#mentioned tredd furia

[andywinter16]

Random short headcannons for FFXV, because I hope it will make your day better in every sense.

-Titus called Cor in their youth chihuahua (due to reason that Cor was 15 years old super small kid with angry issues)

- Cor loves heavy metal and rock, yet has soft spot for when Weskham plays piano

- Cor sometimes for the shit of it calls Kingsglaive by Kingsdaves ... Titus hates it with his whole ass being, and all  the glaives are  so confused (Meanwhile Clarus, Regis and Cid are laughting their asses off)

- On the contrary to popular belief Titus cares about his glaives! It´s tough love without doubt, but the glaives wouldn't want it any other way

- Cid actually helps glaives when they stop at this garrage from mission. Mostly offers them food or shower. Then Cindy checks their cars for any damages. (Of course he sends Regis a hefty invoice)

-Glaives have Guide how to not die on the battlefield and Handbook 101 rules: How to be cool glaive that won´t die in the 30´s (there is a lot of pictures, and it has like 500 pages)

- Glaives uniforms are definitively enchanted. Every piece, even if it looks impractical, has some kind of improvement (endurance, magic resistance, strenght, ..)

- Prompto is the main photographer for sure. But did you know he took photos for Kingsglaive and Crownsguards? Not only the cool stuff for their brochures, but also complete mundane things  such as Pelna hugging Crowe or Tredd sharpening his knives or even laughting Cor with Titus. LAUGHTING. COR. AND. TITUS!

-Regis quite often sneaked with Noctis on fishing trips. Clarus had to improve security measurments because Reg was slacking on his paperwork and young Noct wasn´t attending homeschooling as he should.

- Clarus was actually quite womanizer in his younger years.(I was wondering where Gladio got it from) Until his wife came along and swept him of his feet. Which was quite literally, let me tell ya.

- Gladio by cannon loves to read all kinds of books even comics. I will let you on a little secret  tho ... Gladio´s guilty pleasure are spicy books with romantic plot.

- Ignis enjoyes museums, especialy the art one. He is always surprised by people's creativity and talent.

[ffxvficrec]

by franknstar Words: 6792, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Series: Part 5 of until the last light fades Fandoms: Final Fantasy XV Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Categories: F/M , Gen Characters: Nyx Ulric , Tredd Furia , Crowe Altius , Titus Drautos | Glauca Relationships: Nyx Ulric/Reader Additional Tags: Other Ships Not Mentioned in Tags , Mutual Pining , Hurt/Comfort , Angst , Slow Burn , Self-Worth Issues , Gender-Neutral Pronouns , Implied/Referenced Self-Harm

[ardynzunia]

“It’s a concussion with an aftershock of stasis, time is the only treatment needed I'm sure,” he said with a tight smile.

He would need to leave soon. Before the monster under that smile tried to drag him into a lab. Tonight would be best he thought, while Lysandre slept. He’d lied about the stasis still lingering though, while the concussion remained his magic was back. Not that he’d revealed it. But he could sense thin places in this world, he was pretty sure with Levi’s help he could use one to go home.

“My name is Prince Ruby Lucis Caleum-Furia.” He answered, “Son of Lord Tredd Furia and his Royal Majesty Regis Lucis Caelum the 113th king of Lucis.”

All the titles were real, as was the parentage legally. Though most of the time he called Regis grandpa and the title to his father the Glaive had only been given to protect their family. If it weren’t needed to make sure Lysandre knew he’d be missed, he wouldn’t have mentioned it at all. He also was sure not to mention his birthplace. For Lysandre, as all other public people, his mother was the wife of Tredd’s friend Axis Who acted as a surrogate. She felt like a mom sometimes anyway, though he called her aunt. Considering his dads and she and her husband were all in a polycule.

"I'm sure they'll be so relieved when I go home," He said. "especially the shield and sword of the king. Clarus and Cor knowing sending out a team of Crownsgaurd or Kingsglaive only had to be a precaution will be a relief! They might even give you something as a thank you!”

He said it cheerfully, like a child who thought their family could only be kind. But he knew the implication was that an army and swift execution was available if Ruby *doesn't* return home safe. Not that he'd threaten Lysandre out-loud of course. But Levi the messenger still sat in his pocket as they always did, and Grandpa Regis saw him disappear. The paths to follow were there. He knew his family was coming, If not the human's than the Tidemother.

He would aid this one, that was guaranteed. Though sometimes it was valuable to slow the treatment, be paced with it, make someone reliant upon the care one gives. It was necessary, especially in unique case studies like this one. Even so, he was never outright 'cruel' to any child. Not even the ones he's already defined as nothing more than tools, specimen, experiments.

No use being needlessly cruel. In that, it was so ugly, that attitude unattractive, and those actions nothing but abhorrent in his mind.

" no need to apologize. you're in an unknown environment, and whatever brought you here was...unexpected and possibly harmful to you. my deepest apologies we have to take so long to prep treatment, to go about it. we really do mean to help. "

Lysandre hummed, before kneeling down to get closer to eye level, briefly scanning Ruby up and down before returning to his face. Lysandre's own smile returned, it was soft, kind.

" how about we make it so that you're not talking to strangers, hm? a little more knowledge, a little more for you to know. i can already see you're more aware than children your age normally are, no use disrespecting that maturity. i am sure you've heard my name already, but i am lysandre, can i have your name? "

Lysandre held out his hand, palm half exposed as if to ask for a shake, though it also worked partially as a way to show he had nothing on him. Nothing that would harm Ruby, he was showing his left hand, his dominant hand.

[thecandywrites]

Kinktober Day 10- Pegging

Now I know, again, I'm like literally a week late. BUT. I got more Final Fantasy 15 Magic and Miracles Modern AU goodies for you.

This time featuring Tedd Furia and Stella Nox Fleuret, who is actually now, in this moment in time Stella Nox Fleuret- Furia. Yes, the cousin on their father's side to Ravus Nox Fleuret and Lunafreya Nox Fleuret from the Final Fantasy XV Kingsglaive universe.

But in my AU- where only a few people die but otherwise EVERYONE LIVES AND GETS A HAPPILY EVER AFTER DAMN IT. It's where Sylva is still alive and a BAMF. Who OWNS a hospital in addition to being a doctor and a surgeon herself (hello, oracle and healer= doctor and CEO and owner of a state of the art hospital).

And instead of in the Kingsglaive universe where Tredd is a traitor. (Granted in the beginning of Magic and Miracles- there's a nod to this in canon) But in my AU- no, he's actually just really smart, a realist, but opportunistic with childhood trauma, a pyromaniac which has since been channeled into him being a firefighter. With untapped potential that Sylva sees and she adopts him and brings out the best in him and helps him be the best version of himself that he can be. And she lets hiim legally play with fireworks and teaches him how to also be a healer (EMT) and a helicopter pilot. Both for the hospital and for the fire department where he can make BANK. Because Stella- is herself- a trust fund doll. Which is why Stella's parents initially HATE Tredd cause he thinks he's after her trust fund. But we know that's not the case. And to quote Deadpool "Your crazy matches my crazy". Which is SO THEM. Because just because you're rich, doesn't mean you too can not have trauma too. Which Stella, Ravus, and Lunafreya all have and deal with it in different ways.

And for those of you that have been following my Magic and Miracles and BEYOND storyline, you'll notice the easter egg that is the mention of Selena's accident. (I promise I have not forgotten or abandoned it, life is just being really mean to me right now and I don't wnat to take it out on anyone in that story any more than I already have (I'm sorry Selena))

But you don't have to know or follow any of that to enjoy this juicy lemon of Tredd getting railed by his wife, Stella and they are the epitome of kinky. And when I saw this prompt I IMMEDIATELY knew "oh yeah, that's Tredd and Stella. Stella is gonna peg Tredd and he's going to LOVE IT".

Everything else is under the cut because I don't want to get flagged by censors.

Again, a million and one thanks to @starsandskies for sharing kinktober. Yes I feel like I'm cheating with pulling pairings from previous stories. But that's simply to keep it short and sweet and get to the good part already.

Now, because of the graphic nature of this particular prompt. The moodboard is under the cut along with the story. Also You'll notice that I'm using the actual actor who did the motion capture and was the face of Tredd Furia in Kingsglaive. Stella I had to cast as Dakota Fanning. Enjoy!

Kinktober Day 10- Pegging

Tredd woke up to the smell of his wife making breakfast and a smile spread on his face because his wife Stella, being French, was hands down the best cook he had ever known and while she used almost heart clogging levels of butter. It was still delicious and amazing. 

And while his shift as a firefighter was exhausting, he had come home and happily crashed into bed. But he was getting the next two days off. Which he had gotten off because today was the day before his anniversary. And he knew that Stella surely had some amazing plans for their anniversary. 

She too had taken the same days off of school. Considering she was currently in medical school to become a doctor. The fact that thier busy schedules lined up that they both had the days off, was damn near a miracle. But one he was grateful for. He got out of bed and made it down the stairs of the condo that they had gotten while thier house was being built. 

Honestly Tredd had lucked out. Because not only was Stella hot as fuck. Her crazy matched his. And before she came into his life, he was sure he was going to probably end up just like his mom. A homeless junkie. Or like his dad, a damn near alcoholic who barely had enough money to make ends meet and spent more on alchohol and cigarettes than he did food for him and his son. 

And then Stella came along and everything changed. And for the better.

Because for once, they both found another person who understood them. Sympathized with them and they could be safe being vulnerable with. And while Stella’s parents had hated his guts- at first. Because to them, he was just a no good son of a bitch who played decent football but was otherwise a gold digger out to take their daughter's trust fund. And honestly, in beginning, yeah that was an appealing factor. But now, her trust fund meant nothing to him because he could afford to take care of both of them without it.

And that was because Stella’s aunt Sylva Nox Flueret- Caelum- saw potential in him. And instead of dismissing said potential. She invested in it. She invested in him and saved him from hemself and all the other horrible influences in his life. And adopted him like she had practically adopted all of her children's friends. Like Luche Lazarus. And Noctis, who she actually really did adopt. Along with Ignis, and Prompto, and Gladdio, and Nyx, who was now her son in law. And Selena, her daughter in law.

Sylva was the one that helped get him into being a firefighter because he had already been a bit of a pryro anyway. And he loved it actually. He never thought he would ever have a job he actually liked and loved and got paid decently for it too. And the positive changes didn’t stop there. Stella and Sylva helped him get clean. Get him off of smoking and other drugs. 

And then when their friend Selena got into a near fatal car accident, he threw himself into becoming an EMT too. And becasue Sylva owned Miracles Hospital, she had the means to also get him holicopter flying lessons.

So now between being a firefighter and an EMT. He was primed to become both a helicopter pilot for the hospistal. And also work with forest fires by flying helicopters to hold either water or fire retardant. And Sylva always put him in charge of all the fireworks she set off for all the weddings and the all the other functions she hosted. Which he downright got giddy for because he had the license and the proper training for it too.

And to top it all off. He was also young enough that he got roped into going into the elementary schools to teach fire safety. And for some reason- kids flocked to him. And he could use that to see all the other kids that had the potential to be great, but just had shitty homelives and no one else to give them the chance and opportunity to show off that potential. Which he used to help get those other kids the help they needed and the stability and resources to succeed. The same way Sylva had done with him. And that felt really awesome as a way to pay it forward because there was no way he could ever pay Sylva back for all that she had done for him. But Sylva never wanted to be paid back, but him paying it forward was all she could ever want in return.

It was a second chance to redeem himself and prove to both himself, his family and especially his inlaws- that in the world of who could have married their daughter, they could have done worse. And they were slowly but surely easing up on him. Especially when Stella and him officially got married and she stayed in medical school and was not currently pregnant.

Even though it seems all their friends were getting pregnant and having kids left and right. But once his friend Crowe had her baby Raven. When he got to hold her, something inside of him changed. It was the first baby he had ever hold that he felt was beautiful and the one that got him to realize that he needed to be a better man if he wanted one of his own and being her adoptive uncle made him beam with pride. 

Of course, at the time, he had jokingly cussed Crowe and Libertus out for making such a precious little angel and Libertus damn near had to arm wrestle him to get his daughter out of his arms as Tredd cried, granted cried happily all the same. But swore all the same that if anything happened to her, if anyone ever dreamed of hurting her, he'd kill them himself. Which gave Stella the assurance that underneath everything, that Tredd was a good guy. Even when no one else but her and Sylva could see it at first.

But today, was the day before their two year anniversary. He got out of bed and went down to the kitchen to see Stella still finishing up the last little bits of breakfast. 

“Good morning Gorgeous.” He cooed as he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tight and kissed the crux of her neck and shoulder before giving it a teasing bite which got her to squal. 

“Good morning Handsome.” She cackle in response before she turned the stove off and turned around to kiss him good morning properly. 

“So, how early do you want to start our celebrating for our anniversary this year?” She asked when they pulled apart when they needed the air to catch thier breath. 

“As soon as you want to.” He answered with a happy and excited smile. 

“Good, eat breakfast, and get some good food as fuel. You’re gonna need it.” Stella teased licensiously. 

“Yes Ma’am.” He growled as he grabbed each of her butt cheeks in her hand and gave them a hard but appreciative squeeze before he helped her gather all the components of an amazing breakfast onto thier table as he practically wolfed it down because he knew he’d be spending the rest of the day in bed and banging his smoking hot wife. 

He even helped put all the dishes in the dishwasher before he practically picked her up and threw her over his shoulder and carried her like that up their stairs again as she laughed heartily at his over eagerness. 

He used his hold on the back of her legs to heave her from over his shoulder to the bed as she bounced off the mattress a few inches which got her to whoop and holler in delight. 

“Before we get to caught up. I want to try something new.” She said as she stopped his hands from stripping her pajamas off of her. 

“Like sex toys new?” He guessed hopefully.

“Yup.”

“Like the triple A, double A, C, or D battery variety? Or the two stroke engine type?” He asked, trying to guage just what size of toy she had in mind. 

“Double A.” She answered before he rolled off of her to grab for the drawer that she liked to keep her sex toys she used for herself. 

“Nope, not that one.” She said before he went through them all and she just kept smiling wider and wider as she shook her head no. 

“So you got something new.” He realized.

“I did. And it requires a harness too.” She hinted. 

“Yes!” Tredd cheered before he got off the bed and got into the drawer in a dresser where they put the really fun toys and the harnesses before she openned a different drawer to pull out a new set of harnesses. 

