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echoes-of-the-clockwork · 3 years

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Book Three: Pestilence (Ignis x Reader) Chapter Ten

"Don't stray too far, lest you get left behind," Ardyn started as they headed for the ruins. "And surely you'd rather avoid unnecessary scuffles, seeing as you're now a trio. Well, with the exception of your new acquaintance." He stopped for a brief second, looking back at the four. "Oh, dear. Touchy subject?"

(Y/n) only smiled in response. Underneath the surface, she felt a tinge of anger when he doubted she could handle herself in battle. She decided not to spark an argument and continued to smile.

"One we won't discuss with you," Ignis responded.

"Then let's discuss why you're here. Hmm....It can't be archaeology...Mythril, perhaps?"

"This guy's reading our thoughts!" Prompto gasped.

Ardyn smirked, continuing to lead them through the swamp. "Mythril-it's a precious resource. We can't just let anyone get their hands on it."

"But you'll help us get ours on it, right?" Noctis questioned with a raised brow.

"I never said that."

"Of course you didn't," the freckled boy groaned.

The chancellor chuckled. "Where is the fun in that? I thought you'd rather dig it up yourselves."

Arriving at the ruins, the group spotted a familiar figure standing at the entrance with two imperial officers beside her. Ardyn spun around to face the boys and Horseman, causing them to stop in the ankle-deep waters of the swamp. "Fear not-I'll be but a moment."

He walks away from them, giving (Y/n) the chance to breathe. "My, my. What a character."

"He's a creep with the way he was touching you earlier," Prompto stated. "I mean, smelling your hair? That's really creepy."

"Mm, yes. I must admit-it sent a chill down my spine," Pestilence confesses with a small grimace.

"You really know how to hide your emotions," Noctis comments.

"Only when it concerns others."

"Ooh. Does that mean you've hidden some from us?" Prompto asked.

"That's for me to know and you to find out," she snickered in response.

Ardyn suddenly calls out to them, silencing the group. "All clear! Go ahead." He walks a few feet back toward the four, allowing them to proceed forth.

Noctis took the lead and approached the woman they fought only a week ago at Fort Vaullerey. She crossed her arms and tilted her head to the side. "So, you're the "new recruits" they sent over for "special training." Nice cover, runaway prince. At least you brought snowflake with you."

"Thanks," Prompto cheerfully replies.

The prince groaned in disbelief at his best friend not recognizing the sarcasm in the woman's tone. "Oh, c'mon!"

Aranea shook her head with a sigh, waving her hand in the air. "At ease, "recruits." There's nothing in it for this ex-mercenary to turn you in. Especially not with her around." The last part clearly being directed toward (Y/n). She directed her gaze to the ivory-haired girl with a slight smirk. "I know you were holding back during our first fight. Wouldn't want to see you in complete action unless you were fighting alongside me, snowflake."

The Horseman smiled. "I'm afraid my full potential is rather...unbefitting for human eyes. It is quite unsightly."

"Oh, yeah. Heard from some strange group of highwaymen that you've killed more than twenty of their men in just mere seconds. Gotta say, snowflake, you definitely don't look like a killer with that innocent face."

(Y/n) was somewhat relieved to know Aranea hadn't overheard from Silas' men of her status as one of the Four Horsemen. "Yes, well, Silas and his men are a cowardice bunch who wish to eradicate Eos of the weak by using a force no human could control even if the Astrals blessed it upon them themselves."

"Hmm..." Aranea hummed. "I'll keep that in mind when my men and I come across them again. We'll teach them a lesson or two."

"Please, do," Pestilence chuckled. "They deserve whatever punishment that comes their way."

The ex-mercenary grinned. "Will do, snowflake. Now, let's get this show on the road."

Prompto's eyes narrowed in bewilderment. ""Show"?"

"Forgot about your "training"? Well, I'm being paid to escort you...Just watch yourselves in there."

Ardyn overheard them and called out. "I trust you'll be civil. Commodore Aranea Highwind, I leave them to you."

Ignoring the chancellor, Aranea grabbed her helmet and pulled it snuggly over her head. "Search until sundown. It won't do you any good. If you're lookin' to get inside, you're gonna have to wait."

"(Y/n)," Ignis called out to the girl, remembering the trick she used on the entrance to Costlemark Tower.

"It seems you and I are on the same page, Ignis," she smirked at him. Walking past Aranea, she headed to the sealed entrance of the ruins. The boys and a confused ex-mercenary followed her through the murky water and up the ancient stone staircase.

The Horseman placed her hands against the frigid stone and casted a shadow spell to activate the mechanism sealing their only entrance into the ruins.

Aranea watched in amazement and merriment. "Well, well, well. Snowflake's got even more tricks up her sleeves. Nice work."

"Now we won't have to waste precious time to wait for sundown," (Y/n) exclaimed.

The five enter the ruins, Prompto eyeing the architecture around them. "What kind of place was this? Any idea, Ignis?"

"None," the jaded-eyed man responded.

"Maybe (Y/n) knows," Noctis said.

All eyes fell upon Pestilence, wondering if she could give them a little information on who once lived in such a structure since they knew she was an archaeologist in her previous life. She ran her hand across the stone wall, admiring the intricate carving method and design. "Along with the structure, all hints of who once lived here has been washed away with time. Though, I have seen such a design before on the outskirts of the Duscae region. Maybe the two are connected."

Aranea placed a hand on her hip. "Don't tell me you're a scholar, too."

"Not exactly," (Y/n) grinned. "I...am following in my father's footsteps of becoming an archaeologist." She worded her sentence carefully. She didn't want to drop hints about her true status because she had yet to find a reason to trust the ex-mercenary. There was melancholy behind her words, but it wasn't enough for the woman to detect.

"You're not just some dainty little flower these guys lug around just for looks, huh? You can kick ass anytime and are pretty knowledgeable. You're one hell of a package, snowflake."

The Horseman simply smiled as they delved deeper into the ruins. They maneuvered through countless of hallways and conjunctions leading in different directions. (Y/n) nibbles on her bottom lips when she saw a look of suspicion come across Aranea's face. "Where the hell are all the daemons? This place should be crawling with them."

Prompto briefly glanced at (Y/n), swallowing nervously. Noctis, being slightly calmer than his best friend, cleared his throat. "Maybe they're sleeping."

"You would say something like that," the blonde whispered to the prince.

When Pestilence tried to brew up a better explanation, a chill crept up her spine. She recognized the familiar presence as her eyes darted to the hallway to their left. Ignis and Aranea were the first ones to notice her strange behavior.

"(Y/n)," Ignis called out to the girl only a few feet away from him. "Is everything alright?" He heard a faint inhale of air from her slightly ajar lips before she stormed down the hallway.

"Wha-(Y/n)!" Prompto shouted as she ran away from the group.

Without hesitation, the group rushed after her. They turned various corners racing after the Horseman, but when they made another turn, she was no longer in sight. "What way do you think she went?" Noctis looked down the two pathways presented to them.

Ignis placed a hand over the pocket containing the summoning orb, but he decided against using it with Aranea currently tagging along. As he was pondering what to do next, he received a faint whiff of mock oranges. Immediately, he knew it was (Y/n)'s scent. "She's nearby," he said.

"How do you know?" Aranea questioned.

"This scent-it's hers."

The ex-mercenary sniffed the air, smelling the mock oranges. Before she could comment, everything began shaking. The group braces themselves as pebbles and a few large pieces of stone rain down around them. "An earthquake?! I thought we were done with those!" Prompto shouted over the loud rumbling.

"This isn't a natural phenomena," Ignis stated, dodging a pile of falling stones from the ceiling above.

"Since when are you an expert on earthquakes, Specs?" Noctis retorts.

"The rhythm is inharmonious."

"You think a daemon is causing the tremor?" Aranea asked.

"Or whatever creature resides in these ruins," he added.

"Guess we're in for a surprise," the woman snickered. "Better find snowflake before whatever's causing this place to shake finds her first."

<-------<<<<<<<<

An hour passed by without anyone knowing. They had yet to find (Y/n), having lost her scent half an hour ago. With her presence no longer in the vicinity, they were attacked by several daemons. Fortunately, the boys were able to play off why the enemies were now just appearing to keep Aranea from prying.

While walking down a long stairwell, Prompto grumbled as they descended deeper into the ruins and seeing no end to the stairwell they were traveling down. "Man, how far does this go?"

"Yet a ways still," Ignis sighs.

"And we still haven't found (Y/n)," Noctis said.

"I'm sure she's fine. She can handle herself," Aranea stated. "So, which one of you is the lucky guy?"

"What do you mean?" Prompto answered her question with one of his own.

"There's no way in hell a girl like that would be traveling with you unless she's close to one of you. So, who's the boyfriend?"

"B-Boyfriend?" The gunslinger stuttered.

"Out of the three of you, I'm guessing it's you." Aranea points to Ignis, who became flabbergasted at the accusation.

Before the advisor could deny such words, Noctis interrupted him. "Uh, yeah. They've been dating a while."

Ignis' face scrunched up at the prince's words. "Yes, well..."

"Oh, definitely!" Prompto chanted with a smirk. "Iggy can't keep his hands off her. He always talkin' about her, too!"

"Prompto," Ignis scolded the younger boy.

"What?" The sharpshooter feigned shock, ignoring what consequences he would suffer from later. "I'm only telling the truth!"

Ignis held his tongue, pinching the bridge of his nose with a sigh. Aranea chuckled and grinned at him. "Didn't take you for a clingy type of guy. I'm a little shocked."

"As am I," he mumbled to himself while adjusting his glasses.

"We better find your princess before she winds up impaled by daemons or by whatever thing is making this place shake," Aranea said, patting the strategist on the shoulder.

They continued through the ruins, more daemons spawning and blocking their path. They checked around every corner and dead end for (Y/n) but still couldn't find her.

Prompto huffed, slumping his shoulders forward as they checked another room off their list, Noctis tugged at a few of his raven locks with a sigh, Ignis rolled his shoulders from the pent-upped stress of the missing girl, and Aranea simply smirked at them. She folded her arms over her chest, watching their vexation caused by their absent companion. She thought about making a comment but decided to keep from teasing them.

Further into the ruins, the group makes their way into a large central chamber. They all gasped in amazement at the beautiful architecture. "Beautiful beyond words..." Ignis gazed all around them.

"That is pretty neat," Aranea said.

Prompto wandered over to the railing and leaned over it, staring upward. "Look up!"

"Whoa-If that's the water's surface..." The ex-mercenary's voice trailed off.

"Wait, what? Does this mean we're underwater?" He spotted a various amount of fish swimming in the water above. "Whoa. There's even fish."

"The hell is this place?" Noctis muttered.

"Can we truly be submerged?" Ignis asked.

"It does seem harder to breathe," the blonde said.

"Like seeing a dream," the prince stated.

"Gladio is seriously missing out."

"Probably not his thing."

"Now, now, you can never tell," the tactician exclaimed.

Prompto, taking the opportunity of the serenity, took out his camera and snapped pictures of the central chamber. As he scanned the area with his camera for the next perfect shot, his eyes narrowed when he spotted someone standing on the railing of a bridge below. He adjusted the lens and zoomed in to get a better look. When he recognized the person, he gasped and lowered his camera. He leaned over the railing, nearly losing his balance in the process. "Hey, (Y/n)!" Everyone's attention was grabbed and they rushed over the railing to peer down at the girl.

Pestilence heard Prompto's shouting and immediately looked up. She smiled and waved at him and the others, relieving them of their stress. But, it was short-lived.

Another tremor shook the entirety of the ruins. Among the rumbling, a strange and eerie hiss resonated throughout the large chamber. "W-What was that?" Prompto stuttered in a fearful tone.

"No daemon we've encountered has made such a ruckus," Ignis responded. The group held onto the railing, bracing their bodies as rubble fell all around them. The bespectacled man's eyes landed on (Y/n), seeing as she hopped off the railing to prevent from falling. She gripped the stone tightly, avoiding a few large pieces of stone that threatened to smash her skull in.

His emerald eyes widen in horror when he saw the bridge beginning to crumble. The cracks webbed around her feet, which didn't go unnoticed by the girl. She knew the fall would injure her severely, but the wounds would heal within seconds. What she feared the most was the extreme pain she'd experience. She also couldn't focus on teleporting to safety because she couldn't properly clear her mind. Slowly, she backed away, but the cracks followed with her every step.

"Noct!" Ignis shouted just as the bridge collapsed underneath (Y/n)'s feet. Luckily, she was able to grab on a part of the bridge that wasn't crumbling at the last second to cease her plummet.

"On it!" The prince conjured his engine blade and threw it to the bridge below. The sword embedded into the sturdy portion of the bridge and he felt the familiar tug on his body as he warped. His fingers wrapped around the hilt as his feet landed on the bridge. He dispelled his blade and immediately lunged forward to grab the Horseman's hand before she slipped. "You're a handful, (Y/n)," Noctis grunted, trying to pull her up to safety. The tremor had yet to cease and made it impossible to hoist her up onto solid ground.

Pestilence was speechless as she looked up at the ravenette. She couldn't believe he's risking his life for her. "Noctis, it's too dangerous!"

"Tell that to Specs!" He retorts just as the advisor made his way down to the bridge.

Ignis arrived and tried to help (Y/n), but she refused to give him her other hand. "You two need to head to safety! Leave me!"

"We won't stand for such stubbornness," Ignis sternly proclaimed. "Give me your other hand, (Y/n)."

She stared up into his eyes and saw the resolve in them. She knew this was not the place nor the time to be stubborn. Lifting her other arm, she reached up and Ignis grabbed it. As they began pulling her upward, the magnitude of the tremor increased. From where she hung, the Horseman saw the remainder of the bridge was collapsing. Before she could even warn them, it disappeared from underneath them.

Plummeting downward, Noctis was able to warp back to Prompto and Aranea. His body hung from his blade, eyes wide with fear, as he watched (Y/n) and Ignis fall.

#ffxv x reader #ffxv #final fantasy xv x reader #final fantasy xv #ignis x reader #ignis scientia #Noctis Lucis Caelum #prompto argentum #gladiolus amicitia

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bluepenguinstories · 3 years

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Remoras Full Chapter XVII: Starry Night

What a wonderful thing humanity was! Such a grounded reality, where a human could look down and see dirt. Upward, that same human could see the sky. Beautiful and mystifying, day and night. Many sights awaited humanity, and even without sight, there was always something new to learn just around the corner.

That was why I was so glad to be human.

Many a day was spent on two legs, one foot in front of the other and a prayer every now and then. Such steps brought me to places with dirt roads, brick roads, sand, and roads with black, pressed stone and strange objects scattered around. Every road, every pathway, had such interesting things to see. Strange and beautiful sights to learn more about; tall brick and stone buildings. Straw and wood, ceramic tiles. Little signs written in languages I didn’t know, but would loved to have learned. Yet I never did. I continued to walk.

Each place I passed through had their own smells, aromas. Foul and sweet scents alike. I passed through gardens with beautiful shapes of petaled plants in colors I didn’t know the names of. Bright and dim alike, twists and turns. Little creatures which flew and crawled onto those plants. Moments would pass where I wondered if I could learn to be one of those little creatures, if I wasn’t already human. Learning all I could about what I was, that brought me greater fulfillment than anything else I took in.

Where I found myself was in a land of layered frost and soft, dew-filled grass. There were little bodies of water scattered about and the silhouette of a shimmering star in the sky. Deep breaths escaped from my mouth, and the rigid air drew its way in.

“Amen,” I whisked the word into the air once the image of a long, metallic structure came into view. Its doors were open and my sense of wonder took over as one step over the other, I found my way inside.

One step, then the next. That same process, repeated, until I found a room in which humans dwelt. My eyes orbited those still shapes in front of me, those same shapes that were so similar, and yet different to mine. Sprawled out, their eyes closed, and little movement or sound save for faint hints of breathing. I didn’t know what they were doing, but I wanted to learn.

One human – Aurora, (or Eos, but not Dawn, as I came to know her), was the first to open her eyes. I didn’t learn what she and the other two humans were up to. For all I knew, they could have been praying, just as I did, only in longer bursts.

Aurora taught me some wonderful things about being a human. There was still much more to learn, and I felt that the knowledge and experiences I gained was only a fraction of a series of other fractions of a whole when it came to human experience. Each new observation granted me a gift, and I couldn’t await for the next gift to arrive.

Which it did, in the form of a brave soul in the shape of someone with a similar stature as myself. She called herself “Tigershark,” a peculiar name, but as far as names went, all came with their own interesting origin. I was no exception.

If I had to have a theory on humans and names, it was that I had a name because people had to have a name. Like some prerequisite for existing. Whether one gives it to another, or one gives it to themselves, it appeared it was a necessary application. But then, the possibility of meeting someone without a name was a fascinating thought as well.

As for when that day would come, I didn’t know. Where I found myself a little after meeting Tigershark was not the spot I had stayed in for days, and instead was a place called a ‘diner’.

Everyone I knew from the Aurora Borealis Bandits was there, having wonderful conversations with one another. Aurora B herself, was slouched over her seat and her legs were up on top of the table. She and a few of her friends, (I believe their names were Alan, Ivan? Isaac? Ismark? Oh, there I was, forgetting names so soon even though I knew the importance of a name. The third one was Ezmeralda, that I knew) were huddled together and singing songs in unison. Aurora strummed on a little ukulele whilst doing so.

“Mama, just killed a maaaan –” Aurora started.

“– Mama, we all go to hell,” the rest sang after her, then she strummed real hard on her ukulele.

“Put a gun up to his head, pulled the trigger now he’s de-e-a-d,” she continued. Then more frantic strumming. I stood up and walked over so I could observe the others.

Aside from Aurora, her crew, and Tigershark, the others who occupied the diner were unknown variables. Earlier, when there was a great commotion outside, I caught a glimpse of the new faces: one stood tall and muscular beside the train with Tigershark. Another was shorter and held a knife. The last was someone else, similar to the first person in terms of size and shape, and held a long gun in her arms, aimed at one of those fascinating creatures.

At the moment, she sat at the far end of the diner, slumped over with her head rested on her arms. The purpose of doing so eluded me. There were few traits I could infer from her, but I was excited to learn more, as there was always something to learn from each human I met.

I tugged at her sleeve. She looked over and had a confused or curious look about her.

“What? Are you going to ask me if you know me from somewhere? That I look familiar to you?” Her voice was like a low groan, but it didn’t sound bad at all. I smiled and turned my head from one end to the other. For whatever reason she asked me that, I answered her with the only way I knew how.

“Quite the opposite. I find you interesting because you are new and I don’t know you yet,” I closed my eyes as I spoke. “Amen.”

“That’s just as bad. Trust me, it’s better not to know about me,” I believe her reply was also in earnest.

“It will be difficult not to be aware of your existence now that I have seen you, but if what you say is true, then I thank you for teaching me something so fascinating. Amen.”

I walked away and to my side I could see an outline of her, with her head turned, and mouthed the word “what.”

Tigershark was in the kitchen. It was the place where she made food. In time, I would like to be taught. Food was a fascinating thing, and even more so that someone would cook it. I didn’t know why humans ate, but it was a fun enough task every now and then.

One of the new faces had a small sheet of paper and a pen. She was the short one I spotted with the knife. Just a little taller in stature than me, and her hair was wavy green. When she spoke, she didn’t really sound very interested in the questions she asked. I found that most interesting.

“What will you be having?” She asked Aurora.

Aurora slammed her cup on the table and laughed herself into a wild fit.

“Another beer, for one! And this is a diner, right? Then how about some biscuits and grits? Sausage? Pancakes? I want it all!”

Those words I didn’t know, but in the context of the setting, I assumed they were food.

“Yeah. Sure. Just so you know, since there’s not a price for anything, you’ll be paying for the meal with the money you guys stole from us,” she informed them.

“What are you doing?” I asked her. She turned to me and looked startled. Frightened, even.

“I’m just taking people’s orders. Can I take yours?” She explained, and then I understood.

“So you’re part of her crew, too? And you wish to serve her?” I sought to confirm. However, her reaction was one that most surprised me; she leaned her head back and gave a look as if I said something most foul.

“No, if I were to want to serve anyone, it would be Re – forget it.” She walked off in a huff. Aurora called after her.

“Yeah, how ‘bout it, Demetria? Why don’t you ditch that loser Remora and join our crew? You’d have much more fun with us! It’d be more fulfilling, too!”

I looked over to the one who had ‘taken their orders’. Who Aurora called ‘Demetria’. She lowered her head and I heard her mutter something like “I just want to do my job.”

For the time being, I let her be. After all, there was one other who I felt compelled to introduce myself to.

At a booth right next to Aurora sat the tall strong lady who threw punches. I didn’t have to walk at all to interact with her.

“Y’know, now that you aren’t robbing from us, you ain’t half bad!” Her voice boomed and I swore when she smiled that I could see all of her teeth in full view. I didn’t quite know what it was humans needed teeth for, but the same could be said for any other creature. Why did some have tails? Why did a tree have limbs? There were little things that I might have been best not knowing.

“You either, Sunny! Speaking of, I’d be down for a fight sometime!” Aurora replied. “I’d love to see which of us is stronger!”

Rather than stand in place and ponder such a thing, I went for the option which would yield the most immediate answer: I crawled up on the booth and waved my hand in front of the woman’s face. She leaned back and let out a gasp. For what reason, I didn’t know.

Then, her apparent surprise turned to a smile.

“Oh hey! You’re Tigershark’s new friend, right? Astro, was it?”

I stared at her. I didn’t know what an ‘Astro’ was.

“No…” I whispered. “It wasn’t Astro. But perhaps it can be.”

“Hey, Astraea, what did I tell you about sneaking up on people like that?” Aurora scolded me.

It pained me to admit that I couldn’t remember if she had told me anything about sneaking up on people. If she did, it was probably something like, “only sneak up on people if you plan on stealing from them.”

I was in a little bit of a daze, as I struggled to remember what it was Aurora taught me, when the warm glow of Sunny’s voice pulled me away from my pondering.

“Aha! Astraea, right?” She snapped her fingers as she smiled her bright smile.

“Yes,” I looked down and smiled. “That is what I am called. Because as a human, I must have a name.”

What was but a simple statement on my part caused her to let out a chuckle, then a hiccup.

“Yeah, I suppose that’s how it works, huh?” She replied.

“And you? You are Sunny?”

“I am! Just a big ol’ sunflower!”

I nodded. “So you are a human sunflower. Interesting.”

I crawled back down. I could have stood in place and watched Sunny and Aurora have fun. I was already well aware that as soon as Aurora agreed to return to the diner, she and Sunny got along quite well and relayed tales of their exploits to each other. Then there was the drinking contests, which made me wonder if the reason people drank liquids was to compete with one another. After, there was the singing.

Rather than find out what fun the two could have next, a weary voice rang through my ears. My ears perked up and I turned to face the owner of said voice.

“You’re Astraea, right?” Demetria called toward me, less in an urgent manner and more of a groan. “Are you Aurora’s daughter?”

I sat down and gave it some thought. Maybe I could have given an answer if I knew the meaning of the word ‘daughter’.

“Maybe I am,” I replied, the words sailed off from my mouth.

Aurora then burst into laughter and slammed her cup back onto the table.

“Yeah!” She declared, and a grin had made its way onto her face. “I wouldn’t be surprised, anyway!”

“Oh, I don’t see the resemblance!” Sunny remarked. “But that’s okay! I’m sure you’re a good mom!”

“Nah! She ain’t my kid!” Aurora waved her hand away.

“Maybe I’m everyone’s daughter…” I considered.

Sunny, with her arm slung over the top of the booth called over to Demetria.

“Say hun, why’d you think Astraea was Aurora’s daughter?”

That too was an answer I was eager to hear.

“Because, Aurora is the Roman equivalent of the Greek goddess Eos, who had many children, one of them being Astraea,” Demetria explained. Then she added, as if an afterthought, “my mom’s big into that stuff so she used to tell me those things against my will.”

“Ha! So that’s your problem, huh? You’re getting fiction and reality mixed up!” Aurora roared her response, then turned back into laughter. But maybe I thought I heard, whether she said it aloud or I imagined it, “then again, crazy how Eos was my birth name.”

“Right. I know what’s fiction. I just thought it was too much of a coincidence,” came Demetria’s reply.

“ORDER’S UP!” Rumbled the thundrous voice of a Tigershark from the vicinity of the kitchen. Demetria got up from her seat and let out a heavy sigh.

“That’s my cue,” she mumbled.

I watched as she headed toward the kitchen. Her head was lowered and it was only for a brief moment when she was almost at her destination that she glanced in the direction of another: the one at the far end who told me that it was better not to know her. But that glance came and went and she lowered her head once more.

“Perhaps fiction can also be reality,” I thought aloud.

“You know what? I’ve thought the same thing at times,” Sunny stated. I caught her fixated on the cup in her hands as she swayed it from one end to the other. “How the past is just a fabrication of reality, and so is the future. But while the present is the closest thing to reality we have, we don’t get to hold onto it for very long.”

Those words...I really did learn something new!

“Amen,” I replied.

“Ha! You’re drunk!” Aurora told Sunny.

“Yes, that I am,” Sunny’s voice in that moment reminded me of my own. She smiled, and her head swayed just like she swayed her cup.

After that mysterious creature ran off, I had no more reason to be outside, and thus, I went back into the train and sat in the spot where I stayed.

It would have been a lie to say I wasn’t at least a little bit curious about what was going on outside, but I was satisfied just to know there was still so much out there to learn. Tigershark was a pleasant surprise, so were those creatures, and so then, what else would I be surprised by?

As it turned out, much. When Aurora returned, she stopped by my spot and informed me of something most grand.

“Just so you know, not that it really affects you, but we’re going back to that diner. It just so happens that no one in my crew knows how to cook –”

“Do you?” I asked.

“– Don’t interrupt me! Anyway, as I was saying, no one in my crew knows how to cook, and that kid, loathe as I am to admit, does. So we’re gonna make her feed us again, even if that means going back to that place

“I wish you the best of luck,” I told her. Just as I often did.

So the train moved once again. Headed toward the place known as a ‘diner’. I didn’t know what that was, but I knew Tigershark came from such a place, and Tigershark may already be there by the time we got there. I became overwhelmed with a feeling of excitement.

Once the train stopped once more and I saw everyone run out, that feeling only grew. Yes, I could stay in the same spot where I always sat, or I could find out what was inside such a place. The answer became clear, and I picked myself up, whispered a little prayer to myself, and put one foot in front of the other.

Soon each step on the metallic surface changed to the soft soil of the outside world. Then, I crossed the threshold once more, through the door of what had been referred to as a ‘diner’. Upon opening the door, the wind invited itself in along with me, and I couldn’t help but be carried with it, a cool chill against my hair. With it, I was gifted with a smile upon my face.

There was a smell in the air, of burnt logs and the aroma of cooked food. Overpowering it was the sound of chatter between the Aurora Borealis Bandits and the one who I came to know as Sunny.

Right behind the table where Aurora and a few members of her crew sat was the one who had pointed that weapon on the poor creature. Just like she would continue to be, her head was on her hands, with the rest of her leaned over the table.

“So the bank manager was all, ‘we’re call the authorities’ and then I shot the phone out of his hand and declared, ‘I’ll be the authority on that one!’ You should’ve seen his face! Ha!” Aurora boasted.

“Oh dear, that reminds me of Ray and I’s third anniversary. We really didn’t expect that mansion to have such high security!” Sunny recalled.

The whole crew laughed along.

“Sunny, you must do something about these guys,” the slumped one groaned. “They’re really quite a bother. Need I remind you they already stole from us?”

“Oh ho ho! I get it! You’re one of those dark and brooding types!” Aurora, rather than Sunny, responded.

“That’s not it. I just don’t like noisy people…”

“You need to get a grip! Live a little! We’re already going to give you guys back your goods, so lighten up!” Aurora smiled ear to ear, something which I hadn’t seen from her in quite some time.

“Ugh…” Growled the serious one.

So far it seemed like no one had noticed me. That wasn’t a problem for me, as I often liked to be the silent observer more than anything else.

Then I spotted Tigershark, who walked over to the subdued dark haired lady.

“What’s wrong?” Tigershark asked her.

“I’m fine. I just don’t like high energy or noisy people, and right now there’s a lot of it. It gets to me. I’ve always been this way. Whenever I’d go to a tavern, I’d try to sit as far away from everyone else. For the most part, it worked, but every so often someone would try to approach me and that was the worst thing,” the woman told Tigershark. It seemed they had a sort of connection.

“Why aren’t you doing that now, then? You can just move seats,” Tigershark told her, and then the woman looked up and looked around.

“I forgot that was an option…” Then she sighed and added, “I think I wanted to give being near others a try, but no, I can’t do it.”

Tigershark moved over and I saw the woman shift in her seat and get up, then walked over to the far end of the room and sat down there. I watched as she went right back to the same position she was in before, as if nothing had changed aside from her placement.

I intended to speak with each new face and learn as much as I could about their lives as humans, but for the time being, I sat and allowed everything to go on. As if nothing would have changed whether I was there or not.

Of course, when Demetria returned with the food Aurora ordered, everyone was well aware of my presence. Well, almost everyone.

I watched as Aurora shoveled food into her mouth. Yes, I saw her chew and swallow, as well. Just as she had taught me so long ago. Amen. Then, Tigershark emerged from out of the kitchen and ran over to me.

“Hey! I didn’t know you’d be here, too, Astraea!” Tigershark’s excitement could be heard through her voice.

I stood back up.

“I am!” I replied, and then she went up to me and put her arms around me. Surprised, I asked her what she was doing.

“It’s a hug!” She told me.

I closed my eyes and smiled.

“I see. How interesting.”

Tigershark let go and a joyous expression remained on her face.

“It’s good to see you again!”

I nodded. “And you. Amen.”

Sunny then turned toward me and she seemed fixed on an earlier subject.

“Say, Astraea? Did your parents name you, or did you give yourself that name?” Sunny inquired.

“Neither. It means ‘starry night’.”

“Oh, like the painting!”

“I’m sorry,” I informed her. “I don’t know what that is.”

“Oh, well, it’s like a drawing, except like...hmm...I don’t know if I’m sober enough to explain.”

I nodded.

“Well, anyway,” the dilemma of explanation appeared to have been mended. “How did you come about such a name?”

Ah. I believed I understood at last.

