teasing. They have fun for a while, poking around dusty old rooms and discovering a new, spacious training ground to trash later.

-Then they get hungry and troop their way for the kitchens to grab a snack.

-They enter the populated part of the Citadel and come face to face with a Crownsguard.

-The Crownsguard isn’t human.

-Well, the upper half of him is, but his lower half is some kind of fluffy tabby house cat, like a centaur, but a cat.

-Both sides stare at each other in astonishment for several very long seconds before the guard shouts in shock and rears back, tail puffing out to stupidly huge proportions as he reaches for his com to ... alert someone.

-Seph acts on pure instinct, lunging for the guard and tackling him to the ground. He knocks the guard out, but not before getting a nasty claw-made gash on one arm and the guard screaming into his link something about “Drautos is here!” Which really shouldn’t be cause for alarm because he works here- except he doesn’t, because he’s half sitting on an unconscious, man-sized half HOUSE CAT person.

-A frantic game of keep-away-what-is-going-on starts up with Noctis, Prompto, and Titus all ducking into rooms and through camera blindspots to avoid the Crownsguard who are ALL centaur cat people (Zack: Cataurs? Cloud: Not the time Zack) eventually though, they get caught, because of course they do, the Citadel is different and the cameras are too many. They get cornered in a very large, grand hallway with lots of very potentially breakable art, surrounded by wild-eyed and tense Crownsguard who range from cat people to deer people to ... is that a ferret over there? Cloud is pretty sure that’s a ferret person.

-Also Cor Leonis is there, tail swishing madly as he clutches at his sword and eyes them, fur bristling slowly as their hunters all seem to finally realize that the “Drautos and unknown intruders” they’ve been chasing are NOT half animal of some kind.

-Zack is the one to break the silence by stage whispering to Cloud, “I thought he’d be a lion. You know, with the name and all.” Seph, uncaring of leaving himself open to attack, takes a moment to facepalm with a heavy sigh while someone in the Crownsguard gives a nervous, semi-hysterical laugh.

-Tension now thoroughly ruined, the three allow themselves to be herded by a stiff-legged, bristling Cor to the Throne Room where the Regis and Clarus of this dimension are. Zack smothers (badly) a giddy laugh at seeing his dad with lion hindquarters (so cliche! Lion King!) and ooing softly over Clarus’s tiger stripes.

-Seph notices something subtly relax in the king despite his bristling tail and the way everyone keeps staring at them like they’re cryptids. That is CONVENIENTLY when Gentiana shows up (as an actual centaur???) and explains that the three of them accidentally slipped through the boundaries between worlds from a nearby world, and that it should wear off within three days time.

-She disappears and the awkward conversations start. It quickly becomes apparent that the ... Taurs are a little bit in awe at the sight of their two-legged status (apparently, as the king explains, all taurs used to be humans but were turned into taurs at the FALL OF SOLHEIM. Cloud wonders if this was how Aerith felt when people gushed over her being an Ancient). It also becomes evident that none of them trust Seph. At all. They keep their eyes on him far more than Zack and Cloud (though Regis does stare at Zack a bit, no doubt it’s weird looking at his son with human legs). Cor looks two steps away from murder at all times while glaring at Seph even as Clarus and Regis argue over where to house them for the three days that will be secure and how to keep this from getting all over the media.

-Finally Cloud snaps at Cor that if he has a problem, come out and say it. Everyone stares at him in astonishment for reasons he can’t fathom (yet) and finally Clarus explains that the Titus Drautos in their universe was a traitor who tried to assassinate Regis and conquer Insomnia. Seph blinks very slowly at that because wat. Why would he work for the people who experimented on him AGAIN. Then he realizes that without his past life memories he probably would have been brainwashed into it yeah. “I can see that,” Seph muses aloud while Zack sputters and Cloud spaces out dangerously at the distance. At the sudden tensing he waves a hand and drawls, “Niflheim and I do not get along.” He pauses, then adds just in case it come up somehow, “I cannot speak for your Titus, but I was forcibly captured out of the Crownsguard, experimented upon, and implanted with an armor unit codenamed Glauca. It did nothing to endear them to me.”

-Zack flings his arms around Seph’s and yells loudly before anyone else can say a word, “He’s mine! You gotta problem with them then fight me!” Zack pauses then adds, “Actually, you gotta problem with him then I’ll sic Prom on you.”

-“I don’t think that’s a very intimidating threat unless you know our Prompto,” Seph points out dryly but Zack loudly shushes him.