“Put this on.” She told him before he obeyed and was too caught up in putting it on before he noticed that she had put one on herself and put a special dildo into it so that she had a vibrator inside herslf but could change out the cock she could put into the harness to mimic herself having a cock too. And she was currently wearing a literall horse cock in her harness and suddenly that’s when he seemed to realize what she had in mind. 

“Uh, what, what’cha got there?” He asked a bit nervously when he saw the literal horse sized horse cock she had put into that harness. 

“Your surprise. Happy Early Anniversary Baby.” She cooed. 

“No.” Tredd immediately shook his head adamantly. Becuase sure they had played around with stuff in any and every oriface they both had but he had never let her peg him with something that big before. 

“Ok. So how about we start out small and work our way up.” She ventured as she pulled it out and changed it out for one of the smallest ones they had first used and started out with. 

“Ok, that’s better.” Tredd offered.

“But not before you put this on.” She said as she attached a new cock sucking and swirlling thing on his own cock and secured it into the harness he was currently wearing and turned it on for him with her own remote.

“Oh fuck.” He had to bend over and steady his hands on his own bent knees as this thing had to of cost a few hundred dollars but was worth every penny. Becuase it felt like-he couldn't describe it as anything other than fucking amazing.

“On the bed, ass in the air and spread em.” Stella ordered before she got him into position and used him getting into position to get her variety of toys ready for him and lubed up his pucker before she eased the first one in and knew she got that prostate when he moaned and shuddered and after a few strokes and he had relaxed and openned up more for her. And that’s when she traded the smaller one for the medium sized one and began to fucking him with it as she scratched hard down his neck and smacked his ass before she grabbed his hips and pounded her own dildo into him. 

“Oh Jesus Fucking Christ.” Tredd graoned and moaned before he came in the toy currently sucking and swirling around his cock but it seemed she wasn’t done because then she switched out to the larger one. And Tredd was on the verge of becoming overstimulated, especially when she turned on the vibration settings as strong as they could go and just as he was about to come again, she pulled out, leaving him whining and wanting more. She then changed into her latest purchase and eased it inside of him and then rather torturously turned on the vibration settings and Tredd came again in the toy that was using his own cum as lube. 

Then she turned her own up to it’s highest setting thanks to her remote and turned his onto it’s highest setting and Tredd came and then his cum overflowed it the sleeve as he felt like he could feel this horsecock into his colon through his stomach. But he loved it. He loved all of it. He loved his wife most of all though. 

“Beavus, Beavus!” Tredd finally yelled, since that was her cousin’s nickname that they- as more of a sick twisted joke, made that nickname thier safeword for when they were done and didn’t and couldn’t take it anymore. 

“Ok Babe.” Stella relented and turned the vibrator off and pulled out of him and helped get his harness and put the toys in the bathtub for a thorough cleaning before they would be put away. 

“Fuck.” Tredd groaned as he laid on his side and tiredly took off his own harness and this wonderful thing that sucked and swirled on his own cock off and handed it off to her so she could clean it out while she traded it for a pack of cottonelle wipes so he could clean himself off and the mess on the bedspread. 

“See! You could take it. It just took a bit to work up to it.” Stella cooed as she came back with the now clean huge thing in her arms.

“Tonight- it’s your turn with that monster thing.” Tredd insisted. 

“Oh I know, I can’t wait.” Stella giggled gleefully as she put it away along with the others. 

“Thanks for indulging me though.” Stella thanked him. 

“You’re…you’re welcome.” Tredd smiled tiredly as he tried to recover.

[carminite-wyrm]

Running Onwards, To The Hope of a New Day (Part 2 of the Time Looping Nyx AU!)

Part 1 can be found here

In which Nyx makes several attempts to keep everyone alive, adds several more things to his to-do list, finds a black market, and learns some new things.

Or, Phoenix Downs Save Lives, More At Ten.

Nyx sighed, flopping back down onto the floor of his room and resting his head on the side of the bed. He was on his sixth loop now, and so far, he’d only managed to learn that keeping Crowe, and everyone else, alive was ridiculously difficult. He’d tried knocking out Luche again in his fourth run, only for Tredd to be the one to kill her, and while Tredd’s aim was a little worse than Luche’s, getting shot in the leg still sucked. He’d attempted to convince her not to take the mission on the fourth and fifth loops, to no avail, as either way she’d think he was being overly worried, or somehow insulting her capabilities.

On that note, keeping everyone else he cared about alive was also proving to be a nearly impossible task. On the fourth run, he’d opted to switch out Luche and Pelna, when they went to recover the Princess, so that hopefully Luche would be the one getting attacked by the octopus daemon.

Pelna had ended up getting backstabbed by Sonitus, that run.

That run had also ended in disaster yet again, though he hadn’t made it past the Princess recovery operation. Because he’d swapped out Luche and Pelna, Nyx had the dubious pleasure of getting a knife through his hand, stunning him just long enough to miss his warp away from the octopus daemon.

At the very least, he’d managed to drag Luche down with him as they fell.

The fifth run had actually turned out a little better, because he’d found out that if he kept Pelna at his side, Nyx could actually warn him fast enough for the man not to die immediately to the octopus daemon. And having Pelna’s assistance turned out to be a very good thing.

The three of them had managed to escape the daemon, and Nyx had tried to convince Pelna and the Princess to escape. Unfortunately, Lunafreya was…incredibly persuasive, and off the three of them went, to try and recover the King, and the Ring.

They got there just in time to see the Princess’ brother put on the Ring once again, and Nyx had managed to get the King, and the others, out of that first room, with the damnable Ring. With Pelna’s assistance, they actually managed to run out to the car, Nyx and Pelna laying barriers in their wake to slow down Glauca. King Regis was still grievously injured though, the Princess doing her best to heal him whilst Pelna took the wheel, and Nyx prepared himself to fend off any attackers.

Unfortunately, they’d only managed to make it a short way before they were beset by Tredd and Luche’s group, and in the ensuing literal firefight, Pelna’d been hit by a bullet. The traitorous Glaives’ attempt to waylay them on their attempt to flee Insomnia was once again interrupted by Petra Fortis, that gate guard that Nyx continued to have very mixed feelings about, but not before Tredd (and of course it was Tredd bloody Furia, the other member of the Kingsglaive besides Crowe to have a great affinity for fire) had managed to hit their car with a fireball, sending them crashing off the bridge.

When Nyx managed to haul himself out of the wreckage, it was to find Pelna unconscious and bleeding out, and the King dying once again, bringing him back to the same damn situation as the first two times.

And so, Nyx had found himself waking up for the sixth time, having died once again from the price of wielding the power of the Lucii.

He still hadn’t figured out how to get Libertus to not leave and join that group of ill-fated rebels, and while he had figured out how to keep Pelna and King Regis alive for longer, events seemed to continue to conspire against them.

And he still didn’t know how to prevent Crowe’s death.

At the very least, he knew for certain that if Luche was the one sent to murder her, he would do it with that handgun of his. Nyx wasn’t sure if he could tamper with that though, considering Luche kept it either in his locker, or on his person, at all times, and Nyx knew he couldn’t get to that locker without raising suspicion.

Nyx tapped his chin thoughtfully. He couldn’t risk telling anyone in the Kingsglaive about his foreknowledge, because the likelihood of one of the traitors or Drautos finding out was too high. And the Crownsguard were…well, to put it bluntly, a bit too xenophobic to pay attention to a refugee who had no actual evidence, beyond his own memories/experiences. He could try getting an audience with the King again, but without an incentive like the Princess’ kidnapping, the likelihood of that working was equally low.

But maybe, he could find a way to increase Crowe’s odds of surviving the ambush. He couldn’t give her any extra equipment from the Kingsglaive armoury, because that would be noticed, but maybe there was some sort of black market in the city? Most cities as large, and with as great a wealth gap, as Insomnia probably had one? Nyx wasn’t certain, but it was worth a try.

And maybe, just maybe, he could put a spanner in the Princess’ kidnapping as well. Her kidnapping was the bait that drew the Kingsglaive out of the city, leaving the Citadel more vulnerable to the attack that would bring the Wall down.

If the Wall remained intact, then the Empire wouldn’t be able to bring in the majority of their forces, including those giant daemons that had wreaked so much destruction. He didn’t really know what happened, exactly, during the signing ceremony itself, though. And there was so much else he also didn’t know, about this whole disaster, especially about that faction Libertus had taken up with, after Crowe’s death.

Nyx sighed, closing his eyes as he realised what he’d have to do, this loop. He knew now that he had the benefit of time, and so long as he made sure he died, everything would reset to just before midday on the 12th. This loop, he just needed to find out everything he could about the faction Libertus would take up with, their location, their numbers, their resources. He needed to know if he would be able to sabotage their efforts to bomb the Citadel, or if it’d be one of the things he’d have to find a way to reveal to the Crownsguard without implicating himself or Libertus.

And for that to happen…he’d have to let Crowe’s death play out as before.

This loop, Nyx decided, steeling his resolve as he headed over to the training area once again, he was going to whatever he needed to do, to get his hands on the information he’d need to make things right. A rebel faction like the one Libertus joined surely had access to a black market of sorts, after all, one wouldn’t be able to put together explosives or those communicators without access to at least some sort of restricted, possibly military-grade, material.

And perhaps he’d also read up on the whole deal with the Lucii, so maybe he would be able to get them onboard with the whole ‘saving lives and stopping the Empire’ thing, without having to sacrifice himself in the process. Their whole thing about setting alight those they deemed unworthy was useful, Nyx had to admit, recalling how it had dealt with Ravus and Luche rather handily, but also it was a pain when the ghosts in the Ring deemed themselves above the plight of the common man, to the point that it had taken Regis’ intervention to even get them to consider hearing him out.

And, now that he thought about it, what was so utterly important about the Prince that King Regis would be willing to sacrifice himself, and his entire city, just so that the kid would be out of harm’s way? There was that prophecy that either King Regis or Lunafreya had mentioned, but Nyx still wasn’t sure what that entailed beyond the Prince being destined to save the world, or something. Regardless, it had to mean something, for both Lunafreya and King Regis to be so adamant that sacrificing the city and themselves was worth it for his safety.

His course of action decided, he silently apologised to both Crowe and Libertus, and everyone else he wouldn’t be able to help this loop.

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

Nyx still threw up, upon seeing Crowe’s corpse in the morgue. He knew he could have at least tried, to save her, but- he needed to know what went on, on Libertus’ end of things.

It still hurt, though. No matter the apparent necessity of this loop, and its likely future benefits, his need to protect those he could still rebelled at his decision to accompany Libertus, and abandon everyone else.

At the very least, he could count on the fact that Libertus was pretty much ride-or-die, when it came to vouching for him in front of the (justifiably) suspicious rebels, when Nyx had found himself failing to come up with an actual believable reason for his presence. The ensuing conversations with the rebels, however, had been rather informative. Nyx knew firsthand how refugees were treated in Insomnia by a large portion of its inhabitants, particularly by those who were born and raised in the city. Even though the Kingsglaive had been essential to the war effort against the Empire, the fact it was staffed mostly by refugees – and the majority of them Galahdian – made most of the citizenry a little…frosty, at best, due to the perceived favouritism from the King. And of course, there was the whole matter about how the nobility – and the Crownsguard, by extension, given that a good portion of that organisation was made up of the sons and daughters of Insomnia’s upper classes – believed that the refugees were beneath their notice.

Nyx knew this, but maybe the time he’d spent out at war with Niflheim had dulled his awareness somewhat, to the situation back home. Had there ever been this much vitriol, this much hatred, at Insomnia and its people? Had the King’s name ever been spoken with this much derision? Had his people – his fellow Galahdians – and even the other refugees from the other regions ravaged by the Empire, been this poorly treated by the Insomnians?

He thought back to the initial meeting that he and Libertus had ended up at, how, as an introduction, they’d all gone around sharing why they were here, in the backroom of a dingy abandoned arcade, planning to bring down the Lucian government.

“My brother died in a daemon attack when the Lucian military pulled out of Cleigne.”

“We lost our homes when the government had them demolished to make way for a new overpass.”

“I lost my job, because some rich upper-class fucker thought that the restaurant’s dishes shouldn’t be cooked by ‘some uneducated backwater savage’.”

“My mother’s cousin was stabbed last week, and the Crownsguard refused to investigate it further because ‘it was probably just a mugging gone wrong’. As if every trash-filled back alleyway was home to criminals, rather than the poor and downtrodden.”

Honestly, at this point, Nyx actually felt kind of bad about the fact that he was going to use the information he got in a later run to stop them.

But he knew that the explosives they would set off would allow the Empire to take the Crystal, which in turn would damn the entire city to being razed by both daemons and the Empire’s soldiers. Nyx really did understand know, why the rebels would consider such drastic actions, understood that the peace treaty was seen as the final betrayal of all the promises that the King had made, understood that at that point, the only way forward, in the eyes of the rebels, was to take matters into their own hands.

But knowing the consequences of their actions…he had to stop them.

He found himself, a short while later after the rebels had all begun to disperse so that they could work on their various tasks, hovering awkwardly in a room that had been converted into a makeshift workshop. From what he’d been told, these rebels didn’t seem to be associated with the traitorous Kingsglaive members, but considering how Libertus was still discussing matters with this group’s leader, and how small this group was, Nyx bet that they didn’t trust him fully just yet.

“So, forgive me for asking, but this stuff doesn’t seem…it doesn’t look like you’d be able to get this from a hardware store.” Nyx commented, staring at the charges one of the rebels was preparing.

“Well, obviously,” The man shrugged. “You’d be surprised, what you can get from the old merchant in the back alleyway. Couple of leftover demolition explosives, from the last time a condemned building actually got demolished. Honestly, the only part of this that we’ve gotten from uh…outside sources…would be the communicators, and the money to buy the explosives.”

“…Do you think this…old merchant of yours…sells potions?” Nyx inquired, as casually as he could.

The rebel squinted at him, and Nyx quietly hoped he hadn’t pushed too quickly. Libertus was having an easier time ingratiating with the group, probably because his anger was all too genuine, whereas Nyx knew his silence was probably leaving everyone suspicious of him, even with Lib vouching for him.

“What do you need them for?”

“I just…I want to be prepared, in case someone- someone gets injured, or hurt.” Nyx admitted, putting in just the slightest tinge of the depression he felt whenever he thought about all the times one or more of his friends had died, of all the times he had failed, over the past few loops.

The rebel’s eyes widened, and Nyx realised that the other man probably had just made the (logical) leap of understanding that Nyx was thinking about Crowe, about his sister in all but blood who had recently died (yet again). Libertus had not been quiet about the fact that her death was the cause of their change in allegiances. The rebel visibly softened, before patting Nyx on the shoulder and giving him directions.