“The first utterance of such a name…” I closed my eyes as I focused on the recollection. “It must have been about a few thousand years ago. Not my first memory as a human, but early on in my existence. I had wandered into a town late at night, and someone ran up to me and asked what I was doing out so late at night. I didn’t understand what they meant, so I told them, in their language, that I was walking. They then asked who I was, and so I pointed at the night sky. There was an audible gasp, and then they said ‘Astraea’.”

“Wait, hold up –” Aurora leaned forward. “What’s this about thousands of years? I thought you’ve only been around for 18!”

I nodded. “They have not been sequential years.”

Aurora scrunched up her face and shook her head. “Never mind, I think I’m too drunk to understand!”

“Well,” Sunny leaned forward, still interested. “I may be drunk, but I’d like to know what you mean.”

“It’s simple: some years I’ve existed in have been far ahead, while others, far behind. I’ve visited the 19th century, and the 15th, and now I am here.”

“I see! I think if I got to experience years that way, I’d love to make plenty of memories.”

“Do you not?” I wondered. “Isn’t that how it is for humans?”

To my surprise, she shook her head.

“Not for any that I know, no.”

“I see. How do you experience them?”

“Well, let’s say...there’s this year, then the next year is this one, plus one, and I’m there that year, too. As long as I’m still alive next year, anyway. I was here the year before, too.”

Her explanation was intriguing but as a human, I had to abide.

“I see. Then the next year for you will be the next year for me as well.”

“Cool!” She made her fingers into a weird shape. Like a sideways L. “Can’t wait!”

But those words made no sense. She would have to wait. As would I if I were to experience life the way any other human did.

Tigershark then blinked and looked over.

“Hey, is Demetria okay?” She asked us all. Or maybe just Sunny. For I knew that I had no answer to her question.

Sunny looked over as well, but just like Demetria earlier with that dark haired woman, it was more of a quick glance.

“I don’t know, kiddo,” she told Tigershark. “She’s just been like that since she woke up. Why don’t you try asking her yourself?”

“OK!” Tigershark grinned and ran over to the table where Demetria had chosen to sit at. I followed Tigershark as I wished to learn more as well.

She sat in much the same way that the other one at the opposite end sat; except in Demetria’s case, her face was buried into her arms, so all that could be seen of her head was her hair.

“Hello! Earth to Demetria!” Tigershark leaned in close and yelled when she could have just whispered.

“She is already on Earth, along with us,” I informed Tigershark.

“No, it’s an expression!” Tigershark corrected me.

“A smile is an expression. So is a frown.”

“That’s just what people call it! I don’t know why, either!”

Demetria lifted her head just a little.

“What do you guys want?” She asked in that same weary voice I heard from her earlier. “No one wants to order anything right now, do they? Can’t I take a break?”

“Of course, but I’m worried about you,” Tigershark replied.

“Why? What do you have to worry about? You’re just a kid.”

Tigershark puffed up her cheeks and scowled. Because of the image, I wanted to laugh, but I didn’t.

“So what? Tell me what’s wrong!”

Demetria set her head back down and although muffled, I heard her say:

“Isn’t it obvious? I wanted to help out, and I thought I was doing a good job, too, but…”

“I can’t hear you,” Tigershark told her.

To that, Demetria shifted her head to the side, so that one eye and half of her nose poked through.

“What does it matter? Can’t I be a burden in peace?”

“If I don’t get to, neither do you,” Tigershark crossed her arms as she gave her response.

That made Demetria scowl as well.

“Look, it was all going fine until I fainted. All because I saw something that no one else saw, probably because it wasn’t there. No, it wasn’t just that. I freaked out when I shouldn’t have. I made a fool of myself like I always do and let Remora down and because of that, Sunny had to carry me back.”

“Remora?” I asked. I heard that word once before, from Aurora, but I didn’t ask then.

Tigershark pointed over to the dark haired woman at the other end of the diner.

“She’s the one way over there!” Tigershark told me. “She’s not bad, but a little weird sometimes.”

I nodded. So that was the name assigned to her. Remora.

“Do you think she’s mad at you?” Tigershark asked Demetria.

“Wouldn’t blame her if she was,” Demetria muttered.

“I’ll go ask her!”

“Don’t do that,” Demetria told Tigershark. But by then, Tigershark had already walked off.

“Damn it,” she shook her head. “I was hoping not to be an embarrassment for at least a little while.”

I didn’t know what that meant, but I decided to follow Tigershark. Before I made it very far, I heard Demetria say.

“Just what are you, really?”

I didn’t know if it was addressed to me or another. Since I didn’t know for sure, I chose not to answer.

Although Tigershark was further ahead than me, I heard the exchange before I could make it over. As quiet or loud as it was, noise carries far. Like the creak of a floorboard, or the howls of the wind.

“Demetria thinks you’re mad at her,” Tigershark initiated the conversation.

“Why would she think that? It’s true she can be annoying sometimes, as well as confusing, but she’s not bad enough to warrant anger,” Remora’s voice had hints of confusion, as well.

“Because she fainted!”

“I’m not mad. I just think she should have prepared better.”

“She said she saw something that no one else saw, too!”

“Yes, I didn’t see what she described. I’m not sure what that was about, either. One possible explanation could be that the extreme temperatures made her hallucinate, but other strange things have been happening. Like those creatures. So I don’t want to dismiss her claims outright unless I know for sure that it was nothing.”

“So you mean...um…?” Tigershark didn’t seem to understand. Indeed, there were a few things I didn’t as well. Few, or many.

“I’m frustrated that I don’t fully understand, but I’m not mad. That’s all.”

“What about you?” Tigershark asked, and I saw her hands balled into fists, as if the answer was of an urgent matter.

“What do you mean?” Answered Remora. Wise answer, indeed.

“Are you good? You look down, too!”

“I’m just the same as I always am. I just look this way when I sit, I guess.”

“Oh yeah! That’s true!”

Tigershark then ran toward me.

“Good news, Astraea! Remora said she’s not mad!”

“Yes, I heard,” I let her know.

“Let’s go tell Demetria!”

We headed back. Lucky for us, Demetria hadn’t moved at all from where she sat.

“Remora told me she’s not mad!” Tigershark delivered the news.

Demetria lifted her head and sat up. She still didn’t look too happy for what should have been great news. Her eyes were half open and she didn’t smile.

“Thanks, but I can’t help but feel like I let her down,” she said at last.

“You didn’t,” I assured her. For that, I was certain.

“How do you figure?” She asked me.

“Because you didn’t pick her up. You first have to lift someone up in order to let them down.”

Demetria put her palm up to her face and shook her head.

“I don’t know why I bothered,” she groaned. Then, it looked like a struggle to do so, but she managed something of a smile. “Still, if anyone’s going to lift anyone up, I’d want it to be her lifting me.”

“Yay! You’re dumb again!” Tigershark cheered. “Er...I mean funny!”

“What?!” Demetria spat out. “Whatever, at this point I’ll take it.”

“I like you more when you say silly things!”

“I’m not really trying most of the time, it just comes out that way.”

Then, all three of us looked around. Well, I looked around because the other two were.

“By the way, where did Remora go?” Demetria asked.

“Probably back to her room,” Tigershark answered. “She said she doesn’t really it when it’s noisy.”

“I see. So some people don’t like it when there’s a lot of noise,” I noted. As long as there was more to learn in my current setting, I had no reason to depart.

“Can’t say I blame her,” Demetria said as well. “If I didn’t have to be out here as part of my job, I’d probably be in my room right now with my headphones in and chilling to some orchestral music.”

“By the way, what did you see earlier?” Tigershark asked Demetria. In response, Demetria’s eyes widened and she opened her mouth, but then shook her head.

“It doesn’t really matter. There probably wasn’t anything there.”

For what it was worth, I felt a few words of encouragement come to me, and I just had to dispense them.

“Don’t worry, I believe you saw something,” I told her.

“You do?”

“Yes,” I closed my eyes and smiled. “Because I don’t know everything that humans are capable of seeing.”

“...How do I keep falling for this?”

I walked about the room. There was still much more to take in. Few details of the diner stuck to me. Perhaps I could focus once more on the fog on the windows, how the glass had cracks in a few places. Or how the ceiling lamps which hung above each table were covered in cobwebs. There was also the smoothness of the floor, and how clean everything looked, despite the mess underneath Aurora’s table, as well as a few spots underneath other tables.

But no. Despite how fascinating it all was, I just couldn’t focus on what made it what it was. So I elected once more to sit in the middle of the room.

After a while of commotion, Aurora and her gang decided it was time to head off. I heard, but I dare not move. During the time when everyone had their fun, I had given some thought to a few things.

“Hey, aren’t you coming with us?” Aurora called.

I shook my head.

“I appreciate all that I have experienced with you guys, but I feel that I must venture elsewhere in order to learn more.”

“Fine by me, but I’ll sure miss having a good luck charm around!”

Those were her parting words. As for me…

I was ready to walk out the door and see where my own two feet would take me, but I was stopped by Sunny.

“Are you sure you want to go out there right now? It’s pretty cold out. Plus you never know when a blizzard might hit.”

I smiled.

“As long as I continue to pray and move one step in front of the other, I will be fine. Amen.”

Demetria was also next to Sunny and she asked me a question as well:

“Are you religious or something? What’s with always saying ‘amen’?”

Ah. Something which I could answer.

“My first memory as a human was seeing someone praying. I didn’t know why they did it, but it looked fun. After they said their prayer, they said ‘amen’. So, I figured that must be something humans do.”

“Not really. I mean, certain people do that, but they don’t do it like you do. Do you believe in a god or something?”

“I know no god,” nor did I know what one was.

“Well, maybe it’s better that way, I guess,” Demetria shrugged.

“Why is that?”

Demetria didn’t seem to have a good answer, but then said, “well, I guess it’s fine either way. Besides, you already share the same name as a goddess.”

“I don’t know what that is, either. Are those human things?”

“Err…” Again, Demetria struggled. “In a way? Also, why do you keep saying ‘human’ so much?”

“Because I am one,” I answered. “Amen.”

She shook her head. “For some reason, I’m not really sure about that one…”

Sunny put her finger on her chin and looked up, then said at last:

“Whatever you are, I still think you should stay the night here. Maybe the weather will be better tomorrow?”

Yes. That might have been wise. Or it may not have been. I didn’t know what good or bad weather was. I only saw different weather. Rain, sun, hail, snow, wind. Such nice scenery they produced, but I didn’t see what made them different from one another aside from aesthetic. Still, I put my hands together and decided to pray for my answer.

After a few seconds of silence, I said “amen” and then told her:

“It’s been decided. I must be fated to stay for tonight.”

“Good! I think that’s for the best!” Sunny grinned. Demetria, however…

“Where would she even sleep? I don’t want her in my room.”

Ah, a mysterious word.

“What is sleep?” I asked them.

“I ask myself the same question sometimes,” Sunny laughed.

“Tell me about it,” Demetria added. “Well, g’night. I’m gonna enjoy the silence of my room.”

So I was left alone with Sunny. Tigershark was somewhere. Not where I was. Maybe in another room.

“Where is Tigershark?” I asked Sunny.

“Oh, she’s probably with Remora. They share a room together,” she explained to me.

“I see.”

“As for you, you can stay the night with me, if you want. We’ve got a big bedroom upstairs.”

“There are stairs?” I pondered. Yes. I knew what those were.

“Yeah, c’mon! Follow me!”

So I did, and through a door in the back of the diner was a hallway. Through that hallway, there was a couple of chairs, as well as a desk. But as I looked around, I was at a crossroads.

“Aren’t you coming?” Sunny asked, and I looked over. She had chosen the path on the left.

On the far end of that path was a flight of stairs. Sunny opened a hatch on the ceiling, and then we ascended. Where we emerged was a large room with lots of objects all around the room. Boxes and dresser drawers, shapes of several things covered up by sheets and curtains. There was a dim glow to the room, and on a small dresser was a lamp. When I looked ahead back to those covered objects, I thought I caught a glimpse of darkness in the distance.

Next to the lamp was a thing called a bed, with four stakes on each end and a curtain over it. I remembered what a bed was because Aurora was in one when I met her. Although the purpose of such a thing eluded me.

“Here,” Sunny pulled out an object from underneath the bed: it looked like a caterpillar made of cloth, with a zipper in the middle.

“What is that?” I asked her.

“A sleeping bag,” she told me.

I still didn’t understand what the bag did.

“Can I sit on it?” I asked.

“Uh, sure? Go ahead. Anyway, good night.”

“That it is,” I agreed.

Sunny went into the bed and she laid down, a ritual which I never quite understood, other than it must have been a human thing.

“I may wander around,” I let Sunny know, just in case it were to happen. She might have wanted me to stay put, but I didn’t know if I had it in me to do so.

“Mm. Got some kind of wanderlust?” Her voice seemed to soften as she spoke.

I didn’t know how to answer. That was fine as well.

True to the information I gave her, after an unknown amount of time, I departed from Sunny and made my way back down the stairs. The halls had darkened. Each room I passed, I tried to open the door. One of the doors would not open, as if a spell had been put upon it. But, on the right end of the hallway was a door which did open, as doors often did.

Inside was Tigershark in a ‘sleeping bag’ as Sunny called it. Beside her was a bed, somewhat less fancy, but no less large, and the occupant was Remora. Both of the two had their eyes closed.

“I wonder what they are doing. Perhaps they are praying,” I whispered into the still air of the room. “Amen.”

I walked a few steps closer and sat down next to Tigershark. There was a faint sound of breaths. Inhale, then exhale. As for her face, I leaned my head closer to it until my gaze was directly over her. My eyes were wide and full of wonder. I knew patience. I knew silence. But I didn’t know what she was doing, so I kept my position and waited for her to tell me.

Much time passed yet, and at last, her eyes opened. Wide as well, and she let out a gasp, then sat up.

“Oh, it’s just you, Astraea,” Tigershark spoke through a strange exhalation as she made patting motions against her mouth. “I had a dream there was a big scary monster staring at me, but now I’m not really sure what it looked like.”

I tilted my head ever so slight.

“Dream?” I asked. “What is that?”

“You know, like when you sleep and things happen, but not really,” she explained.

“I see.” Although I still had yet to know what sleep was.

“Anyway, what are you doing here? I thought you would have left with those bad guys.”

I shook my head. “I was asked to stay. So I am here.”

“Oh, okay. And what were you doing next to me?”

“I was wondering what you were doing,” I answered.

“I was just sleeping.”

Before I could ask what that was, I heard a shift in the bed next to me, then a low growl.

“What are you doing in here?” Spoke the voice, and I looked up. Remora sat up with a gun pointed at me.

“I was watching Tigershark sleep,” I told her.

“Get out. Now.”

I nodded and obliged as I departed the room. Behind me, I could hear a conversation between Tigershark and Remora play out:

“What was that for?!”

“That thing could have been dangerous.”

“She’s not! She’s my friend! She just got curious! She wouldn’t hurt anyone!”

“You don’t know that. You need to be more cautious.”

While I found the conversation interesting, I didn’t have much of a comment for it. Danger...I knew what that meant, or at least what it entailed. Without any example of it, however, all I could say was that danger was unknown to me.

I decided to take my stroll back up the stairs and I sat until dawn. If there was anything I was disappointed by, it was not having the concept of ‘sleep’ explained to me.

Aurora, Eos. No. Neither of those.

Dawn arrived. Such a brightness leaked through every corner of the room which I occupied, alongside Sunny. The sun and the dawn, how one always followed the other, but in which order, I wasn’t sure of.

Rather than wait for Sunny, I descended the stairs on my own. I’ve come to understand that at times, humans had a routine which they practiced depending on the time of day. Through that hall, into the middle path which once I opened the door at the end of it, I would be brought back into the diner. Before I opened the door, or before I chose to, I heard the voices of Demetria and Remora from the other side.

“I’m telling you, there’s something off about her! I don’t know what, but I just can’t shake this feeling!” Demetria’s tone of voice was as if she were descending a mountain.

“Is this a concern for you, or is this just an excuse to talk to me?” Remora asked.

“Does it matter?”

“Well, even if it’s nothing, I have to admit, seeing her in my room last night disturbed me.”

“Whoa, really?”

I opened the door at last and before I looked in the direction of the two, I studied the floor. Their pattern, like a few of the windows; little cracks, either for decoration, or from being worn down. I wondered what it was about it that made it look so clean in spite of that. Without an answer, I looked back up and toward them, and waved.

“Hello, you two,” I greeted, the frost in my voice spread throughout the room.

Remora got up and reached into her pocket. She pulled something out of it, some kind of circular object.

“Oh, good idea! Scan her with the thing just like you did with me when I returned from that mansion!”

Remora gave a short nod, then poked the object. After a short interval of time, her face stretched to a look of shock.

“What? What is it?” Demetria asked her.

“It’s...I don’t know,” Remora shook her head.

“What do you mean?!”

“This device is mainly for detecting if someone has been infected with a cosmic entity. However, I don’t detect anything of the sort on this thing called ‘Astraea’. That said...I don’t detect anything else, either.”

“Meaning?”

“She’s not an infected human, so there may not be a threat, but at the same time...I don’t think she’s human. Rather, it’s like there’s nothing in front of me.”

I smiled.

“Perhaps your object does not detect humans?” I suggested.

Remora shook her head.

“It would at least show the shape of...something,” she put the object back into her pocket. “For the time being, you don’t seem to pose a threat.”

“It seems that as a human, you too have much more to learn,” I assured her. “Fret not, for so do I. Amen.”

“Maybe it’s that my device only shows someone or something infected by a cosmic entity, but not the entity itself,” she sounded unsure of herself. Conflicted. That, or stubborn.

“I don’t know what a cosmic entity is,” I told her, then I spun around. “I just know what I have learned.”

“It would be bad news if you were.”

Then Demetria also looked in a bit of a panic.

“I forgot! I gotta sweep and mop the floors! And I haven’t even had breakfast yet! Yikes!”

She ran off and I wished to observe. However, my chance at observation would have to wait, as Tigershark emerged from the back.

“Hey! Good to see you again!” She greeted me.

I turned around.

“Could you tell me what sleep is now?” I asked her.

“Um...it’s like...you lay down and close your eyes and after a while you’re not awake?” She made her attempt at an explanation. It was a good one, yet…

“What is ‘awake’?” I asked next.

“It’s like, what we are right now?” She didn’t seem to grasp the concept well. It would seem I would have to find another to ask at some point.

“Say, what would you like for breakfast?” Tigershark asked me.

“Breakfast?”

“Like, food?”

“Yes. Food is interesting. Do you have anything with apples?”

“Uh...I can make an apple pie? But that takes all day.”

“I can be patient,” I assured her.

There were no visitors throughout the day. No new faces. At one point, Demetria commented on it.

“You know, I’m pretty sure Aurora didn’t return all of our money,” she put her hands on her hips and let out a sigh. Tigershark, right behind her, said instead:

“Yeah, but she paid for her food and drinks! That still means we made money!”

“If we didn’t get all of our stuff back, I’m pretty sure that’s a loss for us,” Demetria countered.

Ah, I wondered about Aurora and her gang, myself. Wondered what they were up to at the moment, and where they might end up next. I too wondered that, as I felt the urge to wander into new lands call for me. But before that, I was offered a slice of apple pie.

The taste was like apples, but there was a sweetness to it, and a liquid substance which leaked out from my mouth. The same process applied as with an apple – take a bite, chew, then swallow. But in a sort of twist, a hard and flaky substance also sat next to the apples and sweet liquid. All in all, it was an interesting taste.

“Thank you for the experience,” I told Tigershark.

Then I went to the door, ready to depart to a new land. Sunny was beside me once again, as were the other three humans.

“Are you sure you’ll be safe out there?” Sunny asked once again.

“I will be where my footsteps take me,” I assured her. Before I went far past the diner and into the soft, snowy unknown, Tigershark ran after me.

“Will I see you again?” She asked.

I smiled.

“Yes. Whenever you see stars in the night sky, I will be there.”

“I don’t get it, but okay!” Tigershark grinned. With that, I walked off, and looked back, only a quick glance, back at the others. Before long, however long was, I could no longer see the diner. As for where I would turn up, I wouldn’t know until I knew. Amen.

#remoras full #writing #fiction #stories #slice of life #drama #comedy #astraea #cosmic entity #curiosity #wanderlust #diner

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x-avavarts-x · 4 years

Text

A final fantasy fanfiction for my oc and her family.

Characters: Cor Leonis, Laura lucis caelum (my oc), Aurora Tummelt (my oc), Ardyn lucis caelum, Loqi Tummelt

Warning:

My national language is not English. I apologize for spelling and grammar mistakes.

Summary:

When your flesh and blood are mixed with pain and you are nurtured with it, you dedicate your whole being to those who were trying to improve your suffering by touching their love. What's wrong with you? It does hurt to lose these loved ones, even thinking about it bothers you. At that time .. you grab everything to stop the destiny .. like a bird stuck in a cage and trying for freedom, you knock yourself on the door and the wall to find a way ... and if you find it. Nothing can stop you, even if it is a God!

part:5

The darkness of the night surrounded the land of Eos, and there was no light except the light of the stars and the full moon! The search teams were sent to unprotected areas so that in addition to cleaning up, they could find the princess, as laura had not been heard from for almost a day, and Noctis, as her brother, did not know where she was. The last person who was ready to be sent was none other than the marshal! He could no longer sit up and be told that his ear was not willing to listen. He stood next to his motorcycle and checked the tank of it. He heard Monica's voice before he got on. Slowly he turned his head towards Monica. The woman's face was so disheveled that Cor could understand that there was no good news:

"Marshal!"

The ever-tangled frown of Cor this time thickened his eyebrows. He raised his hands from his motorcycle to turn all the way to Monica!

"Say, Monica!"

Concerned, Monica slowly turned to the two objects in her hands. Monica's short look gave to him a complete answer. He stared at Monica's hands, he knew the mobile phone well, and the broken syringe next to it ... he didn't lose himself! He restrained his senses and slowly took the rest of the syringe, he didn't know about the medicine of the nymphs and all his information of Nifs and this medicine ... nothing is right and a hundred percent disaster has befallen Laura! He just hoped she didn't get to the lab! He put the syringe in Monica's hand but grabbed Laura's phone.

" I'm going to follow her! Tell to glaives to control each base of the Nifs so far.

He put Laura's phone in his pocket and got on his motorbike, hoping he could get to Laura sooner than Verstael! That's why he used the last power of his motor and broke the asphalt of the road, he wanted to do the right thing once and for all and keep the one he loves. He had never been so worried about that girl from the beginning. He had doubts. Laura didn't know how she was fooled by that genius! That was her personality, and he probably put herself in the place of that girl and Noctis in Loqi's place! This made Cor angry! From childhood until now, when they were older, he was always and everywhere angry for Laura's work, and now she makes cor angry. So much so that he finally had to swear at Laura to calm him down:

"The staring girl is restless! Get somewhere to sit !!! What's wrong with you? It's so Better than loqi die. To hell that he dying"

Contrary to Cor's decision to go all out, it was early in the night where he didn't know exactly where he was. Just when the monsters are slowly crawling out of the ground to look for their prey! For destroyed every fountain of light and drank the drops of blood of the creatures that saw their food. Certainly, these monsters did not make an exception for a fighter who is in a hurry at night because of his goal! And or was not worried about facing them! The only Cor's concern was when he lost the time. He tried as hard as he could to leave the giants that were getting green in the middle of the road, but it wasn't possible, and if he wanted to get past them, he would definitely damage his motorcycle. It took a long time! The sudden blow of the long blade of an Iron Giant that right in front of Cor finally blocked his way! It was hit so hard on the ground that it left a bit of asphalt! Cor could hardly keep his balance, but not completely! The motor hit the ground from the side and also hit Cor on the ground! He was stabbed several times until a rock finally stopped him from moving. He got up hard and tried to keep his balance. He had a blow to the head, so he couldn't see properly, and he was dizzy! But now was not the time to fall in front of Iron Giant, who was coming towards him! He shook his head once to get rid of his dizziness and ran towards Iron Giant with a frown of anger! This was not the first time he had fought with one of them! He showed a dagger in his hand and threw it at Iron Giant, and Varp Strike hit him on the head! The monster saw that the fighting man flies around and flutters his nerves! It wanted to crush him between his strong paws, Cor's acting was much faster. Fighting between two Iron Giants was not an easy one for everyone! But Cor knew what to do! With a series of twists and turns, he tried to confront both of them with blows that they wanted to enter to him. But Cor passed through them quickly, forcing his Katana's blade to force them to attack each other. And so it happened. At the request of Iron Giant, another of that buried its second cousin. Cor roar of his clenched teeth made it clear that he wanted to finish the monster's job! To reach Laura, he had to cross this dam, and this dam was nothing compared to the next dams! The monster's heavy object fell to the ground and at the same time, Cor landed on the ground. He looked a little at the monster's corpse, which was sinking into the earth like ice cream. The dizziness had returned to him, and the coldness behind his head, after each gentle wind, showed him that his head had been damaged! He pulled his motorbike to the side of the road and sat quietly on the ground, next to the stone mockery that had struck him. Only a short time can he get rid of his dizziness. He knocked his Katana to the ground between his legs and wrapped his arms around it. Katana, something would be buried in the corner of the warehouse if it Laura wasn't !! Laura .. Laura .. Laura ..! All of Cor's life was full of Laura. Even when he asked her to let him go, the day he rejected Laura and told her with a ridiculous lie that he didn't want her... It's true that girl didn't do anything but a very formal behavior... but it was always her eyes whose light illuminated Cor's life. Her eyes are always full of words that said her emotions. He tucked his hand into his pocket and pulled laura's phone out gently, turned it on to see that it was work yet or not. Its screen was broken, and it was like a rope for Laura, who was very sensitive to her phone. He made it clear in the hope of getting some information. When the lock screen comes up, Cor's look stared at the image. He knew thet photo well.

He remembered exactly what had happened. That day ... was perhaps one of the few days that Cor remembers so clearly! It was the day he revealed his feelings to Laura as a gift! A single laugh made him sad. From that story .. 20 years had passed and these twenty years had apparently not suffocated the enthusiasm inside the photo! A photo that was also a copy of it on Cor's phone. He picked up his mobile phone and stared at its background. Both of them were behaving unintentionally. He got up from the ground and put both cell phones in his pocket, took off his katana the ground, and looked at the necklace that shone with a soft, blue light. After Laura's return, she gave her back the necklace!

The necklace that had been tied to Katana all this time was an important part of the past of the marshal of Lucis!

A mile away from Cor, the princess sat in the shade of a tree to be somewhat safe from the sting of the heavy rain! The willow tree acted just like an umbrella. The sound of thunder echoed throughout the forest after its beautiful light, making it difficult for Aurora to bear that heavy atmosphere. Her gaze was fixed on the ground and she was standing under the rain. She did not dare to take even a deep breath in the face of that heavy frown. Her face was partially wrinkled with tears. She desperately wanted to shout her helplessness with each of her cells. Eventually, the frown filled Laura's eyes to some extent.

"Sit down, Nif!"

Laura's calm voice and cool tone gave Aurora a little confidence. She stood next to Laura and then sat down in front of her with Silent and trembling. Laura's hands were on fire to compensate for the slight heat of the fire from Aurora's frostbite, there was no good wood to burn, and almost all the wood was wet. He glanced around to find something to burn, but it wasn't something that wasn't wet. She was stunned and stared at Aurora.

" Who told you to steal me so that you will regret it now!"

The touch of thunder's light again shook the existence of Aurora! She locked her hands together and continued in a trembling tone:

"My brother has been captured! I ... I had the right to choose between you and my brother!"

Slowly she sent her wet hair behind his cold red ears and put her hand on her other:

" But my conscience did not allow anyone to save my life to cause trouble!"

Laura's serious gaze was fixed on Aurora. She didn't show any tenderness anymore because of her trust had broken. However, she tried to calm the girl down, although her trust was shattered, if Aurora wanted to harm her, she would take her with her as she stole from the camp without giving her the right to choose! She took a deep breath and stared at Aurora again:

"Where is Loqi?

Laura's question surprised Aurora's eyes, she didn't expect Laura to ask Loqi for his place.

"What's up .. you ask!"

Laura's serious tone did not change. As she stood, she looked at Aurora:

"I'll help you get him back. But then it's up to you. I suggest you don't come to us! Altisia is a better place for you!

She walked to her car, without looking back and realizing that she was all under error. She quickly got up and ran after Laura. She was both happy and worried! When she reached her side, took a step:

"What if we can't escape? Your life is in danger!

"do not worry! Nothing bad happened! Focus on saving your brother, not me !!"

She opened the car door and sat inside. She started and waited for Aurora to sit down. Aurora sits in the car a little late after Laura. She closed the car door and opened his hands. Again slowly turned to Laura, she wanted to thank her, but Laura cut her off!

"Can you give my notebook on the dashboard?"

With a very short pause, Aurora turned to the dashboard, opened it and took the black notebook that was inside and again, with a little pause, she gave it to Laura! It was a wonder to her what she was doing! In front of Aurora's curious eyes, Laura was writing a short note. That was characteristic of her and a reliable leaf. She removed the paper from the notebook and turned to Aurora:

"If something happens to me, send it to a Lucian! Not everyone! Must be a glaive or a hunter! Got it? Don't let Cor see you! Make sure you will be killed by him!

Aurora's fingers slowly grab the sheet. She just nodded because he didn't know what was going to happen! But Laura was measuring the sides. That was her job! She was going to be trapped. She had to think about what she should do if she got stuck!

It was two days ago. And there was no investigation into Loqi! There was blood on his wounds and he didn't have any color on his face! He hoped to be saved, but he had no hope except his sister! His sister did not know how to fight well. There was no one in the outside world for her. It was not clear at all whether she was dead or alive. He breathed a sigh of relief. he was crying. He promised their mother to take care of his sister! His sister always took care of her ... but Loqi could not handle this responsibility! He was burning in the torment of conscience and longing for the past when he heard a familiar voice:

"Loqi!!"

He raised his head quickly. He was sure he wasn't wrong! She was his sister! He was so shocked that he didn't know exactly what to say at that moment. Aurora was there, blindfolded! In the face of Loqi's shock, Aurora was opening the chains by worried. She was sure that Loqi had become so weak that he could not take a single step. But when she released Loqi's hands, she fell into his brother's arms. Loqi hugged his sister with one hand and squeezed her. His face was frowning. But not out of anger! Out of incompetence to take care of his sister. But when his eyes caught the princess of Lucis, he separated Aurora from her and led her to the back of himself, whispering softly:

"What the hell is she doing here!"

