This one took me a while, but it's mostly because of how long it took to have time to sit down and write. We have another covenant, and a twist to introduce my take on a certain dlc. I hope you enjoy!

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Stranded

Chapter 28 – Storm chaser

Surprisingly enough, the half walk half run after a nameless, possibly senile man, was a short and mostly dry business. Noctis still winced at the sight of Wiz's outpost. He remembered the first time he'd come to the place with his eight-year-old brother in tow, Ravus so excited at the prospect he could learn to ride chocobos, he'd forgotten to be gloomy. Learning to ride, getting to roll in the dirt like kids and to play with those giant, fluffy, smelly birds… It had been one of his best memories with Ravus. And if Darius was to grow up in Lucis for even a few years, the only way he might be able to give him a riding lesson would be to capture some wild, untamed bird. He doubted his future would ever give him the luxury of it.

There were a few wild chocobos, kwehing and running away, but their shaggy plumage wasn't even the darkest part of the picture. The stables had been burned to the ground, human bones poking from the ashes in a corner, their nameless guide ignoring all of it without a second thought.

"Ig…" Noctis couldn't help himself.

"I'm sorry. This… This definitely happened before I left…" his friend answered him, knowing exactly what was on his mind.

"Was it daemons or…"

Prompto shook his head at him, cursing as the very movement gave him a violent bout of dizziness.

"When the empire hits, we… they," he quickly corrected himself. "They burn everything, even the bones."

"And people can hear our ships arriving," Aranea added, not even trying to separate herself from the empire. "It looks like they didn't even have the time to…"

"Kids, keep moving, keep moving!" The nameless man yapped at them.

"Where does he get all that energy?!" Luna stammered, bending forward and wincing as Darius gave her a violent kick.

Noctis hurried to her side, an arm reaching for her, his fiancée pushing herself to her feet but accepting to lean against him for a minute.

"Get a move on!"

"Accommodate the pregnant lady, you lunatic!" Noctis shot back, Luna shaking her head at him.

"He's already noticed my state."

"And he lacks a little thing called good sense," Cindy observed.

"Took the words right out of my mouth," Ignis sighed.

Prompto stopped beside them, happy for the break despite their awful surroundings, still feeling dizzy.

"You know what looney reminds me of? He's like an upbeat version of my training instructors. A spring in his step, too much skin in his face and leaping around like someone with a fuse up their…"

"We get it, Prom, good gods," Cindy cut him off, offering him a smile as he blinked at her.

"I'm trying to lighten the air," he still insisted.

The thunder roared above their heads, the old man running ahead slipping on a patch of grass and somehow sommersaulting back to his feet instead of faceplanting himself, stopping to catch his breath.

"We're going to miss it, kids!"

Luna heaved a deep sigh, stopping right as she'd started walking again, since Noctis was taken by a violent coughing fit. He shook his head at her as her hands lit up with healing magic.

"Save it for after that… shitty covenant?" he managed.

"Okay."

They both knew she might have no energy left afterwards and it was slowly starting to feel like a very bad idea to even follow the nameless man.

"I'm being selfish again…"

"Who cares?!" the old man who had made his way back to the pair as silently as a mouse barked at her, making her jump and hold one hand to her chest.

Noctis could have punched the mad guy.

"Back off! You don't talk to her like that!"

"Noct, please," Luna said. "Keep leading the way, you got a better look at the lightning strike than we did," she told the nameless man.

He nodded, smiling again, turning around and leaping forward.

"Why are you even this kind with him?!" Aranea sighed.

"His mental state is… questionable at best," Ignis agreed.

"I don't know," Luna confessed. "There's just something about him… We should hurry already, before he starts yelling again."

Noctis frowned, unsure he'd ever seen her like this. They caught up to the man and ventured down the hills, away from the chocobo ranch turned into a grave, down between sharp rocks and into what Noctis recognized to be an old Behemoth's lair.

"Is it me, or is there a lot more mist in the air then there was before?" Prompto observed.

"It's the difference of temperature." Ignis answered.

"There's magic behind it too though," Noctis intervened.

"Yes, I can sense it too. Is everyone doing okay?" Luna asked them.