As it turned out, the black-market dealer not only dealt potions and explosives, but also all other sorts of legal and illegal merchandise. Quite frankly, Nyx wasn’t sure how this guy hadn’t been caught yet, considering that not only was most of his catalogue was kept in the same graffiti-covered garage, but also, he travelled around in the shadiest van Nyx had ever seen.

Nyx stared at the array of very illegal weaponry that was on display along one of the garage’s wall panels, before turning his attention to the rack of various curatives. There were a few potions, and he even managed to find a high elixir amongst them, even if the bottle was a little cracked and leaking the magic-infused liquid into its haphazard plastic wrapping.

But what caught his attention next, was a tiny box in the back of the curative rack, one that had the slightest sparks of a phoenix down emanating from it. He picked it up, and opened it, half-expecting it only to be some sort of clever fake. But no, there was a small downy feather resting inside the box, barely a quarter of the size of a regular phoenix down, but somehow, he could tell that the magic within it was as potent as normal.

“…How much does this one cost?” He asked.

The dealer laughed, shrugging. “Five thousand gil.”

Nyx winced. That was…almost a third of his current savings. He could purchase at least ten potions with that money, or even two extra knives for Crowe. And technically, he could buy even more for a cheaper price if he went outside the Wall, to maybe an outpost in Leide or Duscae, but there was no way he’d be able to just skip out of the city in a future loop, not when the Kingsglaive would be ordered to remain within, until the Princess was kidnapped.

Damn the fact that anything stronger than a regular potion was only available in Insomnia via the military, and even then, they were highly regulated. Potions wouldn’t save Crowe, if only because Nyx knew she took at least four of them with her on that mission.

“I’ll think about it.” Nyx finally said, putting down the box. He wouldn’t be needing that in this loop, that was for certain.

He now knew where this rebel group was located, knew their leader, knew how they were getting their supplies, beyond collaborating with the Empire. He had also come to the realisation that there were at least another two or three cells, with at least one of them likely in collaboration with the traitor Glaives, after Libertus let slip later that night that he had participated in ‘a meeting with the other leaders of this rebellion’. Nyx had tried to get further details from him, but Libertus had just shrugged and said that it wasn’t important.

He still didn’t know if the rebels would have been half as successful without Libertus’ information (and hadn’t it stung, to learn just how much information on the Citadel, and all their truly loyal brothers and sisters in the Glaive, Libertus had been willing to share), but Nyx figured that was a problem for a future loop. He’d figure out how to convince Libertus to stay. One day.

And now, he had just half a day before the signing ceremony, half a day with which to do research on the other thing he wanted to learn about, this loop. Namely, that Prophecy that both Lunafreya and King Regis had mentioned. Somehow, Nyx had the feeling that it was important, but he had no idea how or why it was. And considering that this loop, there was no chance he’d be able to even start digging up proof of Drautos’ treachery, or that of the other Glaives like Luche and Tredd, he might as well see whether he could get at least some background information on that.

The City Library turned out to be practically useless. Oh sure, there was a book on the Cosmogony, which didn’t actually talk about any sort of prophecy, but all it did talk about a King chosen by the Astrals to ‘see through a coming disaster’. And he assumed that disaster had something to do with that last passage in the book, which he gathered (after a good hour trying to parse through the flowery phrasing) talked about some sort of apocalyptic plague of darkness? There was nothing actually specific though, just passages that he assumed was well-known information amongst the more religious folks of Insomnia.

Nyx was starting to regret not paying much attention to the main religion in the city before this.

He spent the rest of the loop, before following Libertus to see where these rebels would be setting their charges, nursing a headache, as he tried to figure out how exactly this was all related to the Empire invading Insomnia. In the end, he opted to just, focus on the more immediate problems he had. He had his hands full anyways, trying to stop the deaths of his friends, and the destruction of Insomnia, pretty much all on his own.

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

Nyx woke up, for the seventh time, and decided that no matter what happened in any of his future loops, he was never, ever dying again to a hail of bullets. Sure, he may or may not have intentionally stepped in front of that one guy, the rebel leader that had taken a shine to Libertus rather quickly, but…once was more than enough.

He swung himself out of bed, absently rubbing the centre of his chest, where he swore he could still feel the phantom impact of the bullets, along with the by-now-expected mild burning sensation that accompanied every awakening to a new loop. He had about ten minutes before Libertus would call him about meeting up at the training building, and he needed to figure out how exactly he was going to play things this time around.

It was…surprisingly easy to sneak through the alleyways to get to the black-market dealer, that night, and Nyx quickly handed over the required amount of gil for the phoenix down. Absently, he noted that there was a stack of demolition-grade explosives badly hidden in one corner. He quickly rushed back to his flat, trying to think of anything else he could give Crowe that wouldn’t arouse to much suspicion from any of the traitors or his technically-allies. An extra elixir? Nyx wasn’t certain how much help that would be, but well, more curatives certainly never hurt anyone.

Crowe still disappeared, on that mission.

He did notice Luche limping around though, one arm clearly injured, some new bandages peeking out from under his collar.

Good to know that Crowe had, at the very least, given Luche hell.

The trip to the morgue…was perplexing, to say the least. This time, there was an actual guard around the room, and when Libertus inevitably burst in, they only saw the faintest glimpse of a charred arm, before they were both tugged back outside by the combined efforts of Drautos and Pelna.

He tried to convince Libertus to stay, once again. This time, he emphasised the fact that they didn’t know for certain that Crowe was dead, that maybe she was still alive, why else would they try to stop them from seeing her? And Libertus knew Nyx had given Crowe a phoenix down, and an extra potion. Surely Crowe couldn’t be dead, she was far too strong to die.

Libertus still left, leaving Nyx clenching his Kingsglaive emblem in his hand.

Looked like the phoenix down wasn’t enough. Not on its own.

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

Two days later, when the Glaive deployed to rescue Lunafreya, Nyx found himself revising his words. Slightly.

He’d tampered with the hairpin beforehand, having spent several of the prior loops figuring out exactly where the tracker was placed, and whether he could actually remove the component that allowed the Niflheim forces to track it, whilst still keeping the part that let him know where it was located. It had been…finicky work, to say the least, and it hadn’t worked out before, but Nyx was fairly confident that this time would be the one. He’d left the part he thought was the daemon-attracting one in Luche’s apartment, because Nyx was, at the end of the day, absolutely down to cause that man as much grief as he could before he could kill him with no consequences. And, just before they had prepared to leave, he’d packed some extra curatives, because he guessed that even if he failed to prevent the daemons from swarming them all later, he could at least help keep Pelna and the King alive for longer.

The rescue mission went just about as Nyx had expected, having continued with his plan to keep Pelna alive, because having extra allies never hurt anyone. What he hadn’t expected, however, was a blast of fire slamming into the octopus daemon, successfully knocking it off the ship that Nyx had managed to get Lunafreya and Pelna into.

He looked for the source of the fire, only for a knife to go sailing through the open door, and Crowe warping with it, a second later. She crumpled onto the deck of the ship, and Nyx vaguely heard Pelna make a strangled exclamation, before cursing as he briefly lost control of the ship.

“Crowe!” Nyx yelled, rushing to her side. “Holy shit, you’re alive!”

“No thanks to that bastard Luche.” Crowe grumbled, voice clearly laced with exhaustion.

There was a burn scar tracing from just under her chin, down to her shoulder, and Nyx belatedly noticed that one sleeve of her tattered jacket was hanging empty.

“…We thought you were dead, Crowe.” Nyx admitted, almost breathless with relief as he pressed an extra elixir into her hand. “Well, at least now we know why they wouldn’t let me and Libertus into the morgue.”

“I’m hard to kill, you know that,” Crowe muttered, looking decidedly better after the elixir. “Though…I probably wouldn’t have made it without that phoenix down you gave me. And even then, it was a bit touch-and-go. I was lucky that a couple of hunters found me, otherwise I would’ve died. If not from blood loss because of Luche’s damn bullet, then from the shock of losing my arm. At least, that’s what the hunters said.”

“Are you sure you’ll be alright? We’re…heading back to Insomnia, because the Princess said we need to recover the King, or else we’re all fucked, basically,” Pelna called out. “I think I’ve got enough control of this thing to give you the opportunity to get off, but the moment we cross the city wall, we’re going to be right in the thick of it.”

“Pelna, I literally ran all this way after the hunters spotted the Imperial ships in the air. I would’ve called you all about Luche being a filthy traitor, except that my comms were all linked to Commander Drautos’, and considering I don’t know how else Luche would’ve known the exact details of my mission in order to ambush me that effectively, I…couldn’t risk it.” Crowe glared at him, straightening up and pulling her knife from out of the ship’s wall. “I’m helping, whether you all like it or not. Speaking of which, where the hell is Libertus?”

“He left the Kingsglaive, after you- I mean, after we thought you died.” Nyx admitted. “I tried to get him to stay but-“

“But it’s Libertus. Probably wanted to take things into his own hands, didn’t he,” Crowe rolled her eyes. “Idiot. But yeah, it does make sense.”

Nyx nodded, silently figuring out whether he had any other methods of communication he could give Crowe in future, now that he knew for certain that the phoenix down actually worked!

Several hours later, Nyx cursed viciously as their car once again went flying off an overpass, this time from an errant missile from an MT Armour that had somehow still managed to catch up to them, even with Fortis’ intervention. When he finally pulled himself from that wreckage, it was to see Pelna’s bloodied face staring up at the sky, his neck bent at an unnatural angle.

“Shit.” Crowe said, as they all hurried into the nearest building with the same damn horde of wasp daemons chasing them, Nyx preparing himself for the inevitable run with the hairpin. “I don’t suppose there was any way to stop Tredd from throwing that fireball that sent us right into that MT’s path?”

“Actually.” King Regis finally said, as they crouched behind a row of filing cabinets. “If you told me who the traitors were, I probably could have cut them off from my magic. I would’ve done so earlier…but I wasn’t certain whether I’d be able to cut just them off from the magic, rather than the entirety of the Kingsglaive.”

Nyx stared in shock at the King.

“Wait, you could’ve done that from the start?!”

“It is…finicky work, to sever only those specific bonds, without being immediately near to them,” King Regis admitted, oblivious to Nyx’s churning thoughts. “And I will admit, my hold on the magic of the Lucii is…weaker than it was, before the initial attack on the Citadel. But it is doable.”

Nyx was so distracted by that newest revelation, that he failed to notice the swinging arm of an MT Amour, and found himself waking up with a shout for the eighth time, the feeling of his ribs being crushed still fresh in his mind.

[ertrunkenerwassergeist]

I took a barefoot walk today with the dogs and remembered Nyx barefoot on his first hunt and, iirc, attacking the convoy. What is the Galahdian attitude, and the attitudes of all of our favorite characters, towards shoes in general?

That, believe it or not is honestly one of the more difficult questions. You have no idea how much I flip-floped between opinions. XD

.

The short answer is thus: The opinion on shoes depends very much on which Clan one were to ask.

The Bog are very much barefoot.

The Ostiums wear shoes and the Ulrics prefer not to. (Now I need to write a scene where Libertus nags Nyx into wearing shoes. Because that's the only way an Ulric will wear them.)

The Sarcina wear mostly embroidered sandals, the Lazarus put beads on theirs.

In the beginning the Bellum did not wear shoes either, but once soles were invented that did not turn into slippery death traps on wet wood (since a large part of them are salors and shipwrights) they gradually switched to shoes.

The Furia being who they are, are barefoot, of course.

Every Clan living in or on mountains is very uch a fan of shoes. Because cold.

(Here I should probably mention that everyone has at lest one pair of winter boots.)

The Khara and Najad Clans don't really wear shoes either. Neither do the Pisca and the Pontos. It's easier to swim if you don't. And you don't ruin them as soon as you get them.

For the other Clans it's very much personal preference. Which isn't to say that you won't find a Lazarus prefering to go barefoot or a Bog liking shoes.

But Nyx and Tredd would probably go barefoot everywhere. And I imagine Tredd forgot his Kingsglaive issued boots at least once when he was on duty. (Cue Luche and Sonitus sharing a long suffering look. Drautos tries to decide if this is some kind of staged protest. It very much isn't. Tredd just... woke up late and forgot.)

In BItW Athina makes Nyx a pair of sandals once. Nyx actually wears them. Libertus could kiss the ground she walks on, because in his opinion going barefoot is very much a health hazard.

Crowe honestly couldn't care less. She spent much of her childhood going barefoot and doesn't see a problem with it. But she prefers shoes in winter. Like a normal person. *stares at Nyx*

Lastly I should mention that people running around barefoot on Galahd, very much wear legwraps. One, to keep the material of their trousers from going every which way, and two, to keep critters from crawling up under their trousers.

[raven-6-10]

@a-world-in-grey

I don't think @secret-engima actually did that much worldbuilding regarding cultural norms, as applied to abo dynamics. At least I don't remember seeing any posts about it under the tag. Might be wrong, tho.

I agree that LCs are more warriors than standard royals, but you also mentioned Sola is the first Omega in the family in quite some time. And I recall you did have her as a first woman in centuries. So the nobles and general public might have forgotten how out there the Lucis Caelums are, even the women.

***

I seem to recall Prompto being adopted by Amissa when he's ... 8? 9? Something like that, in that one worldbuilding post. Guess we won't know for sure until the fic actually gets published as more than random scenes.

Anyway, by the time Noctis and Prompto are going to the same school (so 12?), Prom is living with Amissa in the Little Galahd and raising hell with his Pack friends. So he would be dragging his new friend home around the time Sola is adopted by Tredd.

Hmmm, might be that one led to the other? Either Prom deciding that Noct counts as Galahdian-in-law because Sola got adopted as a Furia. Or, Tredd adopting Sola after Mamai's son brought the prince home, because he wants a royal of his own.

***

Why do I have a feeling that the lore regarding Dragonborn got dismissed as mere fairy tales somewhen way back? Probably after a long time passed without one being born.

So there might be records somewhere, but they would not be easy to find, probably stuck in the fiction section of the archives or mythology, or something. Either way, nobody was taught about it in literal centuries.

***

Sola getting friends would be good for her. I kind of got the impression from your posts that before she joined Glaives, she mostly spend time with Noct and his Retinue?

Not many people want to hang out with the girl who bites people to death

***

Let Sola Punch A Racist 2k23!

But seriously, she's not gonna be happy with the prejudice against Galahdians. Not when they are the first people to actually accept her as she is. Who did not try to change her into something "socially acceptable".