Loqi's reaction makes a gentle grin on Laura's red lips. Slowly she took a step, at the same time moving her right hand away from the tension to the right and stretched out, and showed his sword in his hand:

" That damn thing here to save you, useless!!

Aurora grabbed Loqi's hand and threw it around her neck to support her brother. A look of redness was sewn from Loqi's anger and he laughed:

" I got help from her, Loqi! If she wasn't, I wouldn't be able to come to you!

Loqi's anger multiplied when he heard his sister's words! He was insulted! A savage had come far from civilization, save him ?? He couldn't control his anger and scolded his sister:

"It's so better if I die, but I don't see that a Lucian come to save me!"

Aurora's frowns were so intertwined that she had to pull Loqi back:

"Now is not the time for these games.we We need to go out soon!"

He opened his mouth to answer his sister when the princess took his other hand. He screamed and cursed at her:

"My hand is Broken, fool !!

Laura's cold face stared at him. Suddenly, she grabbed Loqi by the legs and lifted him on her hands. She stared calmly into his surprised eyes and answered in a low voice:

"you talk too much!"

She went to the door with long steps. Loqi was heavy, but Laura could take him to the car! With a pause from the boundless surprise, Aurora followed them. Did Laura lift Loqi with that anatomy? She didn't think laura's genetics were so advanced that she didn't weigh herself! Loqi's gaze was still dazed, and his mouth was a little open. Was that girl stronger than him? He hit her and shouted at once:

"Who let you lift me up !! leave me!!"

Laura's gaze remained a little gloomy on Loqi's eyes. She tilted her lips to show that she was upset! She stood up and suddenly released Loqi, and the wounded general fell to the ground. He moaned in pain and shouted:

"You're Wild!!"

In response to Loqi's behavior, Laur

a's composure made him worse. She lifted her outstretched legs and crossed Loqi:

" You told me to leave!"

Aurora was still behind. She felt tired of these mischievous behaviors. Her pride and drums were empty, Loqi was annoying him! She took her hand and lifted him up and began to growl:

"Please behave properly, baby! Do you want me to beat you?"

Laura's short but obvious laugh broke Loqi's pride out of those stupid, backward Lucian. He got up and gritted his teeth:

"Can't you respect me against others, hamster?

"Shut up my dear, shut up! You will never listen to me, I am your older sister and I say treat the princess correctly!"

Away from the sibling fights, Laura's senses were all the way to the gray and glittering alleys. Everything was suspicious. There are few soldiers in here...and this is the absolute silence of the base! She stood quietly in her place. Right where a few corridors meet at one point! She squeezed the handle of her royal sword in her hand and walked over slowly. She didn't know why she felt behind two indefinite corridors that stood on the left and right, there are soldiers. Suddenly she turned first to her right, she was right! And because her guess was correct, she was able to deflect the bullets that were fired at her! No doubt she dropped her sword right in the middle of the gray-clad soldier's head! She went to him and pulled his sword out of his body. She turned her head to see how siblings were doing. A soldier was about to shoot! She frowned and extended her hand to Aurora and Loqi! The semicircular wall of blue hexagonal glass was bright and shiny, protecting Loqi and his sister. And Laura killed the soldier right above them with a Warp Strike! Loqi look at that girl! Laura's speed was very high .. just like the descriptions he heard about her! She reacted very quickly! The wall was destroyed by the order of the princess. But before even a conversation could take place between them, the volume of gray-clad soldiers shocked them! Loqi was a trait that protected aurora for as long as he lived. He showed his sword in his hand and wanted to fight, but Laura didn't give him a chance to react. She attacked the soldiers. Attacked with force! She wanted to see their blood flow on the ground! She wanted revenge! She hated all the Nifs, even those who had helped save them!

"Take your brother and take him out of here, Aurora!"

Unlike Aurora, who wanted to carry out the order, Loqi tried to attack the soldiers by slandering his health by slamming his weapon between his hands! In these cases, whatever Aurora did, Loqi refused to answer and did his job! She closed her eyes slowly and tried to conjure her weapon! It was only when a soldier attacked Loqi from behind! She threw her sword at the soldier and punched him in the back! She put her foot on the soldier's body and pulled out his sword by pressing it! Two and a half people, among the soldiers who were attacked by tsunami! The fight was breathtaking! And it was just as breathtaking as Loqi saw more damage! With the bullet hitting his back, time stood still for Aurora! She gave up the fight and ran to her brother! Loqi's body was in a lot of pain and he couldn't stand this one! Aurora's worried face was fixed on her brother. She threw his healthy hand around her neck and lifted him! Loqi's narrow breaths did not allow Aurora to fight! And this is what Laura touched when Aurora asked Loqi to stand up! Again, Laura became the savior of those two people! By sending a wave of electricity, he destroyed several soldiers who had gathered around the brother and sister. In front, however, she stood behind them and looked at the soldiers! She turned her head slightly back, but her gaze was on Aurora:

"I'll open the way! Take out your brother from here! Take the car and go! Find my brother and tell Gladio to help you! Don't let to Ignis sees you! Prompto is also a mouthful! Find Gladio! Tell him to help you and I sent you! Got it?

"I can't leave you alone!"

" nothing happened! Three! Two! One!!"

With Laura's attack on the soldier, Aurora did not waste time against her will. She did her best to get Loqi out! The soldiers had nothing to do with those two thoughts! Their goal was Princess of Lucis! Their goal was what the chancellor had ordered! Ardyn stood and stared at Laura's struggle from inside the monitors, a gentle but evil smirk that parted her well-shaped lips. Ardyn's goal was in the trap. But he was sure that if he didn't enter the scene himself, Laura would kill everyone! Slowly, he moved away from the monitors. As Ardyn had predicted, Laura had killed all the soldiers. He was breathing angrily and her face was covered in blood! She felt weak and tired and also hurt. She turned her head towards her hand, she was shot! She put her other hand on her arm and walked to the exit of the base, though weak but strong. But before she could reach the door, the sound of someone clapping caught her attention, turned to her place softly to see who she was facing!

"A unique race! Suitable for the grandchildren of my dear brother!"

Unlike Noctis and his friends and peers .. Laura knew the man well! Ardyn Lucis caelum! Someone who made the crystal that crushed his father! She placed her hand gently and conjured her sword:

"See who is here! Dear uncle of Caelums House!"

Ardyn's laughter scratched Laura's ears, his voice was not loud but it was annoying for Laura! Slowly he stood in front of Laura. He gently pulled laura's wet hair from her forehead and then pulled it away:

"It makes me proud that an alive Caelum knows me well !!

Laura couldn't let anyone like Ardyn stay behind her. So she quickly turned to him, but Ardyn's dark force was faster. While he was holding his hands in black and purple smoke, and then he hit it in Laura's chest! The darkness hit Laura so hard that she jumped a few feet back and hit the wall hard. She fell to the ground unconscious. What Ardyn wanted was to give her star-scroog.. he wanted Noctis to experience killing his sister!

#ffxv #final fantasy xv #ffxv oc #ff15 #laura lucis caelum #cor leonis #ardyn lucis caelum #ardyn izunia #loqi tummelt #aurora tummelt #my oc #my fanfic #ffxv fanfic

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manggojooz · 5 years

Text

Pick A Side (Part 4)

pairing: Taehyung x reader

word count: 2,050 approx

genre: university!au; angst; romance; slice of life stuff

warnings: none

previous part: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

comment: sorry this took long, I hope it’s not too shabby.. sending thanks to every one who gave me support for this series!

taglist: @destiel1597 @mila271 @hopetookmysoul @ximaginx @honeyursosweet

You had swapped your photograph on the photo wall to a new one – a shattered window in the night, the street lights filtering through in wildly refracted ways. In fact, it was just one of the broken windows on the first floor of the school dorms, but through the viewfinder, it looked wry and distorted. An entire week passed, and then there was a post-it stuck to the corner of your photograph again:

“A sound of something breaking I awake from sleep A sound full of unfamiliarity Try to cover my ears but can’t go to sleep”

The words dug deep into you, especially after what happened a few days ago.

---

That lesson came and went again. The professor had instructed Hyesoo to split the class into groups for the next assignment. At the end of the class, you waited for Haejoong to submit the assignment to Hyesoo together; it was a convenient enough excuse to not face her alone. The two of you were one of the last to go to her.

“Haejoong, seems like you are close to Y/N in class, I’ll put you in the same group as her then”, Hyesoo smiled charismatically at him, as she took in Haejoong’s report.

“And Y/N...”, she smirks again, “I think you will enjoy your project very much, you should really thank me for grouping the both of you together with Taehyung and Jihyun, since you guys hang out all the time.”

It was not surprising but still irritating that she would abuse her power as the teaching assistant in this way and your expression must have been a tad too obvious.

“What’s with the face? Didn’t you always like being in the same group as Taehyung. I was still hoping to receive a ‘thank you’ for helping you with this”, she scorned.

You knew what she was hinting at, and you couldn’t believe her childishness for being still hung up over something that happened more than a year ago. This is a fight you can never win. But the considerate guy standing next to you was not prepared to let it slide. “Do you want to swap with someone?”, Haejoong asked you, while Hyesoo side-eyed him in anticipation, waiting for him to challenge her directly.

“Y/N...”, Jihyun’s voice came out of nowhere. She walked over, Taehyung trailing behind her, “... don’t ask to swap groups please.”

There was a serious urge to roll your eyes at her feeble demand but Jihyun continued talking, “You don’t want to hear our explanations, that’s fine, we won’t force you to. But you just stopped talking to us, left the painting club and now you want to swap out of the project group because of us? I don’t want people to think that we are...

“That you are what?”, you squinted a little, taunting her to complete her statement.

“That you know... we are...”, Jihyun was dragging out her words, perhaps reluctant to say it herself.

“Why do you keep saying ‘we’? Does Taehyung share the same sentiments?”, it was even refreshing to yourself, that you were able to say such things now that you were no longer afraid of being branded as the petty other half.

Jihyun could only wonder why Taehyung had no response, did he not hear you, did he not want to support her? She always thought that Taehyung will take her side but what’s with him now?

There probably isn’t another situation more complicated and full-circle than this.

Haejoong glared at Hyesoo, annoyed that she is taking advantage of her position as the TA; Hyesoo sneers at you, just because she never liked you in the first place; you looked at Jihyun in confusion, wondering if there was a sliver of yourself that you saw in her, now that she is assuming the role of the ‘petty’ girlfriend; Jihyun in turn glowers at Taehyung, finding it increasingly difficult to swallow his lack of support for her yet again; and Taehyung, just trying his best to pierce Haejoong’s face with his stare, bothered by his constant presence next to you.

---

Jihyun stormed down the sidewalk leading to the hostels, Taehyung followed half-heartedly behind her.

“Kim Taehyung!”, she suddenly stopped and spun around, shouting at him. “Why are we even together when you keep doing this?”

“Doing what?”, he raised his voice a bit too.

“Why do you always just say nothing when I... You know what? I'm just gonna get straight to the point, if we are together, you should be siding with me! Stop acting like a freaking diplomat. Yes I know you are a very social person and you don’t like to offend anybody but you can’t keep doing this!”, she lamented.

“I have always been like this, you know I hate picking sides! You were fine with it before. Why are you so worked up about it now?”, this just felt somewhat of a déjà vu to Taehyung.

“I was fine with it because I wasn’t your girlfriend at that time!”, Jihyun spat.

He was suddenly floored and had no words as he processed hers. He has to admit, when you blew up a fuss about him not taking your side, he thought you were just being petty. After you broke up with him over it, he thought the rumours held water and that you were jealous of Jihyun. But... what’s with Jihyun now... why is she acting this way too?

“Taehyung-ah, you had difficulty siding your girlfriend against me, your best friend, that’s normal... but now I’m your girlfriend, she’s your ex... what is so difficult? Why can’t you just take my side?”, she was almost pleading at this point.

Yes. Why couldn’t he? Wasn’t that the plan?

---

In the days after you broke up with him, Taehyung had been somewhat lost. The two of you hadn’t been dating for that long and he wasn’t one to pine over a lost relationship, but there was just a dent left in him. Something was just not right.

Was it the abruptness of it all? Or perhaps, the lack of a reasonable explanation as to why it had to be this way? His mind was in such a mess. He wanted to call you, but no he shouldn’t, because he never u-turns in relationships, but he really wants to talk to you. And there it was again, that indecipherable noise in his head, was it even a sound?

Someone near him must have been talking to him this whole time but all he heard was just vague mumbling, until he suddenly snapped out of his daze when he felt a sharp pain on his right arm.

“Were you even listening to me?”, an exasperated Jihyun exclaimed, right after she had pinched him hard since her attempts at using words were not working.

“Huh?”, Taehyung obviously did not catch anything she had said.

The two of them were the only ones left sitting in the empty cinema. Jihyun had asked him to watch this movie with her, thinking it would help to lift his mood, after all it was a comedy.

“I asked if you are hungry...”, Jihyun repeated, leaving out the bulk of the conversation that she knew he did not hear.

“Yeah, sure”, he replied soullessly.

“Yeah sure?”, she turns to look at him in disbelief, what kind of response was that?

“Eo?”, he was still not fully there with her. It made her even more exasperated, she has never seen him so affected by anyone.

“Kim Taehyung, get over it. It's just another break up...”, she suddenly asserted.

“What?”, Taehyung turns sharply to look at her, but she was staring ahead at the blank screen.

“I said get over it... it’s just another break up...”, how many times exactly does she have to repeat everything she said for him to register it?

“I’m trying, if you can’t tell... I'm trying to but -”, his words were fragmented, just like his thoughts.

She exhaled a tiny puff of air, resolving that this is probably time for her to take that step she always contemplated, “If you need a distraction, or I guess, if you need a rebound, I’ll do it...”

His dazed eyes started coming back into focus, as he observes her side profile, slowly taking in what she was suggesting.

She squeezes her eyes shut for a few seconds, then turns to look him at him with some form conviction, leaning in to kiss him lightly on his lips. There was a weird situation where a thousand things went through his mind yet there was no one thought that could actually be crystallised. His best friend just kissed him – that is a line either you choose to cross or choose to walk away from forever.

He did nothing as he waited for the confusion to wear out, the two of them just looking at each other, inches apart, waiting for the other to make the next move. If that was the game, Jihyun must have lost. She could not outlast the indecisive idiot who always made her impatient.

“Since you can’t decide, I'll make the call. Let's try it... this dating thing. Don’t they always say that it is a blessing if your significant other is also your best friend? We are already best friends, so let’s try this significant other thing then. I’ve always wondered what it will be like if we dated each other.”

That was one way to sell it. And it was probably the easiest way for Taehyung to buy it. Right, if his best friend was also his girlfriend then it should solve the problem. There would only be one side to take, right?

---

Perception is often relative to position; just like how the angle of a camera can change how a subject appears in the photograph.

“Why can’t you just take my side?”, Jihyun’s words were as piercing as her voice. “I am now your girlfriend, what do you think the other people will think if you remained neutral like that?”, Jihyun demanded a response from him again, as they stood on the gravel pavement.

“What would the other people think? Shouldn’t everyone just come to their own conclusions anyway?”, Taehyung retorted.

“No! They will take it that I have lost... do you not see it?”, she was exasperated by now.

A frown appears across his face.

“So you are saying that... if I didn’t take your side... then you have lost... because we are together?”, he was trying to keep up with the logical chain. “Wait, was that what you thought all the while... when I was together with Y/N? When... when I didn’t take her side against you? Did you think that you... won?”, Taehyung’s mind was quivering to wrap around the revelation.

“Wasn’t that the case?”, she was shocked that he never knew the kind of signals he was sending.

Only Jihyun could have made him see it. Because she reveled in victory while he took the middle high ground when she was his best friend, yet now, in this moment, she is defeated, because she couldn’t get from Taehyung the same thing that you had always yearned from him. What changed? The only difference is her position – she is now his girlfriend.

Your words came into his mind. “But sometimes, when you choose not to pick a side, you have essentially picked a side.”

It gradually shattered; the belief that if he picked no side, he will hurt no one. It was foreign to him; the recognition that he must have hurt you with what he did, or more accurately, didn’t do. He finally deciphers those unsettling noises he senses every now and then; it was his heart quibbling that something went wrong between him and you, and it was the voices of regret within him.

“Jihyun, I’m sorry... I think... I think I must have made a mistake...”, he mutters, his voice husky and low in its usual way but with more resemblance to his mood.

“About what?”, she was the one frowning now.

He looked straight into her resentful eyes. He was sorry to her, this was his fault. But this time he knew, he was going to hurt her, and it will be his choice to bear.

“About us”, he whispered, forlornly, finally.

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zer0pm · 6 years

Photo

A/N: Sorry for the wait, Part 4 has arrived.

Part 4/?: Set Ablaze

Previous: Beyond Understanding

Here, the part is shorter as I wanted to ease the strain of reading long works (aaaand admittedly Ardyn makes a very, very important discovery next part where I felt that it needed to have its own post :p). I love long works myself such as from the lovely @valkyrieofardyn, @yugioh779, and @captain-wender who have just finished the newest installations of their fantastic stories. Give ‘em a read when you get the chance~

Anyways, this one focuses on the first real interaction between Ardyn and the Seeker, they don’t exactly start off on the right foot. Without further ado, please enjoy this next piece.

Disclaimer: I do not own any Final Fantasy series or Square Enix works, only the original characters. Gif isn’t mine either.

Word Count: 1,841

He feels a pull on his mind, a tugging sensation that didn’t feel like pain but an ache that rouses him awake. Slowly and surely as this happens, the rest of his body regains some feeling. Now the ache is starting to hurt.

“G…p!”

Ardyn hears a voice. Please tell me that I’m not in that strange place again, he groans to himself. As he tries to pick up the voice he assumes to be calling out to him, it was deafened by a stinging ring before fading, and the voice is clearer.

“Get up. Wake up, Caelum!”

A female voice, judging by the sharp tone, it’s the Seeker. Ardyn feels someone shaking his body back and forth, but try as he might, his eyes are too heavy and only a small groan escapes him. Listen to her, Ardyn. Wake up, you twit!

The Seeker must have gotten frustrated as she released an exasperated huff before removing her hands from him. “We do not have time for this!”

The unmistakable shuffling of feet, people running around him – the sense of urgency was palpable. Several bodies are close by, surrounding his lying form. “My lady, here they come!” There’s ‘My lady’ again, who is this Seeker? Who is coming?

“Memorians, to me! Our enemy will not know victory today!”

His senses are fading to black again, but Ardyn holds on to conscious for as long as he could muster the willpower. I need to wake up, he thought. Someone slap me. Something, anything to bring him back to the awakened world. The blank spaces cloud his mind. How much time has passed? He can only make out bits and pieces of what is going on as he tries to come to. To his horror, he hears screaming in his ears, and a foul taste in his mouth. The air is different around him, almost charred.

“Protect him! Protect the Chosen!”

The Seeker shouts, at this Ardyn fully opens his eyes. Chosen?! Hearing that word jolted him back to his senses. A pair of black leather boots is the first thing he sees. Beyond that, several others, he makes out dark garments and a dissipating black mist. What was that? The boots nearest to him turn and point towards him then he is met with a knee on the ground, the other bent upwards to balance a folded arm. Another arm moves his body to make him face upwards, the push was a little too harsh on his chest in his opinion. “Finally coming to?”

Ardyn’s golden eyes meet a pair of silver ones and immediately he tensed at how cold they felt. From the voice, he knew this was the Seeker. This is the first time he’s seen her face without the shadows obscuring the details. He was surprised. In contrast to the persona he surmises her to possess, the Seeker has…gentle features. Her black hood is down, the red scarf with the yellow geometric design around her slender neck no longer covered the bottom half of her face and instead draped loosely. While the other Memorian warriors had tan to bronze skin, hers was fair, a feature Ardyn immediately assumes to have stemmed from her genetics and upbringing. Her pale cheeks covered by long, thick black locks. He can make out a faded scar across the right side of her face almost hidden by her hair which only brought further attention to her piercing eyes.

I am in deep trouble, Ardyn thought. All feeling of awe for this woman vanished when she grabbed fistfuls of his tunic in both of her hands and pulled back harshly, forcing Ardyn to his feet. The movement made his head spin for a moment and the ache throughout his body prominent. He groans at the discomfort and nearly stumbles over if not for the woman before him keeping him steady.

“On your feet,” she commanded, “There is much to be done.”

“What is happening?”

“Look around.”

He almost wished he didn’t. Honey eyes took in the world around him and to his horror, everything was set ablaze. When he awoke this morning, he predicted an uneventful and peaceful night, but no star can be seen. Instead, dancing colors of red and orange fill the streets of his beloved home, and from it, black smoke rises and swirls to the sky. He sees debris scattered from fallen buildings, his people scattered. There’s so much screaming. When Ardyn thought it could not be any worse, he hears what sounds like a great cry echoing around him and shortly after a hulking mass of fire hurls over laying another structure next to them to waste. The Seeker pulls Ardyn out of the way of the collapsing debris that threatened to crush him. He turns his head over to where the shout came from and spots a giant, horned being standing high and looking down upon the city. His appearance similar to that of a young man, with long dark hair and the most intense glare, a glare nearly as frightening as the blazing sword he held in his hands and speaking in tongues unfamiliar to the prince that shook the very air. This giant….

“Ifrit, the Infernian?! Why is the god of fire attacking the empire?”

The Seeker keeps an eye on their surroundings, moving herself and Ardyn along with her men through the burning city-streets. “It seems to be for Man's hubris, believing themselves to be better than the gods who created them.”

The prince eyed her incredulously. Solheim worshipped the god, it was because of him that this small civilization grew to become the greatest superpower in all of Eos. It was his compassion that garnered the love of the Glacian and their subjects. It didn’t make sense to Ardyn.

“What? What blasphemy is this?” He grabs her shoulder, forcing her to turn to him. If the Infernian doesn’t kill him, her glare will. Still, he wanted to know, “How come by you this claim?!”

She seemed…taken off-guard by his question, her head tilted to the side slightly. The calculating glint in her eyes somehow felt more imposing than he initially thought, as if she didn’t believe him a single bit. “Can you not…?” she trails off, silver challenges gold and within those eyes, the Seeker felt a genuine warmth in his honesty, in his incredulity. Another moment passes, and she tears away from the staredown and Ardyn hears another sigh escape her lips. He gathers that the woman does that when she’s annoyed….which apparently happens often.

“This seems to be more a test of patience than a test of faith,” she finally speaks after the uncomfortable silence before waving her arm forward, as signal for all to keep moving. “And I am ever losing both.”

“Speak not in riddles! Explain to me what is going on?” He was running now, alongside the Seeker and her men. The Memorians were moving about in a way that suggests that they were keeping an eye out for an ambush. What else is after them? Ardyn was not only confused, he was getting anxious. He noticed something very important as they sprinted through the burning streets and further away from the Infernian. “Where is Marcius?”

“Unconscious but alive. My men are tending to him further ahead.”

Ardyn sighs in relief. “And Sir Monitus?” There is an unmistakable grave tone in her silence. He couldn’t see her face, but he didn’t need to. “Forgi-”

“Save your sympathies for after we have survived this,” she quickly cuts him off.

Considering everything that’s going on at the moment, the suggestion was sound and he decided not to press further. “Right. There are airships on the northern side. We can use those to escape.”

The Seeker shouts directions to her fellow Memorians. “You heard him. We make way to the northern side.”

As they were running, Ardyn spotted several citizens frantically running about. So many injured and in fear. Men, women, children.

“What about my people? They must know where to go.”

“Your safety is our only concern.” Ardyn stops running entirely, forcing the Seeker and the rest of the Memorians to halt as well. She narrows her eyes at his action.

He meets her glare, bringing his body closer to hers, using his larger frame to his advantage to appear opposing and challenging. “Wait,” he said, “We cannot just leave them. For what reason do you have to weigh a prince above his people? If lives are lost for my sake then my life means nothing!”

Despite being smaller than him, she steps up to him as well. “Then you truly know nothing of what is at stake. Now, move.”

His brow raises, she must have a habit of ordering around others – a noblewoman? A general? It would explain the late Sero Monitus' address to her although he didn’t call her as such. It takes two to powerplay. “Or what? You’ll kill me?”

Before he can press further, he feels something cold…and rather sharp against his neck. The unmistakable edge of a blade. The Seeker must have unsheathed it from beneath his cloak without his notice. At some point, she and her men retrieved their weapons once chaos broke loose. He nearly had to strain his neck to avoid the sharp edge himself, then he hears the Seeker say...

“Putting you back to sleep would be an effortless feat.”

This struck a nerve with Ardyn. Did this mean that this woman was the one who knocked him out in the first place? Is it possible…that she put him in that strange place? Was it even real? What happened in that carriage? Perhaps she also knew how to read minds as she spoke up once again.

“You want answers,” she said, withdrawing her dagger back beneath the shadows of her long cloak. “I understand. But there is no time. Not if you wish to survive this and save your loved ones.”

Her words forced Ardyn to think of his mother, his father…Somnus…Marcius. Although he loathed his mind for thinking so, on instinct his body pushed onward. The unbearable heat from all around him, the anxiety of having foreign bodyguards, namely the Seeker, bent on keeping him alive, a raging god he once idolized himself in his youth for his benevolence and power now destroying his beloved home, the very real and grave possibility that he may not see his family and friends again – it all left a sinking feeling in his chest making it more than the smoke that made it hard for him to breathe.

He almost wished that it was all just a mad dream, but Ardyn looks down upon his own hand. The ring sitting on his finger was proof of it, the crystal glinting off of the bright flames dancing furiously around them. This is real. He wanted to know how it all came to be, what this trinket was, and if by the end of it all, he’ll live to see to see the smoke clear.

#ardyn #ardyn lucis caelum #ardyn izunia #ardyn's past #solheim #memories of the forgotten #my story #my writing #ifrit #ifrit the infernian #seeker

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kawaiibobatea-blog · 6 years

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Chapter 05: Despair and Surprises

Despair had never been a primary emotion; sadness yes, but never pure despair. A human was so complex and capable of so many emotions, it almost felt like a waste to have it all pegged to just one extreme emotion. Nevertheless, that’s all Ain could feel while both of her hands were wrapped around the limp one of her brother.

“Scott… sorry I haven’t been by recently. A lot of things have happened… I’ve… I’ve got so much to tell you.”

However, when her lips had parted to explain everything to him only a small whimper escaped along with a choke. Pretending not to see Dr. Carlisle out of the corner of the corner of her eyes practically breaking his neck to look at them in case something was wrong, she coughed hoping to sate the doctor’s curiosity and diminish his worry. The doctor’s attention thankfully turned back to his data pad, scrolling through the charts of the patients. She closed her eyes and took a couple deep breaths still occasionally feeling Dr. Carlisle’s eyes on her back.

It’s unbecoming of a Pathfinder to break down… Stay strong.

Making her flinch, Dr. Carlisle’s gruff voice came from behind her, “Ain, I have to go and check on some of the cryo pods that had some weird readings, you think that you could hold down the fort for me?”

“Yeah, of course. Are you forgetting how cool I am?” Halfway through her sentence, Ain heard her own voice crack and hoped that Dr. Carlisle hadn’t heard. “I am the Human Pathfinder after all.” Hopefully her feint would divert from the crack.

“You’re also just one person, Ain.” Thankfully, he didn’t continue further. Either sensing her emotional turmoil or believing her ruse, his footsteps retreated and the swish of the door opening and closing echoed against the walls of the almost completely unoccupied med bay.

Her grip on Scott’s hand tightened and she found herself putting her forehead against their hands. It had been days, maybe weeks—time was still a fickle thing in Andromeda--and he wasn’t awake. Only upon that realization did she grasp that her hands were shaking and that they were now soaked with a layer of tears. Realizing this burst the metaphorical dam holding everything back. With shaking shoulders, the tears continued to fall. Her eyes screwed shut almost like if they were tight enough, the tears would stop but to no avail. Pained sobs tore from her chest; quiet at first but all too quickly they turned into something that shook her whole body and turned into tormented screams, desperate for the release they had been deprived of. Breathing was almost impossible between her sobs causing her to feel lightheaded, yet they didn’t stop.

Scott… please wake up…

I’m so alone…

I can’t… I can’t say goodbye again…

I’m so afraid…

I’m so sorry, Scott…

None of her thoughts were making any sense, just bouncing around from one apology to another in and out of different emotions. She knew this and yet she just continued to cry. Part of her mind wondered how she didn’t have people coming in to check on her with the amount of literal screaming she was doing. Perhaps Harry had told the surrounding people that they needed to clear out because the Pathfinder needed time. If that’s what happened, she was thankful. If not, she was sure people would be talking about how incompetent she was as Pathfinder.

“Ryder, your vitals are increasing to unsafe levels.”

“I! Don’t! Care!” Ain exclaimed, enunciating every word. “Let it rise!”

“If you do that, they will continue to rise, and you may pass out or other health concerns may arise. I would advise you to calm down.”

”SAM, I-“ A sharp pain ripped through Ain’s chest painful enough to stop her grieving in its tracks and leave her more breathless than she had been while crying, her eyes wide and blinking while she gasped for air almost making choking sounds. Just as quickly as it had happened, it stopped leaving Ain holding onto her chest. “w-what was that?”

“Your vitals spiked to a dangerous level for a human, leaving you in your previous state.”

“…”

“I would advise against repeating this in the future. If continued, heart problems may arise. Keep in mind, the brain is only able to survive approximately six minutes without oxygen before it begins to die.”

“Such a cheery thought…” Ain said, finally getting some air back into her lungs and coughing her words.

Looking back at Scott, she saw that he looked just as peaceful as he did when she came in. Even though she had a mental and emotional breakdown it looked like she hadn’t even been here excluding the missing doctor. A small smile found its way to her lips although it was strained. He was here, he was alive… just asleep. She had to remember that. Just because he couldn’t talk to her didn’t mean that he wasn’t there. It made coping a little bit easier, but it didn’t calm her at all. With a shaky exhale, she grabbed Scott’s hand with both of her’s.

“Things are bad, Scott… but… we have little baby steps: we have an outpost on this planet called Eos and we’ve made acquaintances with a species here called the Angara. An Angaran male named Jaal is helping us try and stop the Kett; the enemies we’re facing… the ones that are trying to keep us from settling here in Andromeda. They want these vault things that are here, and I can interface with them with SAM’s help. They’re healing the planets when activated and… we honestly still have no idea what the Archon—their boss guy—wants with them.” Getting all of that off her chest made her feel a little bit better, but everything wasn’t wonderful in Andromeda even close to home.