Cindy made a disgruntled "yes", instantly apologizing, but her arm was aching and despite the sling she was still wearing, she felt a little worse with every new step.

"Maybe we should spot a camp site and have you keeping the fort for us, what do you say, babe?" Prompto offered.

"There's no way we're stopping after the first thunder strike!" The nameless man declared, not even looking back to them.

"Sheesh!"

"Oh my gods, Prom, who are you, and what have you done to my boyfriend?!"

Luna shook her head, smiling once more despite the rain. It was good to hear her friend sounding this happy and genuine.

Hopefully, Prompto will not end up with another seizure because of this, she thought, shame and guilt battling inside.

They finally found it behind the mist, nestled against a rock formation that closed on every side, its branches dark and charred from the lightning. The air was filled with static, Luna sensing the underlying presence once more. In the dry leaves cracking under her feet. In the lingering raindrops slipping down her neck and dampening every layer of her clothes.

The nameless man was pure frenzy now, sitting back on his heels and moving to a beat only he was capable of hearing. And while she would normally feel concerned and try to help the poor soul showing such a display, she felt oddly at ease about him.

Child of the light.

She gasped, not noticing the fact the old man had stopped moving as soon as the Astral spoke to her.

"What must I do?" Luna asked.

She heard the buzzing of the four Astrals speaking in her head, surprised by how toned down it was compared to her encounter with Titan. The faint yet uninterrupted sound still made her quite dizzy, but she withstood it fine.

This is quite peculiar, the god spoke only to her once more.

She wanted to ask if he also thought Noctis was the chosen King, but didn't dare to voice it. Even if he was, she carried half of the Astrals already and if she could keep one burden away from him, she would.

For now, touch the tree I struck with lightning. There will be two more.

Luna nodded, stepping forward, not even thinking of explaining what she'd been told to her friends, her eyes golden again with her magic. The charred bark was soft to the touch and didn't burn, a single spark meeting her skin, resonating with the light she carried. She felt a light kick as she stepped back, jumping as it was followed by another one very closely.

"Darius?"

"What's wrong?" Noctis asked, his arms already wrapping around her.

She shook her head.

"It just feels weird, he's fine, we're fine."

"That dude is anything but fine!" Prompto interrupted her, pointing at the nameless man.

He was spasming on the ground, his eyes revulsed, the skin on his face turning dark.

"What the hell is going on?" Aranea asked.

Luna hurried to the side of the man, holding up his wrist and letting her free hand hover above his forehead, sensing a strange play of magic within his body. It messed with the time around them, the grass turning yellow and dry beneath him even though the rain continued to pour.

"Atrals?" she asked, hoping they would give her an answer.

The gods remained silent, the thunder roaring in the sky. She couldn't tell what was happening to the stranger. Blood vessels blowing as electricity fried his veins, but as her magic rushed to fix the damage, there seemed to be none for her to work on. And there was a limit to the wounds she could fix.

"Is this the covenant affecting him?" Prompto asked.

"Why would it…" Luna started, only to be cut off by a strangled cry from the nameless man.

His previously charred face was showing color again, his claw-y hands reaching up to her, his green-blue eyes blinking open.

"I might have melted a little," he coughed up, managing a rough smile for the princess. "Did you see the lightning strike again? We have two more to go."

"How do you know all this? Who are you?" Luna insisted, holding his rough palm between both of her hands.

"I… I still don't know. But I believe you do. Maybe that blasted lightning can tell us?"

Noctis shook his head behind Luna, the princess helping the man to his feet, giving him one more check-up with her light. He seemed in perfect health now, for a man of his age. Not that she could tell how old he really was. Everything about him seemed to be off.

Then another rough kick from within had her gasping, Noctis instantly fretting, Luna rubbing at her belly with a sigh.

"I think Darius is getting antsy…" she whispered.

"He's eager to be done with the lightning too," the nameless man suggested, skipping forward as though he had never been convulsing on the ground.

Ignis and Aranea shared a worried look, Prompto suggesting they'd take a break, but Luna shook her head.

"Are you certain?" Noctis insisted.

"We can catch a breather as soon as we will be done with this weird trial. If it's going to rain for the whole time, might as well be wet the whole time."