I see many punched faces in the future.

***

Does Sola pick up the scentless habit from other Glaives? Not only on missions but in day-to-day life too?

Actually, does she ask what is going on with the habitual scent suppressing the whole of Little Galahd seems to be doing? She seems blunt enough to just ask the awkward questions.

***

Oh yeah, Umei's headcanons are very good. Definitely make more sense than the mess that is canon worldbuilding.

If Sola existed in Stand Strong verse, what would be her reaction to Galahdians in general and Glaives in particular? Would she still join the Kingsglaive or would Regis and Cor try harder to remove her from it? Would she still have a crush on Libertus?

Oooh, Stand Strong verse! Aka the fun glaives! @secret-engima feel free to correct me if I get anything wrong, it's been a while since I scrolled through this 'verse.

Sola doesn't really meet the Galahdians in Little Galahd until after she's been adopted by Tredd, so the glaives would be the first Galahdians she meets. And honestly, Sola feel an even stronger sense of kinship with these fae-like glaives. All her life she hasn't fit. She's an Omega when most LCs are Alphas, she's an Omega Sword when Swords are never Omegas - Hearts and perhaps the occasional Shield, but never Swords - and she's got distinctly nonhuman instincts even with the instincts that come from secondary genders.

Amongst the glaives who don't care to conform to Insomnia's definition of human, Sola, for the first time in her life, actually feels at home.

Yes, she still joins the Kingsglaive. She's less demanding in this verse - the Kingsglaive is Captain Drautos' territory, and one doesn't lightly invade an Alpha's territory even if that Alpha is sworn to her father. Instead, Sola sets up an actual appointment (Cor is neatly distracted by Abyssus and Ignis and maybe some surreptitious aid from Amissa) to meet with Drautos and formally request to train with the Kingsglaive, as she's finished her apprenticeship under Marshal Leonis and seeks to expand her capabilities to better protect her King.

Titus is well aware of the Rage Sola went into not even a week prior. All the glaives know, the princess was in no way subtle for all that she kept her Rage contained away from anyone who might get caught in the crossfire. Unlike his glaives, however, Titus knows the reason for Sola's Rage. Knows the King forbade Sola from accompanying her brother to Tenebrae on the basis of it being too dangerous. And Titus has to wonder how well Regis actually knows his daughter, because even in the bare handful of times he's been close enough to the Princess to observe her Titus knew how poorly Sola would take that decision. A Cloudy Dragon of an Omega, and Regis denied her from protecting her Territory?

A Rage was inevitable.

And now the Cloud (who might have been a Sky, before attempts to make her conform into an ill-fitting mold made her retreat so far into her Cloud that any hint of Sky was thoroughly overwhelmed) is sitting on her own bristling territorial instincts, bowing her head to his authority as the Alpha of the Kingsglaive, despite technically outranking him as Crown Princess.

This isn't just revenge towards the King and the Marshal for separating her from her younger brother and Sky. Sola is desperate.

Of course she is, Titus realizes. By barring Sola on the basis of it being too dangerous, the King has implied that Sola isn't good enough to protect her Sky. Despite having completed her apprenticeship under Cor the Immortal. So Sola has gone looking for training from one of the only people capable of match the Marshal in a fight. Titus.

If he turns her away, it's likely Sola will do something exceedingly reckless to prove herself capable of standing as Noctis' Sword.

Well, at least she'll fit right in with the rest of his reckless idiots.

Cor and Regis do try to pull Sola from the Kingsglaive. Not necessarily because of the Kingsglaive's fae reputation. No, it's because they think Titus loathes Regis, and that makes them wary of Sola being in close proximity to the man. Of course, Sola puts her foot down and actually snarls at Cor when she's pulled from bootcamp and sent up to Titus' office to find Cor demanding she leave the glaive. And not the playful snarls she's always given him before during their spars or play fights. No, this is a full on this-is-your-last-warning-before-I-tear-your-throat-out snarl, complete with bared teeth and hands curling into claws.

Titus rumbles low in his throat, a wordless admonishment to keep things civil, please, and Sola forces herself to settle with only a low grumble. Cor's too well trained to rear back in surprise, but his magic betrays him where his body doesn't, and Sola can feel the shock and instinctive wariness hearing that kind of snarl from an Omega elicits. They are able to work things out civilly so that Sola can continue training with the glaives, and Cor is able to warn Regis when he comes home with Noctis so Regis doesn't try the same thing.

Of course, Sola training with the glaives means she stops conforming so stringently to all those human sensibilities, so there's absolutely rampant gossip that Sola's been turned fae by her association with the glaives. Then those that remember Sola ripping out an assassin's throat with her teeth chip in, and the gossip mutates to Sola always having been fae and it's merely a matter of the glaives reclaiming one of their own.

Before joining the glaives, Sola would not have been happy about the rumors. Now, after training with the glaives in being sneaky and pants-shittingly terrifying, Sola is all too willing to use her new skills in psychological warfare to her and her King's benefit.

Sola absolutely still gets a massive crush on Libertus, Nyx still calls her Pipsqueak and gets his kneecaps taken in revenge, and Tredd still ends up adopting her around her 19th birthday. Dunno if Sola ends up bonding with a Retinue, but if she does they're all Galahdians and the public sees it as further proof of Sola being as fae as the rest of the glaives.

[randomfandomimagine]

10 Celebrity Crushes

I was tagged by @annibunnysworld (on my main, but I prefered to do it here), thank you so much! I have lots of celebrity crushes, so it was hard to choose just ten and it took forever to make up my mind. Here are a few that I adore and have liked for a long time:

Colin Morgan

Ever since I watched Merlin I fell in love with Colin. I think he’s humble, kind, hardworking, passionate and on top of all a great actor and very good looking! What’s there not to love? He also has a beautiful voice to go well with those amazing blue eyes 😍

Keanu Reeves

Keanu is so attractive, omg. He was attractive when he was young (especially in Point Break and Speed) and he’s attractive now in John Wick and in general. He’s such an amazing person from what I keep hearing, that has gone through so much trauma and pain and despite it all he continues to be kinder and kinder. Even if you don’t find him attractive, how can you not love Keanu Reeves?

Chris Evans

I got a crush on Chris when I watched Fantastic Four, but then he played Steve Rogers and not only made that crush come back much stronger, but he gave me one of my favorite characters. Chris is such a nice guy from what we see in interviews and such, he’s a great actor and I just think he’s adorable.

Joey Batey

I suppose he must have flaws as he’s (allegedly, he might be an actual angel) human, but I really can’t see them. He looks like a sweetheart, is a good actor, a talented musician and is so attractive in every way. It’s been around two years since I discovered him with The Witcher and I’m still very much in love with him, with Jaskier, with The Amazing Devil and with everything Joey Batey.

Madeleine Hyland

(GIF) // Much like Joey, I doubt Madeleine is human as she’s either another angel or a fae queen or something, she’s too powerful. Not only is she absolutely gorgeous, but her voice and talent and range and ugh! I really want to see her act because I know that’s another thing she’s good at.

Katie McGrath

Morgana, am I right? I immediately loved her in Merlin and the more I saw of Katie the more I fell in love. She’s so sweet and so cute? I really like watching her in anything (loved her as Lena in Supergirl) and I in fact adore Katie so much that she’s the face-claim for one of my most beloved OCs, Nissa. Katie is just a queen.

Max Mittelman

I’m so sad that not many people know who he is because I have the biggest crush on him and he’s amazing and he deserves more recognition. That cutie is Max Mittelman aka Saitama (One Punch Man) aka Ryuji (Persona 5) aka Tredd Furia (Final Fantasy XV) and a bunch of others. He’s my favorite English voice actor and one of my favorite people ever. It’s funny because I got to know him through Robbie Daymond, who plays Prompto in FFXV and who I learned made vlogs with his friends, one of which was Max and the other was Ray Chase (Noctis in FFXV) and their vlogs are one of the most fun and comforting things for me ever and I’ve watched them so many times I know them by heart but I still adore them. Max is just adorable, hilarious and such a passionate and talented voice actor. 

Jordan Fisher

It might be that John Ambrose McClaren made me fall in love, but I’m crazy about Jordan Fisher. His soft voice, his tender eyes, his gorgeous smile, his sweet personality, aaaah! I also recently found out he plays Matt in Until Dawn? Damn, this boy is so talented!

Ewan McGregor

I have always loved Ewan McGregor and have seen almost everything he’s made (except for Trainspotting and a few other things I don’t like) and he’s one of my favorite actors, but he’s also so attractive to me? Damn, I’m super excited for the Obi-Wan show!

Johyn Boyega

This poor man deserved the world and Disney / Star Wars made him so dirty. He’s clearly a passionate person, a good actor and probably the sweetest guy ever. I just adored Finn and I wished he got more to do in the sequels, not only because the character was interesting enough to deserve a better arc, but because John deserved the spotlight, dammit!

Honorable mentions: Tom Holland, Wynona Rider, Andy Samberg, Henry Cavill, Margot Robbie, Bryan Dechart, Amelia Rose Blaire, Ezra Miller, Melissa Fumero, Lily James, Jennifer Garner, Anya Chalotra, Dev Patel, Pedro Pascal, Idris Elba...

[teruelfxonsuvar]

Since I'm too lazy to actually finish my writing here's some more random pieces of dialogue. Hint: I write Tredd a lot :') - "The way he looks at me when he pins me down makes me feel like I found god. I found god and he's about to rip me to shreds and I will thank him" - "I'm straight not blind" "You keep saying that and yet..." - "NOBODY LIKES MEN" "False, Luche likes men" "Fuck Luche" "Well, if you insist.." -"I'm chill man" "You just tried to stab Nyx" "I had a moment..." -"DOES EVERYONE LIKE MEN HERE? IS THE KINGSGLAIVE A CONSTANT LGBT PARADE?" "I like women" "You're not helping, Crowe" -"You can't sleep around forever" "Oh yeah, because that worked out so well for you, right?" "...low blow" -"listen, I know 21 is an awkward age to figure out you like men" "I don't like men" "You keep saying that, and yet..." -"Okay dude, what the fuck?" "I'm bored" "For fuck's sake" "Entertain me" "Go count the hairs on your balls" "Woah. Rude." -"fuck you and fuck your bald pussy" "STOP CALLING MY CAT A BALD PUSSY, THAT'S GROSS" "I call it what it is"

[blitzkrieg-mit-dem-fleischgewehr]

Chapters: 8/? Fandom: FFXV - Fandom, Final Fantasy XV, Kingsglaive Rating: Not Rated Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Titus Drautos | Glauca/Cor Leonis, Clarus Amicitia/Regis Lucis Caelum CXIII Characters: Titus Drautos | Glauca, Cor Leonis, Regis Lucis Caelum CXIII, Clarus Amicitia, Weskham Armaugh, Mors Lucis Caelum, Aulea Lucis Caelum, Nyx Ulric, Libertus Ostium, Crowe Altius, Luche Lazarus, Pelna Khara, Tredd Furia, Cid Sophiar, Prompto Argentum, Gladiolus Amicitia, Noctis Lucis Caelum, Ardyn Izunia, Aranea Highwind Additional Tags: mentions abuse, The Great War, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Eventual Happy Ending, more pairings to be named as the story goes, lazy ass writer, will add more tags later, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies Summary:

What if Titus Drautos didn't become Glauca?

What if he had met the right people at the right time who allowed him to follow a different path?

Not everything is written in the stars, or in this case by the Astrals.

[a-world-in-grey]

@secret-engima Oh, oh oh oh-

Turns out I’m rewriting a bit here, because I didn’t even consider that accomplishment braids were a thing but you’ve described two events perfectly-

(Also, feel free to use the ocs named here.)

.

-Sola’s not quite nineteen when she kills Prince Icarus Aldercapt, when she saves Tredd’s life and nearly dies herself from the sheer number of wounds-

-She spends her nineteenth birthday in the hospital, the day spent with Noctis and Ignis and Gladio, and Cor and Clarus and Papa visiting with presents and even a chocolate frosted lemon cake Ignis made and Noctis smuggled in past the nurses because he knows how much Sola loves the combo of sweet and sour-

-The day after, Tredd hobbles in on crutches, from the broken femur Sola hadn’t been able to heal and the new scar across his face an angry red. He sits down by her bed, grumps at her for being a self-sacrificing dumbass, but apparently she’s his self-sacrificing dumbass and Ramuh he’s never laughing at Libertus over dealing with Nyx ever again (okay, maybe just a little), and proceeds to put a fishtail braid at Sola’s left temple, ending it with a simple blue stone bead and a grumpy order not to take the braid or bead out.

-Two days later, Tredd is putting the braid back in - and teaching Sola how to do it herself because she’d taken it out to take a shower and didn’t know how to redo it - when Ladon Furia (Tredd’s maternal uncle - well, third cousin once removed but Tredd’s called him uncle since he was tiny because Ladon’s his mother’s favorite cousin - and Chief) arrives, nods approvingly at the braid, then cuffs Tredd over the head because he’s Not Impressed with Tredd failing to inform Sola that she’s apparently been adopted. Sola blinks at a red-faced Tredd, before deadpaning and asking if this makes her his annoying little sister. Tredd buries his face in his hands and mutters that he regrets everything. Ladon cuffs Tredd over the head again and the only reason Tredd doesn’t start a friendly brawl right there is because he’s still injured.

-Ladon then proceeds to put a braid in Sola’s hair - right above her Furia braid, not a fishtail but a simple three strand dutch that highlights the thin blue leather cord and the red, gold, blue, and black beads Ladon weaves into her hair. And Ladon explains that the braid is to acknowledge her accomplishment of killing an enemy Chief while defending an injured Clansman, despite Sola’s own extensive injuries, and then saving the life of said Clansman at great risk to herself.

-Nyx damn near chokes at the sight of Sola’s new braids when he visits next. Sonitus merely nods with approval and says that if the Furia hadn’t claimed her first, she’d be sporting Bellum braids.

-(And so Sola gets her introduction to Galahdian culture through Tredd before she starts dating Libertus, and the Furia collectively Pout when Sola proposes to Libertus. The Ostium are Smug.)

-The second time is after the battle where Sola digs too deep for the Crystal’s magic in order to protect the glaives from the new Diamond Weapon. Because it wasn’t just Libertus in trouble- the monstruous magitek had half her regiment pinned, including Luche and Nyx and Pelna and Libertus-

-Sola’s still in the hospital (because the doctors are NOT happy and refuse to let her go until they are CERTAIN she won’t suddenly keel over when they aren’t looking), Libertus carefully curled around her because the medical cots aren’t quite big enough to comfortably fit both of them but Libertus isn’t gonna let that stop him from cuddling his wife, when the door to Sola’s hospital room opens.