“My crew… they’re… well difficult. Peebee she’s an Asari and very… eccentric. Yeah, we’ll go with that. She’s studying the Remnant—those beings that are surrounding the vaults—Cora, you met her, remember? She was the one next in line to be Pathfinder after Dad…? Well, she’s salty about that even though she pretends that she’s not.” She wished with all her heart that Scott would sit up and comment on her words, but alas nothing about him changed. Honestly, she wasn’t even sure if she could be heard. Dr. Carlisle had said that he could hear her, but that didn’t mean that she was sure that he could hear and understand her all the time. However, she had to keep that in her head that he could hear her it would be the only thing keeping her sane right now. “Kallo, a Salarian, was one of the people that built my ship—the Tempest—Suvi is part of the crew actually our resident science officer. She’s a Human. Gil works to make sure that all the internal stuff is working correctly. Lexi T’Perro is our Asari doctor. I’m pretty sure that she hates me since I’m always getting hurt and won’t stay in one spot when I am. She took over for Harry. Um… let’s see… Drack Nakmor, a Krogan who’s super old. For some reason he calls me ‘Buttercup’, and reminds me of a grandpa, but he gets aggravated when I call him Grandpa Drack.”

Even though it sounded like they were all one big happy family, she could hardly keep them all on the same chapter let alone the same page. It was literally the least cohesive team that she had ever seen or even heard of. I just want to punch the hell out of all of them… Jaal included! They were ridiculous when it came to interacting with each other and she was surprised with her short temper that she hadn’t thrown something at each of them among the stray various items that were on the Tempest. “Vetra Nyx… she’s awesome. A Turian and honestly the one I get along with the most other than Liam Kosta, a Human. You briefly met him the same time as Cora, but I’m not sure if you remember. He’s really um… nice and… well…” A blush came to her face and she cleared her throat. “I got shot—before you freak out—obviously I’m fine, but he hugged me and said that he was glad I was okay, but I’m pretty sure he kissed the top of my head. I know! I know! It sounds weird, but, it’s true… I think.”

I sound so fucking creepy oh my God… Please I hope that you didn’t hear that Scott.

Watching the slow rise and fall of his chest and his unwavering face, not even fluttering eyelids she felt tears build up in her eyes. Who was she kidding? There was no way that he was going to be able to hear her. He wasn’t even going to wake up… if he was going to, he would’ve already done it. Well, he was shaking off a 400-year sleep, but that didn’t mean anything. He would’ve woken up already, she felt it. Even thinking it made more tears fall.

“Scott… please wake up soon… I’m falling apart here man.” Ain joked, giving a small laugh through her tears. She went over and touched his head. “I’ll be back and visit again soon…”

If Ain was being truthful, she could’ve stayed with him day and night until he woke up. Unfortunately, life had dealt her a shit hand and it was just getting shittier. Granted, they had done some good, but even still it felt like they were taking one step forward and two steps back. They had gotten the Moshae back and had already been given permission to go into Aya’s vault, but the last thing that she wanted to do was push the Moshae when she was captured for so long, and especially if her immune system was as decimated as Jaal had said it was. It wasn’t enough though, things were still terrible here on the Nexus. Speaking of that, she had to meet up with Grandpa Drack in Kesh’s office. Sighing, she headed to the door and turned to look at her brother one more time before leaving.

Ain had walked to Kesh’s office on autopilot thinking about Scott, her mother, and her father. Even though she had the crew back on the Tempest, the more that she spent on the ship, the more alone that she felt. Maybe it was paranoia, but were they all gaining up on her? Especially during the meeting when they “welcomed” Jaal into the crew. Before she knew it, she had walked into Kesh’s office and a deep, gruff voice ripped her from her reverie.

“There you are. I was starting to wonder if you forgot how to… get… here…” Grandpa Drack trailed off when he looked at Ain. She had been hoping that all signs of her breakdown would’ve left before she got to Kesh’s office, but apparently luck wasn’t on her side once again. “Hey Buttercup, you alright?”

“Huh?” Ain looked at Kesh who was also intently staring at her and scanning over her face. She had to look terrible if she had not only one Krogan worrying about her, but two. “Oh, uh yeah, fine.” She coughed and sniffled. “Just allergies… you know, pollen?”

Wow… that excuse was pathetic. That was probably the stupidest excuse I could’ve come up with. Maybe I’m the one that needs to get decked.

“That pollen does get pretty bad this time of year.” Drack agreed and then looked at Kesh who nodded in agreement.

Kesh seemed like she was ready to start this meeting because she came from behind her desk to stand near them and looked around almost to make sure that she wasn’t going to have someone overhear her. From what Ain had heard, Kesh was the last person anyone wanted to fuck with on the Nexus having literally kicked someone out of a room with a Krogan foot up the ass. “I’m going to skip the pleasantries.” She announced, “Things are getting bad.”

“How bad is bad?” Drack asked.

“Are we talking about like someone murdering your whole family bad or pissed in your cheerios bad?” Ain asked and held out both of her hands like she was physically weighing the choices with them.

“The first one. Spender has—despite my best efforts to impede it—has gained favor with the Nexus leadership.”

“Yikes… sounds bad like he pissed in someone’s cheerios before murdering everyone.” Despite the situation, Ain heard a loud laugh coming from Drack. Even Kesh cracked a smile.

Maybe they’re just feeling bad for me…

“I believe there’s a way to stop this from getting even bigger. I have a strong belief that Spender is still speaking with the exiles. From my position, I don’t have the ability or the clearance to investigate further.”

“I do though.”

“Yes, you do. I suggest you speak with Kandros and obtain proof of his betrayal to show what kind of creature he really is.”

“You got it, Kesh.”

Drack had already left and she was almost to the door when Kesh’s voice stopped her, it was odd. She had never heard this tone before, it sounded worried and almost… small. “Pathfinder Ryder… no… Ain, I have a favor to ask you.”

This was the first time that Kesh had asked anything of her let alone called her on a first name basis. Perhaps Kesh took it as a sign of a growing friendship, Ain honestly hoped so. She could use all the moral and emotional support that anyone had to offer. They all had to be on each other’s side in this dire time.

“Name it.”

“My Grandfather… he tries to do everything by himself, but… he… he isn’t invincible despite what he thinks.”

“Yeah…”

“He’s old Ain… Very old. Most of him is synthetic, he’s had too many injuries to count. It’s almost like he has a death wish.” Kesh gave a small laugh and looked down almost like she was remembering something. “Look after him for me. Krogan always try to give off the vibe that we don’t need anyone but ourselves, but not all of us are like that. My Grandfather… he’s a good man.”

“He is.”

“Too good to die on the battlefield from these bastards.”

“Don’t worry Kesh, I’ll look after him. I’d do it even if you didn’t ask. He means a lot to me too.”

“Thank you… You’re a good Pathfinder, but an even better person.” Kesh tilted her chin towards the doorway. “Better head out before he gets suspicious.”

Ain left and looked at Drack who had been eyeing her as soon as the door opened.

“What were you and Kesh talkin’ about?”

“Oh, you know… girl talk.” Ain cleared her throat when she let out a pitiful laugh.

Another weak ass excuse. He totally won’t be able to see through that.

Thankfully, Drack didn’t pry anymore. She felt a little better than she had when she was with Scott, but she still had the aching feeling of dread. Rubbing her hand down her face, she sighed again. Addison wouldn’t like it if Ain went to go talk with Kandros with Drack by her side. The Krogan still weren’t trusted on the Nexus and speaking with the military director may make some fidgety. Of course, she didn’t want to tell Drack that. Drack was a good guy and she didn’t want to hurt his feelings but hurting the feelings of a Krogan especially one as old as him would be a feat.

“So, Buttercup, what’s actually wrong with you?”

Great… pry about something else old man.

“H-Huh?”

“Don’t try and pull that pollen story on me again Kid. We don’t even have pollen here.”

“Y-Yeah we do! What they’re growing in the botanical department.” Ain tried to protest more, but seeing Drack fold his arms at her, her voice lowered to nothing more than a murmur, “I mean… it’s really not that big of a deal… I just kinda had a small breakdown…it’s really nothing to worry about.”

“Look, I’d ask you more about it, but I know you wouldn’t talk, or come up with another stupid excuse. I’ll be waiting back on the Tempest, they won’t take too kindly to me talking to Kandros with you.”

Ain watched Drack depart and let out an external sigh. All she wanted to do was go hide in her bedroom and go to sleep. Alas, no such luck. She vaulted over the balcony and headed over to Kandros. She ignored one of the Nexus officials grumbling about “these damn kids having no respect for architecture these days”. Kandros seemed surprised that she was there. He blinked and cleared his throat, “What can I do for you, Pathfinder?”

Okay. Pro mode.

“I’m investigating a possible link between Spender and the Nexus uprising. I have reason to believe that he may still be in contact with the exiles.”

“Hmm… it’s funny you bring this up, Pathfinder. I was just thinking about that. There were some… discrepancies, but, I haven’t had the time to check further with everyone needing something and breathing down my neck.” Kandros brought up his Omni-tool and tapped on it a few times. “Check the video archives. Maybe you could find something I couldn’t.”

Sweet!! Hell yeah! Nothing could possibly go wrong n-

“Ryder, this video footage has been deliberately corrupted.” SAM stated when Ain brought up the available video footage.

I hate life.

“Ryder, as of right now, there is insufficient proof of Spender’s guilt.”

I hate life even more now…

“Well… shit.” Ain stated and rubbed her hand down her face again and looked at the screen again before sighing.

Can’t I ever catch a break?

Ain trudged back to the Tempest. She didn’t want to be the bearer of bad news. After all, these were Drack’s people that this rode on. If the Krogan were going to have a future in Andromeda, a true future, then they were going to have to get this whole mess with Spender and the Nexus sorted out. Even though it wasn’t her fault that she hadn’t been able to catch Spender on the footage, she couldn’t help but take it personally. After all, she had promised that she would help. The familiar walls of the Tempest did nothing to comfort her, in fact, it made her feel even worse. It meant that she was closer to having to tell Drack the news.

… Needless to say, Drack didn’t take it well. Their fridge had a dent in it now from his fist. She sighed for what was probably the six millionth time that day. Of course, she didn’t blame him or anything like that. If the situation was switched, she would be upset too. Although she hated making promises, she swore that she would get to the bottom of it if it was the last thing that she did. Grandpa Drack wasn’t completely sated by that, but it seemed to calm him a little. Even a slightly less angry Krogan was better than a full angry one.

Even better, everyone was having mixed feelings on this “exaltation” that the Kett had showed in their facility. Peebee and Cora were fascinated by it, and it worried her a little. Of course, Lexi was as well, but that was to be expected. She was a doctor after all. If they were there… they would have a different view. Ain stood outside the Tech Lab, debating on whether to try and talk to Jaal again. After all, they... their last conversation didn’t go over too well.

I am unhappy with us right now.

Ain winced, remembering Jaal’s words and how harsh they had sounded. Ain was about to walk inside the Tech Lab when she felt another pain in her chest and the same feeling gripped her that had back on the Nexus with Scott and she coughed a couple of times.

“Ryder, your vitals are spiking again.” SAM explained.

No. Fucking. Shit.

Her eyelids fluttered, and a choking sound emitted from her lips as she tried to call for help. Her vision began to turn to a haze and her hearing was drowned out, the last thing that she heard was doors opening and a murmur that may have been her name and she fell, knocking her head against the wall in the process. However, she didn’t hit the floor. The pain in her chest stopped and air filled her lungs, she was able to look around and breath. She was being held… by who? Turning her head, she saw none other than Drack holding her up from hitting the floor.

“O-Old man…” Ain trailed off, blinking back the three Krogans in her vision to one.

“Damn Kid, if anyone’s going to go first, it should be me.” Drack laughed, but she could see worry in his eyes. All of her teammates were around, each eyeing her with the same internal question wanting to be asked:

What the hell just happened?

Holding the side of her head where the massive pain was at, she stood up with Drack and Vetra’s help, staggering slightly which Liam straightened her out from.

“S-Sorry… I’m just tired…” Ain lied. Telling her team that this was the second time this happened would only cause them to worry more and they needed to have full concentration when they were on the battlefield. One wrong move and they could all get killed.

“Ain… don’t try and act tough.” Vetra said and laid a hand on her shoulder. “You know you can tell us if something’s wrong.”

“Nothing’s wrong. You’re worrying too much. I’m just tired. That’s all. I promise.” Ain assured, but none of them seemed really convinced. It looked like they just didn’t want to pry because they knew that they weren’t going to get anywhere if they tried. “Besides, we need to go and check on the Moshae and see how she’s doing. I’m worried about her, she looked in pretty bad shape when we dropped her off at Aya.”

“Our healers are very talented. At the least, the Moshae should be able to take us to the vault.” Jaal informed, not taking his eyes off Ain who was still holding her head.

“At the best?” Ain asked, trying not to talk too loudly to keep her head from pounding.

“She’ll guide us to the vault, enter, explain things, and hopefully talk to Evfra about how he treated you. The Moshae is very keen on people being treated according to their deeds. The Moshae trusts you.”

Ain looked over at her teammates and the crew that was behind her. They had all come to check on her? Maybe they weren’t as big of assholes as she thought they were. Then again, if she died they’d all be fucked. That’s probably what it was… they just didn’t want to travel all the way to Andromeda to get screwed. “Kallo… set us a course for Aya.”

“… Yes Pathfinder.”

“I… I’m going to go and lay down. Someone come and get me when we get there.” Ain rubbed her head gingerly and staggered towards her door, keeping an arm out so she wouldn’t fall against the wall. Unknown to her, Liam wanted to come to her rescue, but Peebee held him back and shook her head. Ain wasn’t one to be babied and she didn’t want to worry her teammates more than they already were. She was just tired. She’d lay down and get better and no more of that… whatever that was would happen. Taking off her shoes at almost record speed, she collapsed onto her bed and pulled the blankets over her head and turned on her side where her head wasn’t tender. “SAM, lights out please…”

“Yes Pathfinder.” Ain wasn’t even conscious long enough to thank SAM before she had fallen asleep. Dreams weren’t really something that Ain had often, nightmares more so. Yet, she had cut a break and was having a nice dream for once.

Andromeda had panned out and everything was fine. She was on the Tempest talking to her crew and everyone was smiling and happy. Fear was a thing of the past as was worrying for survival. She suddenly found herself on Aya and it was beautiful and had an air of peace and prosperity almost intertwined in the air. Moshae Sjefa had already welcomed her and her team as official citizens of Aya and she was walking with the Moshae; laughing as stories were exchanged among them. They turned a corner and Ain ran into a soft but hard wall. When she looked up, Jaal and her met eye contact. There was something there that seemed natural; raw even.

Ain looked down from Jaal but felt a gentle hand under her chin that guided her head to look up at him and lock eye contact once more; a fierce… almost fiery look. Heat arose in her cheeks and her mouth felt dry. Her breathing even slowed, but she didn’t want to hide or run. A gentle smile rose to his lips and a hand caressed her face, grabbing onto the back of her neck while the other hand snaked around her waist and went to rest on her lower back.

“I’ve been waiting for you, Darling One.” His voice was hardly above a whisper. “I have missed you.”

She had been gone for a couple of days going around and checking on the many settlements that she had placed among the planets. Everyone was happy to see her, and she was glad to check on the status of the places they had worked so hard to create. Bradley had been the most excited to see her, since Eos had been the hardest one to settle in her opinion.

“I-I wasn’t gone that long.”

“To me, it felt very long. You are very special to me. Everything about you. Your eyes, your hair, your nose…” His eyes trailed down to her lips and a thumb gently brushed along the skin, having moved from her lower back. “your lips. All of you.”

Ain gripped onto his clothes and closed her eyes, feeling him pull her closer by the back of her neck.

Ain opened her eyes and sat up quickly with a sound of surprise. When her brain processed what had happened and what she was seeing, she felt her eyes widen and the world stopped around her. A few inches from her face was the precursor to what she had seen in her dream. The blue eyes that were opposite her own widened, obviously just as shocked at the extreme turn of events. She felt like she couldn’t breathe again, but it wasn’t painful this time. She parted her lips and was about to scream when she felt a gloved hand over her mouth. What was happening? Was he going to kill her in her sleep like he had threatened when they first met, or was he going to-

No! No! Absolutely not! No way!

“I uh… I can explain, Ryder.” Jaal cleared his throat and she could see he was scrambling.

Are you scrambling for an excuse?! I may be a woman, but I can still fight buddy…

“Will you listen to my explanation?”

As soon as you take your hand off my mouth I’m going to scream. See how well you can explain it to every-

“If I take my hand off your mouth, will you not scream?”

… Angara must be mind readers…

“Well?”

Ain nodded and slowly Jaal took his hand off her mouth. For a split second, Ain had thought about keeping to her original plan and screaming, however if Jaal had come in there to kill her, if she screamed he would do it without a second thought and then probably kill everyone else on the ship. Maybe… she didn’t want to test the theory.

“You see… there is a very simple explanation as to why I am in your bedroom and… this close to your… bed.”

“…”

Jaal cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck obviously embarrassed at the way things were progressing in this conversation. This isn’t the way that someone wanted things to go among two completely different species not even knowing each other for a year yet.

Or at all because I’m not even into Jaal like that!! What the hell brain!?

“Well, are you going to tell me or not?” Ain prodded, wanting to hear this so called “simple explanation”.

“You stated before for someone to come and get you when we arrived at Aya.”

“Uh-huh, and?”

“… We have arrived at Aya.”

Ain looked out her window to see the patch of paradise awaiting them upon landing.

“O-Oh... so we have…”

Wow… you’re an absolute idiot, Ain.

“I was asked if I would retrieve you since I was the closest.”

“O-Oh… r-right.”

“Is my explanation sufficient, Ryder?”

“Y-Yeah. It um… sure.” Ain quickly stood up and got tangled in the blankets and ended up heading towards the floor but was caught by Jaal.

“You are still unsteady on your feet. Or is this something Humans do?”

Ain gave the most awkward nervous laugh she had ever produced in her whole entire life. She tried her damndest to untangle her legs from the blankets, but to no avail. This couldn’t be happening.

“Sit down, Ryder.”

“What for?”

Jaal didn’t answer and sat her down on the bed and held her leg while he tried to untangle the blanket and sheet from them. His eyes were completely focused on the task that he was doing not even paying attention to the surroundings or what he was really doing.

“Um, you don’t have to do that, I can do it.”

“We will be waiting for quite a while if it was left up to you. You are sick, remember?”

“N-No really, I’m feeling better now.” His hand had traveled up to just above her knee to untangle the blankets, making this even more awkward.

“Jaal, really I ca-“

Are you serious?

Ain was cut off by the sound of her door opening. Standing in the doorway was Liam; stunned at the view before him. Honestly, Ain couldn’t blame him. This looked… suggestive. Ain had shorts and a tank top on, her legs were tangled up in blankets, Jaal was on his knees in front of her with his hands all over her legs trying to get blankets untangled from them.

“I… um… I came to see if Ain had got up okay…” His eyes had never left Jaal’s hands on her legs.

“I’ll be right there!” Ain said and quickly tried her hardest to get her legs untangled, and… failed.

“If you would stop moving this would not be taking a long time.” Jaal reprimanded (Totally unsure).

“Here, I’ll take one leg, you take the other.” Liam said and knelt next to Jaal and worked at the other leg. “Geez, how did you manage to get tangled up this bad?”

“Skill…” Ain said sarcastically and looked at the two men; both who had at one time or another said they like to do things with their hands, get things and take them apart, and use them well.

Ain stop! Oh my God! It’s like I’m in a science fiction story with a love triangle and the author is trying to give fan service or something! This is ridiculous! My luck is terrible…

“Finally.” Liam said and helped Ain stand up. “We’ll wait for you at the hanger.”

“R-Right… Thanks…” Ain blushed and faced the window and only turned back around when the door had closed. “Holy crap… Dammit bed! Why did you betray me?! Actually! Brain! Why did you betray me?” She sighed and went to her closet to change. If she didn’t get moving, someone would come back and check on her and knowing her luck it would be Jaal or Liam… or both. Again.

No! My fragile heart can’t take it!

Ain grabbed a hanger that had sweat pants on it and began to cough again. She leaned against the wall and had the pants at her side. The coughing only increased, and she hoped that she wasn’t getting sick. They didn’t have vaccines for anything in Andromeda and she didn’t want to infect any of the Angara if it were true. Then again, she had gasped quite a lot lately.

I’m sure I got something… caught in my throat.

Finally, the coughing subsided.

W-What?

On her hand was a bit of blood. The blood in her veins turned to ice upon seeing her hand. She went over to the mirror in her room and sure enough there was blood on her lips and chin.

”… What’s happening to me?”

#We'reTheSame #Mikuxmew85 #mass effect andromeda #jaal x ryder

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thechocobros · 7 years

Text

“SEE LUNA SAFE TO ALTISSIA” - part 16

Pair: Nyx Ulric / Lunafreya Nox Fleuret

Words: 6722

Plot: Luna and Nyx didn’t fell in the Empire’s trap, Nyx didn’t had to use the ring and he survived. What would have happened if Nyx really had the chance to ‘see Luna safe to Altissia’, like he promised to Regis? Here the part 5: The quick showdown in Altissia separated the newly wed Lunafreya Nox Fleuret and Nyx Ulric. She must fullfill her duty as Oracle. He must survive and go back to protect her. New allies and new enemies will come in their way, so in the chaos that follows, what will the future bring to them all?

Personal Comment: This took me long because I’m making so many things for the lunyx week! I also started to write two new lunyx fics etc, so please, please FORGIVE ME! >.< I hope this chapter will make amends. I’m publishing it before the week, so you will have time to read it.

Speaking of the chaper … Action and angst. My jam. I had to rewrite some scenes after seeing Ignis’ episode trailer, where Ravus appears too xD I also wanted to show more Luna and Nyx in their roles (especially Luna. Damn, that last update really ruined her more and I needed to go back to a more KG version of her, where she actually does stuff without whining), so yeah, I hope I did it good? More action!Luna is yet to come anyway. Let me know.

The next chapter should be the final one. OMG.

Luna must have fainted at some point for she woke up on the couch, exhausted and covered in sweat. She had experienced terrible nightmares as always, but this time waking up and realizing that Nyx wasn’t back yet felt even worse.

Out of the window, the sun was setting alread, or maybe it was the dawn of the day after, she couldn’t tell and this made her panic. If she wasn’t able to understand what time was it, how could she know if it was the case to be worried or not?

She asked the soldiers guarding her room but they didn’t see the Glaive return. He was away for more or less 15 hours. Luna thanked them and shut the door behind her. Once she was alone with her fears, she started to cry.

——–

The worst part was not knowing what happened to him.

Luna waited until midnight on a chair on the balcony, biting her nails to the quick. Her fingers bled when she bit too deep, and all she could do was weigh the possibilities of what could’ve happened. Maybe he was caught by the Imperials. Maybe Noctis thought he was a traitor under Kingsglaive fatigues. Maybe he was killed. Her mind screened and examined dozen of awful scenarios, where her husband got trapped, betrayed, tortured and even assassinated, and in each of them she felt like it was her fault.

The torment born by these nihilistic thoughts brought anything but peace and nobody was there to offer her comfort. In fact, after their last discussion, Ravus decided that it was too risky to stay in touch with her sister and was now probably too disposed with the Empire to actually care about his new brother-in-law. Luna wished to ask Aranea, but had no way to contact her.

And so, Luna realized that she was alone.

“You just have to go on with the plan and do what you gotta,” Nyx had whispered in her ear during their last night together after loving her thoroughly and passionately. “You have your duty. Coming back to you is mine.”

Awakening Leviathan. Kill her and also the other Gods. Defeat the Darkness together with Noctis. Nyx strongly believed that she was able to accomplish such an absurd and extremely dangerous mission, even without his help.

The amount of faith he placed in her was unbelievably huge, but he had always been right about her. Even in so little time, he was able to know her better than she ever knew herself. She believed that she had the power in winning this battle because of him, heard it until it resounded throughout her entire being. Luna wouldn’t let him down no matter what came to pass.

—–

When the dawn came, Luna knew her husband was lost, perhaps forever.

Her heart was shattered in thousand pieces, but none of that matter now. She had a duty to see through and couldn’t let her own irremediably compromised feelings tear her down before it. She was the Princess Oracle, no, she was the Queen Oracle like her mother before her and she carried the voice that only the Gods would adhere to.

She had to look at things in the right perspective, focus on her priorities. She tasted a piece of heaven thanks to Nyx, but now he was gone and she had to do what Eos expected her to, Nyx included. Wiping away her tears with closed fists and nerves taunt as tight ropes, Luna would not falter – not now, not ever.

——–

Nyx was engulfed in nothing but pain and darkness.

It was like someone was tearing his skin off, piece after piece slowly, starting with his arm. He wished to have his arm torn off once for all so he wouldn’t have to bear that constant agony, but the relief didn’t come until an immeasurable amount of time later.

Nyx couldn’t understand when or how, but he started to breathe again and was able to open his eyes.

Even before realizing where he was, his first thought went to Lunafreya. Where was she now? What did she thought when she didn’t see him coming back and what did she do afterwards? If he was still alive, he had to go back to her at any cost.

But wherever she was, it had to be better than his situation.

The place he was caged in was nothing but a dark dungeon with cold walls and only a small window on the ceiling. Hewas chained by the wrists behind the back. His shoulder still hurt like hell, but as he tried to stand on his feet from the supine position he was, he noticed that also his entirebody was sore. Nothing alike the miserable condition he was some time ago anyway.

“You shouldn’t exert yourself,” said someone in a matter-of-fact tone. “I so kindly pulled you from death’s cold embrace so you don’t meet such a tragic end. Need time to gather your bearings? By all means, you shall have it.”

Nyx boggled at the sound of that mellifluous and cruel voice, it was like a creepy music which sent shivers upon his spine. Even at cost of terrible pain, the Glaive turned to watch his interlocutor.

“You…!” He said, recognizing Chancellor Ardyn Izunia himself leaning on the wall and waiting for his awakening.

“Me? Judging by your tone, I assume you recognize me.” He whispered melodiously. “Excellent. I dislike frivolous formalities immensely. We can speak simply, you and I.”

Nyx gnashed his teeth, trying to stand up. He just didn’t have the strength to, barely managing to move a few inches that his restraints allowed. “You healed me?”

“You may be surprised of how many people I used to heal back in my time though I might be a tad rusty at it now. Feel the drawbacks, yes?”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t fancy conversing with corpses. To put it plainly, dead men tell no tales.”

Nyx was finally able to sit, his ribs protesting like they were broken in two and a wave of nausea struck him even if there was nothing inside his stomach to dispel the sensation. “I guess this is the Imperial way of getting someone’s attention?” He brought his chained wrists to his sides, gingerly brushing where the bullet went through. “Dunno if I even wanna know what happens when you guys get friendlier than this.”

Ardyn Izunia moved too, his unhurried gait held an air of pompous clairvoyance and the aloofness of a grand chessmaster.

“Magitek troops are neccessary pawns, but simply incompetent. They know no other way to stop a Glaive but to shoot first. They lack the foresight to consider much else.“

"So using Lunafreya’s notebook and pretending to be Prince Noctis to corner her was probably your idea, huh?”

“You recognized my style! I’m glad to hear that and well, you can’t say that wasn’t genius.” When Nyx raised an eyebrow at the word ‘genius’, the Chancellor added quickly, “Lower your suspicions now. I hold nothing but the deepest regard for men like you, Nyx Ulric. Men who are brave enough to stab the Frostbearer in the name of love. You remind me of myself when I was your age and maybe this is the reason why the Gods are not fond of you. But I do. In fact, the last person who dared to challenge the Astrals was myself so impatience drove me to meet you in person. To see that spark in someone’s eyes.”

“What do you really want?” asked Nyx, not liking his insinuations and starting to loose his coolness. The wound on his shoulder was gone, but the pain left him exhausted and wasn’t in the mood for his mind tricks.

“I want to help you.”

Nyx grimanced. “I don’t buy that one bit.”

“But what if I told you that as soon as I heard about the Glacian’s tragic end, I brought the Crystal to Altissia so your lovely princess could awaken the Infernian and the Draconian?”

Nyx narrowed his eyes and held his breath, studying the chanchellor’s expression to determine if anything expressed had a ring of truth to them. There must have been a catch somewhere, he knew it. Ardyn’s eyes were glowing with the cruelest light, it was like a purple and malicious spark, able to creep the hell out of Nyx. He couldn’t trust his words. “Isn’t what you wanted?” The chancellor continued, appealing to Nyx’s true desire, “To kill all the Six and free the innocent princess from their devices?”

“It is. But I also want to save my King and Eos from the grip of Darkness.”

“Ah, and that’s where, hero. However, I’m not apathetic to your distress, I’ll give you an inestimable opportunity. Consider it a sign of gratitude for killing the Glacian once and for all in my place. Without her divine intromission and the other Astrals’ help, the Chosen King will be in the palm of my hand.”

“What… are you talking about?”

“I can protect the Princess Oracle when she wakes the rest of the Six. I can lend her my power so she will quickly end them. Speaking of ‘her’, I mean your 'wife’.” Izunia stopped to admire with a corrupted smile Nyx’s surprised expression. “Yes, I know that too. What an admirable act of courage, to get marry in order to escape from the destiny the Gods chose for her. But now, don’t throw your bliss away. If you allow me to protect her, I can offer you an everlasting future by her side.”

Nyx instinctively shook his head. “What are you asking me in exchange?”

The chancellor gesticulated with his hand, trying to look casual. “Nothing. After your princess kills the Six, you can take her and flee. You can take her wherever you wish, no one shall ever oppose you ever again.”

Nyx smiled, but he was not amused at all. His mind caught the evil beyond the apparent endeavor of looking lenient. “You only want Lunafreya out of the way.”

Ardyn Izunia pretended to look offended, a mock gasp before chuckling, “Oh! You presumemy beautiful gift as something terrible!”

“Afraid of her, too, aren’t you? You’re right to. Just wait to see what she and Prince Noctis are gonna bring to your sorry ass.”

Ardyn Izunia wasn’t one to know Nyx’s insolence and to tolerate those of his ilk. His playful smile turned into the pure personification of evil as his face lit of a mischievous glow Nyx would be better to fear. “You may live to regret your words.”

“The only thing I would regret is to free my princess from the demons of her past only to force her again under a far more heavy remorse. She would never accept your offer and neither will I.”