Prompto snorted, Cindy berated him, Noctis unable to hold back a tiny smirk.

"You're the worst, man. Let's go before our crazy number starts climbing up a tree or something," the prince declared.

Luna was trembling in his arms now, saying she really was fine, but it wasn't enough to convince him or to calm him down.

There was so little he knew about the covenants and so little he caught of her exchanges with the gods. And why was some madman so deeply connected to the whole thing? Most of all, why was he so conveniently trusted upon them?

Hurrying out of the old behemoth's lair, they stepped back on the plains just in time to see lighting striking on the other side of Duscae.

"How's her highness doing? Would she like a mount? I think I can get one chocobo that won't run."

"I don't think the baby would like that," Luna objected, the old man giving a brief nod before pointing at the horizon.

"I think we can make it before the next heavy downpour."

They got back to walking, seeing more craters and marks of the fights between empire dropships and daemons, Ignis and Noctis both feeling a little more ill for every new abandoned house they saw on the way.

"This has really gotten out of hand," Aranea whispered to herself.

"Isn't it weird that we have barely met any sort of animals?" Prompto asked.

"Oh, you're right," Cindy said. "Could they be hiding or…?"

Luna shook her head, not wanting to think what it could mean to this ecosystem if most of the fauna had been killed.

"Look, there's some sabertusks!" their nameless guide pointed out.

"The best animals out there," Prompto snickered.

"Still better than absolutely nothing," Noctis sighed.

They reached the second bush after climbing up an nth hill. The bark was dark, crackling with static, Luna taking a step forward before throwing a look at their guide.

"Can you… maybe sit down before I start with this one? I don't want you keeling over like last time."

"Oh! That's right, something weird happened." The man laughed, kneeling obediently.

Child of light, Ramuh greeted her as she stepped up to the stricken tree.

"This man with us, do you know him, Fulgurian?" She asked him.

You have many men with you.

No more answers would come, so Luna resigned herself to pursue the covenant. This time, the spark was stronger, her hairs raising on the back of her neck while goosebumps covered her entire body.

This time, Darius gave her three kicks in quick succession, clearly agitated. Her side was starting to hurt, but the hints of headache she felt were even more of a threat, Ramuh's voice echoing across her head.

One final step, child of light.

Neither Noctis nor Prompto were affected, while their nameless guide had collapsed forward, breathing roughly, his curled hands hitting against the ground.

"Why the fuck is he affected like that?" Luna said, voicing what everyone else was thinking.

His insides were wrecked and somehow fixed by the very lightning coursing within, Luna forced to watch it happen, gasping as the crisis receded, the man looking at her appearing strangely younger than before.

"This can't be… Leonis?" she asked him.

He blinked, coughing and hacking, then pushing himself up, staring at her.

"What did you say?"

"You have his eyes. And your hair is turning brown just like…"

"Leonis?" he repeated, eyebrows crossed with confusion.

Noctis understood it might be her old mentor, Cor Leonis. Althought the fact he could shift appearance somehow only reminded him of one person. Ardyn Izunia. And if that was the Chancellor in disguise, toying around with them, he needed to get her away from him right now.

"Luna, this is insane," he interfered, pulling her away from the old man, until he stood between them. "For all we know…"

"Noctis, he looks like him!" Luna protested.

"Like who?" the nameless man insisted. "Do you have my memories? Did the lightning tell you about me?"

He's not your enemy, Titan told the princess, his booming voice reaching Noctis with its warmth.

"We can trust this man," Luna insisted.

"How can you be so sure?"

"The Astrals told me so. Just have faith in me, Noct, please."

Before they could wonder any longer, the very cause of their argument was running ahead, remembering their chase after the lightning and shouting excitedly as the lightning struck for the third time.

"It's over there! It's very close this time, let's hurry, let's hurry, maybe I'll remember what the lightning took."

He hurried ahead once more, Noctis heaving a groan.

"Who do you think he is?" Luna asked him.

"Ardyn can impersonate my father. Surely he can impersonate anyone."

"Fuck, if we have to deal with something of that scale, why did you even let us split the other day?" Prompto asked.