-Sola and Libertus blink in surprise at the towering middle aged woman, corded muscles hidden under the soft generous curves, hints of silver threading through her dark hair and the blue, black, purple, and gold beads decorating her Ostium braids.

-Libertus makes to rise, but Hestia Ostium waves him off, telling him to quit moving before he jostles his wife right off the bed. Libertus settles back down, ears reddening as Sola smirks and stretches out on top of him like an indulgent cat, heedless of his Chieftess right there.

-His Chieftess who is smirking right along with his wife. Well, at least they’ve got a similar sense of humor.

-Turns out Chief Stelios overheard Aspasia Ostium talking about their mission going to Ifrit’s Pyre, told Hestia, who promply hunted down Titus and grilled him for the details despite his attempts to hold her off with excuses of ‘operational security.’

-Sola and Libertus feel very sorry for the Captain. Hurricane Hestia is not something they’d wish only anyone.

-Hestia had then apparently told Ladon Furia, who hunted down Tredd and Nyx and Luche for more details, then got the Ostium and Furia Elders together to argue and discuss, and Hestia proceeded to put Ladon in a headlock until Ladon conceeded the right to braid Sola’s hair to Hestia as Sola’s Chieftess (since Sola is an Ostium after her marriage though the Furia still stubbornly Claim her because they had her first dammit).

-So Hestia adds another leather cord to Sola’s braid, this one gold, and puts in another set of beads - blue, black, gold, purple, red, and white. Because Sola had crushed the Diamond Weapon with a Shield like it was nothing more than a tin can, and then proceeded to wipe out every single enemy on the other side before the sun rose for threatening her people.

So I was reading what you hc about the Galahdian clans and clan colors, and it made me wonder about their braids. Like does the location (at temple, behind ear, halfway to nape, etc.) have meaning? I expect the bead colors do, and I would think where on the braid they are and/if paired with other beads would as well. Also, showing actual patterns in hair for smaller braids is visually difficult at any real distance, so would a way to highlight the pattern possibly be used? (1/2)

shadowdancersunde

said:

Something like colored threads braided alongside, in either clan or personal colors twisted with the hair so you can actually see the detail. (2/2)

Me: Those are all very good questions! I had not given the braid location much thought actually. Braid locations doesn’t particularly effect the meaning, though there are more common “placements” for certain braids just because of when they tend to be added in life. The Clan Braid is usually on the temple, since it is the first one a Galahdian receives. Other braids may be further back on the temple, behind the ear, on the name, near the forehead, etc, since the Clan Braid usually occupies the center of the temple (sometimes even on both sides, though that depends on Clan).

Bead colors do have meaning, and follow the Galahdian color scheme. Clan Braids TEND to have a bead that is one of the Clan Colors (ie a black or purple bead for Ulrics, a red bead for Bellums, etc etc). Other braids have either a Clan Color for a bead, or (particularly in the case of marriage beads) a color that has emotional significance. Marriage beads are not always gold, but can also be colors like green, blue, and purple. If it is a natural gemstone (as many beads are) then the single color is all you get, but dyed wooden or plain stone beads can have multiple colors. When in a marriage bead, a Color almost automatically takes on a certain, usually positive connotation (so long as it isn’t pink, red, white, etc). The color is considered a promise to the person you’re giving the bead to (ie: a green marriage bead means I Will Watch Over You Always, a blue bead means I Will Protect You With All I Am, and a purple bead means You Hold My Heart and Loyalty Forever.)

And yes, some braids have multiple beads in them, while others have a small ribbons of Clan (or personal) colors in them to highly the style of braid and make its meaning more readily readable from a distance. Some braids that are accomplishment braids (to denote some important milestone or life or some famous deed) have multiple beads as well as ribbons, with various accomplishments getting a certain section of one long braid, the action itself told more in the combo of beads and ribbons then in the style of braid itself. Also note an accomplishment braid is a Big Deal and not given lightly, nor can it be put in of the individuals choice. The Chief and the Elders have to grant the right to use that braid, and punishment for faking the braid is severe. Accomplishment braids are for great deeds like killing an albino behemoth, taming a wild Coeurl (which, despite the Ulric’s fame for being like Coeurl-kin, is a Really Rare thing not even the Bestia can regularly pull off), or helping the Clan overcome some great trial (ie, warning the tribe of an imminent massive danger like a raid, a flood, a hurricane, or helping save the tribe by finding and delivering medicine from far away, or earning distinction in battle like saving the life of the Chief or defeating the Chief of the enemy Clan).

If Nyx had survived putting on the Ring/the fall of Insomnia and had a Chief or Elder of his Clan to grant him permission, he would have 100% earned an accomplishment braid for defeating Glauca the Traitor Chief, Protecting the Oracle, and Summoning the Old Wall.

Moving on.

Multiple beads can also be added to a braid that only requires a single bead, but that is more making a statement then a requirement (ie a Clan Braid can have a first bead, then as the hair grows out, a second one of the other Clan color rather than just redoing the entire braid with the first bead, a marriage braid can also have multiple beads, though only after the initial bead has been accepted).

[andywinter16]

Glaives S/O crashes drunk in their place (+ Regis)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my @autumnspookydreams​! Enjoy your men with your drunken shenaningas XD  (I loveee youuu! )

The alarm clock showed exactly three in the morning when he heard the keys in the lock. "Love, looove, *hic loooveeeeeee I want to *hic cuddleeeee, nooooow.*hic" She said in a singing voice. Nyx had to smirk at your antics, he knew you were celebrating your friend´s newborn, but he never imagined you would get that drunk.  And weren´t you adorable one.  He tiredly pulled you closer to his chest .“Come here kitten” he chuckled at you” cuddles will be after I get you to bed.” You pouted at him while wrapping your arms around his waist tightly. “ But *hic I want * hic hic cuuudle Nyxie noow!” Nyx picked her up like a little baby and throw himself at the bed with you in his arms. “ Aren´t you in luck, kitten. I was just thinking about being lonely in here.” You looked at Nyx with such adoration in your doe eyes. He felt like on Cloud 9 with you, his precious kitten. He started to doze off on you, when your voice called for him. "Nyxie," you wrapped lose strand of his hair around your finger" I will puke." You were so lucky that he loved you, because he got no sleep.

Tredd would call himself a party animal. So coming home at odd hours for him wasn´t anything unusual. But for fuck´s sake who would bang at his door at 1:30 am, when he just came from assignment and wanted nothing more that sleep?!  Tredd went to open the door. “ You better be dying out there, If you think..” “Treddiiee, you areee baack.” What greeted him, was you completely wasted with wide grin. “ Babe, what the hell, partying without me?” said quite annoyed. He took you inside, you were shivering in your pretty dress with wide cleavage. " Not that I mind the view, but it' freezing outside." Seriously, you were the one usually nagging him about this. Guess the roles switched now. Tredd took you by your waist and leaded you inside the bathroom. "Tredd, b-but I don't want to ..." You didn't have a chance to end your sentence, when Tredd pushed you in the hot running shower. The shock was tremendous, your body fully awake. Tredd's personal sober tactic, works every time as he would proudly state. You saw his red hair through the curtain, his voice sounded so cocky. " So are you still cold, babe?" "Tredd, you asshole!" you tried to splash him. " Easy there, tiger! Or you will slip up. And I don't want your pretty face get hurt." He grinned like ass, he is. You wanted to strandle him. " Furia, you better pray to the Astrals when I get my hands on you!" you wobblily got from a shower, the dress was ruined and dripped water on the floor. Tredd winked at you. " Hm, I will enjoy that for sure, babe."

“Clarus, I can walk perfectly fine to my room, mind you.” she proceed to almost fell down the stairs. “ I can see that, highness.” Clarus truly wasn´t paid enough for dealing with this. But you were almost near your bedroom and Clarus will gladly throw you at your husband without mercy. “ Regie, I am back! The party was a great success, even Sylva was enjoying it. And that is something, consider it that her sense of humor is rather bland." You happily chatted to your husband who amusedly watched you from bed when you barged in to your shared bedroom. " Highness, your wife drank eight bottles of the exclusive red wine from Leide. And then with Queen Sylva danced on the table." Regis had to hide a laugh. You were always so wild, he loved that about you. Regis only hoped, that there was a video of it. He made mental note to ask Cor about it later. "Clarus, you're dismissed. Thank you for accompanying my wife safely to our room. I believe there was no trouble at all." He snickered at Clarus poorly hiden distress. " Good night, your highnesses!" You came dressed in your pajamas. " Bye bye Clarus, tell your wife I love her!" Sadly Clarus was gone. Regis almost pissed himself from laugh at how fast his friend run. He opened his arms, a very warm invite into his embrace " Come here angel. I am curious what else you were doing on the "Tea party" of yours." " But for such information, there is a price to pay." You giggled when you returned the hug. " Regis smirked " Oh, I believe we could find solution to this, my Queen."

[a-world-in-grey]

Jumping off my previous post about Galahdian colors associated with the various Astrals - I’ve got headcanons about Sola and Galahdian art. And Galahdian art. And Sola and art in general.

.

-Sola’s first introduction to fine art is her mother. Aulea teaches Sola to weave tapestries, and Sola’s first creation is a simple yellow sun on a black background.

-Sola’s second creation is more complex, a scene of the night sky, with moon and clouds and stars, meant to be a gift for her new baby brother. It never makes it to the loom. Sola sets the project aside when Aulea falls ill and abandons it - and her loom - completely following Aulea’s death.

-Despite refusing to enter Aulea’s workroom - still maintained on Regis’ orders in hope his daughter will one day continue her brief but well-loved hobby - Sola never loses her love of art. She has an entire shelf dedicated to old sketchbooks, of people and places captured in sweeping lines of pencil. Unlike her tapestries, Sola is much more private regarding her sketches. The few sketches anyone ever sees however bear a remarkable likeness to the cartoons used to make tapestries.

-(Even when she takes up colored pencils, Sola’s drawings look so much like potential tapestries that Regis cannot help but hope. His daughter is always far more interested in the tapestries decorating the Hall of Arts than the numerous sculptures and paintings.)

-But Regis knows better than to push his daughter. If Sola ever takes up the loom, it must be her idea. It doesn’t stop him from encouraging Sola to pursue a degree in art, after she finishes her high school education. Even if Sola protests that it’s not a ‘useful’ degree, but Regis is firm when he tells her that she should study what she loves. Noctis chiming in with his agreement seals the deal.

-And Sola loves it. Sure, it’s distant learning or online courses while she’s deployed with the rest of Fourth Company, but contrary to popular belief deployment is not actually all that exciting. ‘Hurry up and wait’ is an accurate statement and most of Sola’s time is spent on routine but mundane tasks. It’s not actually that difficult to keep up with her first-year course work in the field, even over the year spent at the frontline hotspots.

-Then Sola gets adopted into the Furia Clan, and is introduced to Galahdian Culture, including the color code she had no idea existed before Tredd taught her. And suddenly, going into her second year of college, Sola finds herself actually seeing Galahdian art and all the breathtaking nuances and symbolisms she never had an inkling of before. She is an Awe.

-The first semester of her second year is also when Sola has her history of art class. It’s the first of several classes that piss her off.

-Look, Insomnians are elitist. Especially in the academic circles. Especially in art. Sola’s art history class covers Niflheim, Tenebrae, Accordo, and Lucis, but doesn’t mention Galahd beyond a couple pages in her textbook. And even that only glances over the types of art Galahd ‘was known to produce,’ as though it’s a primitive and ancient but extinct culture. When Sola asks about it in class, her professor dismisses the notion that Galahdian art is as ‘refined’ or ‘cultured’ as the other cultures being studied.

-Sola is offended. And suddenly, intimately aware of being the only Galahdian in her class. In any of her classes.

-And well, Sola has always run on Spite.

-By this point, Sola’s moved in with Crowe down in Little Galahd, and Sola spends hours with the various Clans. With the Lazarus, the Furia, the Canere, the Tibiae, the Ornata, learning from the Elders and the masters everything she possibly can about Galahdian art. The Tales, the Songs, the meanings. She gets her first Galadhian tattoo - a delicate pattern of black dragon scales beneath one eye.

-When she’s not in Little Galahd, Sola’s at the Citadel, in Aulea’s old workroom. Regis very nearly cries the first time a servant tells him of Sola entering the room, and he arrives to find Sola at Aulea’s old loom, sorting through the skeins of colored thread, so focused on her task that she entirely misses Regis gawking in the doorway.

-It’s sheer Spite that leads Sola to gain her undergraduate degree early. It’s that same Spite that leads Sola to build her senior portfolio with nothing but Galahdian art. Paintings, drawings, prints, ceramics, jewelry, etc, all of it is Galahdian. Her professors are scandalized - how dare the Princess scorn the ‘more refined’ art styles for such a ‘primitive’ culture - especially because Sola’s artwork is no less skilled than her classmates so they can’t legitimately dock her grade.

-Sola is Smug.

-Sola is even more Smug when she starts finishing her various tapestries. Because she doesn’t tell anyone that she’s the one making them. Two show up in Glaive HQ, one of Galahd and one of Little Galahd, hanging on the walls with no clue as to who put them there. A third tapestry shows up a year after that in the Hall of Portraits as Sola’s Official Portrait, and a year after that the fourth one shows up publically in the Hall of Arts, a massive tapestry depicting the War of the Astrals, done in the most unconventional color choices the public has ever seen, but a beautiful masterwork nonetheless.

-It’s at that point the Galahdians clue into the fact that the mystery tapestry weaver is also Galahdian, because the tapestry depicts the Galahdian Tale rather than the mainlander Cosmogony, with the Galahdian color associations included.

-Somehow everyone misses twenty-three year old Sola getting her fingers tattooed with the tattoos of a master weaver. Rather, no one manages to put two and two together, but Sola attributes that to how the Galahdians are in a daze at seeing such a large and beautiful piece of Galahdian art so prominently displayed in the Hall of Arts. Half the Lazarus Clan actually cry.

-(The only person to know that the tapestries were made by Sola is Regis, because he still has Sola’s first tapestry hung in his office, and he knows Sola’s maker’s mark. But Sola hasn’t said anything, so he’s not going to spoil her fun.)

-(It’s certainly not because he’s also highly amused. Shhh.)