Speaking such a reckless statement with a defiant grin painted on his lips earned Nyx a backhand slap to the face. The strength beyond it was so supernatural that the Glaive couldn’t help but fell back on the floor, blood spilling from his nose and lip. He didn’t emit a single whine though. He was not so easy to break.

“So be it. You chose to be the one to experiment regret: because of you, I will kill your beloved wife before Gods do.” That was the only sentence which was able to sweep away the smirk from Nyx’s sore face. No physical pain nor personal menace couldn’t be compared with the fear of seeing Luna being hurt because of him.

“You can’t win this battle, Ardyn Izunia. They won’t let you.”

But Ardyn didn’t bother to reply. He just took his hat off and bowed a little, leaving him there, chained and worried. It was his turn to smirk smugly, like he already won it all.

—————

Luna decided to step out from her safe hiding place to perform the rite of awakening the Hydraean. She sent a short message to First Secretary Claustra to inform her of that, and received a visit from her correspondent.

“Your groom?” she asked, taking a sit on the empty chair in the luxurious room of the Princess.

“Not here,” Lunafreya answered, glacial expression and posture elegantly composed. She was dressed in the beautiful white dress Nyx bought her in Lestallum, her make-up was on and her trident was ready to be used. She wear her mask perfectly, exactly like it has been all those years. If she didn’t hold on to such an appearance she wouldn’t be able to hide her heartbreak. Nobody was allowed to see the pain beyond.

“I met with Prince Noctis this morning,” Camelia stated, trying to look professional. Her eyes hid a evil glow though, but Luna knew she wouldn’t be cause of trouble, not until she and Altissian people would have been safe. “He told me he received a message from you and that you would have asked me to perform the ritual to awake the Hydraean.”

Luna boggled, her words slicing through her like a knife. If Noctis received her message, it meant that Nyx succeed in his mission. So whatever happened to him, happened after that. She stood in silence to mask her anxiety from Camelia.

“We’ve sealed a deal. You can have your ritual. But I want my people to be protected.”

Luna was relieved to hear that was her condition.

“It’s reasonable.”

“We decided to evacuate the city but we’re going to need time. Now you will have a speech where you reassure people of having the situation under control. By the voice of the Oracle, Altissia will listen and evacuate promptly. My only plea wouldn’t help.”

“I can do so.”

“And tomorrow you will call for the Goddess of the Sea, not before noon. This time should be enough for a correct evacuation. The Prince’s friends are gonna help.” There was a small pause where Luna took a deep breath and forced herself to keep a straight face up. She had to focus on the real goal.

“What is the Empire going to say about your intromission in this situation?”

“The Empire knows the Accordo government will do anything to protect its people, so if we organize the evacuation they won’t be in the position to say anything. Regarding me protecting you, this is a personal business they will never know of. Furthermore, it was only a temporary solution. In fact, from now on, you will be on your own. Accordo is not going to protect you when the speech will start, nor it will during the ritual on the altar. You, Prince Noctis and the Empire will be allowed to do whatever you want on our territory once people are safe, but we won’t mingle in your affairs.” A neutral position. An hazardous choice for an all-business politician like Camelia Claustra. Luna was sure that if it wasn’t for the old friendship between her and her mother she wouldn’t have gone that far either.

“I see.”

“You know what really allures the Empire. The power of your trident, along with the rest of the Lucian Ancestors Arminger. When they’ll see Prince Noctis wielding them, they will lose their mind and chaos will burst. If worse comes to worst, you can threaten to throw the trident into the sea. Then they’ll listen. In the meantime, it will be well guarded. Better than the Oracle herself.”

“Understood. I shall reclaim it at the altar.”

“Remember, you’ll be under imperial watch.”

“Right.”

“Think of it as a necessary evil in order to forge the covenant.”

Luna felt weird hearing her mention a covenant. Camelia wouldn’t have known that the princess had evoked the rage of the Gods upon herself because she refused to forge any more kind of covenant. The First Secretary couldn’t even imagine what Luna was actually trying to accomplish with Leviathan’s awakening.

“I am in your debt.” Luna said anyway, bowing a little. The more complacement with the situation, the better.

“Once it’s over, you may go as you please. But you do so without our protection.”

“So be it.”

Camelia let a sigh escape from her lips. For the first time since they met, she looked compassionate when she said: “You better get going. Your public is waiting for you.”

Luna shouldn’t have been surprised of the escalating pace of her life, yet as she watched Camelia leaving the room, a squeeze on her heart reminded her she was getting closer and closer to the end.

She wished Nyx was there beside her.

When a dozen of imperial soldiers rushed in the room, almost crushing the door open for the excessive zealousness and pointing with their guns at her like she was a criminal, Luna didn’t stop to stare into the distance. If she was able to bear her husband’s absence, not even an entire army would have hurt her anymore. She took an unnoticed deep breath and stood up proudly, fervor in her eyes. The soldier who tried to put her on the opposite side of the gun was pulled away with one only firm and cold wave of the hand. Too bad Luna couldn’t see the face he made under the helmet.

She walked ahead, having nothing but one goal: destroy the Gods and the Darkness and possibly find a way to get her husband back.

———–

The gunshot was healed, but now Nyx had to deal with the headache caused by Izunia’s punch. He had to turn around a bit, breathing heavily and hoping that the hemorrhage would have ceased. In the meantime, his brain couldn’t stop thinking and thinking. He had to do something but he was chained down and not even his magic would have been useful in that condition.

He cursed under-breath for falling right in the Chancellor’s trap, but then again he knew it wasn’t his fault. He only had to find a way to get out of there. Who knew if the chaos already started somehow up there.

“Hey!” He screamed, headed to nobody in particular. “Is someone there? Heyyy!” The echo of his own voice was the only thing answering back. He let his head falling back on a stack of hay. That dungeon was so dark and silent it was hard to catch the smallest noise. The frustration grew bigger, until his whole body started to scream like a desperate. “Heyyy, someone take me out of here!” he screamed again, angrier. Then he heard something. A delicate swish, nothing more, but it sounded like it responded to the Glaive’s screaming. Nyx lift his head and looked around. “Who’s there?” he asked, this time almost whispering.

A shadow came out from the darkness and he boggled.

“Sir Ulric?” The mysterious figure was hazel at the beginning but as it got closer, Nyx could only sigh in relief and most likely, in disbelief.

“You…? What are you doing here?”

Ignis Scientia, the Prince’s advisor himself, came under the only candle light they had and adjusted his glasses, surprised as much as the Glaive.

“I’m evacuating the area under Secretary Camelia’s orders and it happened I had to check if someone was left behind in this dungeon.”

“Great! Find a way to get me out of here.”

“I’ll reserve the questions about your imprisonment later.”

“Yeah, later is good.” Nyx grinned, licking the blood away from his lip. He tried to stand up because he wanted to be useful for Ignis in case, but the young advisor seemed to have already clear in mind a solution. After less than one minute, he came back with Nyx’s kukris and without saying a word he shoved it in the floor, looking expectedly to the Glaive, which quickly understood his plan. As a matter of fact, Nyx started to feel immediately the magic running through his veins, screaming to him to be used. Smirking with satisfaction, Nyx let it go. He warped out of the cage’s bars, grabbing the hilt of his weapon and holding on to it. He had left the chains back in the prison and now was free to move again.

“If they really wished to cage you, they should have hidden your kukris in a better place, not near the dungeon’s entrance, where i spotted them before.”

“Right. Our weapons are more important than arms to us, our whole magic is connected to them. And to the King, of course.” Nyx confirmed, knowing that a member of the Crownsguard like Ignis knew all this for sure. “Thanks for bringing my kukris back, someone must have taken them away from me when they knocked me out” Nyx said, expertly rotating the knifes and insert them back in his belt.

“What happened?”

“After my talk with the prince, Ardyn Izunia decided to chat and somehow I ended up here. Crazy, ain’t it? Anyway, what’s the situation up there?”

“Lady Lunafreya is about to wake the Hydraean. The rite will start in a matter of minutes.”

Nyx felt his heart ache, knowing that Izunia was headed towards the altar too, with the clear intention to hurt her. Lunafreya needed his guardian, now more than ever, and he was still too far from her. He had to be quicker than a bolt.

“Ignis Scientia, what about Kingsglaive and Crownsguard joining forces? Please, take me to Lunafreya.”

—–

As Luna stepped ahead towards the podium, she heard people’s voices slowly shut up, in great expectations. It surprised her how many people promptly came as soon as they heard she would have had a small speech. Like she needed more evidences, that was one another one showing that she really was an inspiration for all Eos.

As the silence fell, she knew she held them in the palm of her hand. Whatever she would say, they would have listen, so she took a deep breath.

“Dear friends,” Luna started, “I stand before you today with little hope the words I speak shall reach beyond these walls. For slowly but surely, the Light fades from our world. And as it does, the shadows shall loom ever longer until all succumbs to the darkness. Darkness that evokes terror, hatred and sorrow in the heart of men. The ashes of Lucis… A dream of peace, twisted into a nightmare of death and destruction, claiming innumerable lives and leaving myriad souls to suffer.”

The memories hit Luna’s mind with an unexpected ferocity. Sometimes she wanted to afford the luxury of thinking that she wasn’t traumatized by Insomnia’s destruction, but she was. She really was. Even if she had already Nyx next to her at that time, she couldn’t forget the horrible feeling in her guts when Glauca passed his sword through Regis’s spine the same way he did with her mother. Nor she could forget the sensation of having buildings almost falling upon her, the screams of the citizens panicking around, the fire illuminating their skin, the blood on her dress, the smell of the ashes and powder, the uncertainty of not being able to do what it was her duty to do.

After stopping for a second, Luna regained enough energy to continue: “Yet, I beg you, do not surrender to despair. Have faith, for even if our gods would abandon us, the real power to resist darkness is inside every one of us. Working together, we can build a new world, a new future where the sun always shines. Where the night will mean only dreams instead of nightmares, where the rays of the moon will illuminate the peace fell upon us all. Our world will be delivered from the perils of the dark. I stand before you here, in Altissia, to call upon Leviathan, Goddess of the Seas, spirit of the deep. But first I offer you my solemn vow: on my honor as Oracle, I will not rest until the darkness is banished from our world and the light is restored.”

And in that very moment, an emotional applause covered her words. She looked into the crowd and she spotted a single familiar face. She couldn’t be certain of his identity because so many years passed since last time they talked. Only when he nodded, Luna could sigh in relief.

Noctis.

Her childhood friend.

She smiled, nodding back to him, and turned away.

————-

Ignis was incredibly fast for a man moving in such an elegant suit. Nyx expected to have to slow down the pace, but thanks to the stars it wasn’t necessary. They both ran so fast it was even hard to catch them with the eyes. Their goal was the altar but arriving there was more difficult than they expected.

The city was completely empty so they didn’t have to worry too much about people left behind and if this was a good thing, it also meant Altissia wasn’t a safe place for them neither.

A dark grey sky was illuminating a ghost town, touched only by a cold wind and spurts of water coming from the sea. It wasn’t raining yet, but there was so much humidity that the effect on the clothes and skin was very similar. It was so creepy that Nyx hardly recognized the warm and romantic city who welcomed him and the Princess only a week before.

In the meantime, Ignis continued to run, unstoppable. It looked like he knew perfectly every narrow lane and every hidden path, which was probably true since he seemed like the kind of guy who studies maps at night to be prepared the day after. If it wasn’t for him, Nyx wouldn’t have reached the cathedral square so fast.

“This is where Lady Lunafreya had her speech,” the young Advisor explained quickly, not bothering to stop to catch his breath. The place where they arrived was huge and now empty. The ferocious and supernatural wind pulled papers and trash on the beautiful tiles of the square, turning the original beauty into a desolated open space. “She headed in that direction. The altar must be there.”

Nyx grabbed Ignis’ arm, forcing him to stop.“You shouldn’t come with me. It’s too dangerous. A mess bigger than you think is about to start and you must not die.”

“I can take care of myself.”

Nyx shook his head, that was not what he meant. “I don’t doubt it. It’s not you I am worried about. Go to the Prince, keep him safe. If you die before, you won’t be able to do it.”

“What about Lady Lunafreya?”

Nyx closed fists, his eyes grew darker as he whispered, determined. “You have the Prince, I have the Princess. It’s my job to keep her safe. I won’t allow anyone to do any harm to her, as much as you won’t allow anyone to hurt the Prince.”

“You’ll need help.”

At that words, Nyx smirked, but the smiled didn’t reach his blue eyes. “Yes, I know. But I’ll manage it somehow.”

Behind the glasses, Ignis’ pupils reveled his evident desire to go back to Noctis and stand by his side during the battle. He clearly wanted to be helpful and he knew the best way to do it was to go back to his friend.

“Don’t die,” he said, finally nodding. They were in the center of the square and the dark clouds announcing a supernatural event we’re surrounding them. It felt somehow like a goodbye.

Nyx was about to answer when a sudden earthquake shook the floor underneath their feet. They barely had the strength to stand straight before a frightening noise broke the sky in two. They quickly turned to watch the sea in the distance and they saw the huge profile of Leviathan breaking out of the ocean, screaming with a terrible voice, capable of making the bravest man to shiver.

“The Hydraean!” Ignis screamed, his voice bearable audible in the chaos.

“Lunafreya has begun the rite!”

Ignis and Nyx shared one more look and nodded. They would have proceed with the plan if another intimidating noise - this time much closer - wouldn’t have interrupted. It wasn’t good news.

An entire fleet of imperial airships was on their way towards the altar, and as they passed by, Nyx noticed one in particular staying behind. Nyx instinctively wielded his kukris, because he kinda knew who was inside it. As a matter of fact, that single airship veered towards them.

“Bet it’s the Chancellor!” Nyx screamed so Ignis would hear him. The advisor wielded his knifes too, ready to fight, but when a small army of MTs jumped down the airship, there was not much they could do if not starting to kill them all one by one.

Nyx and Ignis formed an unexpected compatible duo in battles. Nyx was more impulsive but this defect was balanced by Ignis’ impeccable strategies he kept yelling at him. As expected, Nyx was a better soldier. His magic was way more powerful thanks to the warp and the spells he learned to use in the Kingsglaive so together they needed only a couple of minutes to have the situation under control. As soon as they did, Nyx caught the Chancellor’s profile watching them from the airship.

“I knew it” he had the time to whisper before Ardyn Izunia jumped down on the square next to them.

“You escaped the dungeon. Why am i not surprised, I wonder” he spoke out loud, gesticulating at Nyx like he was an old friend he was glad to meet again. “And you’ve got company I see.” Ignis’ eyes narrowed in the attempt of lining up the pieces of the puzzle, he certainly had no idea of what was really happening. In spite of this, when he spotted the Glaive wielding the kukris against the Chancellor, he did the same, lips arching in a menacing grimace.

“Go to Lady Lunafreya” he ordered, like the strategist he was.

“You have to run away, too. Fighting him now would be out of our league.”

“I fear it is” Ignis admitted, but his elegant accent didn’t lose the composure.

Yet, Ardyn Izunia summoned a weapon in that very moment, a beautiful sword Ignis could swear he saw already somewhere. Was that really an ancestral weapon? Things were getting even more confusing at this point.

A dozen of other imperial soldiers appeared out of the fog in that very moment, charging against them with the ferocity of an entire army.

Nyx had less than two seconds to decide. He didn’t want to abandon an ally like Ignis there, because he knew that would have been the equivalent of a sentence to death. At the same time, he knew that staying there to fight wouldn’t have helped Ignis anyway. They both would have died and the sacrifice would have been heroic yet useless. But in spite of any logic, for Nyx it just wasn’t an option. He never abandoned a companion during all his military career and he certainly wouldn’t had now. Wasn’t he the hero of Kingsglaive after all?

“Hell no.” Nyx said, then, with a smug smile on the face.

The impact was violent. There was shooting, iron against iron, screams, smell of sweat and blood. Ardyn chose Nyx as his direct adversary, so the soldiers threw themselves on Ignis. They took him down after less than a minute, attacking him from the front and from the back. The Strategist was really good in using magic even if he was just a member of the Crownsguard and not a Glaive like Nyx, so he was able to free himself a couple of time, but he would have died pretty fast anyway if it wasn’t for a long sword coming to help him. Looking up to see who was there surprised Ignis a lot:

“Lord Ravus!”

“I will regret this, Scientia. But for now, let’s just join forces.”

In spite of the impression he wanted to give, Ravus proved himself a lot less careless than he would have ever like to admit. Understanding that there would have never been a more crucial battle, he was ready to play the “it’s now or never” game.

Ignis didn’t need to be asked twice. No matter how much he was covered in sweat and blood, he stood up again. He and Ravus joined together against the imperial soldiers, opening a way to reach Nyx and Ardyn.

In the meantime the Glaive - who was hardly warding off Ardyn’s knocks - noticed Ravus’ arrival and with a smooth somersault, he moved back, crouched down and then warped ahead, so he could reach the allies.In a second, Nyx, Ravus and Ignis were standing one next to the others, watching their backs to protect themselves from the Empire’s wrath. In a way, counting on the support of such skilled allies was a relief, but it couldn’t last, because they had to part as soon as possible. In fact, Ravus’ true intentions were reveled when he said: “Ulric, go to Lunafreya. I’ll stay with Scientia, so you can stop playing the war hero.”

Nyx smirked but nodded, silently thanking his brand new brother in law for the help.

Under the Chancellor’s eyes, Nyx avoided a soldier which was attacking him, and was forced to warp on the closest airship to avoid the hit. The platform were he land was empty and safe, a perfect spot to watch the situation from another angle. However, when the airship started to move, Nyx gasped, glad but also worried for not knowing the direction he was headed to.

“Don’t die, ok?” He screamed anyway towards Ignis and Ravus, which still were in the center of the square, surrounded by imperial soldiers. He didn’t leave lighthearted, on the contrary, he knew that both Ignis and Ravus were risking their life and that their possibilities of survival were very few.

He cursed under-breath as he noticed that Leviathan in the distance was throwing huge pieces of buildings up in the air. Some reached the area close to them, starting fires and destroying everything. He focused again on the two allies getting smaller and smaller from the safe place on the airship. He noticed that they started to fight already but in a very short time Ignis was immobilized on the floor by the imperial soldiers. The rain was wetting his glasses, the mud sullied his elegant suit. It was a pitiful view even from afar and Nyx hated it. In fact he felt the urge to warp back to help him but decided to trust Ravus.

The last thing he saw was Ardyn Izunia swaying towards the royal Advisor and saying something, before he turned to watch the Glaive go with the most malicious blink.

Nyx closed fists, knowing it still wasn’t over.

And in the distance, the yell of Leviathan broke the sky in two.

————

Everything was still. In front of the altar where she was standing, there was nothing but the sea, fogged by the upcoming cataclysm.

Lunafreya collected her energy to perform the Awakening for the last time. Even if the disease weakened her enormously, she still had in her what she needed and after all, that was her calling. She did it perfectly. As she felt a quake in her magic, also the earth underneath her trembled in a similar way and the ocean curled up in spirals, making space for the ferocity of the Goddess of the Sea. The huge creature, with the form of a snake or better a dragon, appeared abruptly from the depths of the waters, screaming her anger out and spilling intolerance. Even if Luna got immediately soaking wet, she didn’t flinch. She stood still, the trident in her hand, with a determined glow in her eyes.

“What fool mortal dares break the slumber of the Tide!?” The Hydraen’s voice was like the broken noise of a vibrant radio station, it was terrible, harsh, strident. Luna needed all her strenght to not step back.

“It is I, Lunafreya, blood of the Oracle! Goddess of the Seas, I beseech you: cease your vain attempts of using mankind for revenge. Bless us all with the freedom of choosing about our own destiny.” Her request was simple: she just wanted to be set free.

“This wretched pile of bones and flesh, ignorant of that which governs all, comes to requisition the might of a goddess?“

"I do.”

“Blasphemous ingrates, all men, quick to forget the ages their goddess stood watch!” With a single violent wave, Leviathan threw the princess against a wall. The poor soul almost fainted because of the pain and blinking her trembling hands, she used the trident to regain footing. Her voice was beautiful in the chaos:

“It is in receiving mercy that men offer praise, and in shedding grace that the gods solicit worship.”

But Leviathan wasn’t inclined to accept any praise, and temperment most foul to afford shedding grace. “Yet this profane speck speaks her «freedom» heresies before a goddess! Insufferable sacrilege! Such a thing is far beyond your control!”

Lunafreya stared at the wild creature in front of her, as the saddest sigh touched her lips: “Well, I had to try to ask nicely”. But now, all she could do was to proceed with the plan, even if that would have meant risking more than her own life. If she failed, the entire world would have paid for her act of rebellion. Yet it was for the world’s sake she had to try.

She raised her trident up to the sky, releasing all her white magic in a single burst. It was unexpected, not even the Goddess of the Sea could imagine to be hurt immediately after her awakening. Nor she could expect to be hit by the Oracle itself.

The brilliant ray of power emanated from Luna cut both her fins and slashed the scales near her throat, but didn’t kill her immediately. On the contrary, it provoked her rage even more. As a reaction, Leviathan moved her tale, hitting Luna with an impressive wall of water and she didn’t fall in the depths of the ocean only because she found a rock to hold on to. As the Oracle spat out salt water that assaulted her nose and mouth, she took a second to recover and then tried again to raise her trident in the air. Leviathan was badly injured which made her extremely exasperated. As the Goddess lost from her fins the same silver blood Shiva shed too, she moved again out of control, causing such an hysteria that Luna couldn’t hit her again with the trident’s magic.

The Oracle let the adrenaline take over her own mind, so she could jump from a debris to another debris. Her beautiful white dress tore apart, a irregular slit appeared on the soft material but the girl didn’t bother. She helped herself with her own bare hands, turning the long skirt into a messy mini. After that, she looked out for an ally in all that chaos, knowing someone must be there.

In fact, Noctis appeared in that very moment on a spike in the distance. Luna felt a light squeeze on her heart as she watched the future King of Kings standing there, ready to fight and keep to his duty. In spite of his huge role in the destiny of the world, he still was the childhood friend whose memory filled Luna’s mind for years. Who knew if he used the Ring already and if its power started to corrupt his bones, leading him inevitably to self destruction. The coming developments would have revealed it to her in the hard way.

Lunafreya understood immediately what she was supposed to do now that she noticed the young prince in the chaos: reach out for him and fill him with the Oracle’s magic so he would have the strength to take the battle to Leviathan head on.

Clasping her fingers around the trident’s cold metal, Luna rushed ahead, trying to get close.

The war cries of the Sea Goddess were deafening and because of them, Luna missed an imperial airship’s arrival, coming out of the blue toward her direction. She stopped, staring in surprise at the Chancellor Ardyn Izunia himself descendingto meet with her.

Luna couldn’t believe at her eyes when the man grinned with a wicked smirk that illuminated his entire face, concealing nothing to the Oracle. He had came for her and now she hadn’t nowhereelse to run.

#lunyx #kingsglaive #final fantasy xv #lunafreya nox fleuret #nyx ulric

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proseandpeonies · 7 years

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You Won’t Miss Much, Part Two

Hello! So here is chapter two, ft. Worried!Fenrys

I also learned a bit of history/mythology the other day! Sellene is one of the primordial gods in Greek history, and Endymion was her lover who was killed. They are also Rowan’s cousins, who are both mentioned in EoS! Sorry, my inner nerd.

Summary: It’s been months since the war that changed every aspect of life in Erilea. Aelin Galathynius has survived against all odds and now is the rightful queen of Terrasen, but there are demons that still haunt both her and her court. And when she sends her king to deal with the rising tensions in Eyllwe, those demons begin their assault on everyone’s mind. And in the midst of it all, another surprise will either be the making or breaking of Aelin.

Warnings: Mentions of rape. Suicidal thoughts, torture, insomina, ptsd, depression.

Word Count: 3070

Chapter One. Chapter Three

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If Rowan Whitethorn Galathynius didn’t get something to eat in about two minutes, he was going to end someone’s life. He glanced around at his companions, who all seemed to be sharing his feelings of coldness, tiredness, and hunger. He’d been on much tougher war campaigns, ones where they’d had to abandon their horses because the snow was too deep, or the ones where they’d gone days without rest or food, but somehow this one was fraying his nerves much more than those ever had.

Perhaps it was what Aelin had awoken him with last night...

Rowan shook his head, and spurred his horse a bit, hissing as the animal clomped into a large puddle he hadn’t noticed. Aedion, who had been riding unusually quite beside him, laughed dryly.

“Not enough sleep last few nights, Your Majesty?” The male’s smarmy grin was enough for Rowan to get what he was suggesting.

“I could ask you the same thing,” he replied, without looking back at him. Aedion made a sound of protest, and sped up his horse to catch up with Rowan. “Never mind that,” he said, the words coming out with a puff of steam in the cold air. The golden male looked back towards the rest of the party behind him, a smiling catching on his face as he saw Gavriel looking miserable at the back.

They’d only brought three lords, the ones Aelin trusted, and three guards. But the lords, the finicky bastards, had insisted they bring a few of their servants with them. But still it was a small party, considering the task Aelin had sent him with; heal the bonds, ease people’s minds. Aedion had insisted they bring more, but Rowan had only said that more would look too much like an invasion.

“You know,” Aedion whispered. “It’ll take us two months to get there if we don’t hurry our pace.” He was right, they’d miss their ship if they didn’t hurry. The plan was to ride to Ilium, then board on of the ship’s bound for Eyllwe. Rowan nodded his assent, the crown on his head heavy, and he raised a hand to steady it.

“Do I really have to wear this the entire journey?” He hissed, snapping his gaze to his general, who only laughed. “I suppose so.” Rowan braced himself as a wicked grin spread across Aedion’s tan face. “But, if you had agreed to taking a carriage—” Rowan groaned and let his head droop a bit. “You’d only have to wear it outside!”

“I am certainly not riding in a carriage like some polished little prince.” Aedion laughed, his eyes sparkling. Rowan felt another pang of hunger strike his belly, and he grabbed the pocket watch Aelin had thrown at him as he had been packing. It was nearly an hour past noon. But Aedion was right, they needed to pick up their pace, and, as Rowan glanced around, he found no place to stop. Rowan huffed. “We’ll stop in an hour.” Aedion nodded, and shouted the words back towards the group behind them. For a while the only sound was that of the clip-clop of horses’ hooves and the snapping of the silver-and-green banners in the wind, then a grumble interrupted it. Rowan snapped his eyes to Aedion in question, and the male blushed.

“I’m hungry,” he explained.

Rowan rolled his eyes but reached over to his saddle bag with one hand, unclipping it and tossing it towards Aedion. “Aelin probably stuck some gross confectionery in there.”

Aedion laughed as he rifled through it, shouting his victory when he yanked out a small wax paper bag. “Why,” Aedion began as he popped what looked like a piece of chocolate into his mouth, “does she shove this stuff in here if she knows you aren’t going to eat it?”

Rowan shrugged in answer and scanned the road before them. The towering pines on either side of the road created quite the image; each dusted with last night’s fallen snow, the needles whispering in the faint wind. There was a snicker behind him that turned into a full guffaw, and Rowan raised his brows at Aedion, then saw what he was looking at…

“Oh gods,” he groaned, a blush heating his face. Aelin— wicked and cruel Aelin had slid a book into his bag as well. He remembered that particular book well. It was a copy of one of Aelin’s favorite collections of poems. If you could call them poems, and not just explicit short stories.

“Why the hell do you have this?” he said after another minute of laughter. Rowan only shook his head. “Blame your queen, General.”

Aedion chuckled, “She reads this smut?” Rowan fixed him with a look of disbelief. “You’ve no idea.”

You minx, he said to Aelin.

Hmm, did you find my book? Yes, but, as a matter of fact, Aedion, found your book, he growled.

There was a pause, then, Oh. I hope he enjoyed it.

Sitting at the table in her chambers, breakfast spread before her, Aelin scanned the paper before her, trying desperately to quell her disappointment at what she was reading.

Your Majesty,

Sellene and I have been trying feverishly to calm the many who think the Whitethorn’s aren’t appropriate rulers, and I am sad to tell you that we may have to forfeit this rule. Or perhaps, you and my dear cousin could come to Doranelle to speak on our behalf, we need more influence than the few decrees you’ve sent. With Maeve dead, centuries of tradition are disintegrating, and we need your help. There has been no violence to speak of, but we fear that it may arise. I am aware of the things going on in Erilea, but this is a plea, if only so we can keep this from escalating.

Your friend, Endymion.

Aelin sighed heavily. She couldn’t leave to go to Wendlyn, not for the next few months at least, and she couldn’t spare anyone to go either. The tension in the kingdom had been steadily rising since the War, and it seemed it was at its tipping point. She scrubbed her face with a hand, then a few hard knocks on the door interrupted her, and she glanced towards the young girl who was pouring her a cup of tea. “Get that, please.”

The girl scurried off with a quick bow, and Aelin adjusted the sleeves of her tunic as she heard the two sets of footsteps returning. It had been three weeks since Rowan had left, and she figured she had gotten maybe two whole nights of rest collectively. Maybe it was the nightmares that chased her from sleep, or the cold that had seeped into her bones. Aelin tipped back her head and sighed.

“You look like shit.”

Aelin righted herself to glare at Fenrys, whose tan face was serious. “Nice to see you, too, Fen. I’ve been well, how about you?”

Fenrys didn’t smile as he pulled out a chair at the end of the table, helping himself to a plate of potatoes and sausage.

“I’m serious, Aelin,” he said. “Are you feeling well?”

Aelin rolled her eyes and braced an arm on the table, digging her fork into a piece of toast. “Is there a reason you’re here so early, Fenrys?” She said rather snappishly.

The male raised a groomed brow in her direction, but shook his head, and fished something of his pocket, “This came a little bit ago.” He tossed a sealed envelope across the table, and she caught it with a hand. Suddenly, the scent of pine and snow and Rowan filled her, and a smile brightened her face. “Rowan,” she breathed.

She looked away from the sealed letter and towards Fenrys, raising a brow. “Why not just have a servant deliver this?” Fenrys looked out the window, his hands fidgeting with his fork. “Fenrys,” she growled. He winced a bit and met her eyes again. “Lysandra wanted me to check on you, she said you hadn’t been sleeping, and that you wouldn’t talk to her about it—”

Aelin bristled and clenched her fork a bit tighter. “And she said it might be good to talk to someone else…” Fenrys shifted in his seat, poking at the food on his plate. Aelin knew they were only trying to help, but they couldn’t.

It was as simple as that.