-They end up in a guest suite meant for visiting royals, with a few Crownsguard outside to make sure they don’t leave and aren’t disturbed. Of course, because their luck is their luck, the rumors have spread far enough that Regis, Cor, and Clarus are unable to run damage control before the Chocobros of this world hear about it.

-A day into their stay, Regis reluctantly takes the children to visit with Clarus, Cor, and Aulea all as backup. They enter to find all the furniture pushed to the far sides of the room, Titus on one end of the room, all three having what appears to be a mini war complete with battle lines. All three pause in their war, Noctis-Zack calmly dangling from Titus’s fist by his ankle while Prompto-Cloud lies sprawled near the door, feet up by his own head, arms splayed like he’s just been kicked in mid-air and didn’t have time to land right.

-“Are we interrupting something?” Cor asks stiffly. Noctis-Zack just laughs and Cloud attracts more than a few stares as he flips himself upright in a smooth movement utterly impossible for a Taur. Seph casually drops Zack without warning and the boy easily twists to land on his feet. Regis ... reluctantly asks if they would mind meeting their child counterparts plus a few friends, which Zack is all for and the other two fold to his whim. So Regis reluctantly lets the children enter. Noctis thunders up to Zack with bright eyes and gapes at his two-legged status while Cloud finds himself suddenly face to face with 10,000 Rays of Sunshine wearing his face and wagging a tail like a mad thing. Gladio trots up to Noctis while Ignis just kinda watches from next to the adults as the Nocti exchange greetings and then Zack hastily goes to extract Cloud from Prompto, because Cloud looks two inches away from a panic attack and stabbing is not recommended right now (Cor sees the sheer difference between his son and this human version and something in him growls. Why is the human Prompto so quiet, so alert and wary, watching everything, even himself, like it might attack?)

-Prompto deflates a bit at his counterpart’s silence and wariness, not understanding why and Seph breaks the tension by humming, “You know, Zack,” (who is Zack? The Taur adults wonder until human Noctis perks up), “I find myself a bit surprised. I would have been certain that your counterpart wouldn’t be a lion.”

-“Why’s that?” Noctis asks with a head tilt.

-Seph smirks, cool and smug and positively catlike, “Because he’s nothing but a big Puppy.”

-“Oi!” Zack yells but he’s laughing, “I make a great lion!”

-Cloud’s lips twitch against his will and he adds, “Well, this is another dimension. Some differences in temperament are to be expected.”

-Zack puts his hands over his heart with a gasp, blue eyes big and watery, “Cloud- Cloudy- My Cloudy Prompto Cloudy Spiky Buddy! How could you betray me like this??”

-Cloud just raises an eyebrow very slowly.

-Their banter is interrupted by a laugh from Prompto, “You guys are weird,” he says with a tail wag.

-Zack grins back and despite having known his son as a lion cub all his life, Regis can almost see the matching wagging tail on the boy, “You don’t know the half of it! Wanna play something?”

-The kids end up playing a strange mix of tag and the floor is lava (which Ignis RULES at because Ibex and Cloud rules over right behind him because Stubborn Mountain Boi) while Seph watches with fond eyes and finds himself slowly dragged into a conversation with Aulea.

-Some questions are exchanged and answers given, Cor snarls under his breath at the news of Prompto being given up to a neglectful home until finally being adopted by Cor where he belonged, and Regis and Aulea clutch hands when Seph slowly admits that Zack (they’re going by Zack, Cloud, and Seph to differentiate counterparts, claiming it’s an “in joke” and “nicknames”) hasn’t noticed her because he doesn’t recognize her. Queen Aulea died when Zack was a year old.

-But it’s not all sad things with the adults, Seph tells them little anecdotes of his world, and Regis notes how much more ... mellow this Titus is. Cunning yes, and somewhat cold, but not pushy and angry. Much more patient, and there is clear devotion in his eyes as this Titus watches his Noctis and Prompto play.

-Cor ends up sparring with this Titus, because Seph isn’t going to turn down the chance to Throw Hands with a cheetah man anymore than Cor will a human.

-It’s a tie that ends with both of them wheezing and tired on the floor.

-Cloud ends up falling asleep at one point and Prompto flops down next to him and soon they are both out and cuddling. All the Pictures are taken.

-Regis and Aulea are bemused and horrified by just how much of an Energizer Bunny Zack is. Like- HOW. Where do you store it all child and they thought Prompto was bad in his puppy stage.