-Sola greatly enjoys the sheer outrage when Libertus’ portrait and their wedding portrait join Sola’s in the Hall of Portraits two years after their wedding and everyone learns that Sola is the weaver. And even then that fact only comes out because one of the nobles sneers about the royal family’s lack of taste regarding recent art commissions.

-(Regis does try to protect Sola’s anonymity, pointing out that the weaver was a student of his wife, which does shut up most of the nobles because the late queen was a master of her craft and only an idiot would say otherwise. It’s when one particularly stubborn noble insists that no immigrant could match the skill of an Insomnian native that Sola speaks up, icily informing the asshole that she wove the tapestries and of course she’s not as good as her mother, she only earned her Mastery a couple years back. Of course, given the skill the of the Lazarus master-weavers, Sola is certain that her mother would have begged to learn from them, because those are unparalleled works of art.)

-The Kingsglaive collectively screech at Sola. They’ve been trying to figure out where those tapestries came from for years, and not once did Sola say anything!

-Sola just laughs.

[secret-engima]

rereading the whole Nox verse tag, just got to N!Axis meeting the canon Glaives a year pre-Movie. and i had the thought of post-marriage, post-kids Nox (and his Axis, who very much remembers that dimensional trip when they were younger, /Nox/) /also/ meeting - maybe different, maybe /not/ and ooo imagine /that/ - canon Glaives pre-Movie. possibly in the field, but just imagine it in the /Citadel/. if they saw these two bf, they were teenagers, now less than a yr later they're grown and /scarier/

Anonymous said: something i wanted to add to that ask about Nox and Axis visitng the same canon verse they did as teengers, but couldn't because of the damned character limit. At some point during the whole thing, the would-be traitor Glaives see/hear/are told something that makes them actually, really /realize/ why the Lucis Caelums are called Martyr Kings. also Nox casually spills the beans on his traveling to many, many other worlds/dimensions, mentioning the Fall of Insomnia, betrayal, and directly to Nyx,-

Anonymous said: - that in every future he's ever been to and seen, he's not been a traitor in one of them, and generally, he was a little /too/ Heroic in most of them. the way Nox says it leaves not doubt about what he means by that. no one familiar with Nyx is remotely surprised, but even after Nox and Axis leave, they're a bit more conscious of Nyx's recklessness and heroic tendencies. also: "Calm down, Axis, maybe I died when I was a kid here, yeah, but Uncle might not even have a sister, here. Leave it be.”

Me: ohhhhh interesting thought! I like it in the Citadel, maybe a few months after their first appearance (not a full year tho otherwise Game Events would be happening) and some of the glaives are on Citadel Duty (aka Titus’s ultimate punishment via the most boring job in existence) when there’s this- glitch in the world and then the Crownsguard are YELLING because apparently the Crystal chamber just did something weird. All hands are on deck and the glaives are called in with the Guard to watch the sealed off will-not-open-from-the-outside Crystal Chamber doors and the KING is there with his Shield and the Marshal and Captain and then-.

The door swings open from the inside and the argument can be heard as two figures emerge from the room, one growling at the other in a voice that sounds ... eerily familiar to Nyx and the Glaives.

“-to the Matrons for an exorcism so help me.”

“Hey, I’m not possessed OR cursed, blame the Crystal. It likes to mess with me.”

“It’s a non-sentient hunk of rock and magic, it can’t ‘mess with you’.”

“Wanna ...” the two figures stop and study the bristling mass of Guards, Glaives, Royal Retinue, and King, “bet?” the shorter one sighs and Nyx is having a few flashbacks already to That Time because that is DEFINITELY an older, crabbier Axis Arra and the man next to him looks freakishly like a long-haired Prince Noctis.

Who has a marriage braid and an ULRIC BRAID in his hair.

What the Six.

The Definitely a Lucis Caelum raises his hand, small sparks of flow dancing off it in some weird kind of royal greeting, “Hi dad.” he says with a lazy smile that almost hides the tension in his shoulders and the way his free hand is loose and curled around an imaginary hilt of a blade, like he’s about to whip something out of armiger.

The King gapes for a solid ten seconds before breathing, “Noctis?”

There’s a slight twitch, a flinch from the look-a-like and a low growl from the Arra before the Lucis Caelum (and Nyx knows who this kid is, he REMEMBERS that morning, that scrawny boy, and he knows the other glaives do too) smiles sheepishly, “Not quite. I’m Nox. His older brother actually. Though I’m going to guess Noctis is an only child in this dimension.”

So yeah dimensional shenanigans and Prince Nox being infuriately blasé about the entire thing and hanging out with the very befuddled glaives (Nox stares at Nyx for a c!solid thirty seconds while he stares right back until Nyx asks HOW Nox is an Ulric and Nox cheerfully goes “I married you, how else? We have four kids.” And Nyx spends like- the next three days in a perpetual Blue Screen until Axis takes pity on his Internal Scream by explaining that Nyx is a fem in their world. No. No there was no magic involved in the creation of the kiddos where is your mind even GOING Ulric (Nyx: I don’t know! Magic is weird! And alternate dimensions are a thing how was I supposed to know what other fanfic tropes AREN’T anymore?!?!). Nox quietly dies of laughter in there corner.

They keep a wary eye on the C!Arra-Furia-Lazarus trio in case of trouble because it’s been years for N!Axis but only months for them and it’s like- during one of those wary but cordial hangouts that Nox makes his Comment about Lucis Caelums after a long bout of brooding out the window.

“Dad’s dying a lot faster in this universe.”

All the glaives freeze. Even Captain Drautos lowers the report he was reading and pokes his head out of his office to stare.

“What?” Someone in the glaives says.

Nox doesn’t look at them, he’s glaring out the window and with a jolt they realize he’s glaring at the Wall, “Dad. The King. The Wall is killing him faster here. It was killing him in my world too but ... Uncle and I took care of it. I guess ... it’s different here.”

There’s a long pause before Luche’s brain finishes its dial up noises and he scoffs, “The Wall can’t kill the king. It’s his magic.”

“It’s Bahamut’s magic,” Nox corrects coldly without looking at them, “Magic he forced into human skin and veins that isn’t meant to keep it.” As if he can sense their continued disbelief he drawls, “How long can you hold a Shield spell before you get sick? Before you’re exhausted because the magic has gone past your reserves and started taking you as fuel? The Wall is just a giant, city-sized shield.” Tredd makes a noise that might be question or might be a strangled scoff and Nox finally turns to look at them.

There is something utterly inhuman in his gaze. His eyes are still blue, his face is still human, but there’s something in his eyes that speaks to their primal instincts and tells them to run, to hide.

To dread.

“Go to your local library sometime and look up the births and deaths of Kings of Lucis,” he orders in a deceptively light tone that almost makes it seem like a suggestion instead, “compare the lifespans of rulers from before the Wall was raised and after. Then compare the average lifespan of a healthy Lucian citizen at the time of that ruler’s reign.” There’s a beat of silence, terrible and weighty, then Nox’s lips curl into a tiny smile.

It’s a terrifying thing.

“The Kings of Lucis never die of old age. Sometimes it’s sickness, sometimes it’s war. Sometimes it’s assassination. Sometimes they just- die. For no reason science can explain because scientists never take magic into account. Sometimes,” the smile gets colder, the eyes older, “it’s betrayal. Those who are trusted when they shouldn’t, those who should stand loyal when they are not.”

He looks over them all and every one of them feels a chill up their spine. N!Axis leans closer to Nox as if in an attempt to comfort, to snap him out of this eerie mood, but it doesn’t work. “This has happened to me before you know. Going to parallel times. Do you know how my father dies the most often?”

There’s a breath, and when Nox speaks, there’s a hint of other voices beneath his, an echo of times past and souls lost and endless, ageless rage, “By the hands of the glaives he blessed.”

And none of the Galahdians dare to breathe. Those who have been listening to Captain Drautos’s subtle poison more and more these past few months, whose loyalty is not as solid as they pretend and to whom Niflheim’s lies are starting to sound sweet feel stricken, terrified. Like there’s a shadow of a blade at their necks even though there is nothing.

Nox inhales and when he exhales his breath is like frost. The room feels very, very cold, “They sell themselves to the enemy, they wait until his back is turned, and then they kill him. And when those glaives who are still loyal,” here his red-tinged eyes fall on Nyx and there is weight to the gaze, calm promise that of all in the room, Nyx has never been among those Nox has seen become betrayers, “resist and refuse to join in. The traitors slaughter them too. No regard for Clan ties, no regard for oaths or loyalty or any Color beyond Pink and Red and NIflheim’s White.”

Blue eyes are fully red now as he hisses, “And I hate it. I hate that I remember it, I hate that no one ever understands that magic has a cost. That they can study and feel magic strain over and over again for years and yet somehow they never believe that their king is just as human. That it hurts us just as much. Because Lucis Caelums are ‘blessed’,” Nox laughs and the sound is eerie, dripping in memories of things no one living is supposed to see, “as if an Astral’s Blessing is something to be coveted. As if being born with burning, inhuman magic, like a constant spell of fire in your veins and just beneath your skin that never turns off day or night, makes it easier.” Nox laughs again, something dangerous and sharp in the sound-.

N!Axis fearlessly lays a hand on the back of his prince’s neck, “That’s enough, Nox,” Axis murmurs, “come back now.” And Nox blinks, once, twice, thrice.

And suddenly he is normal. The room is normal, the creeping impression of death and old fury is gone, leaving the glaives breathless from relief. Nox rubs his face with a hand and murmurs an exhausted sounding apology, excuses himself for the day to go lie down in the guest suite Regis gave him.

Nyx watches the prince and his Arra walk away and notices that Nox’s hands are shaking, that his steps are not as sure as they were just this morning.

He thinks of too old words and too ancient eyes, of the knowing bitterness when Nox spoke of magic burning just under the skin with no relief and thinks very suddenly that he is glad he is just an Ulric. Just a Kingsglaive. A glance at Luche, Tredd, and C!Axis reveal them to be just as pale, if not more so than the others.

That night, those glaives who had been listening to their Captain’s less loyal talk had a lot of research to do.

And a lot of silence to ponder in horror as they find that every word Nox said about the old rulers was true.

[gingersmiith]

{i’m trusting all my life}

@chosenbythecrystal:

The teen had visibly flinched when the door to his cell opened and curled in on himself – knees against his chest, face buried between them and his arms wrapped tightly around his legs. He didn’t look up. There was no point since it could only be one person – his captor.

The man had caught him on his way back from school and after drugging him, bundled him into the back of a car. Noctis had awoken in an empty basement, a cuff around one wrist and secured to the wall. He quickly discovered that the man wanted to hurt him purely to punish his father for reasons Noctis didn’t even understand.

He’d beaten, starved and tortured the boy, leaving him broken, bloody and bruised. He had recorded some of their sessions, no doubt to send his father so he could watch his son die a slow and painful death.

Noctis doubted he’d last much longer in his situation. His injuries were piling up and he hadn’t been given food or water at all during his stay. The man had no intention of ransoming him off. He was going to die in that room.

The voice he heard didn’t belong to his captor though.

It belonged to Tredd.

The boy curled up tighter and shook his head.

“No…No. Not real…you’re not here…Nobody’s coming…”

Had things got so bad he was hallucinating now?

He wondered if he’d see the man again – if he’d hurt him some more or just leave him to die. He probably realised that Noctis wouldn’t last very long anyway.

Despite layers of security, despite plainclothes watchers, despite his own fucking bodyguard, the crown prince of Lucis had been kidnapped, then spirited outside the city so his father couldn’t find him.

Fingers had immediately been pointed at the Kingsglaive; only they, it was argued, would be capable of such a thing because they could wield the crystal’s magic.

Tension in the city skyrocketed overnight, with several Glaives jailed for brawling. Leaders among the refugees hinted strongly that the next arrest of their own would spark a riot.

And then the King received a video of his son being tortured. The kidnapper blamed Regis for all the world’s ills, it seemed: the Wall being retracted to the edges of Insomnia, the death of Oracle Sylva in Tenebrae, the presence of foreigners in the Crown City, blasphemy against Bahamut by sharing His divine magic with the afore-mentioned foreigners...

The Kingsglaive were exonerated, and immediately dispatched to find the prince. Nyx Ulric and Tredd Furia, granted permission to seek the boy by any means necessary, gathered their teams and set out beyond the Wall.

The video had been broadcast from somewhere in Leide; it took Tredd, Soni, and Axis two days and approximately five felonies to track down the origin. It was a good thing the orders hadn’t included taking the kidnapper alive, Tredd reflected as he stepped over the man’s body. Sonitus Bellum, it seemed, held Opinions about torture.

Tredd, on the other hand, had Opinions about locked doors between him and the imprisoned prince. He didn’t bother setting Soni at the lock; instead, he surrounded his Glaive boot with fire and, with three solid kicks, destroyed the door.

On seeing the condition Noctis was in, Tredd nearly turned around to set the body on fire. It took all of his self-control to walk to the prince and kneel beside him. “I’m here,” he said softly. “It’s real. I’m here now.”

With a gentle hand, he began to stroke the prince’s hair. “It’s me, Just Noctis. It’s Tredd.”

[cha0ticmimzy]

Chapter IX: A Car, a Torch, a Death

Author’s Notes: It’s spicy. It’s sad. It’s painful. It’s soft. This chapter is a mixture of a lot of things and I enjoyed writing it, so I hope you all enjoy reading it. Word Count: 5933 Warnings: It’s spicy from the get go. NSFW content (nudity, mentions of sex).  Rating: Mature

“I began to understand why God died.”-Twenty One Pilots

           “Don’t stop,” the blond gasped out, hands entangled within midnight locks. Teeth grazed along a freckled neck, threatening to pierce skin. The headboard of the bed thumped against the wall, echoing through the room, mingling with the sound of skin hitting against damp skin, of soft gasps and long moans.

           “I don’t plan on it.” The vampire responded, bloody hues clouded with lust as his thrusts gained speed, pulling free a high moan from the human beneath him. He could smell him, could smell the blood pumping through his veins. Could feel how warm and soft he was, pliant. It would be so easy to feed from him right now. Just one little bite, that’s all.

           “I’m gonna-” the blond choked out, gasping as he reached his peak, body tensing, shaking. The vampire stilled within him, reveling in the way he clenched and spasmed around his length. So warm, so soft. Rouge gaze met with not cornflower blue, but lilac rimmed with amethyst; such a riveting combination, such an inhuman color.

           Inhuman.