They had no way of knowing what it had been like inside that coffin, or inside that damned pit Maeve had kept her in. And she didn’t think she could ever tell them. Fenrys knew most of what had happened simply because he’d been there, and Rowan… She’d told him only what she could.

There were some things that could only escape the binds she kept them in during her nightmares. And the things that had happened when she’d faced Erawan on the battle field… “I can’t talk about it Fen. I-,” she paused, considering what she was about to say. “I won’t talk about it.”

Fenrys nodded sadly and stood. “I have days like that too, but you can’t let it sit inside and grow into even worse monstrosities. We can’t let what happened to us defeat us after we’ve already survived it. You survived, Majesty, don’t forget that. And don’t forget that surviving isn’t the same thing as living.” With that, he left.

Aelin braced her elbows on the table, looking at her half-eaten breakfast in disgust. She’d told Rowan once that he made her want to live— not just survive. And he did. Every day, but it seemed that ever since she’d been freed from that hellhole, she’d been going through the motions.

She was Aelin Galathynius and she had survived Maeve, she had survived a fate that the very gods had predestined her for. But she was tired of just surviving. Perhaps she had forgotten those words she’d told her mate all those months ago.

Fenrys was lost in thought as he wandered down the hall towards his rooms, but as the ever-changing scent of Lysandra met his nose, he was drug out of his reverie.

“Did you talk to her?” Lysandra practically shouted as he neared her.

“I did my best, but,” he sighed. “This is something she has to be willing to do.”

Lysandra frowned, but nodded. “Before Rowan left, he told me to keep an eye on her.” She dropped her voice, and glanced around the empty hall. “He said her nightmares had gotten worse, and that she wasn’t even telling him what was going on.”

Lysandra scrubbed her face with a small hand. “I’m worried.” She said finally, and Fenrys nodded his agreement. “There’s quite a lot going on, maybe after everything’s settled in Eyllwe and in Doranelle, the stress will ease,” he said after a moment. “Maybe,” Lysandra whispered.

Aelin had forced herself to finish her meal before asking for the table to be cleared. Now, lying atop the covers in her bed, she smiled as she carefully unfolded the parchment, Rowan’s scent still clinging to the paper.

My dearest, Aelin,

I miss you. It is hard being so far away from you, Fireheart. By the time you get this letter, I’ll be on the ship, but for now, I’m lying in my dreadfully uncomfortable bed in the nicest inn Ilium could offer, wishing you were here. Unfortunately, I think the further we get from each other, the harder it is to get clear messages, so while I’m on the ship, you may have some silence. But I promise when I get to Eyllwe I’ll write more. And, I am unashamed to tell you that I have read a few of your little poems. They’ve giving me a few ideas, actually, especially the one atop page 55.

Aelin made a mental note to look that one up.

But, asides from your sinful literature, I’d like you to know how amazing Ilium is. This city is flourishing, and as are all the others we passed through on the way here. Aelin, when I get back, I think we should go around and visit the towns and villages again. Not just for their sake, but for ours as well. I think it would do us both good to see what we’ve done. The people are healing, from the War, and from the past. It’s inspiring. This morning, after we arrived, I went down to the temple to pray, and to look around. It has become a place of reverence again. You’d be honored, my love.

He went on to discuss the many happenings of their week and a half of travels, and of course, the topics he had decided to discuss in Eyllwe, but towards the end…. Aelin reread the last few paragraphs a few times.

Aelin, perhaps this a cowardly way of doing things, but I wanted to do this in a letter, if only because you cannot out right refuse the written word. I know there are things you aren’t talking about, with me, with Lys, with anyone. And I know you need time, I am prepared to give you the rest of your life if need be, but Fireheart, you can’t internalize these things. You can’t keep it in. It’ll destroy you. I know from personal experience.

You told me once that you can’t talk about the things that have happened to you. You told me that there was a rage. But that rage does not turn me away. I am not going to turn away. You’re my mate. My carranam. My queen and wife. And I love you more than anything in this damned world and in the next. And if you can’t ever talk about what happened. Then please just tell me what your feeling, Aelin. Please. You are not alone in this recovery process. You are never alone. No matter if I am thousands of miles away, my heart is with you, Fireheart. Always.

Yours Always,

Rowan.

She didn’t realize she was crying until a tear slipped down her face and onto the paper, smearing Rowan’s messy scrawl. Aelin set the paper aside shakily and rolled onto her back. They were right. Painfully right. She had covered everything up. Had buried it beneath false smiles and sarcastic remarks.

Her mental health hadn’t been something she had even considered for the past six months. She had been so focused on her kingdom, and the wedding, and treaties and decrees and all the other bullshit that she had shoved away all the pain and sorrow and utter devastation at what had been done to her.

But they were wrong about one thing. There was no talking about it. Aelin didn’t know what would happen if she did. It was something so revolting and destructive. That damn pit of memories. Aelin covered her face with a trembling hand, pressing her palm into her eyes until she saw nothing but black.

Fenrys was about two seconds away from slamming the petulant little guard’s face into the wall. “Let me repeat myself, I am one of the queen’s blood-sworn. Let me enter,” he growled to the now-shaking male. “B-but I am n-not supposed to let anyone i-in,” he stammered, glancing between Fenrys and Connall nervously.

“We pose the queen no harm; we just have matters to discuss.” Con’s even voice seemed to soothe the man, and he stepped aside. Fenrys refrained from glaring at the man. “If she lights your asses on fire, don’t you blame me.” He grumbled.

Fenrys eased open the door, scanning the entryway as he stepped in. “Aelin,” he called softly. When there was no response, he and Connall walked in further, down the few steps that led to the main bedroom.

Aelin lie on the bed, seemingly asleep. Her small weight barely made a dent in the large bed, and Fenrys exchanged a glance with his brother. Together, they approached the bed on near silent feet.

Faintly, Fenrys could hear her breath, but she should have heard them enter, at least she should have heard them arguing in the hall. “Your Majesty?” Connall whispered, concerning edging his voice. Fenrys frowned when she did not respond, and reinforced his shield as her reached out a tentative hand to brush her arm. Aelin jerked up, a ball of flame flaring to life in her palm.

“What the hell!” She shouted, the flame extinguishing much to Fenrys delight. There were dried paths of tears on her cheeks, but as he caught sight of the opened letter to her right, he decided not to ask about them. “We came to—”

“Check on me,” Aelin snarled. Connall gave Fenrys a pleading look, but he only shook his head. Their queen was right.

Aelin angrily patted down her hair and snatched up her letter from the bed.

“I’m not some toddler you must keep tabs on,” she said as she refolded her letter, and then leaned forward to slide it into the drawer of the nightstand.

Smoothly, she hopped of the bed and began walking towards her closet.

“Get out,” she said flatly. Fenrys felt the words as if they were a slap to the face, and from the hurt look in Con’s face, he felt the same.

“Aelin, please, if this is about Rowan—,” Connell was interrupted by a viscous, cold laugh, one that made ice shoot into every vein in Fenrys body.

“You think that this is about Rowan?” Aelin’s voice filled the room as she whipped her body around to face them. “Do you think that I’m some love-sick child?” The female spat, her hands trembling with rage.

Fenrys held up his hands in a sign of peace. This wasn’t just the anger of a separated mate. No, this was something much deeper. Something much more sinister.

Aelin turned back to her closet “I’ll say it again. Get out! And leave me the hell alone!” With that she stomped into her closet and slammed the heavy door shut.

Aelin didn’t leave the closet until she heard them leave. So, she had sat there like a pouting child for a few minutes, and as she sat on her bed now, she realized how ridiculous she was being. They just wanted to reach her. They wanted to help. But… Aelin didn’t want their help. Out of everything, she’d always survived and figured everything out. She would this time to.

#aelin galathynius #rowan whitethorn #rowaelin #rowaelin fanfiction #ywmm #mine #my writing #throne of glass #connall #fenrys #aedion ashryver #lysandra #tog #rowan x aelin #empire of storms

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xxleondraxx · 7 years

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Last Hope of Dead Hearts (aka Unsanctioned Fraternization)

This fic revolves around Evfra and Maria Ryder. This chapter is SFW. This fic contains spoilers. This fic clocks in at 9,452 words. Enjoy.

Thank you to my beta readers:

@gdi-bucky @kiibster @knjyasu @malvinnia

And extra thanks to @knjyasu. She’s the one I’ve been bouncing ideas off of. If it wasn’t for her I wouldn’t have even thought about writing this. I probably wouldn’t have jumped on the Evfra train at all.

Chapter 1

Aya. Sovereign land of the angara. This place is beautiful, Ryder thought to herself as she leaned her arms against the railing of one of the balconies and looked outward. The view was stunning, and the setting sun was casting shadows that seemed to give everything a stunningly ethereal depth.

This is what home should’ve looked like, she thought, the idea threatening to cast a melancholy blanket over her enjoyment of the view and turn it bitter. She dipped her head down and rubbed her hands over her face. She’d been at this Pathfinder thing for months now. She’d managed to do some amazing things. Some things that some might think were impossible. Starting a terraforming engine on a planet so that it could again become livable? That was about as impossible as it got.

But it hadn’t made her job any easier. Most of the time she had no idea what she was doing. She felt like she was standing in a room with walls covered with buttons and pushing them with the hope something good would happen and she wouldn’t cause everything to come crashing down around her.

She didn’t even know how she’d managed to do as much as she had. She just knew that she couldn’t fail. It wasn’t an option. If she did…

Ryder took a deep breath through her nose then exhaled through her mouth in an attempt to beat down the thought. The hopes and dreams of the entire Initiative were riding on her shoulders. It was something she tried to not think about, afraid that the implications of the thought would crush her beneath its weight. How could one person be expected to handle all this? Sure, her team helped, but at the end of the day she had the distinct feeling that Jaal was the only one that actually believed in her.

Besides, they were the team. She was the Pathfinder. Everything they did in the field reflected directly back on her, not them. They had the easy job, mentally speaking. They had to follow, and she had to find the path for them.

“Ryder, did you hear the one about the deaf man that was hit by a train? Neither did he.”

Ryder snorted a laugh at SAM’s dry attempt at humor. “SAM, what the hell was that?”

“You needed a pick me up,” SAM replied. “I thought I would offer assistance.”

Ryder leaned her head against her fist as she continued to look out at the landscape. “Thanks, SAM. Was just thinking about the impossible task ahead of us.”

SAM was silent for a while before he spoke again. “Ryder, your father chose well when he picked you to succeed him,” SAM said. “Had Cora taken over, I do not think things would have gone as well. You are the one that started the Vault on Eos.”

“Oh, come on, SAM,” she replied. “That was all you.”

“I could not have reached the consoles by myself,” SAM replied. “You had the courage to throw yourself into the unknown without thought for your own safety to help others. Cora does not take such leaps.”

Ryder didn’t say anything as she listened to the AI.

“Being a Pathfinder takes more than planning. One must be able to improvise at a moment’s notice. To change plans, or to go in with nothing but a goal. Meeting the angara was not planned. While first contact was anticipated, only simple guidelines could be drafted for such an event. It is through your will and determination that the angara are now allies and not foes. You saved the scientists on Havarl. You saved the Moshae. The angara look to you as a symbol of what an alliance with the Nexus could be. They trust you, even if they do not fully trust the Nexus.

“I do not believe Cora could have accomplished this the way you have. She is not mentally prepared for a leadership role. She continues to search for someone in a place of leadership that has a plan she can follow. Your father knew this. I believe that is why he chose you.”

Ryder smiled and hummed a little. Having SAM in her head was like having her own personal motivational coach sometimes. “Thank you, SAM,” she said.

“Of course, Pathfinder. Remember that you are doing a good job,” SAM replied, going silent again.

He was so quiet most times that Ryder often forgot that SAM was always there.

And that he was usually right.

Things were absolutely difficult right now. Nothing had gone according to Initiative plan. Hell, even the person that had created the Andromeda Initiative was dead. But nothing was impossible. She’d already done several impossible things in the short time since she’d become the Pathfinder.

Saving the scientists on Havarl hadn’t been easy. Freeing them, yes, but the act of getting to them, not so much. Between the Roekaar, the wildlife and the plants it seemed like everything on that planet except for the rocks wanted to kill them. Even so, she’d managed to get her team to the scientists and get them out safe and unharmed.

And saving the Moshae was one of the most dangerous things she’d been through since coming to Andromeda that didn’t involve her being ripped out of a crashing shuttle and having her helmet smashed open. Even so, she’d managed to get her team through that, too, and get the Moshae back to Aya.

It hadn’t been easy, and the angara wouldn’t have been able to do it by themselves. Despite her lack of training and the difficulty of her position, she’d overcome the odds. Like she’d told Evfra during their vid call, she got shit done.

Ryder’s head popped up off her hand when a thought hit her. Evfra! For hours she’d been walking around the city. Talking to people, learning things, taking in the view and even sampling local food and drink. She'd had a startling number of angara extremely curious about touching her hair and skin and examining her hands. She’d been occupied at all times since stepping through the gates to the city.

With everything that’d been going on she’d yet to make her way to Resistance HQ. She needed to go there anyway to get a copy of the angaran laws regarding war from the arbiter.

Ryder pushed away from the railing and looked around. The first time she’d been to resistance HQ she’d gone a different way than this. However the layout of the city seemed pretty simple. If she just walked in the opposite direction of the docks she knew she’d get there eventually.

And right she was. She hadn’t had to walk far before she recognized the building. With all its solar umbrellas and beautiful green glass windows, it was an easily recognizable building. Plus the two armed and armored angara sporting resistance colors stationed outside the door gave it away. Though they wore helmets she could feel their eyes on her as she walked toward the stairs to the building and she didn’t miss the way one of them hefted his rifle up slightly as she walked past.

Head high, Maria, she told herself as she walked past the guards. You saved the Moshae. You’ve earned the right to be here. She entered the building, unsure of the reception she would get there. Many of the citizens of Aya around the docks, market and tavetaan had been grateful to her or shocked that she had managed to save the Moshae.

But this wasn’t the market. This was Resistance HQ. These people had seen the worst of the kett. Even if they weren’t an official military, they were soldiers. Fighters. They had more reason than any to be weary of aliens. They had seen what aliens could do to them. What they did do to them every day.

She expected dirty looks. Sidelong glances. Mistrust.

She opened the door and stepped into the HQ. She was barely three steps inside before most of the angara in her line of sight turned and looked at her.

Their bright eyes spoke volumes as she walked past them. Mistrust nearly buried completely under cautious optimism. That’s what she saw from them, and it was more than she was expecting. She was even more surprised when one, who looked to be an older male, walked up and thanked her for saving the Moshae.

She paused to get the angaran laws of war from the arbiter and thanked him. Lord I’ve got a lot of reading ahead of me, she thought as she tucked the data pad away and turned toward the familiar door. Behind it was the command center for the entire angaran Resistance.

And in there, was their leader.

Evfra De Tershaav. Thus far she’d only spoken to him twice: Once when they first landed on Aya and again after she’d helped the scientists on Havarl. He was a stern man if she’d ever known one. Whereas Jaal was friendly, open and loved a good joke, Evfra was analytical. Calculating. She saw it in his eyes the first time she’d met him. The gears in his head were ever turning. No doubt while he’d been talking to her he’d also been planning troop movements and going over reports he’d read earlier in the day.

He came off hard and cold unlike Jaal, who was always friendly and warm. Jaal was a kitten compared to Evfra’s falcon-like demeanor. But like there was more to a falcon than a set of sharp talons and piercing, predatory eyes, there was more to Evfra.

The first meeting with him he’d been sympathetic to the plight of her people. He’d even seemed upset, or perhaps slightly disturbed, that he couldn’t help. But he’d also been on edge. He hadn’t wanted her there. He’d wanted her to turn around and forget she’d ever seen Aya.

But after she’d saved the scientists on Havarl, his tone had changed. She’d shown that she could give selflessly to help his people. His voice still had that same dull, uninterested tone but his words were enough. And revealing she had an AI, and that SAM was a part of her, had impressed him quite possibly more than anything else had. There was trust there now. Jaal had confirmed as much.

But trust was a fickle thing. Hard to earn and easy to lose. She couldn’t let herself become complacent. If her people were going to live peacefully with the angara she needed to keep the trust going. Like it or not she’d become a representative for the entire Initiative in Andromeda. The angara would look to her for the measure of her people.

Now her job was proving to the angara, and especially to Evfra, that she and the Nexus were worthy of continued trust. And part of maintaining trust was maintaining contact. It wouldn’t look good if she left Aya without talking to him.

Ryder squared her shoulders and steeled herself. From what Jaal had been telling her about him, Evfra was a man that inspired either fear or respect in everyone around him. She’d gotten that feeling from him during their first meeting. His eyes were so intense they no doubt made people squirm in place until they looked away and ceded dominance to him.

But his eyes were no match for the piercing, judgmental gaze of her father and she’d been toe to toe with that man more times than she could count. Besides, the Ryders were genetically stubborn with a penchant for giving no quarter.

She walked through the door, her eyes immediately going to the table at the far end. A large male angara was standing there, but beyond his bulk she recognized Evfra. She walked into the room, the unknown angara’s voice coming to her ear.

“The kett are angry. Or at least the archon is,” he unknown male said.

“More than usual?” Evfra’s voice. She’d recognize it anywhere. “About what, specifically?” he asked, clearly wanting to get to the point.

“Definitely about the Moshae being rescued. They’re still using adaptive encryption, but from what I can tell, things are ugly. Someone will be sacrificed to this anger at this rate."

“Good. Fewer kett to deal with,” Evfra replied simply.

The angara inclined his head to Evfra. He turned around and started to walk away but jolted to a stop when he saw Ryder, as though her sudden presence had startled him.

Which it probably had. She doubted an average day at Resistance HQ included having a pink-haired human show up in the command center unannounced.

She smiled at the angara. “Lovely sunsets here on Aya,” she said as she stepped past him, earning a baffled look from the confused angara.

Evfra's eyes were locked on Ryder as she moved closer, analyzing her every move. He’d been watching her since she walked into the room. The woman moved with confidence. Fluidity. She moved like she belonged here.

He wasn’t sure if he should be annoyed or impressed by her bravado. She certainly didn’t carry herself like the rest of her crew of aliens. The other female human rubbed him the wrong way. There was something about her. Like she was hiding something. He didn’t like that. And the male human reminded him of Jaal; too friendly. Talked too much.

But this one… there was something different about this one. Something… visceral. Commanding. A little arrogant.

Not too much unlike himself.

And she was honest. During their vid call she didn’t have to tell him about her AI. And even if she did, she hadn’t needed to let him know that it was physically connected to her. From Jaal’s reports he'd learned that this AI, this SAM as the aliens called it, was directly attached to her brain in some form or another.

She could have kept that all to herself in the vid call. But she hadn't. And she hadn’t backed down from him in the entirety of the conversation. Never gave him the impression that she was bowing or trying to pacify him with what she said.

“Pathfinder,” he said as she moved to stand on the other side of his desk.

“Commander,” she replied, taking in his imposing stature. He stood with his arms crossed over his broad chest, leaning back slightly as he stared at her pointedly. Watching her every move.

Calculating. His cold blue eyes said it all. The two hadn’t interacted much. He was still trying to get a feel for her. Suss out what she was really like. Figure out what made her tick. She felt like she was tip-toeing a razor thin line of trust with him. But she wouldn’t let it daunt her or color the way she acted around him. Despite what he might think, she wasn’t just putting on a show to get him to trust her. Her actions reflected who she was, and her actions had gained his trust.

She just needed to remind herself of that. Just be you.

“I expect you to take good care of Jaal out there,” Evfra said. His voice was calm and smooth on the surface, though under it she could feel a warning.

“I have from the first day,” Ryder replied. “I’m sure he’ll continue to return the favor.”

“Don’t worry about him. You saved the Moshae,” he said. His tone turned up at that, sounding almost as if he were in awe of the fact that she had saved Moshae Sjefa. “That earned his loyalty.” Evfra sighed and shook his head slightly. “Still wrapping my head around what you found at the kett facility. That… ‘exaltation’.” He growled the last word. She could practically hear the revulsion in his tone, as though the word was bitter and bit his tongue like sour bile. But at the same time, he sounded tired. Like he’d been tossing the idea around in his mind all day, trying to figure it out. To make some sense of it all.

She could only imagine his thoughts on it. She’d heard other angara talking about it already. Most were horrified that they’d been killing their own kind. But they were just enacting the command of another. Evfra was the one that had been sending them out to kill the kett for years. Not only that, but whole Resistance cells had been captured by the kett in the past. Likely to be exalted.

She had no doubt that these thoughts had crossed his mind.

“There’s a human saying: ‘Knowledge is power’. The more we understand about the kett, the easier it’ll be to hurt them,” Ryder said unfalteringly.

“The more I know, the more I want to hurt them,” Evfra growled in agreement as fire snapped behind his blue eyes. He sounded ready to pick up a rifle and taste kett blood. And she couldn’t blame him.

“What happened in that place was beyond disgusting,” she replied. In her mind she could still hear the angara’s distressed, gurgled cries. Still hear the sound of bone snapping and cracking as his body spasmed and turned black as pitch. Turning him into something different. Something monstrous.

A husk of his former self.

Now that she thought about it, it was eerily similar to something from back in the Milky Way.

“Believe it or not, I can empathize,” Ryder said.

Evfra furrowed his brow at that. He couldn’t believe the nerve of this human. “How could you possibly be able to do that?” Evfra growled. “Have you ever seen your people turned into monsters that fight for their captors?”

“Yes, actually. Back in the Milky Way when I was serving with the Alliance.”

Evfra cocked his head a little in confusion. "What alliance?"

"The Alliance was the name for the human military," she replied. "I served in the Peacekeeping corps as a recon specialist for a few years."

Evfra let out a little grunt at that. Unlike the other female human, he wouldn't have pegged Ryder as former military. Though her previous position of a recon specialist interested him. That could be useful moving forward, and it was certainly good skill set for her current position as Pathfinder.

"I did a lot of work scouting prothean ruins for traps and other dangers. If it came up clear they brought in the researches and we kept them safe from any future danger."

"What were these 'prothean ruins'?" Evfra asked.

"Basically the Milky Way equivalent to the remnant ruins here, except fifty thousand years old instead of a few hundred. Also remarkably harder to understand. But going back to the original topic, there were these things called the geth, this race of AI. Somehow they got their hands on these things the Alliance started calling 'dragon teeth'. The geth would take humans, usually alive, and impale them right through the middle on these spikes. Then it would... change them somehow. Replace a bunch of their flesh and nerves with tech. When the transformation was done they'd get off the spikes and attack anything that wasn't them or the geth. Big difference between exaltation and the dragon teeth is you could still tell the husks had been human. Could still see their individual faces. With the kett they at least don't look like angara anymore."

"And you saw this happen yourself?" Evfra asked. What she was describing sounded horrific. He was already having a hard time imagining exaltation. These dragon teeth sounded horrendous in their own rights.

"Once," Ryder replied. "There was blood everywhere. I'll never forget the sound of the spike going through that guy's body. I didn't sleep well for months after that. It would've been one thing if the guy had been dead when they impaled him or if he died fast, but he was alive. And he died slow. Now we have the kett and exaltation, and I saw that too. Same idea behind both; take your enemy and turn them against each other in the most complete and terrible way."

Evfra stared at Ryder contemplatively, no words passing between them.

Ryder couldn't help but notice the way Evfra's eyes darted about this way and that as he stared down at her. It was almost like he didn't know where to look. What facial feature to focus on while she spoke. And it wasn't just Evfra. She noticed that most of the angara she spoke to did the same thing. She wondered if they did that while talking to other angara or if it was because they didn't know what to look at on a human while having a conversation. What was considered polite or correct? Without knowing the 'etiquette' behind where to look perhaps they just bounced their eyes from one facial feature to the next to avoid offense.

"Seems like you might understand exaltation better than we do," he finally said.

"Not really," Ryder replied truthfully. "Point wasn't to prove I know more than you. Just to show that humans might have more in common with the angara than it might seem."

It certainly seems that way, Evfra thought. He shifted his weight a bit onto his other leg. "Why are you here?" he asked. He still had no idea why she'd shown up here without being asked.

"That depends on what you mean by 'here', because that could mean several things, all with a different answer."

Evfra almost smirked at that.

Almost.

"Why are you in this room?" he asked more specifically.

"I know Jaal gave you a mission report about what happened with the Moshae, but I thought I'd come by and see if you wanted any additional information."

"Why would I want that from you?" he asked.

"Because he might be one of yours, but while on that mission he was under my command," Ryder replied firmly. "So from one commander to another I thought I'd do you the courtesy of offering a second report."

Evfra grunted a bit at that. He had to admit; he liked how this human's mind worked. He hadn't known what to expect her answer to be, but it wasn't that. "Jaal's report was enough," he said.

"Well, barring that, if you have the time could I ask you a few things? Pick your brain a little."

Evfra frowned. "Do what?" he asked, sounding confused and perhaps a little disturbed.

"Sorry. Idiom," Ryder said, pinching the bridge of her nose. I've really gotta stop doing that. "Just means ask some questions and get some answers," she clarified, looking back at him.

"Depends on what you're asking."

"Well you've been fighting the kett for a long time. I could use some advice."

Evfra furrowed his brow a bit and eyed her wearily. "You're war's different from ours," he said after a few terse moments, as though questioning why she would ask that in the first place.

"Maybe, but war is war and it doesn't change the fact that we're fighting an enemy we aren't prepared to fight."

"Wouldn't matter if you were," he said matter-of-factly. "The kett aren't a conventional enemy."

"Any information you could give me helps," Ryder replied. "The fights might be different but a kett is still a kett."

"True enough," Evfra said, his voice sounding dull and uninterested. "Ask away."

"Alright. Do you have any idea where the kett came from? Where their homeworld might be?" she asked. Square one. Maybe knowing where they came from would help find a weakness.

"Each of our colonies heard a different story. I doubt any were true. 'They came from far away'. That's all we know," Evfra replied simply.

"Ever try to follow a kett ship? See where it goes?" she asked. Though she had a feeling she knew the answer to that already.

"Of course we did," he replied as though insulted she thought they were stupid enough to have not tried that, his eyes flaring. He paused and took a breath. "Wherever 'home' is, they don't visit," he finished, his tone even and dull once again.

"Alright. Then do the kett have a favorite strategy? Something we can exploit?"

"They switch tactics constantly. Almost capricious about it.” Evfra took in a breath tinged with the strange rasp or purr that all angara seemed to poses when they spoke and breathed. “Makes them unpredictable.”

Ryder couldn't help but think he sounded almost… impressed. Not that she could blame him. He was a tactician, after all. An enemy that changed tactics so often that he couldn't keep up? You didn't have to like the kett to respect that.

"They aren't gods. They must have some weakness," Ryder said. She needed something. Anything.

"They're vulnerable to brute force. That's enough."

Shoot them dead, she thought to herself. That's a pretty damn human view of the situation. But after asking about if the angara had tried to follow a kett ship and his reaction to it, she wasn't about to offend him again by saying that aloud. True though it may be.

"Ok. Is there something they care about that can be used against them?"

Evfra shrugged. "Slaves. Resources. Power. Same as any conqueror," he replied as drolly as if he were prattling off a list from the top of his head.

He's either being deliberately unhelpful or he doesn't know. There has to be more to it than that. "There's no way the kett are that cut and dry. You didn't see the exaltation process. They treat it like religion. Called their facility a church and acted like they were giving the angara a blessed gift."

Evfra noticeably bristled at that. He furrowed his brow and stood up straighter, taking a few steps closer to the desk that separated the two of them and leering down at her. "They convert us against our will. That's not religion. It's genocide," he growled angrily with a bitter laugh, his words practically making him bare his teeth at her. The bridge of his nose furrowed in distaste as his eyes glared daggers at her.

Ryder could nearly feel the anger and aura of danger radiating from him. He looked about ready to strike something and it made her wonder if the angaran commander had a temper or if he was just putting on a show. His eyes had even stopped flitting this way and that and were now solely focused on her eyes. Like he was trying to stare straight into her. Make her scared or uncomfortable.

She wouldn't be shocked if it was a little of both, but if he wanted to scare her he'd have to try much harder. She took a step closer and returned his glare unwaveringly, standing firm with her arms crossed over her ribs. Try harder, commander. I don't back down easily.

Evfra eyed Ryder judiciously. She hadn't shrunk away. If anything she was blatantly staring him down, waiting for him to make the next move.

This human was full of surprises.

When he saw something off out of the corner of his eye Evfra turned his head. One of the comm officers was staring at the two of them. Evfra pinned the man with a menacing glare. The officer's eyes went wide before he quickly turned away to face his screen, his head lowered.

Evfra looked back at Ryder once more. She has guts, he thought, relaxing his posture a bit and leaning back, still staring at her. A look was usually all he needed to give someone to get them back in line and remind them who was in charge. But not her. She stared into his eyes unfalteringly, refusing to back down. Challenging him with her defiance.

Paaran was one of the only other people he knew that could stand up to him like that.

“Every culture has its purpose. Theirs is to take whatever they want,” he said bitterly.

Ryder eased the tension in her shoulders when Evfra relaxed back into his usual stance, but the implication of his words hung heavy between them like a thick stage curtain. It seemed to her like he wasn't just talking about the kett with his last statement. A glance between the lines suggested he was still on edge about the Initiative. He hadn't outright said it, but she knew passive aggression when she heard it.

She knew Evfra trusted her. Jaal had said so himself and Evfra may as well have said it too. If he didn't, there was no way he'd let her and her crew walk around Aya without armed escorts like the first time she had entered the city. Even though she was still fairly sure he didn't like her.

But the Initiative as a whole was a different matter. Evfra was smart. He'd be able to see better than most that she and her crew weren't representative of everyone in the Initiative. He knew her. He didn't know Tann or Addison.

And when the day came that he inevitably met their acquaintance she could only hope that they didn't completely destroy relations with the Resistance with their respective glory hounding and pretentiously superior attitudes.

"Is it too much for me to hope that the Initiative is making a good impression?" she asked.

"'The Initiative'," Evfra parroted back with a curt laugh as though the very thought was a cosmic joke. "Sounds so unthreatening. Like a city planner meeting," he said, his voice sarcastic and accusatory.

Ryder shrugged nonchalantly. "That's kind of what it's meant to be." She raised a brow when she saw Evfra actually roll his eyes at that.

"City planners don't walk around in battle armor with rifles on their shoulder," he retorted.