-The three days end and the three disappear as swiftly as they came, and Zack is gleeful to have all the photo evidence Seph thoughtfully took to prove that YES they went to a world with Taur people and LOOK DAD YOU MAKE AN AWESOME LION. SO DOES MOM. SO DO I. AND HAH IGGY IS A GOAT (Ibex, Cloud corrects with a sigh and is ignored by Zack).

Tagging @robininthelabyrinth because I’m pretty sure Nocturne is your fic? Hope you don’t mind this little silly xover. I just loved the story too much to resist.

#SE asks #oliverslewty asks #Secret Engima Rambles #Clouds and Moonlit Skies verse #nocturne #long post

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amarabliss · 4 years

Text

Galahdian Dreams - 13 (Nyx Ulric/Reader)

Synopsis: Your father was the king of Insomnia. He was good and just. You never thought you’d meet anyone like him after he was taken from the world. Your Uncle Regis, has taken the throne and followed through on your father’s plans. It was good to see the city in capable hands.

Enter Nyx Ulric, refugee, Glaive, fighter…how is it he can see all your secrets? He knows how to set you off and he’s promised to not let you go…(AU for sure, Regis wasn’t supposed to take the throne, and our lovely Nyx has more of a past then we thought…)

Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four Part Five Part Six Part Seven Part Eight Part Nine Part Ten Part Eleven Part Twelve

Nyx smiled a little watching the little girls talk around you as they played with your hair. You had no idea what you had agreed to when you told them ‘yes, you can play with my hair.’ He looked down to his phone as it buzzed.

T – Are you guys on your way?

Nyx looked at his watch cursing a little. Things had been a little strange since a couple of weeks ago. He’d decided to try and give you your space, since he was the one who seemed so adamant about being careful. You on the other hand acted like nothing was wrong.

You smiled at him, talked to him like it didn’t matter, and he had just bit your head off…

He hated it.

“Nyx…” He looked up from the bench he was sitting on to you. You gave him a small smile, it wasn’t that fake one you learn to master early on being a royal. No, it was the genuine article, “I’m going to see the kids…”

“Right…” He nodded standing up waving his arm out for you to proceed, “I’m sure they’ll be excited to see you again.”

“I think they’ll be more excited to see you.” You looked at him eyes twinkling a little, “It’s been eye opening seeing how everyone moves around you.”

“What does that mean?” His brow came together when he looked at you.

You stopped briefly looking at him. “Nyx…not everything I say regarding your…past…is an attack…”

He sighed looking away nodding, “Yeah I know…I just don’t know where I stand with you right now. The last few weeks…I feel like I did something wrong…but I’m not exactly sure what…I just want to protect you…Then trying to find the time to talk to you about it…when you’re surrounded by people all the time and pretending to be something I’m not and at the same time being that something wholeheartedly…”

You reached out taking his hand before pulling him away from the crowds into an alleyway. He stared down into your eyes as you spoke, “Nyx, I am not mad or angry or anything with you…frustrated maybe, but for completely other reasons that any person in a relationship like ours would be…and I know that all this is much harder for you because you do have to put up this wall…I forget that everyone knows exactly who am, but you have two roles to fill…that is all that I meant…”

You stepped closer to him taking his other hand, “Your people love you. I see it with every look they give you. They’re loyal and respect that you don’t want the world to see that you are more than just a man from Galahd. I know the day when you’re ready to come forward…they will follow you to the end. I used to know what that was like.”

You had wisdom far beyond your years and yet you always uplifted everyone else. You saw everything they had and made sure they did too. You would humble people in a way that left them feeling more than a moment before.

He realized right then you were simply cherishing the private moment you could have with him. Being able to express yourself freely and openly. Relating to him on a level no one else would be able to. He began to realize how much a fool he’d been something he wasn’t for you.

He wasn’t the perfect prince. Hell…he was definitely not a noteworthy king…but you weren’t looking for a prince or a king. You were looking for a man…just a man…and you happened to be looking at him and saw all this wonder around him that he’d seem to forgotten about. You centered him in ways he didn’t know he needed to be adjusted and appreciated you so much.

N – We’re just finishing up b there in a few

He stood up pocketing his phone, “Sorry ladies, the salon must close. We’ve gotta go do grown up things…”

He trailed off as the girls moved away letting you stand up. They had styled your hair with braids, ribbons, and beads. You practically looked like your stepped off the streets of Galahd.