“We’ll have extra security from Tenebrae coming in within the next few days, so we can go over the protocols then. Until then, however, we need to go over a few rules,” Drautos spoke, voice loud and clear through the training hall. They had all paused in the middle of weight training when he’d come in with not one, not two, but three large bags filled with the dreaded uniforms that they would be forced to wear. “Yes, we have different uniforms. Yes, you have to wear them. No, you cannot customize them, Furia.”

           A round of soft laughter filled the room as the man called out slumped down upon the bench with a pout.

           “Now, moving on: the King has announced that the Gallery will be open to the public during the day of the event. This is a rarity, and the public will jump at the chance to get inside the Citadel. This cannot happen.” There had been an incident once, years ago, when a human managed to get past security and wandered the halls of the Citadel.

           He never saw the light of day again.

           “Due to this, we will be spread thin. I won’t force you to work both the day and the night, however, should you choose to do so, you will receive compensation for your time.” A ripple moved through the group. Compensation could mean anything from a day off to extra pay. It was definitely worth the risk. “HOWEVER,” Titus’ voice boomed, silence the murmurs, “the king has asked for a select few to be assigned to the Gala to keep an eye on things. Ulric, Altius, Lazarus- you three will work the Gala, and you will keep an eye upon the crown prince and Lady Lunafreya. Lady Sylva has her own personal guard already, as does the Lord Ravus and his fiancé.”

           “Sir,” Nyx spoke up, brow furrowing, “what is it that his majesty wants us to do, exactly?”

           “Keep an eye on the prince and Lady Lunafreya; there’s tension between the two and given the disaster that happened nearly a decade ago at the Gala, we’d prefer to keep things as calm and non-dramatical as possible.” And to make sure that the prince didn’t have another slip up; that didn’t need to be said aloud, however. “You’re dismissed for the day to make arrangements with the Citadel tailor if your uniform does not fit.” With that, Drautos left the room, and barely a minute passed before the Glaive all but launched themselves at the garment bags.

           Crowe got to it first, ripping them open and reading the labels out loud. “Wow, these are fancy,” she mumbled, holding her own up. It was similar in make to their normal uniforms; black and silver, jacket and pants. However, she realized that her own was lacking… Pants. “A dress. I have to wear a- Nyx, I swear to the Six, if you don’t STOP laughing I can and will punch you through that wall!”

           “Wow, a dress? Regis really is going all out.”

           “I’m not wearing a dress.”

           “Yes, you are,” Nyx replied, holding his own uniform up. A deep violet band had been sewn into the left sleeve, showing that he wasn’t a shifter like the rest of the Kingsglaive. “If I have to wear a monkey suit, you get to wear a dress.”

           “But-”

           “And just think,” Pelna chimed in, coming up behind his mate, his arms wrapping around her waist, “I get to see you in a dress. And we get to dance. And you get to drink. And we get to dance.”

           “Get a ROOM.” Tredd booed, grabbing his uniform and slinging it over his shoulder.

           “We say that to you all the time and yet you’re still here.”

           “Fuck off, Ulric.”

           “You offering?”

           “CHILDREN.” Libertus broke the pair up, keeping a steady hand upon Nyx’s forearm, keeping him from stepping closer to the redhead. “Calm yourselves. You’re both pretty.”

           Nyx sighed, shaking Libertus’ hand off so he could grab hold of his uniform and hold it up. It was similar to their normal work uniform, only more… Dressy? He couldn’t decide what made it different. Perhaps it was the fact that the make was more delicate, the fabric being more akin to velvet rather than the rough leather. Silver threading took place of the metal normally in place, and delicate buttons lined the left side, each one with Insomnia’s symbol engraved into the metal. “Wonder how much this cost?”

           “Don’t wanna know,” Libertus replied, pulling on the suit jacket. He made a face as he moved, feeling the strain in the shoulders. “Nope, nope, nope. We gotta fix this. A trip to Mister Scientia is in need if I’m gonna wear this monkey jacket.” He attempted to pull it off, only to pause, eyes widening as he realized his arms were stuck. “Nyx- Nyx, babe, help. I can’t- stop laughing you dick help me out of this before it rips!”

           “Calm down, you oaf,” Nyx teased between laughs as he pulled the jacket the rest of the way off before holding it out, only to have it snatched away by Libertus. “C’mon, let’s go. I need to drop off some documents with Clarus, anyways.”

           ��Finally finish your report?” Luche asked, a brow raising as he folded his uniform over his shoulder. “I finished mine yesterday- didn’t really want to revisit that hell, but…”

           “Yeah,” Nyx sighed, shaking his head. “The footage that my body cam caught… I still can’t figure out what that thing was.” A grave silence fell across the room as memories of their mission a week and a half ago. Even after watching and re-watching the footage, he couldn’t shake the feeling that whatever that creature had been, it was old and dangerous. “Either way, it was terrifying.”

           “It looked like-” Axis began, only to be cut off by Luche.

           “Don’t.” Luche interrupted, shaking his head at Axis. “That’s impossible, you and I both know that. We all know that. That isn’t possible because they don’t exist any longer. That was hundreds of years ago, before the last war, even.”

           “Right…” Nyx frowned, brow quirking as he glanced between the two. Hooking an arm through Libertus’ own, he pulled his lover closer. “We’re gonna… Head up to see Scientia. Don’t burn down the rec room.”

           “Damn!” Pelna cursed jokingly. “There goes my plans for the evening.”

           “I always knew you were a hidden arsonist!” Nyx shot back with a wink before leading Libertus out of the room, their uniforms in hand. Once outside, the door firmly shut behind him, he paused. “That was weird, right?”

           “Yup. But maybe Luche’s spooked, still. I mean, I know you couldn’t pick up the scent we could, but that thing was more of an Alpha than Drautos was. I wanted to roll over and bare my neck…” Shaking his head, Libertus let a shudder dance through him. “Whatever the Nifs are working on, it’s dangerous.”

           “Right. Listen-… I need to talk to Clarus. About what we saw. Because we saw what that thing was, and I know it’s impossible-”

           Libertus interrupted him with a swift kiss and a reassuring smile. “Go do what you gotta do. I’m gonna got get poked accidentally with some needles and complain about wearing a uniform.”

           “I’ll walk you up?”

           “Whatta charmer!”

           Sunlight peeked through the curtains, dancing across his face. Noctis was already awake, sitting beside the blond. His freckles weren’t just on his face- they were all over. He’d tried to kiss them all last night, but… That would have been impossible. Hell, last night seemed impossible, but Prompto was still sound asleep in his bed. His hair was a mess of a blond spikes, and his neck was covered in bruises left from Noctis’ lips.

           It brought a smile to the prince’s lips.

           Yawning, he fell back against the pillows, listening the steady breaths Prompto released beside him. He didn’t wanna wake him, not yet. He needed rest- humans needed sleep, right? Or was it dangerous if they got too much? He remembered watching a news story about how too much sleep was dangerous- was Prompto getting too much sleep now?

           … Where was Ignis when he needed him?

           “If y’stare any harder I might turn t’stone…” Came the sleepy voice of Prompto, startling Noctis so bad he nearly leaped off the bed.

           “Sorry,” Noctis apologized, cheeks flushing. “How do you… Are you okay? Does anything hurt?”

           “Mm,” Prompto hummed, rolling over onto his back and stretching. “My back sorta does, but my back always hurts so that’s nothing new- is that breakfast? It smells wonderful!” Prompto rapidly changed the subject, sitting up and all but crawling over Noctis to get at the tray beside the bed.

           A laugh bubbled free from Noctis as he held still, watching the blond in amusement. “They brought it in about an hour ago. It should still be warm…. I dunno what they made.” He got his answer right after as Prompto raised the lid to reveal a plate of French toast and berries. A moan slipped free from Prompto as he pulled the plate off the cart and onto the bed, settling it down between them. Silence fell as Prompto began to stuff his face, eyes closed as if he were basking in the taste.

           “That’s it. I’m stealing your chef. I need this in my life every day all day.” Prompto moaned around a mouth full of food. Noctis hummed, stealing a strawberry. Sure, they couldn’t eat a lot of human food, but a few little bites here and there didn’t cause that much damage.

           Prompto fell silent again, focused on eating. Noctis found himself thinking on the events that transpired; the kiss- which evolved into more kissing. The touches, the way Prompto looked beneath him, how he felt, how he sounded. It made his skin tingle, just thinking about it. But that tingle dissipated when the thought of Prompto’s eyes came to the forefront of his mind. Right now, they were their normal sky blue; gorgeous and light. But last night, they were lilac and rimmed with amethyst. They weren’t blue, they weren’t normal.

           Did Prompto know?

           Mouth opening, he was about to ask when a swift knock sounded upon his door. Groaning inwardly, Noctis sat up. “Enter.”

           “Good afternoon, Noct, Prompto,” Ignis called as he made his way into the bedroom, closing the door behind him. “Noctis, you’re needed in the council. There’s been…” He faltered, something that was rare to see from the normally put-together man. “There’s been an altercation.”

           A chill danced down Noctis’ spine. “What happened?”

           “It’s better if-”

           “No. Tell me before I get down there.” He all but demanded, already climbing out of bed. He silently thanked the Six he managed to put on underwear before falling asleep last night. “I want to be prepared, and since you’re so shaken up, it must be bad.”

           Prompto shifted on the bed, pulling the sheets closer, sinking in on himself. The tension in the room had rose, putting him on edge.

           “There was an attack in Tenerbae. The remaining members of the royal family were not in any danger, but…” Ignis sighed, running a hand through his hair, ruffling the carefully groomed brunet locks. “Lady Aurora’s parents were murdered.”

           Noctis dropped the brush he’d been holding, his eyes wide as he stared at the mahogany top of his desk. Prompto wanted to reach out, to say something, anything, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it- not with everything in him screaming for him to run. Noctis’ back was tensed, anger flowing off him.

“Get a maid to bring Prompto some clothes.” He finally spoke as he pulled on a simple black hoodie and yanked on a pair of jeans. Turning to the blond, he gave a small smile. “I’m sorry- I… This- I gotta go. I’ll try to catch you before dinner, but…” Shoulders rising in a small shrug, he suddenly looked unsure.

“Noctis, we need to go.”

“Right-” clearing his throat, the prince straightened himself. He went to walk forward before suddenly changing his mind and walked to the edge of the bed. Soft, cool hands reached out, cupping Prompto’s cheeks, holding him in place as he placed one, two, three soft kisses against his lips. “I’ll see you tonight.”

“Alright…” Prompto sighed, smiling, as Noctis withdrew. The prince left quickly after pulling on a pair of shoes, the door closing behind him. And then he was alone.

Again.

He fell back into the multitude of pillows, sinking into the soft mattress. The bed was easily three times the size of his back at his apartment, and far softer. And, he noted as he rolled over, it smelled of Noctis. Soap, of woodsmoke, of a sharp tang of ozone and something sugary sweet. A smile curled his lips as he buried himself beneath the sheets. Maybe a nap wouldn’t hurt…

“Don’t touch me.” Aurora hissed as soon as Noctis opened the door. Ravus took a quick step back, hands up. She was seething with rage; her normally sapphire eyes had deepened in color, resembling an angry ocean more than a gem. The anger was palpable in the room; even Sylva seemed to be put on edge. “They are dead and you refuse to do a damned thing. Sylva, I will not beg. I will not ask again. I am demanding that you retaliate against them!”

“Against who?” Noctis finally spoke up, flinching as Aurora spun around to face him. She still had tears falling, and her hair that was normally curled elegantly fell around her face and shoulders in dramatic waves. “Who did this?”

“Niflheim,” she growled out, hands- no, entire body shaking with the anger she felt. “Those damned bastards did this. They attacked Galahd, and now they strike at the holiest country? How can you sit on your-”

“Aurora!” Ravus interjected finally, and it was as if all her control finally slipped. She crumbled to the floor, falling upon her knees and leaning over, her hands curled into fists upon the floor. Ravus knelt beside her, his arm wrapping around her, pulling her to him. It hurt to see such a strong, happy woman completely wrecked. Her sobs made her entire body shake, and as Noctis watched, he could see tears trailing down Ravus’ face.

Attention turned towards the two coven leaders, he took notice in the way Sylva seemed to be made of stone- not reacting to what was happening at all. His father, on the other hand, looked ready to commit murder. “Within this room are the only ones who know of this tragedy.” Looking around, Noctis took in the faces: Cor and Clarus behind his father, Nyx beside the door, Ignis and Gladio behind him, Lunafreya and Drautos behind Sylva. Twelve people, total. The rest of the Glaive, the remainder of the council, Lady Sylva’s security- none of them knew.

Aside from Prompto.

“Tomorrow, we will make an announcement of this attack. During this, we will address the attack on Galahd as well. Niflheim will be brought forth for trial.” Regis paused, giving Sylva a pointed look. Noctis couldn’t help but wonder what that was about… “For genocide and for murder of a royal clan. We will seek justice. We will not stoop to their levels; war is not what we are searching for. We are looking for an answer.”

“I want blood.” Aurora muttered into Ravus’ chest, though it was loud enough for everyone in the council room to hear. “I want the one who executed my mother and father. I want to show them how it feels.”

“That’s the anger talking, love,” Ravus murmured, brushing his fingers through her hair. “… Though I agree. I’d like to see the one who gave the final killing blow brought to trial and persecuted-”

“Executed.”

“Executed.” Ravus finished, leveling his mother with a hard stare. Noctis watched as Sylva simply raised her wine glass to her lips and took a long sip.

“We can talk of that after tomorrow. You’re all dismissed. Noctis, come with me; we need to speak.” With that, the room cleared out relatively quickly, Clarus, Cor, Nyx, and Drautos being the only ones left behind to act as guards for them. “We cannot enter into another war, you understand this. You know how crippling the last war had been. Insomnia nearly fell had it not been for the surprise attack Tenebrae launched against Niflheim. I fear this is their retaliation for that attack.”

“But that was… What, over a hundred years ago? Before I was even born, so almost two hundred? And they’re still angry?” Noctis asked, confusion evident in his voice. “Why attack now?”

“They’re working on some sort of secret weapon. During our reconnaissance to Galahd, we were attacked by Niflheim airships. There was…” Nyx faltered, brows furrowing. “Something in the forest. It’s impossible, I know, but there was a shifter in the forest. One that wasn’t like us- now, that is. It resembled the original shifters. Like the werewolves of old.”

“How is that possible?” Alarm caused his voice to pitch upwards, much to Noctis’ annoyance.

“We don’t know,” Cor spoke up. “We’ve sent agents to Niflheim over the years, but none of them have ever returned. I assume they were taken hostage, defected, or took their own lives before Niflheim had the chance.” A grim silence spread through the room.