"Depends on the city," Ryder replied dryly. "You didn't see the Terminus systems back in the Milky Way. If you weren't walking around with at least a pistol on your hip, something was wrong with you. But I digress. Point is, we traveled through dark space to make a better life here than what we left behind."

Evfra leaned forward and leered down at her. "That's what invaders always say. At first."

"We're not invaders. We're settlers."

"Of course," he replied as he returned to his usual stance, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Ryder knew a dead end when she saw one. There wasn't a thing she could say to change Evfra's mind about the Initiative. He was a man of action, not words. Anyone could say anything, but not everyone could prove what they said with their actions.

A change of subject, then. She still had other inquiries anyway.

"Well then, moving on. Is the Resistance all the angara have in terms of fighting strength? No official military?" Ryder asked. Perhaps talking about Evfra's cause would settle him down a little. He looked irritated.

Then again, that could just be his face.

Evfra grunted a little. "Lost our fleets and armies decades ago. Kett, mostly. The rest fell to... internal strife. We kept fighting but our civilians were disorganized. Poorly supplied. Leaderless. Decades of aimless defiance got us nowhere."

"Until you came along," she said.

"I had to make the Resistance real," Evfra replied, determination in his voice and eyes. "My people needed to know that they had a force that could protect them from the kett. That there was hope."

Ryder could tell from his tone and the way he held himself how proud and determined he was when it came to the Resistance. Despite his cold exterior, this was a man that cared deeply about his people.

From talking to Jaal, she'd learned a few things about Evfra. According to him, his commander was a man of single-minded dedication to the Resistance. He'd raised the Resistance up out of nothing after the kett had taken his entire family away from him. It was an idea she could understand herself. Though she hadn't chosen to be the Pathfinder, like Evfra had chosen to raise the Resistance up out of the muck, had it not been for the death of her father and near loss of her brother she wasn't sure she would have ever found the strength to do everything she did.

For them, for their memory, she would fight until her last breath to keep the Initiative from dying.

Then again, that was Jaal's take on Evfra. "How'd you end up in charge of the whole Resistance?" she asked.

"Nothing left to lose," Evfra replied solemnly, the shine fading from his eyes, leaving them dead and hollow. "My family was rounded up into a kett slave camp. Last contact I had with any of them was ten years ago."

Ryder's heart clenched at the tone Evfra's voice had taken. He sounded... sad. Almost lost.

So it's true, she thought. Jaal had told her as much himself, but hearing Evfra say it was different. His choice to isolate himself, to command and never befriend, made perfect sense now. She could see it in his eyes. The loss of his family had ripped out part of his soul. Like as not Evfra refused to get close to anybody as a way to protect himself from the pain of having someone he cared about die.

Like Jaal had said, it was just his way.

Her heart ached for the man before her, but she didn't let it show. She didn't want Evfra to mistake her sympathy for pity. In all honesty she wanted to hug him and tell him it would all be okay, but she had a sneaking suspicion that she and her crew would be forcibly thrown off Aya if she attempted that.

"It's possible that they could still be alive somewhere," Ryder said. If he'd never found their bodies there was always the possibility. Though it could also be possible that his entire family had been turned into kett long ago. Then possibly killed in fights with the very Resistance that Evfra commanded.

"Didn't figure you for an optimist," Evfra replied. He sounded resigned. Like he'd accepted long ago that his family was dead and he didn't want to think about it any other way.

"Really?" Ryder asked with a chuckle. "I left everything I knew to come here and make a better life than what I had. If that isn't optimistic, I don't know what is."

Evfra grunted. "Suppose that's true."

"So what success have you had against the kett?" Ryder asked, deciding to steer the conversation toward something a little less heavy than the possible eradication of the Tershaav family.

"Enemy casualties are up 600% in three years," Evfra replied as though he'd rehearsed and recited that same line time and time again. "But that's just a number. What it means is more important. Every time we destroy a facility, take out a warship, we give our people hope," he continued, his voice going from bland to passionate.

"Maybe we can bolster those numbers," Ryder said. "You're not fighting alone anymore after all."

Evfra looked her up and down, pausing for a few moments as he examined her with a critical eye. He had to admit that Ryder was far more capable than he initially gave her credit for. He knew she had the potential to change things. He trusted her, but only just.

It was the rest of this 'Initiative' of hers that he didn't trust. He knew what Ryder's motive for helping them was. But he didn't know the Initiative. All he knew was what Ryder said they wanted. But she was just one of thousands. And according to all reports she wasn't one of the leaders. She was the one the leaders dispatched.

Though from what he'd seen of her he had the distinct feeling that she wasn't one to just follow blindly. She had her set of principles and she followed them. He'd seen her kind before. In the Resistance personalities like her rose through the ranks and into positions of leadership faster than any other.

"We'll see," he finally said tentatively.

Should've seen that coming. "If it isn't hush-hush, could you tell me how the Resistance is organized?"

"Loosely," Evfra replied with a small shrug. "We operate in cells. Independent strike teams have better odds. If the kett capture a cell, it doesn't compromise the rest," he said, his tone taking on an ever so slightly lighter tone and sounding less bland than usual.

Ryder nodded. "Smart. Was that your idea?"

"Yes."

"Hm." Ryder glanced to her side when she saw movement, but it was just an angara passing a data pad along to one of the comm officers. She noticed that at Resistance HQ, everyone wore the same colors. Gray, black and teal. But that wasn't the only armor she'd seen around the city. She'd seen others walking around fully armed and armored that didn't sport the same colors as everyone else at HQ.

"I've seen armed people walking around the city, but they weren't sporting the same colors as everyone here. I take it they aren't Resistance?" she asked, looking back at Evfra.

"Aya police" Evfra replied with a distasteful sneer. "Purely ornamental. Gives us the appearance of civilization."

Ryder could tell by his tone and the way his nose crinkled that his last sentence was not his own words. "I take it you don't think they're necessary."

"If things go bad, the Resistance will handle it," he said simply.

"Wouldn't that technically be up to Governor Paaran?" she asked.

Evfra grunted angrily in response and gave her one of the most impressive scowls she'd ever seen in her life. She was half surprised that his face didn't collapse in on itself.

His words also gave her the feeling that he and Paaran had a bit of a love/hate relationship. From what Paaran had told her already the two of them rarely agreed on policy and how the city should be run. They bickered and debated frequently, but she said that at a minimum they respected each other. At least from Paaran's point of view.

"Seems to be a little tension between you and Paaran. I already know what she thinks of you, but what do you think of her?" Ryder asked.

"She governs Aya. Not the Resistance," Evfra replied, standing a little taller. It wasn't exactly the answer she was looking for, but it was telling nonetheless. Evfra likely had all sorts of people think that he and the Resistance were on Paaran's leash. He wanted to draw a line in the sand on the matter. Make sure she knew who was in charge of what.

"Way to avoid the question. Is there some kind of history between you two?" Ryder asked. It felt like there should be more to it than what she'd learned about them so far.

"I can always count on Paaran to offer a... spirited argument," Evfra replied

Ryder raised her brow at the sudden suggestive tone that had entered his voice. Not quite breathy, but not quite normal. Oh yeah. There was something between the two of them other than arguments regarding policy. Though from the sound of his voice, she didn't have a doubt in her mind that the debates sometimes got a little... heated.

But knowing what she knew about Evfra, she didn't suspect any complicated emotions were fostered between the two of them. She wasn't sure about in angaran culture, but in human culture it wasn't unheard of for two people in positions of power to get together now and again to... alleviate stress.

"Sounds like you respect her," Ryder said, deciding not to open the can of worms that could be asking Evfra if he was giving it to the governor of Aya.

Evfra couldn't help but wonder what was going through that human's head when he saw a sly grin spread across her face. "She holds her own," he said, choosing to ignore it. "Not many people do."

Against me. He didn't say it, but he didn't have to. Ryder could see it on his face and hear it in his words. A man of respect and fear. That was who Evfra was. It would make sense for him to respect anyone with the backbone to stand up to him. Something that was probably difficult for most.

No one would deny that Evfra had a powerful presence. There was something about him that seemed inherently dangerous. He oozed strength and command from every last part of his body. And there was a lot of body there. Evfra was a mountain of an angara; tall in stature and broad through the chest and shoulders. He stood with absolute confidence and his eyes were sharp and hard as steel.

Evfra was an alpha male if Ryder had ever seen one. He could probably make a krogan warlord back down with a look alone, the long scars on his face only adding to his air of danger and mystery.

The hairs on the back of Ryder's neck stood on end when she felt a sudden stirring in her loins as she mused on the powerful atmosphere and physical build of the angaran commander. Nope! Shut that shit down right now, she thought to herself. Now wasn't the time for that. Never was the time for that. Especially not in relation to Evfra.

Ok. Time to get my mind off that. Next question. Uh.... "So, what's your story, Evfra?" she asked. She didn't expect to get anything out of him by asking that. He was a closed-off and isolated man. Granted he had told her that his family had been taken, but he'd offered no details. Perhaps he'd only said it to begin with because it was a matter of public knowledge.

Evfra squared his shoulders and looked down at her pointedly. "You're not getting my personnel file," he said bluntly. It seemed like he had just slammed a wall down on the particular topic of conversation before it had really even started.

Jaal was right. He really does try and keep people away, Ryder thought. He'd shut that down so fast it nearly made her head spin. Still, that just made her want to see if she could push the subject a little further. "I'd just like to know a little about who I'm going to be working with," she replied, trying to make her tone passive and a little apologetic without coming across as meek.

Evfra let out a strange rumble, his face turning dark. Uncrossing his arms he stood to his full height and started to walk around the side of his desk without breaking eye contact with her. He hadn't been bouncing his eyes like he had been earlier. He kept his eyes squarely on hers, like he was trying to burn two holes directly into her skull.

"You want to know what it's like being me?" he growled as he rounded the edge of the desk and stalked toward her. He stopped in front of her, crossing his arms again and leering down at her.

Ryder had to crane her head to look up at him. Standing tall as he was she was only eye level with what would be the collar bone on a human. He was testing her again. He had been this entire conversation. Trying to see if he could do something to make her back down. The rest of his attempts had failed, but before the desk had been between them. Neither could touch the other over the desk.

So he was trying something new. Getting in close. Showing her how small she was compared to him. Trying to smother her will with his own.

Ryder locked her jaw stubbornly and stared up into his icy eyes, returning his glare tit for tat. Despite probably weighing the equivalent of two of her and being as large and imposing as he was, she felt no fear. Only a strange sort of exhilaration at his nearness. She felt small with him looming over her, but it only made her want to stand firm and defiant.

"I wake up every morning to fight a war. I send people to kill, and die." He cocked his head the slightest bit. "If I'm lucky, there are more dead kett than Resistance when I go to sleep."

"That's a hell of a burden," Ryder replied, her voice cool and collected.

"I'm sure you would know all about it," he scoffed.

Ryder furrowed her brow at his poisonously sarcastic tone. It rubbed her just the wrong way. She struggled every day with her own responsibilities and she'd be damned if she was written off so easily.

"You think you're the only one with those problems?" she growled. Frowning up at him she stepped closer until she was almost literally toe to toe with him. She was so close she could smell his exotic scent and feel his breath on her face as he glared down at her.

The pair were so intent on their battle of wills they didn't notice that everyone in the command center had stopped what they were doing to turn and watch them. Several angara had even walked into the room to watch, passing concerned glances between each other.

"Over 100,000 people joined the Initiative. Five arks. Five Pathfinders. Nothing panned out the way it was supposed to. The golden worlds we found are dead or dying. All the arks are separated. The people that are here are either still in stasis or facing starvation. Being the only Pathfinder the Nexus has right now, it lands squarely on my shoulders to save everyone from starvation, start massive terraforming engines to make these dying worlds livable, find decent locations for outposts so we don't die floating in space, and go out and find our 80,000 missing people before they starve, crash and die against the scourge, or get captured by the kett.

"I didn't even train for the basic role of Pathfinder, not to mention the rest of it. This was all dropped in my lap when my father, the only parent I had left, died so that I didn't have to."

Evfra's brow twitched at the fury and pain in her eyes when she spoke of her father. He knew that pain all too well.

"Every day I wake up I dread the email that says our only functional outpost was attacked and everyone's dead because I didn't do good enough at a job I'm learning how to do as I go. You at the very least send out people that are combatants. They know they may never come home. My word can send dozens of civilians walking straight into a death trap. And unlike your people, we can't retreat. We're here permanently. And if I fail and nobody can find any of the other Pathfinders, if they're still even alive, then I just killed 100,000 people, nearly all of whom didn't sign up to die. Everyone in the Initiative did the exact opposite. They signed on to live.

"And now, on top of all of that, I'm helping your people fight the kett with the hope that your people can help my people not die on some backwater planet on in the black void of space. You think your job is stressful? At least you aren't trying to single-handedly prove to the entirety of a new species that your people are worth trusting."

Evfra continued to stare down at her, his arms crossed and a scowl on his face. She hadn't backed down. She hadn't so much as flinched when he moved closer to her. He thought some of her bravado merely stemmed from there being a desk that separated him from getting too close to her. But, not for the first time, he had been wrong about her.

She had no fear. Not of the kett, and certainly not of him. He examined her closely, his eyes searching her face. There was something about this alien. She was young. Her eyes still burned with hope and fire. And she was at least somewhat brash and arrogant.

Ever so slightly, Evfra's face and posture relaxed. "You have spirit and spit, Ryder. I'll give you that much. Not unlike me at your age." Her words and the way she had spoken, with passion and anger.... He'd never thought of her position like that. In fact he never really thought about her position at all. With everything going on in his own day to day that he needed to take care of and oversee he hardly spared any time to think about her. But he was thinking now.

She was... fascinating. And compelling in a way that she should not be to him. Evfra clenched his jaw at the thought. There was something about her. Something that almost... called to him.

He didn't like it.

“Enough personal discussion,” he growled, sounding uncomfortable. He moved back a couple steps. "Did you need something else?"

He called me by my name, not my title, and backed away first. That means something. Respect, maybe, Ryder thought to herself. Her own posture relaxed, letting the tension out of her shoulders. She tried to find some emotion on his face, but he betrayed nothing of what he might be feeling. His features were stoic once again, as though chiseled from stone.

"Yes, actually," she said when a thought came to her. "Is there a med bay or clinic around here?"

"Yes. Why?" Evfra asked, his voice sounding distant and disinterested once more.

"You want me to take good care of Jaal? Then I need information about angaran physiology that I can send back to our doctor on the Tempest. If he takes a hit while under my command I need to make sure Lexi is able to patch him up."

"Go out the door then to the left, down both sets of stairs. It'll be the large door in front of you," Evfra replied.

"Alright. I'll let you get back to work," Ryder said.

"Good," Evfra grunted in response.

Ryder inclined her head to the large angara before turning to leave, noticing as a couple of the angara in the room quickly turned away. She smirked to herself. No doubt they had been anxiously watching she and Evfra's confrontation, waiting to see what would happen. It had to have been quite the sight: A small, pink-haired alien squaring off with their commander.

She wondered if any of them had placed bets on what was going to happen. The idea almost made her laugh even as she could feel Evfra's eyes on her back as she walked away.

---

Darkness. It was all Evfra could see as he laid in bed that night, string up blankly at the ceiling with dull, tired eyes. But he couldn't sleep. He'd tried for hours but his mind wouldn't silence itself. Thoughts bounced around the inside of his skull like bullets on a battlefield, keeping him from the sweet embrace of rest.

He rubbed his hands over his face, pressing the heels of his palms against his eyes until bright starbursts of color flashed behind his eyelids. What Ryder had found out about exaltation haunted his mind.

His people. That which he fought for, turned into the very enemy he fought to protect them from.

But that wasn't what tormented him and kept him from sleep. A kett was a kett. It didn't matter if they used to be angara. They weren't anymore. He still had to fight them.

But his family....

His heart seized in pain at the thought of his family, everyone he had ever loved and cared for, being turned into kett. The very idea chilled his insides and made his guts feel as though they were filled with rocks.

He took a deep breath and held it in for a few moments before letting it back out, trying to calm his frayed nerves and racing heart. He'd been thinking about this since Jaal had given him his mission report. But he'd refused to dwell on the idea while he was working. Too much was at stake for him to let his mind wander.

But now everything was quiet and he was alone with his thoughts. Too alone. And they filled his head like a rampaging river that swept all away before it.

He flexed his jaw, clenching and unclenching his teeth as he tried to beat the thoughts into silent submission. He took another steadying breath, feeling his shoulders trembling with tension and stress. But he couldn't calm down. In the darkness behind his eyelids all he could see were the faces of his family warping into kett.

After losing his family he'd poured everything he had into the Resistance. He funneled his pain and rage into strength and made the Resistance a force to be reckoned with. He didn't want anyone to face the loss that he had. He wanted the kett to pay for all the families they had ripped apart, and save any angara he could from their fiendish clutches.

During the first major raid he'd led against a kett slave camp, he'd been hoping to find his family among the rescued angara. After they'd all been freed he'd searched among them for days while each and every one of them was identified and their families contacted.

But by the time every angara had been returned home, not a single Tershaav had been among them. After he and the Resistance liberated a few more camps with no signs of his family, he'd given up all hope of ever finding them.

Evfra thought back to Jaals' report. In it he'd stated that the angara he'd seen looked like they wanted to be there. That some of them had refused to leave when the Resistance team tried to get them all out. No sane angara would want that. The kett had turned their minds against them. He knew from medical reports and her own statements that Moshae Sjefa had been viciously tortured, and the kett had managed to nearly wipe out her immune system.

As much as one would want to think differently, it wasn't difficult to break a person's mind and make them think and act the way you wanted them to. Evfra had no doubt that that is what the kett had done to the angara in that facility.

Who was to say they hadn't been doing that to every angara they ever took captive?

To his own family.

Dead was better.

Evfra grit his teeth until his jaw hurt. For years he'd hoped that his family was alive somewhere. That he would find them and save them some day. But at the same time he had accepted that they were most likely dead and that he would never see them again. Now he hoped they were dead. The other option....

Evfra growled low and deep in his chest. If they were alive, they had likely been turned into kett if they hadn't been years ago. And if they hadn't been turned into kett, they were likely being tortured. Experimented on.

His eyes stung as a single hot, angry tear rolled from the corner of his eye and down the side of his face. The kett would pay for this. For everything. He would make them wish they had never come here. For every drop of angaran blood they spilled he would create a river of theirs.

He had to do better. He had to make the Resistance better. The stakes for liberating slave camps were now astronomically higher. Every angara they could free denied the kett a new soldier, but it would be difficult to get more cells off whatever they were doing and focused on the slave camps. He didn't have the manpower. Recruitment was down and the selfish idiots on Kadara refused to cooperate, choosing instead to wallow in chaos and cheap booze. He had to do something. Had to find a way.

Evfra lowered his hands and let out a shaking breath. He'd had enough restless nights filled with unending thoughts to know when he wouldn't be getting any sleep. And this time, the thoughts were more painful than he wanted to deal with.

Tossing the blankets to the side Evfra sat up and swung his legs off the side of the bed. He needed to get his mind off of it all. The only way he knew how to do that was to keep himself busy.

Tired but unable to sleep he dressed for the day and left for Resistance HQ. He'd get an early start on his morning backlog before anyone else showed up. With any luck it would be enough to keep his mind off the possible fate of his lost family.

Note from the author:

I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter of this fic. I put out some previous posts saying that there would be some Evfra fluff/smut and this will get there eventually. However it felt weird to me to just dive right into such subject matter without building up their relationship first. With Jaal in Temptation on the Tempest it was easy because his romance is established in game.

But Evfra is a different story. He isn't a romance option at all so diving straight into cuddling and sex just felt... weird. So this will be a far more fleshed out story than Temptation on the Tempest. It is going to be longer and will contain more detail while the relationship between Maria and Evfra grows.

I hope that you can all be patient while I write this. Unlike the Jaal fic this one takes much more in-game research. Evfra is a subtle and complicated character. Because this fic is longer it is going to contain in-game content changed to suit the needs of the fic.

The skeleton of chapter 2 is in the works. The skeleton phase includes playing the game and taking notes as I go along. Writing down events and doing partially detailed dialog and situations to be fleshed out later for the chapter itself. It's an intricate process that eventually leads up to something like what you just read.

Thank you to everyone that reads and supports this. You are all wonderful and amazing people. I would love to see comments as much as possible. Hearing feedback such as what parts were your favorite helps keep me driven to write more.

If you want to talk about the fic, feel free to message me. I swear I'm actually a nice, approachable person xD If you have questions about Maria and Evfra, feel free to send me asks. I will answer all I get :3

#evfra #evfra de tershaav #ryder #sis!ryder #maria ryder #pathfinder #fanfic #fanfiction #evfra x ryder #mass effect #mass effect andromeda #MEA #MEA spoilers #sfw #Last Hope of Dead Hearts #(aka Unsanctioned Fraternization)#LHODH #aya #angara

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tatooine92 · 7 years

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MEA: From the Ground Up - Part 5

Fandom: Mass Effect Andromeda Pairing: Amanda Ryder x Reyes Vidal Rating: T (I guess? It’s ALL FLUFF) Previous Parts: 1: https://tatooine92.tumblr.com/post/159231311635/mea-from-the-ground-up-part-1 2: https://tatooine92.tumblr.com/post/159234117740/mea-from-the-ground-up-part-2 3: https://tatooine92.tumblr.com/post/159424302975/mea-from-the-ground-up-part-3 4: https://tatooine92.tumblr.com/post/159424707075/mea-from-the-ground-up-part-4 Spoilers?: Depends on your definition of spoiler. It’s set post-game. Summary: Mandy is recovering in the Tempest’s medbay when lo, a visitor appears! I’m sorry this is so late, guys. Enjoy the fluffy fluff.

Almost as soon as Mandy asked SAM to invite Reyes up to the Tempest, she regretted it, primarily because the ensuing hours of waiting did her nerves no favors. Besides, what if she'd ruined everything by allowing Cora and Jaal to reattempt taking the kett base? She already felt horrible for not being there for her team, and she hated relying on someone else's soldiers to do what she should be doing herself. If anything happened to them--any of them, fuck it, fine, Reyes included--she would never forgive herself.

"Lexi," she grumbled, "if I ever get hurt again, I give you full permission to kill me."

"May I get that in writing?" Lexi replied, deadpan.

"Har har."

"Besides," said Lexi, "I'm sure Mr. Vidal would be quite disappointed if you turned up dead."

"Oh, sure, just bring him into this." Mandy sighed. She picked at a hangnail on her right thumb. "...do you think so?"

"I think so, Suvi thinks so, the entire crew thinks so... Amanda, he's not exactly subtle. You would have to be completely obtuse not to see it."

"Thankfully, my one strength in life is that I'm only partially obtuse."

"I wouldn't say that's your only strength."

Mandy's gut seized with surprise as her gaze jerked up to the medbay door at the sound of that Spanish-tinged voice. She hadn't even heard the door open. But there, like an angelic figure out of a myth, was Reyes, leaning in the open doorway, his dark hair haloed by the blue hallway lights beyond. He smirked calmly, arms folded over his chest, weight shifted onto one foot so the other one could rest slightly propped as he leaned. His hair was slightly askew, face dusty, and armor dinged with obvious bullet holes.

"Reyes," Mandy gaped. "You..."

She swallowed hard.

"You look like shit."

Reyes laughed--an actual laugh, not that sarcastic little chuckle of his--and elegantly unfolded from the doorway as he entered the medbay.

"I've been given far worse compliments by far less beautiful women."

"I'm just a winner no matter how you dice it, huh?" She didn't know how to respond except with sarcasm. Her heart pounded so hard she thought SAM would caution her. Wait a second. "SAM, why didn't you tell me he was on his way?!"

"...unknown," SAM replied. If he'd had a physical body, Mandy was certain he'd have shifty eyes and all.

"Oh my God," she groaned. She closed her eyes and pressed her forehead into the curve between thumb and index finger.

"Should I go?" There was sudden concern in Reyes' voice, as if he were uncharacteristically ill at ease. "I thought you'd wanted... Ah, never mind, perhaps I was mistaken!"

"No, stay," Mandy sighed.

She surprised herself by reaching out swiftly and grasping his sleeve. For the first time since they'd fought, she looked at him, really looked at him. What struck her was how exhausted he looked. She'd never seen him like that before. The scuffs and scrapes from battle showed clearly up close.

"...are you okay?" she murmured.

"What, all of this?" Reyes snorted and shrugged. "Ah, just a few new badges of honor. You'll be happy to know the kett on Eos are no more. But that's... not what you asked, is it?"

"...not really, no."

"Ah, look, coffee break time," Lexi announced with a clear of her throat, quickly striding out of the medbay. Mandy could almost detect a grin on the asari's face as she left. She waited until the door closed again before she sighed.

"Yeah, I... I got all your emails. There were a lot, that's for sure."

"Ah, yes, well, I was... trying to match the ones you sent to me. There were a lot of those, too."

Reyes sighed and dragged a chair across the room to sit down at Mandy's bedside. He leaned forward and braced his elbows on his knees. Neither of them said a word for a few minutes. Mandy just watched him sigh and brush his hand through his hair, dislodging grains of Eos sand that the airlock decon chamber had apparently missed. Instead of the cool, easy smirk he'd worn earlier, his face was completely open now, open and vulnerable--the way it had been the night on the docks, with them and the whiskey. Mandy took a deep breath and reached down. Her hand softly curved over his forearm, making him look up. He smiled tiredly.

"...doc has a bottle of Serrice Ice in the wound care cabinet," she murmured. Reyes pushed back from the bed and stood.

"I won't tell if you don't."

"Deal," Mandy replied, though she made a mental note to replace the bottle if at all possible.

A moment later Reyes was sitting at her side again with the pilfered bottle. He opened it and offered it to her.

"Ladies first," he said.

"How considerate," Mandy replied, taking the bottle and enjoying a swig. Reyes chuckled.

"I try."

Mandy passed the bottle back to him, and he took a drink of the brandy. He tilted his head, savoring it.

"Very smooth. Tastes expensive."

"A little like I'm going to be murdered by an upset asari doctor," Mandy agreed.

They smiled faintly at each other, but then after a moment, their gaze broke and they glanced to the side. Reyes passed the bottle back. Mandy held it without drinking, running her thumb over the label. After another moment, Reyes exhaled and lightly smacked the tops of his thighs.

"Right then. Shall I start?"

Mandy glanced up, meeting Reyes' gaze that time. He exhaled again. Everything seemed to happen in repetitive motions in this pathetic excuse for a conversation, as if they were too nervous to actually speak their minds.

"I don't know what else you want me to say," Reyes continued. "I've bent over backwards trying to prove how I feel about you, and I don't know what else I can do. You're angry, yes, I realize this, but at least give me a hint that I'm doing it right!"

Mandy blinked quickly and took a long sip of Serrice Ice.

"All I ever wanted from you was to know I matter," she said, forcing herself to look right at him and keep her voice even. Her throat tightened, and she heard her tone get quieter, as if fighting tears. "When you fell off the map after everything on Kadara, I figured you'd just been using me the whole time. Saying things you thought I wanted to hear. Okay, sure, I've never had a real relationship. And I was afraid you were taking advantage of that just to get something out of me."

"Get something...?"

"Sloane's death, sex--hell, I don't know. Just... something."

"Well, I think I would remember sex with the inimitable Amanda Ryder," Reyes tried to joke. His smile fell when Mandy handed him the bottle and ducked her head. A moment later, soft sobs eked out of her, and her shoulders shook. "Oh, oh, no, Amanda, don't... don't cry..."

Mandy couldn't help herself, though she tried to cry softly so she wouldn't hurt her ribs. Her chest ached with repressed sobs, but she couldn't risk breaking everything... Not that most things in her life weren't already broken. She pressed her palms over her eyes as she cried, half with heartache and half with embarrassment over being so emotional. It would be easier if she were just some staunch, emotionless soldier, strong and brave and uninterrupted by these kinds of breakdowns. Why couldn't she be the kind of person everyone had viewed Dad as?

"I'm not good enough, am I?" she wept softly, hunching her shoulders as if to hide. "I'm just... not..."

"...is that what you think?" Reyes asked. "Amanda, it's not--"

"If it's not true then why does everyone act like it?" she whispered, rubbing her rapidly reddening eyes. "My own dad, the entire Initiative... my own crew... you..."

"No, Amanda," Reyes breathed.

The chair scraped on the floor as he pushed away from it, setting the bottle aside. He climbed onto the medbay bed, and Mandy looked up, startled, when his weight joined hers. Her eyes widened as he settled at her side and gently wrapped an arm around her. Mandy tensed, but he didn't move. Instead, he just pressed his lips to her forehead, and Mandy shattered inside. She clung to him, sobbing, ribs be damned. Reyes wrapped both arms around her as tightly as he could, rocking her slowly.

"You have proved everyone wrong," he murmured, his cheek against her hair, "and anyone who thinks otherwise can fight me. You're definitely enough. And I was an idiot to be afraid. It was all me, never you. Never you, Amanda."

Mandy clung to him, and they held each other in silence for a few moments. She wanted so desperately to believe him, to drink in his honeyed words and make them a part of her. Why not? She did believe him. No one spent that much effort on emails and custom serenades just for a lie. She felt like she had seen past the dashing smuggler exterior to the man who loved her. Loved her. It boggled her mind even to imagine that, after her life of trying to prove herself to everyone she met, that Reyes wanted her. Maybe she wasn't so different from Reyes. They had each only ever wanted to be somebody. Now they were, but each other's opinion seemed to be the only opinions that mattered. He was somebody to her, and for the first time, Mandy deeply believed she was somebody to him. It felt like falling backward onto an ocean current, letting the saltwater support her body and carry her away in the blissful weightlessness of acceptance. Reyes Vidal loved her after all. This time, she would let him, and she would believe that they were more than good enough for each other.

Mandy sucked in a slow, pained breath from her strained ribs, but she still gave Reyes a squeeze around his chest, battered, hole-punched armor and all. She nestled her head against his shoulder.

"...it's Mandy," she whispered.

"...mm?"

"It's Mandy." She looked up at him, blinking away tears. "That's what the people I love call me."

Reyes smirked coolly, but his eyes lit up like a sun. He gave her a gentle squeeze around the shoulders.

"Then perhaps we should toast to starting from the ground up, mm?"

Mandy nodded, a smile finally curving her lips. Her gaze admiringly swept his face, and she softly traced his jaw with her thumb.

"You're still a crappy singer, though."