You smiled at him sheepishly reaching up touching your hair like you always did when you were self-conscious, “What?”

“He thinks you look pretty!” One girl jumped up as the other giggles.

“Lila…” He looked away feeling his ears get hot as the little girl outed him.

“What! I’m just saying what you’re thinking…” Lila giggled looking back to you, “Are you two going to get married?”

“Oh my…” You laughed a little before kneeling down looking at them all, “We’re a little ways from the question still.”

“Mmm…but he seems lonely…” Lila pouted a little

“Ah ha…” He coughed a little before turning around, “You guys should get back to class…Ma’am we gotta go.”

“Thank you all for the wonderful hair style. I will make sure to come back!” You bent over looking at them all with a big smile, “I’ll see you all soon alright?”

He smiled as they all giggled at you before running back to their classmates, “You’re real good with kids. Noticed it before it from an article I found on you, but seeing you in action is far more impressive.”

She turned stepping over to him, “You looked me up?”

“Uh, yeah…I was curious. I wanted to see why you were so important.” He told you as he turned with you to walk away, “Understand why you were so…hurt…and I wanted to understand.”

As you walked behind a van he felt your hand gently graze against his palm. It was enough to make his heart race and you knew it. He looked at you and saw you smile before wrapping your arms around yourself, “It’s something I envy about you Nyx…you know how to figure out people quickly.”

He blushed a little as he scratched the back of his neck, “Well…you’ve seemed to figure me out pretty good…”

You laughed as the school bell went of releasing the students, “Oh my, we’re late aren’t we?”

“A bit…but I think you’ll impress everyone with your hair…they can’t be too mad at you when kids are involved.” He explained as he started walking a head of you, “At least it’s been my experience.”

He heard the scream first making his blood run cold. He as he turned he felt a familiar sensation brush against his skin as he began to reach for his kukri. The clattering of scaffolding was the next sound as he finished moving not seeing you anywhere nearby. Panic set in as his eyes scanned the area frantically.

“Lila!” He saw a group of people rushing over to the scaffolding that was collapsed on itself.

A sinking feeling began to fill his gut as he ran over helping to pull the pieces away. Lila’s mother was standing off to the side hysterical. As they removed a few more pieces he finally felt relief hearing your voice whispering reassuring words.

“Y/N…” He looked down into an opening seeing your frame curled around Lila protectively.

You looked over to him and smiled, “See look…your king came to rescue you.”

“Just hold on ladies…we’re almost there…” He told you before helping everyone else remove the last few bits carefully ensuring you both could come out safely.

You were covered in dust as you carried Lila out walking her over to her mother who embraced Lila tightly kissing her face over and over before turning to you hugging you tightly. You took the hug and smiled telling her everything was fine. She and everyone else thanked you all the same.

Nyx pulled you away from the gathering crowd looking you over as you began to spit dust that had gotten in your mouth, “Are you alright?”

“I…I think so…” Your eyes met his as he felt your arms for breaks, “Nyx, I’m alright…”

You were…covered in dust and looked liked you’d been in a mine for days, but you were alright, “That was stupid.”

“Excuse me?” You blinked at him.

“You! Running in like that…how…” He threw his arms out looking at the scaffolding, “How did you even get over here?”

You followed his gaze to far across the street away from where they stood, “I…I don’t know. I just…I heard it creak and I saw her…does it matter? Everyone is fine.”

“But it could have been really bad…” He looked back to you as he felt a lump in his throat, “ Y/N…”

“Your Ladyship…” Nyx clenched his jaw adjusting his posture as Drautos ran over, “Astrals…are you hurt?”

“No I’m fine…” You told him but your eyes never left Nyx’s, “I just happened to be in the right place, at the right time.”

“We should get you back to the Citadel…” Drautos told you quickly, “We can arrange…”

“None sense…I’m sure I can clean up somewhere and we can finish up…it’s just dust.” You told him brushing yourself off a little before smiling. Drautos began to protest, “I refuse to let this stop us…what you can do is make sure the rest of the scaffoldings are secured properly.”

“Ma’am…” Drautos looked at you in disbelief.

“I will go after we have our meeting, please do as I ask first and check the scaffolding.” You told him firmly before you walked past him to Nyx, “Your place is still one of the ones we haven’t started on, yes? You don’t mind taking me to freshen up there?”

“Not at all ma’am…Follow me. Drautos we’ll be there in…45 minutes?” He looked to Drautos for confirmation.