“I’ve reached out to Iedolas Aldercapt; he’s the president of Niflheim.” Regis broke the silence, voice soft. “He has agreed to meet during the upcoming Gala. It’s a risk, but that was the only way he would agree- if we did this during the Gala.”

“He’s planning something.” Clarus stated harshly.

“I know. Which is why I’m going to make sure we have our best on guard during the Gala. Drautos, I want you to remove your Glaives from patrolling the morning. The Insomnian police force can handle the public,” Regis ordered, magenta hues focused on the marble floor beneath their feet.

“Of course, your majesty.”

“I want Lazarus and Altius to be on the Gala floor at all times. Khara will be on the upper floor with Arra, Ostium and Furia in the gardens. Nyx will remain near Noctis or Lunafreya at all times- when Noctis is not with Gladiolus or Ignis, Nyx will be with him. Any other time, he will be with Lunafreya. We cannot have her injured.”

“Sir?” Nyx interrupted, brows raised.

“I fear they will attempt to strike at Lady Lunafreya. Lady Sylva is too much an obvious target, and Lord Ravus is an accomplished warrior that would be too difficult to fight.” Noctis shifted nervously. His father really had thought everything through already, hadn’t he? “We must be prepared for the worst. If an attempt is pulled, we will default to Alpha Phase One.”

“Which is?” Noctis asked, leaning against the edge of the oak table. “If I’m here, it involves me. What’s this… Alpha-whatever?”

“Alpha Phase One,” Regis began, shooting his son an amused glance, “is a plan of escape that only a few know. And I will keep it that way.” His tone was final.

“So I don’t get to know it?”

“No.”

“… Ouch.”

“You have your own escape route that Gladiolus and Ignis know and will take should something happen.”

“They know it?” Noctis asked in surprise. “And I don’t?”

“Exactly.” Regis replied smugly.

“Rude.”

“I think you’ll survive.”

“You shouldn’t be here!” Titus hissed as he closed his apartment door, quickly locking it. Ater shrugged, perfectly comfortable with sitting atop the counter. “Do you realize how much trouble I could get in? You aren’t supposed to be seen here.”

“And no one saw me.” She replied simply, sliding off the counter. “You stress too much, babe. No one saw me. I even went as far as using prosthetics.” She waved a hand to the mess on the kitchen table. “It was a pain in the ass to get on and off. Oh, and disposable contacts. And a wig. I made sure I wasn’t recognized.”

Groaning softly, the general ran a hand over his face. “You’re going to be the death of me, you realize this?” He muttered as he walked closer, hands coming to rest upon the vampire’s hips, pulling her close. “But that doesn’t explain why you’re here.”

“They sent me out before they dispatched the Gloriam clan.” Her voice was soft as she reached up to cup his cheek, his scruff scratching at her palm. Icy hues took in the dark shadows beneath his eyes. “I didn’t know what they had planned. I don’t even know what- or who- they sent out. It wasn’t me, or Highwind. I would know- I was out drinking with her when we got the news.”

“Well, shit.” Sighing, Drautos released her and began to work on removing his coat. “Regis is pissed. They do realize that they didn’t get the entire clan, right?”

“… They didn’t?”

His blood froze in his veins as he turned slowly, taking in the genuine surprise that splayed across Ater’s face. “… They didn’t realize Aurora was still here.” He whispered, panic settling in. His heart began a tap dance within his chest. “Who authorized the attack?”

“Aldercapt.”

“That idiot!” Hand banged against the counter, the wood releasing a groan in protest. “He moves without thinking and creates a mess that I have to clean up.” Drawing in a slow, deep breath, he forced himself to relax. It wouldn’t be good to shift in his apartment. “Regis is going to address the public in the morning about the attack on Galahd and the murder of the Gloriam clan.”

“Shit.” Ater mumbled, biting on her thumb. This managed to mess everything up. “What of the girl?”

“Aurora?”

“Yes.”

“She’s untouchable, especially now. She’s engaged to Ravus, and we all know what the Lord is capable of. He saw battle when he was a barely an adult. He killed. He’s ruthless and dangerous.” Drautos shook his head, jaw working. “Iedolas is coming to Insomnia in a week… Why are you here? Had he planned on coming here?”

“He wanted me to come and check in on you. Watch- since you haven’t been sending in your reports…” Ater trailed off, shrugging. “And to get familiar with the city.”

“Why?”

“Because he’s planning something. I don’t know what it is- I can’t ever get him alone to talk to him, that scoundrel of a man is always there, whispering in his ear. I don’t trust him, Titus. I don’t like him. He’s… Wrong.” Shuddering, she moved closer, her arms coming to wrap around his middle. Cold fingertips slipped beneath his shirt, nails just barely dragging across the skin of his back.

“Ardyn is dangerous,” Drautos agreed, fingers trailing down her spine, hooking in the waistband of her pants. “But now that you’re here, I don’t have to rely on phone calls or texts.” He murmured, leaning down to steal a fierce kiss. A surprised noise escaped Ater before she reached up, holding onto his shirt, pulling him closer. His teeth grazed her lip, and her fangs pierced his own. Blood welled up between them, the kiss growing far more messy, animalistic. His hands wandered lower, grasping her rear, squeezing, pulling her up. Her legs wrapped around his waist as he held her up with one arm. His free hand slipped beneath her shirt, preparing to unclip her bra, only to be met with bare skin. A laugh melted into the kiss from Ater.

“I didn’t bother with one.” She whispered, pulling back to lick at her lips. Blood smeared down her chin, across her lips. He could feel blood across his own chin, in his mouth. But a growl of approval slipped free as she pulled her shirt off, over her head. “I’m not wearing any underwear, either.” She added, watching as his pupils dilated. He leaned down, pressing a kiss within the valley of her breasts. A soft breath left her, her head tilting back as he pressed more kisses against the soft skin before pulling a nipple into his mouth. His tongue laved against it before he bit down gently.

“Good.”

“It’s late, my lord.” Cor murmured in lieu of announcing himself as he entered the study. Regis sat in a plush armchair before the wall of floor to ceiling windows, gazing out across Insomnia. “You need to rest. It’s been a long day…” The room was softly lit due to the fire burning within the large fireplace. It smelled of cinnamon and nutmeg; warmth.

Regis hummed in response, slowly swirling the remnants of his glass of bloodwine. “Sylva is planning a coup d'é-tat.” He spoke simply, listening to way Cor’s footsteps paused. Even from here, across the large room, he could hear the way his friend- no, lover’s- heart skipped a beat.

“Sir?” He asked, as if he hadn’t heard him correctly. “How do you…?”

“She isn’t the only one with spies within the ranks.” Came the soft answer as Regis rose from his seat. Standing there, back illuminated by the fire slowly dying in the fireplace- it brought Cor back to their first time together. So many years ago, he’d been so young, and Regis had been so very gentle and kind. Strong. Smart. Heartbroken.

“You have Aurora working for you, then.”

“Yes,” Regis replied, turning to face the human. Cor had changed out of his uniform and into a pair of sweat pants and a long-sleeved shirt. Ready to sleep, and yet he came to check on him. It warmed his heart. “I had made an agreement with her shortly before her engagement to Ravus. He knows, as well.”

“And Lady Lunafreya…?”

“Is a pawn in Sylva’s game.”

“That poor, poor girl.”

“A shame. She was once so gentle.”

“And now she’s the perfect blade for her mother to weild.”

Silence fell as Cor moved closer, stepping around the desk to stand beside his king. Glacier hues stared out upon the city below; it never stopped moving, never stopped advancing. Never slept. The feeling of Regis moving closer, stepping in behind him, made a shudder dance through his skin. He leaned back against the vampire, head resting upon his shoulder. Regis, I turn, wrapped his arms around his middle, leaned his head against Cor’s. Together they stood, watching the city, as the last embers died out.

“Take me to bed, Cor.”

“Of course, your majesty.”

Prompto had been playing a game on his phone when Noctis came back to his room. Dinner had been delivered three hours earlier, along with an apology from Noctis. Some sort of meeting happened, and he couldn’t leave until it was over. Which was fine! Prompto had plenty to do! Update his Instagram, play games on his phone, snoop through Noctis’ drawers (he was a boxer brief guy, apparently), and look through the books that lined the wall. Prompto knew that the Citadel had its own library, but Noctis had his own personal one within his bedroom.

He may have spent too long looking through the comic books.

“Is Aurora alright?” He meant to say hello, how are you, but he needed to know. She was such a kind, sweet girl. For her to be hit with this…

Noctis sighed, rubbing the back of his neck as he toed off his shoes. “No. She’s… Angry. Sad. Grieving. I spent the last two hours with her and Ravus. She tore up their bedroom- literally.” Prompto’s eyes widened in surprise. “Yeah, it wasn’t pretty. She’s mostly mad at Sylva for not doing anything. Or suggesting any action. Dad took it upon himself to decide to make a public statement…”

“Why isn’t Lady Sylva doing anything?” That was confusing. Prompto scooted to the edge of the bed, feet barely grazing the floor as he watched Noctis move about, pulling the hoodie off. “Isn’t Aurora Tenebraen?”

“She is. I don’t know why Sylva isn’t doing anything- she barely spoke during the council meeting. I dunno. The entire situation is just… Weird and bad.” Shrugging, Noctis slipped into the en suite. “I had them bring you dinner- did you eat? Did you like it?”

“I did!” Prompto called back, grinning. “I had to have that girl- Crowe? She was the one who came with the maid. I had to have her help me figure out how to eat lobster tail… I’d never had it before.”

“Really?” Noctis poked his head out, brows raised, toothbrush hanging out of his mouth.

A snort spilled free from Prompto as he nodded. “Yeah. But it was good! And that linguine was so good. I swear I’m going to steal your cook.”

“Nah, you can’t have Iggy.”

“IGNIS COOKED THAT?!” He hadn’t meant to be so loud, but he couldn’t help it. Finding out that Ignis cooked that entire meal was surprising.

“Yeah, he’s been trained to be my personal chef. Lowers the risk of being poisoned.” Noctis answered, coming back into the room with an amused smile. “Since that’s a thing that happens to royals.”

“Oh…” Right. That was a thing that Noctis had to worry about. “… You have a lot of books.” He changed the subject easily as Noctis pulled open a drawer, rummaging around before pulling a pair of sleeping pants out.

Tugging his jeans off (and nearly falling in the process), he glanced over to the book shelves that took up an entire wall. “Yeah- dad used to read to me as a kid, and it just… Stuck. I only like fiction. Like… Magic. That kind of thing.”

A sudden question popped into Prompto’s mind. “Have you ever played Dungeons and Dragons?” He asked, watching as Noctis paused, pants pulled back up.

“… No.”

“You’d love it! It’s sort of like… If the characters from Lord of the Rings clashed with Dragon Age.” Prompto attempted to explain, and received a laugh in response as Noctis settled down onto the bed before collapsing backwards. “I’m serious! It’s really fun, too. You can make your own character and there’s always detailed stories…”

“Prom?”

“Yeah, buddy?”

“… Stay the night with me.”

Prompto froze, cheeks flushing at the request. “I… You sure?” He asked, fidgeting with the hem of the pajama top that had been brought for him. It was too big, but that was perfect. “I mean, I can go back to my room-”

“I’m sure.” Noctis replied, reaching out to tug on the edge of Prompto’s shirt. “Not to… Not to have sex. But just- I don’t wanna be alone. And I sleep better with someone beside me.” He explained almost shyly, not meeting Prompto’s questioning gaze. “If you don’t want to, I won’t force you, but-”

“I do!” Prompto exclaimed, before quickly backpedaling. “I mean, I’d love to. I’m good. I like it here. I like… I like being with you. Near you.” He wiggled in place for a moment before falling back on the bed beside the vampire.

“Good.” Noctis nodded, pulling Prompto closer. “I just wanna lay here. Today was… Rough.”

“Alright,” Prompto hummed, lacing their fingers together. “Then we can just lay here- as long as you want to, Noct.”

Noctis nodded, eyes closing. Prompto shifted, tucking his head into the crook of the other’s neck. It was nice, to just lay with one another. Prompto hadn’t realized how much he wanted, no, craved this. This softness, this warmth. Slowly, he tangled his legs with Noctis’, who hummed and cracked open an eye. He pulled his hand free to clap twice, and the lights dimmed by themselves.

“… That is so cool.”

“I know, right?” Noctis grinned as he took Prompto’s hand into his own once more, giving it a gentle squeeze. He felt the blond yawn against his shoulder and answered it with one of his own. “I’m glad you’re here, Prom.”

“Me, too.” Prompto murmured, pressing a tiny kiss just below his ear. Within minutes, the pair had fallen asleep.

Neither one noticed the way the bedroom door opened slowly, letting in the shadows of the hallway.

Her breaths came fast, panicked. Running, running; why did the family have to put in a maze in their garden? She could hear the water lapping against the shore; she was so close to finding the exit! The sound of growls behind her made her run faster, ignoring the way her feet bled, the way her dress was torn to shreds. She’d been there when they arrived. She’d hidden, contorting herself to fit into the hiding hole in the Lady of the house’s closet.

They thought they got everyone.

The little Lady was not here. She was gone, in Insomnia. They didn’t know that. They couldn’t know that. They wouldn’t know that. She wouldn’t tell them.

She thought they were all gone. She came out, and it was quiet. She went into the sitting room and found their bodies there. She didn’t scream; she couldn’t scream. Her vocal chords had been damaged when she was little. She couldn’t make a sound, even if she tried.

Then she saw it. It was big, and scary. Its fur was dark brown, and it smelled bad. Like rotting bodies. It had seen her, and it stared at her, golden eyes seeming far too human like. It was big, too; easily reaching her shoulders. And then she ran, and it followed, crashing through the house.

It hunted her through the maze, and it was still hunting her. Right, left, right, and she should be out!

No. No, no, no. No, this couldn’t be. There was supposed to be the exit here, not a dead end! Turning, she looked about frantically. She couldn’t climb through the bushes; the thorns would tear her to pieces before she even made it to the top. The sound of a growl made her freeze, her entire body shaking.

It was here.

She turned, slowly, coming face to face with the beast. It was… Smiling. Smiling in a far too human way. No shifter should look that human, like it was a human sewn into bear skin. Tears spilled down her cheeks as she backed up against the hedge, feeling thorns press into her back. It advanced. For the first time since she was three years old, she managed to make a noise.

She screamed as its teeth closed around her throat.