Reyes laughed, soft and deep.

"Ah, well, I have other ways to woo you."

Instead of grabbing the bottle for the toast, he brushed his fingers over her jaw and tilted her lips to his, a soft hum of pleasure buzzing in his throat. Mandy met him gladly, bracing her palm against his chest. Cheers, to a fresh start.

#and they all lived happi-fucking-ly ever after #steph writes #fanfic #mass effect andromeda #me:a #amanda ryder #reyes vidal #f!ryder x reyes

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raviollinoxfleuret · 7 years

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One More Tomorrow

(( I just wanna point out that I did change some elements in regards to the lore and characters that are apart of Eos, etc. This takes place before the events of FFXV )) Chapter 1: Stones

Rating: G/A Word Count: 6,695 Pairing: Ardyn/Fem!OC

Summary: There was a man... who was currently occupying the water hole. Burgundy hair stands were pushed back from his face, long enough to stick to the back of his neck, and he stretched his arms. Was he bathing there? Was he… naked? Well how else would you bathe? He wadded and stepped out of the water, revealing his tanned chest and her wandering eyes trailed down his body only widening at the sight before her. He was in fact nude, making it hard for her to look away. Rubbing the top of his head, he stretched out in the sunlight. She had never seen him before. He was handsome and tall with toned muscles, exotic compared to those she saw in her city regularly. Perhaps he lived in this part of the forest? She rarely came over in this part. But he wasn't rugged like you'd expect from someone who inhabited the wild, he was clean, and well-groomed. He let his arms fall down to his sides, looking around, taking in his surroundings, when suddenly his eyes met hers from afar in the bushes. But did he really see her? He squinted hard in her direction, unsure of what it was that he spotted and spoke out. “Hello?”

It was that time of night again when the frail girl would go and sit out by the lake and offer a prayer with the loveliest stone she could find. Cupping it in one hand with the other protectively on top, she gazed out towards the black water that almost reflected the night sky above. There were no clouds tonight either and she looked up at all the lights that shone so far away. Bending down near the edge of the weathered down ramp, she put the rock up to her forehead, whispering a chant.

“With the sun by day and the moon and stars above at night, hear my plea.

Lest I seem to be full of greed,

I only seek the strength and wisdom to be granted upon me for another day.”

The rock rolled off her palm and plopped straight into the water. With a sigh released, she sat down, criss-crossed, and hunched over. She had dropped so many stones by now, she couldn't help but wonder if they'd ever reach the top, or close, of the water. But when she looked long into the dark waves beneath her, they transitioned from calm to rough, almost splashing over the pier. Her eyes lifted up to look beyond, for perhaps a storm was heading towards the town, but it was as clear as before. The sound of the water caused her head to look back down only to see a strange figure rising to the top and coming from out of the lake.

A head that sat atop a long neck with fins, large and small, extending from both sides looked straight down at it's visitor. The sight in front of her was unbelievable; the ridges that followed down it's neck and the grand teeth it bared, with skin that reflected a lustrous blue off the moonlight. She heard rumors of the Hydrean Astral that lived in this lake, but none could ever attest to actually witnessing it. It was known to be only a rumor. Her jaw dropped. It's neck lowered closer to her level and moved forward, only causing her to step back and fall right on her bottom. She did her best to scoot back away from it until it spoke.

“Are you afraid of me child?” Before she could answer, it cut her off with a simple, yet straight-forward warning. “Should you scream, I will not hesitate to devour you.” the creature was only a few feet away from her, but that's where it remained.

“I don't know... should I be... afraid?”

“It depends what mood I'm in. I'm surprised to learn that you can understand me.”

“That is rather strange isn't it?” she was still stunned in the spot she scooted to, eyes wide open.

“I think I might know the reason why...”

“I'm only dreaming aren't I? That's the reason?”

“If that were the case, then that means I'm dreaming as well.” she was at a loss for words. The Hydrean before her, claiming to dream? “Why do you throw those stones into my lake?”

“I uh... it's meant to be a prayer. Or a wish sometimes.”

“With a stone?”

“Well they're stones that I happen to find are... pr-prettier than the rest... I...” the water serpent was silent until it began to move back, diving down into the water. She lent on her side, letting go of a heavy sigh, trying to catch her breath. With the intention to stand up and run, she paused as she heard the water rumbling yet again. It came from under the deep waters once more and slowly hovered it's enormous head back in front of her, dropping at least fifteen stones that she had left from past nights.

“What prayers do you request with a stone any other cretin could throw in? Why should yours be answered and not someone who'd give riches and all the gil they have for a simple prayer to be answered? Why would your measly stone hold more value over ones fortune?”

“I don't think that highly of myself to believe that my prayer is more important than another. Greed is not what I seek. Only the strength to get through my days of living.”

“Are you ill?” the Hydreans voiced raised.

“No.”

“Then why exactly do you need strength? If you have the strength to the gather stones all of these days and make your way to this lake at night, what other strength do you truly need?”

“I have plenty of external strength. What I seek is internal.” her hand raised up to the center of her chest and she dared to look the beast in the eye.

“Hm...” it moved forward, going to her left side, stopping once more. “Are you still afraid of me?”

“I don't really know what I'm feeling exactly right now.”

“The tone in your voice moments ago hinted that you no longer are...” the girl alone was just a little taller than the size of the serpents eye. Fear would be typical for any one being to feel when face to face with the legendary Lord of the Waters. It's been known to have a little to no care for the mortals that walked on the surface, with stories claiming it to destroy the town multiple times just because it simply could. But the stones she offered to the lake caught the attention of the sea ruler, for what reason, the Hydrean wasn't sure of. “What name do you bear?”

“Esme...”

“Do you know mine, mortal?”

“The Hydrean... I'm not sure if you have another name or-”

“Leviathan.”

“Oh... okay.” her emotions now went from shock to confusion. Was this an introduction from it? From Leviathan?

“The next time you come to toss a stone with a hope of yours, I will arise to speak with you once more.”

“Oh... wait, what?” But Leviathan had no patience to hear her 'whats' and 'waits', and before descending back into the water, used her head to push the stones back into the water. This time remaining below, the waters as calm as before. Should she come back tomorrow night, she pondered to herself, all the while attempting to recollect what had just took place. Was this it's attempt to befriend her or the like? The only way to be certain was if she returned once more with a stone and a wish the next night.

When morning arrived the next day, she immediately set out to find a stone, leaving before her caretaker even awoke. How fast could she find a stone that was worthy enough to speak with Leviathan again? But why search fast when she had the whole day to find one. She headed for the forest where she always wandered on her search; an area separate from the island. It was the only part where a gondola wasn't required to travel to. Coming closer to the entrance, in the dirt before she even entered through the sea of green, was a rock that fit in her palm perfectly as she lifted it out of the ground. The stone resembled the same hue as the morning sky. No, not the morning sky, but the exact shade of blue of the Altissian water where the Hydrean resided. The way the sunlight hit it gave it a metallic sheen. It was this one. At first she was unsure of going back, but now the anticipation grew. Besides, what if she didn't go back?

The tales that have been told of the wrath from the Hydrean were those of terror. Tales saying how she's devoured almost everyone in the town once for throwing garbage in the water, as well as one where she turned the city to rubble, all for different and sometimes similar reasons. One being because someone swam in her waters and peed. The city of Altissia has been rebuilt and rebuilt and rebuilt from the countless times it's been demolished, architecture always differing, but each time with an attempt to make it stronger than before. It's been close to two centuries since she's surfaced, and now it's all because of the curiosity that transformed into a discovery that peaked the water creatures' interests.

It wondered; Did she know?

The young girl walked out onto the pier and sat there waiting for dusk to arrive, filled with nothing but complete anxiety. As minutes passed, the sun made it's way closer to the the horizon, her eyes widening more and more after the few hours leading to sun down passed. When the light disappeared beyond the horizon, she ritually brought the stone up to her forehead feeling reluctant only for a moment, and began to pray. But she was at a loss for words. What to pray for? What she always asked or something more specific?

Goddess of the Sea, heed my call, Rise for me once more to speak...

With her wish spoken, the stone entered the lake from her hands and almost immediately, the waters started to rock with small waves forming, barely splashing over the concrete. And then it rose patiently out from the lake, watching the curious girl.

“So what is it you wished for tonight, ephemeral?”

“To speak with you once more.” the beast was silent for a moment, intently watching the innocent smile on her face show. Leviathan huffed at Esme's expression and soared up towards the starry sky, it's height reaching past the tallest building in the city, and swooped down towards her, circling, surrounding Esme.

“Is that so?” while the girls defenses and heartbeat went up, she was unafraid. “What about exactly?” her eye contact with Leviathan never broke, although, she wasn't sure what to say.

“Well... you asked for me to return, did you not? Why?”

“Have you come up with any reasonable explanation as to why?”

“I haven't thought about it, really. All I could really think about in the past day was that I actually spoke with you.”

“If you had to pick one reason as to why you are able to speak and understand me, what would it be?” Esme circled her amber eyes around, deep in thought and tried to tie up the loose ends at hand.

“Maybe... perhaps it has something to do with my mother or father? They could've had this ability to speak with the Astrals and then it was past down t-”

“No.” the Goddess abruptly cut her off, swiftly untangling her body from around the human and back into the water. “I don't know who your parents are, or were, nor do I care.”

“Well, alright...” Her hand raised up to her chin as she pondered some more.

“Don't think about it to hard, little speck. All you truly need to know is that you are the first of your kind. You have a calling and it would seem that I am the first step towards it. How interesting... the Astrals, including myself have been waiting a very long time for you to finally show yourself.”

“What do you mean? A calling?”

“You're path in life; What you must do in order to ascend.”

“Ascend where?”

“Where else?”

“The heavens??” the more questions that were asked aloud the more confused she grew. They clashed with all the ones that she asked herself internally. Leviathan bowed her imposing crown to answer her last question. Becoming fully aware of what the Goddess hinted, she was taken aback with popped eyes. “Wait.. are you saying that... I am the first Oracle?” Esme was in disbelief, even if it came from the likes of Leviathan. The Oracle is also a being she only read about. How the the heavens would one day send the Oracle down to seek out the six Astrals of Eos and converse. One said to have powers to heal, a prophet, as well as a messenger between the people of the world and the gods above. But it made sense. She managed to save her caretaker some time ago from failing kidneys without the help of the local doctor or medicines, all by placing her hand and pressing down where the pain was. Within a week, she was up and about like normal. Animals and even plants were saved or brought back from the brink of death just by her touch.

“Do you understand now?”

“I suppose. There are things that make more sense now. But what about... my calling? I wouldn't know what it is.”

“You're calling comes to you as a clear sign or it won't. You could even fulfill whatever it is without ever actually realizing it.”

“You don't know?”

“No.”

“Maybe it was meeting you. What if you're my calling?” she grinned again and Leviathan swayed back, almost in disgust and slightly amused and Esme noticed.

“You almost managed to get a laugh out of me. If I were only alive to fulfill your Calling, I would've just devoured you last night. I wouldn't let the gods get away with such a farce. I only play a part, not only for you as the Oracle but for future ones to come after your time is over. You still have five more Astrals to meet with too. How you find them, is your decision. I can not help you with that. As you can see, I am restricted to the waters. Do your research on them and where they've been sighted.”

“Why do you seem to take me as a joke?”

Leviathan was shook by the question.

“Is that what you took away from what I just told you? It shouldn't matter. I've set you in the right direction, little girl, and now my work is done. Go look for the others and learn your purpose. Goodbye.”

“Wait!” she yelled out as the creature dove back into the dark waters and she ran and jumped in after it on impulse. There wasn't a decision that could turn to be worse. The water all around was black and freezing, her body petrified by the temperature. In an attempted to lift her arm forward, it bumped into a scaly surface and then it moved under her body, lifting it up out the water and throwing her on the pier.

“How reckless can you possibly be?” the voice of the Hydrean was enraged as it watched the shivering girl struggle to push herself up. “Come back if you so desire, but only at night, and we'll speak again.” The sea ruler scoffed before sinking back into it's home. “Don't do that ever again, fool.” those were the last words she heard before she fell out cold.

“Esme!” The shouting of her name made her eyes drag open and moments later jump up, almost completely becoming awake. Looking around, she realized that she fell asleep on the pier- or rather, went unconscious. She pushed her half-damp hair away from her face and looked to her left towards the docks entrance where the voice was coming from. Knowing who it belonged to before even seeing their face, she dreaded the talk she'd receive in the coming seconds. “What on Eos-??” her arms flew into the air over her head in confusion. Amelie was her name. An elderly woman who took a ten-year-old Esme in after watching her wander through the streets of Altissia several times. She remembers that night from over ten years ago like it was yesterday; it was storming heavily, thunder beating throughout the skies and lightning cracking all around, and this little girl all alone in it, catching a bad cold after wards. And even after all these years, Esme's origins are still a mystery to the caretaker. If Esme didn't want to talk about, Amelie wouldn't pry. “What are you doing??” hands balled into fists, she pressed them into her hips as she looked Esme square in her eyes. “I... I don't know.” She replied with a small chuckle following behind. Her eyes scanned the horizon and beyond the waters to the mountainous structures in the far distance. With the Leviathan in mind, she smiled. “You could be sunburned from falling asleep in the direct sunlight, what were you thinking?” “Hey aunt, what if I told you... I was the Oracle?” the woman blinked at Esme, who was still sitting down on the beat up concrete. “What if`?” “Well I mean... wouldn't that be cool?” “What are you saying? Did the sun make you delirious? I think you need to drink some water, immediately.” Amelie turned and started to walk away, believing that Esme was following. “I'm not kidding.” she stopped in her tracks and looked back at her, unsure of what to say. “The Leviathan came from under her waters and told me. I'm not loopy, the sun didn't affect my head. This is the truth. Remember that one time I saved you?” listening intently to Esme, she tried to understand. “They said you weren't going to live, that no miracle could save you. But I saved you.” Esme pushed herself up to stand and made her way over to her almost-mother. “With these hands...” she lifted them up and turned them, the two women looking down at them, “I can help others, heal them...” With no response, Amelie only stared blankly. “Say something!” “The Leviathan...?” she squinted at the young girl. “You don't believe me.” “It's not that I don't believe you. It's just, there were other women who claimed to be the Oracle, and then were killed when they had nothing to prove of it! How would you even show it?” “Well like I said before, I can heal others.” “You can try.” “Wha- but I can!” “This isn't something you can just...” the words couldn't come out of Amelie's mouth, so she only sighed, placing her hand over her forehead. She feared something happening to her if she decided to start telling anyone in town. “You're risking your life.” “But I'm sure of it. I can prove myself to anyone and everyone. But it'll only be for those who truly need it.” “You'll make enemies that way.” “I'm not here to help those who greedy. I don't need to prove anything to them.” “Esme- !” “Just trust me! I know what I'm doing.” The girl took the caretakers hands into hers and held them tight, the pair falling into silence. “I'm twenty-three, I can make my own decisions, I think.” Esme scoffed. But it still made the elder woman worry. Some cities and small towns have fallen to a scourge; completely wiping them out, the citizens within them dying and some even becoming daemons and if they didn't turn into them, the monsters would rise up from below. With the scourge emerging in more cities, so did self-claimed Oracles all around Eos, only in an attempt to bring a false hope to the mortals all over. But when these 'Oracles' failed to deliver, chaos would ensue amongst those within their cities, bloody fights, riots, and cries for salvation, only going unanswered by the gods they prayed to. As their prayers went ignored, some abandoned their faith, eventually executing any woman who professed to being an Oracle. Esme looked into the eyes of the older woman; eyes filled with a plea that she immediately broke away from. “Welp, now that that's said and done, I'm hungry; let's go eat!” She winked as she led her guardian towards the end of the pier and made way to their small home. The coming weeks would prove to be eventful. Esme knew of some residents nearby who were ailing and in pain and reached out to them personally with no grandeur or ceremony. 'Where does it hurt?' she'd ask in a low tone, hoping to appeal, and they listened, and healed. Although the words admitting to be the Oracle never left her mouth, assumptions were made and word spread about the miracles her hands brought to all the locals. Soon enough, people from the other regions of Accordo, and even from across the vast waters into the nation of Lucis would journey to seek her out. Within a month, more than fifty bodies were healed, some saved from death, and others relieved of their suffering. Her gaining popularity was widespread and it wouldn't be long before it reached the ears of royalty in the kingdom of Lucis. And in the same week of the news reaching them, the king himself set out to personally meet the possibly true Oracle.

Several weeks later... “Essie! Where are you going?” the elderly woman limped over to the doorway as Esme stuffed two jugs, one with water and the other empty, and a bag of cookies into her bag, flying it over her shoulder.

“Out. I have to look for stones today. I'll be back in a few!”

“Hold it! I told you the Lucian King and his men are coming sometime today, and if not today then tomorrow! Can't your stones wait?”

“No, they can't. Besides, I don't care who's coming here, especially if it's anyone from that kingdom. Altissia is on it's own for a reason; to stay away from the silly quarrel that goes on between the Imperials and the Lucians. They both only ever come here to see if perhaps we changed our minds on what side we picked. It's bothersome. I want no part in any country that believes war is the only means to an end and I don't think you should either.” Amelie sighed knowing very well there was no use in trying to sway the young Oracles' mind.

“Just don't get into trouble.”

“I won't!” the door opened and closed just as fast, but the girl halted, now wondering what to really do. She wanted to stay for Amelie's sake, but she didn't care for the Lucian kingdom. However knowing that their king ventured across the ocean just so he could meet her was kind of exciting, and then on other hand it was as she said before. Esme wasn't fit to wait so she left anyways.

In the nights that had past since she jumped into the Hydreans home, she continued to visit her every night and the two would go on to speak for hours. Leviathan started to become more and more interested in the girl, wondering things like where she came from and what happened with her parents. While she hated to admit it, she was growing fond of Esme. No mortal ever dared to come meet with the Leviathan before. Esme made it practically a ritual to come to visit her, all at her own will. She wanted to see the sea goddess and it was something the Hydrean almost enjoyed knowing. She was even beginning to regret telling the Oracle to set out for her Calling. Leaving Atlissia meant Levia couldn't protect her. She was bound to the water. And the day that Esme finally decides to venture out wouldn't be long from now; Leviathan could feel it. She was regretting the moment she even surfaced the waters when she thought about it some more.

Esme ran through the entrance of the forest she became so familiar with and looked around not only for rocks, but flowers. The Hydrean's seen them grown in the city in their pots and baskets, but only specific ones, so Esme only though it'd nice to show her exotic ones from the forest. Ones that she might not ever see. She bunched the stems of all the flowers she could find in her hand, trying not to damage any and reached into her bag taking out an empty mason jar. She dropped the flowers in, having to make some of the stems shorter to fit in comfortably and closed the lid, officially making it the time to look for stones. Before throwing her bag over her shoulders once more, she removed the snack she took along with her and thus, her stone hunt began. They were all starting to have different meanings, the ones that she decided to take. Depending on they're shape, color and texture. She'd go to the lake at night and wished for things like a sunny day, the city to remain safe, or for her caretaker to continue having good health. The past few weeks, they were all seldom about her anymore. She even asked Leviathan if she had a wish, but she denied possessing any.

'Why would I wish or pray for anything? And what at that? There is nothing I need.' The goddess would answer. 'Not even feet? Wouldn't you want to be on land just to see what it looks like?'

'No.'

But the one thing that Esme did take notice of was that Levia did have to think about her answer. What was it she thought of? Maybe she did wish to be able to walk and see other things the world had to offer but was too stubborn to admit it. Esme herself was even learning the ways and behavior of the Hydrean.

She hummed her way deeper into the green and picked up at least ten different stones. But something that caught her eye as she scoured the ground was a print in the dirt that led away from the typical trail. A print that resembled the shape of the bottom of a boot. Stopping to look to her left, there were more prints and they looked recent. So she followed them. The only thing she could remember about this area was that there was a fresh water hole, but she was unsure if it was in this direction specifically. Although now, the boot trail was gone. They were probably gone, whoever it was. All of the years that she wandered through this area, she's never seen another person. Some friendly wild animals, but never another person. She reached a part were there was a thin wall of bushes and shrubs that reached some feet taller than her, beginning her search again. A new area meant a new variety of resources. Essie pushed some of the branches and leaves to the side thinking she spotted a decent stone, but lifted her head up quickly, looking ahead of her, after hearing the sound of water splashing. There was a man... who was currently occupying the water hole. Burgundy hair stands were pushed back from his face, long enough to stick to the back of his neck, and he stretched his arms. Was he bathing there? Was he… naked? Well how else would you bathe? He wadded and stepped out of the water, revealing his tanned chest and her wandering eyes trailed down his body only widening at the sight before her. He was in fact nude, making it hard for her to look away. Rubbing the top of his head, he stretched out in the sunlight. She had never seen him before. He was handsome and tall with toned muscles, exotic compared to those she saw in her city regularly. Perhaps he lived in this part of the forest? She rarely came over in this part. But he wasn't rugged like you'd expect from someone who inhabited the wild, he was clean, and well-groomed. He let his arms fall down to his sides, looking around, taking in his surroundings, when suddenly his eyes met hers from afar in the bushes. But did he really see her? He squinted hard in her direction, unsure of what it was that he spotted and spoke out. “Hello?” His voice made her jump back, causing her to fall into the leaves that were littered on the ground, letting out a small yelp. They crunched beneath her palms as she stood up, black hair flowing around like a silk sheet in the wind, running. Black hair. It was in fact a person he was looking at as he took note of the feature. He crinkled his nose, realizing the body started running away. Sprinting over to where he laid his clothes down, he threw on his coat that extended down to his knees and with the magic that ran through his bloodline, flashed from where he stood to a tree that was roughly fifty feet ahead in the direction of the mysterious peeper. But Esme flung herself into a thicket next to a willow tree, curling herself into a ball as far in as she could fit, sticks poking her sides. The sound of his footsteps neared her location and she covered her mouth to hush the sound of her labored breaths. Her heart raced rapidly, unsure of what he'd do. Would he kill her if he found her? 'How'd he reach her so fast?' she wondered. The man looked down in the dirt for her foot prints, but the grass and clovers that started to cover the ground saved her by only a hair. “Alright, time to come out.” he said in a calm tone. But she wasn't convinced. “I won't hurt you. Although, maybe you shouldn't spy on those in their times of privacy.” Esme remained as still as possible in her spot. As he walked out further, this time, he was now in her sights, the right side of his body facing her. “You know,” his voice of velvet spoke, “you can come out now, and just apologize and that's it. Over and done with. Or...” she watched his right arm lift up, one finger pointing up, “you have consequences should I find you somewhere else. I saw that beautiful black hair of yours, I know how you look from behind!” now his tone almost seemed sort of playful. Was he crazy? “Fine, so be it. But you can't hide from me forever. I'll find you.” turning to walk away, he chuckled a little and Esme waited til he was far enough for her to safely get up and leave. The forest no longer felt safe for her to go back to. Finally getting back on her feet and out of the bush, she started to run as fast as her feet could take her and reached the entrance of the forest, but didn't stop there. Esme ran all the way back home and didn't look back.

Forcefully grabbing the handle of the front door of her home she swung it open and slammed it shut, frozen in her spot. Sweat dripped from her forehead as she attempted to catch her breath. Amelie ran around the corner at the sound of the door slamming.

“Are you okay??”

“I... saw...” “What?”

“I saw a-” “What did you see??”

“A naked man! I saw a naked man! I saw it, I saw everything!”

“What??” “Amel, he's gonna look for me! He said he'd find me and... who knows what!” Esme covered her mouth and looked around the front of the house.

“I don't understand how you saw a naked man??” “In the forest, there was a man bathing, and I saw him and he saw me, and it's just a misunderstanding! I wasn't spying on him! Maybe if I just explain to him... he'll understand...”

“See! I told you to stay here didn't I?”

“You failed to mention the part where I'd see a crazy naked man. I mean... who just gets naked in broad daylight?” she shook her head, confused and worried, biting down on her lip.

“Okay, okay. It's gonna be alright. Just don't go back for a while. Whoever it was will forget. Maybe just don't go back at all!” “But I... I've claimed that forest! Might as well just write, 'Esme's land' or something more official. 'Forest of the Oracle'...” she thought on momentarily before remembering what's at stake. “The point is: That... I'm gonna die.” Esme slumped down in front of the door, both hands holding her face, releasing a heavy sigh. The sound of collective voices outside caught their attention and it could only be who they were expecting. Multiple heavy footsteps grew louder before they came to a halt outside the front door. The two women only looked at one another and finally reacted, scrambling through their residence, picking up and quickly organizing anything out of place. Was the King of Lucis really just outside of these walls. The volume of the voices grew with a bit of laughter in between and curiously, Esme lightly stepped over to a window to see what who was there. Sliding the curtain to the side, the first thing she saw were black feathers that belonged to a grand-in-size Chocobo. The winged creature measured at least three times her size in height, and the rider, jumping off the other side, made their way around, the sound of their palm patting the Chocobo gratefully. The riders height matched the body of their mount. And when they made their appearance from around the bird, Esme felt her heart stop. Not just for a second but at least ten and the sweat from before started again. His smiled gleamed as his hair, burgandy colored and slightly wet, bounced with each step he took. It was the forest man and his bandits, she thought. He spoke to the other men that traveled with him, but their word were in audible. What if they were talking about how they'd end me? 'They'll ransack my home and hurt Amelie. This is all my fault...But they won't know who I am if I disguise myself.' Concluding not to tell Amelie, she pushed away from the wall, quickly trying to think of what she could use. A brown hide that sat atop an arm chair was large enough to wrap around her like a cloak, and on the wall on the other side was a tribal mask the Amelie purchased from a festival some years ago.

Knock, knock, knock

Esme gasped at the sound, almost tripping on the hide she wore, and reached up quickly, grabbing the mask and strapping it on. The one thing she made sure to do was wrap her hair up under the band of the mask.

“What are you doing?” Amelie came out of the hall way, sliding on the wooden floor looking at what Esme transformed into in a matter of minutes. “I am the Oracle! I have to uphold appearances! Hurry, they're waiting!”she motioned towards to door and hesitantly, but swiftly, Amelie made her way over to the door to open and looked back at Esme one more time. She sat poised, back straight, hands together with her fingers crossed, sitting on her lap. She inhaled the breath she believed to be her last and watched through the tiny openings of the mask as Amelie opened up the door. “Hello.” she spoke shakily. Esme couldn't see who was at the door. “Good afternoon!” It wasn't his voice; it wasn't as smooth. “After long venturing through the land of Lucis and over the vast ocean, we've finally reached the beauty that rests on waters; The city of Altissia! I am part of the Royal Gaurd for King Ardyn Lucis Caelum, may I retrieve a name from you, my lady?”

Esme blocked out the conversation as she took in the fact that she saw the King of Lucis naked and not some crazy forest man.

'He has even more of a reason to kill me now! I could spread word about how he's built without clothing... and that mysterious power he has. What on Eos was that anyway?'

“Miss Amelie, am I correct to say that this is the residence of the new-found Oracle?” “Well, she doesn't claim to be the Oracle, but the rumors did start because of what she's done for the people.” “Right. May we come in and speak with-”

“Please, allow me,” the sound of his voice cut of the guard and it sent shivers all over the tops of her skin. “I can speak for myself, I'd rather not stand on ceremony. I am the King, yes, but I've only come to meet with the Oracle and see if the rumors are true. I have a request to make with her.”

“Of course, your Highne-”

“Ardyn. It's easier.”

“Oh... Ardyn, y-your highness...um... Please come in.” Esme watched her caretaker step aside as she let the man in, the hide now becoming unbearably hot. Her eyes traced down to his feet and there were the boots that most likely marked the dirt in the forest. His eyes immediately went to whatever it was that sat on the couch.

“Hello there.” he smirked slightly as the masked being bowed it's head. “Are you the Oracle that I've been so much about?” Esme bowed again, trying her best not to speak. “That's an interesting look, especially in this heat.” Amelie closed the door and four of the guards came in, everyone just standing there awkwardly as they all baffling took in Esme's disguise. The living room fell still and a bit uncomfortable. Esme watched Ardyn's gaze as he tried to look through the holes of the mask from afar. Eye contact was important to him. “Would you mind if I sat down right there next to you?” It was the only place for him to sit in the room. Anywhere else would be too far. He could also bring a chair over, but that's too much work. She stalled in her response but eventually nodded and looked to Amelie, quickly gesturing her hand towards the dining room.

“Alright, gentlemen, come with me. I'll start some tea... or coffee? Whichever you boys prefer. Hell, I'll make both.” She laughed as the five left the area and then it was only the two of them. “You know... I didn't really think about what to ask you. How do I know you're not a fraud?” Now came the panic. “Listen... if you are, I won't be angry nor will I announce it aloud. But people will suspect something went wrong if I just leave. So I hope, for the sake of your safety as well as Miss Amelie, that you're the real thing.”

“I am.”

“Ah, you do speak! I was getting worried for a moment there!” He laughed and clapped his hands together. She found it hard to look at him, even fully clothed now. “I just need some kind of proof.”

“Well... I don't know how to prove it. You can speak to the dozens of people in town and out of town about what I've done for them and there's your proof.”

“I won't lie to you, do you really need this mask on? I can understand you, but just hardly.” “I... I need it on. What do you need me for anyways? Why do I owe you proof of who I am?” “I want to ask you to do something for and with me.”

“What? For your Kingdom? If I do something for your homeland alone, I have to go out and travel all of Accordo to and save everyone else. I'm not here to aid a selfish king.” She stood up, immediately becoming offended and he quickly got up too, his body towering over her. “Give me a chance to speak, please,” Huffing with a smile, he stepped closer to the Oracle. “It's not just for Lucis. I want to go out and help the areas that are currently being affected by the scourge, both in Accordo and Lucis. Even in Areas under the control of the Imperials. There are places and people who can still be saved but I need the help of the Oracle. I need you. Will you take the mask off?” But she shook her head immediately, turning away from the King, and walking to the other side of the room. “There's absolutely no way you walk around this city with that get up. You would die.”

“How do you know I'm not just hiding my ugly appearance?”

“Well this is quite scary.” Ardyn motioned up and down her body. “I would think twice about receiving anything from the Oracle who looked like this,” he trailed off as he watched her flipped black hair fall down from the strap of the mask. Black hair... “Unless we've met before.”

#ardyn izunia #ardyn lucis caelum #oc #ardyn x oc #final fantasy xv #final fantasy #ffxv #ff #ff15 #one more tomorrow #mine

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