“Just…make it an hour and…make sure she’s alright.” Drautos sighed heavily as you both began to walk away.

Nyx brought you back to his dingy studio apartment, quickly pulling things off the clothes line shoving them into a bin kicking it under a card table, “Uh…bathroom is just there…”

“Thank you…” You smiled as you brushed your arms off for the hundredth time, “Can I barrow a shirt…I’m just going to rinse off…”

“Rinse…uh…” He looked at the door of the bathroom as he began to ramble, “We…don’t really have hot water all the time…and…”

“It’s fine…” You tilted your head a little eyes narrowing slightly, “Nyx, what’s going on?”

He looked at you for a moment before he felt his wall crumble a little, “You…you were just gone…”

He watched your face as understanding began to fill your lovely eyes as he went on, “You just disappeared and I…I felt everything slip away from me in an instance again and I just…”

He looked away putting a hand over his eyes the feeling of embarrassment fill him as his confession passed his lips, “I can’t lose you…not you too…”

“Nyx…” Your voice was just a whisper, but it penetrated him taking down any piece of his cool exterior that remained. You stepped forward taking his hand way from his face, “Nyx…I’m sorry…I’m sorry I didn’t think…”

He blinked as a tear trickled down his cheek. You reached up gently brushing it away with you thumb. He sighed closing his eyes before his hands found waist and rested his forehead against yours, “Please don’t do that again…”

“I will try my best but…” He sighed as your other hand found his face, “Nyx…”

His eyes opened as you leaned up kissing him. He tensed at first feeling the same sense of needing to hide, but soon relax in what comfort his small place provided them at the moment. He sighed relaxing into the kiss letting his arms wrap around you.

When you parted from him your eyes twinkled as you bit your bottom lip, “We must find and cherish these rare moments…”

He smiled a little looking at your dust covered face, “You look like you’re covered in flour…”

You blushed a little as you started to pull away from him, “I should get cleaned up…”

“Yeah…” He held you closer making your eyes widen, “It can wait…”

He kissed you again this time letting his hand work up your neck until his fingers laced with your fresh braids and hair. He felt himself get hot as your arms returned wrapping around his neck. Six you made him feel crazy and he was an idiot keeping away from you like this…but there were reasons…

“Y/N…” He whispered against your lips when he parted from your reluctantly, “I have…the worst timing…”

His forehead rested against yours as your cool hand fell against his neck, “Drautos…I know…”

His hand moved from your hair to your cheek getting you to look up into his eyes, “Y/N, I care about you…so much…I…I want to find these moment with you. I hope we find more of them…”

You lips curled into a smile before you leaned up pecking him on the lips, “I need to get cleaned up.”

“Yeah…” He licked his lips watching you walk toward the bathroom, “I wasn’t joking about the hot water…”

You glanced back at him smirking, “I don’t intend on being in there forever. I just want to get this grime off…”

“Towel is on the counter…” He rattled off as you shut the door. He stood there a moment before putting his hands on his hips smiling as he thought back to just a moment ago. Find the moments…

He would have to start looking for them more. You seemed to find them easily. Gentle grazes here and there. Small comments…brief glances…he loved you for anything you did…

He looked up feeling his mouth drop open some as the realization dawned on him. He loved you. Did he? He did…without a doubt…he loved you.

His eyes flitted back to the bathroom door. How did that happen? He was your guard…a king in disguise…and a broken man…how did someone so completely destined for greatest end up in his path? Was he allowed to even consider you? You were so much more then him…he may be a king, but the king of what? A broken country, so desperate that they sold themselves out for protection?

He looked away from the door remembering your words…Your people love you… They’re loyal…they will follow you to the end…

Would they follow a king who would ally himself to a country willing to pretty much enslave his people for cannon fodder? He had to hope that everything you were doing would help him. He had to believe it because he knew deep down that you were doing everything you could to help them.

He looked down to where he’d thrown his clothes just before reaching in grabbing a shirt he considered snug on himself before walking over the door tapping on it. He could hear the water running, “Hey…uh…shirt is hanging on the outside knob.”

“Thank you.” You sounded muffled through the door.

He turned looking around the room seeing how big of a disaster it was. He quickly moved around picking up and straightening everything. His phone buzzed in his pocket.

T- Is she alright?

Nyx glanced at the bathroom door hearing the water running still. He sighed before texting him back.

N – she’s fine…but I think we need to talk later.

… … … the weight of those bubbles made his stomach churn. He looked over to the picture of his mom and sister. He kissed his fingers before reaching out touching the picture. God he missed them so much…

T – Are you alright?

Nyx sighed putting the phone back into his pocket not replying. He heard the door open behind him. He turned seeing his shirt missing from the knob. He felt his phone buzz a few more times before he pulled out sighing.

T – Nyx if this about Y/N and you…

T – Never mind we should talk about this in person

T – I’ve been meaning to bring it up…I

T – I’m not mad…damn phone and my big thumb…

“Everything alright?” He turned seeing you squeezing the towel on your head attempting to get the water out of your hair. You hadn’t taken the braids out it seemed. His mouth dropped open slightly at his shirt hanging off you, covering down to your mid-thigh. You weren’t wearing your pants, “Nyx?”

His eyes darted away from you, “Uh yeah…everything is-is fine…”

You laughed, “Bashful much? You’ve seen me in dresses that showed more then this.”

He let out a half laugh nodding before looking at you again. His face felt really hot, “Uh yeah, I suppose you’re right…feel better?”

“Much.” You stepped toward him smiling, “Thank you.”

“Uh…don’t thank me yet…” He held up his phone for you to read the messages, “I guess we’re pretty transparent.”

“Or it could be everyone in zone saying how cute we look together.” He looked at you his eyes going wide as you spoke, “Have you been trapped in your head that much lately? That’s the entire gossip section right now, us.”

He didn’t know what to say really. It made him happy to hear that people weren’t against it. His people at least, “What about your uncle?”

“What about him?” You handed his phone back to him.

“What if he happens to hear these rumors?” He frowned a little bit.

“…I don’t think we need to worry about that.” You sighed bringing your hand up over your heart massaging your scar, “Things with the war are keeping him pretty busy lately…”

“Is it getting that bad?” He took a step closer you, putting his hands on your arms feeling the moisture on them still.

You looked up at him nodding, “I think so…it’s the one thing he won’t talk to Noctis or I about…but I happened to hear some councilmembers in the hall the other day. They’re pushing for a full…full something I’ve never heard the term before…they sounded so sinister about it.”

“Do you want me to ask Titus?” He gave you an encouraging smile.

You shook your head, “No…when the time comes, I think my uncle will talk to everyone and inform them of the decisions being made…I hope at least…”

You rested your hands against his chest as he smiled looking down into your eyes, “I will follow your lead in those matters.”

“Hopefully, we won’t need to worry about it.” You leaned up kissing him lightly before moving away from him.

“Wait…” He pulled you back to him, “I need to say something…”

“Okay…” You smiled looking up at him, “This sounds important…”

“It…it is…” He smiled licking his lips, “Y/N…I…”

You both jumped at the sound of his phone going off. He sighed pulling it out seeing Titus calling. He clicked ignore as you began to protest, “Nyx…he’ll…”

“He can wait…I wanna say this…” He looked at you seriously, “Y/N…”

Now your phone went off. He sighed as you moved to go get it from the bathroom. He heard you answer, “Hello…what’s happened?”

He frowned hearing concern in your voice as you went on, “I will head back now…of course…but…alright…”

His phone started to ring again he turned away answering, “Titus…”

“Report to Citadel. Car is waiting for you outside.” His mentor sounded serious.

“What happened?” Nyx looked back to you as you walked fully dressed a serious look on your face as you remained on the phone.

“I’m not sure, I just received word that Lady Caelum is to return to the Citadel at once…wear your jacket…” Titus sighed, “I think we’re all being called in…”

“Got it…Titus…” He frowned as you hung up, “Never mind, we need to talk later…”

“Yes sir…” He hung up looking at you as you walked over to him

“Y/N what’s wrong? What happened?” He watched as your face was hardened, “Y/N…”

“Things have gotten worse in Tenebrae…Queen Sylva…she was killed…” You told him frowning as you moved to the door, “I…I’m sorry I have to go…”

He stopped you briefly nodding, “I’m going to take you…let me do my job.”

He grabbed his jacket putting it on and equipped himself with everything he normally wore. His glaive uniform felt heavy and foreign as he put it on. These past few weeks he’d become to comfortable it seems.

He turned to you opening the door for you. You stopped in front of him looking into his eyes. He gave you a smile, “Car’s waiting for us downstairs…ma’am.”

You gave him a smile but your eyes betrayed you, you were worried, “Let’s go.”

Some how he didn’t think he was going to get a chance to tell you what he wanted…and somehow he knew it was probably for the better at this moment.

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