"I would sense this level of magic," Luna protested. "Whoever this man is, he's closer to my Cor Leonis than any sort of evil Chancellor. And what could would Ardyn get from helping us?"

Noctis exchanged a look with Ignis, who offered a shrug along with his dark look. While Ardyn's way of thinking was hard to grasp, it did seem improbable that he would play such a degrading charade. And to help them when the more Astrals they gathered meant they posed a bigger threat to his plans for Insomnia?

…

As they neared the tomb, Ravus turned more and more silent. By the time they reached it, Iris realized he's scratched a dark patch on the bandages covering his right arm. The smell she sensed from him was even stronger today.

'Are you rotting?" Gladiolus asked the prince, giving him a light push to which Ravus didn't flinch. "It would explain so many…"

"Fuck off," the prince snapped at him.

"You don't get to talk to me like that, princeling!"

"Well, maybe my brain and heart are rotting, but you don't smell much better than I do."

"Shut up. Your arm looks bad."

"What about your face, huh? Ravus shot back.

"Stop it, both of you!" Iris barked over them, getting in between the two. "Gladio, if you're not well…"

"I'm fine. Your royal ancestor is right there, Rav-boy. Go and let's see if you come out crying or not this time."

Ravus flinched, his jaw getting even tenser, hurrying into the tomb. Iris didn't follow him, staying back to give her brother a piece of her mind.

"Do you have to be this much of an ass to him?"

"This whole pilgrimage is accomplishing nothing!" Gladio objected. "And if he can't deal with how pissed I am at him, you think he has the guts to face his own brother? From where I'm standing, it's really looking as though those rumors about Ravus stealing Noctis's birthright were true. Why else would so many of their ancestors side with Noct?"

The use of Noctis's old nickname didn't go unnoticed to the brunette. She had more arguments for her brother, but was cut short by the angry scream coming from the tomb.

"Aaaaand another failure," Gladiolus sighed. "Leave him be, Iris, he's not worth your time."

"This is not the type of attitude that we need to deal with everything happening right now. All your bitching is not going to save anyone, you know that?"

He sneered at her, Iris wrapping her arms around herself as she whipped around and dove in the dark tomb after Ravus.

The blond teen was kneeling in front of the engraved sarcophagus, his fleuret laying before him. He was holding his right arm to prevent it from shaking and Iris had realized his fingers were digging into the flesh and muscle, drawing out ashes and a dark liquid with green shades.

"Ravus, stop, you're…!"

"It doesn't matter, Iris. I'm broken, deep. They know it. I guess they can see it and smell it too," he added, his voice a shudder of what it usually was.

"You should get treatment, this…"

"I don't mean just the arm. Otherwise, they would hear me and give me my share. They should recognize my blood. Even if Noctis came here first, our family is supposed to bond with the crystal and Noctis barely…"

A gust of wind rose, pushing the awful stench away as Iris had to lift one arm to shield her eyes from the dust rushing through the air. Ravus blinked, his left hand digging deeper into his bicep. His teeth grinded together. The pain seemed to be the only thing that still made sense to him. And then he heard their voices.

The Kings of old.

He's too young.

Too vindicative.

His heart's tainted by something.

But the crystal did pick him.

Surely it was a mistake?

It's not unprecedented.

Although there had only ever been one mistake like this one, dating back to the founder King, Somnus the Wise.

"What do you need from me?" Ravus asked, his voice barely holding steady.

If he were the one, he wouldn't ask.

They didn't even speak directly to him. They were talking among themselves. And as the thunder rumbled outside, the rain pouring hard, a red bolt of light struck the tomb, Iris shrieking in surprise while Ravus felt his magic bursting awake, his right arm burning down to every last nerve.

An armored ghost stood before him, pulling off his mask to reveal dark hair and blue eyes that were all too familiar.

"It can't be…" Ravus gasped.

"You betrayed me, young prince. Blood of my blood, yet you couldn't fuel your desire with the proper tools."

The vision wasn't Noctis, but it was nearly him, Ravus could feel the contradicting emotions he always went through when facing his brother. Longing for affection and comfort, tempered by all his self doubts, the unsaid and far too often said words of hate and anger between them. Every time Ravus met Noctis, no matter how young, how wounded or healthy either of them was, he'd always felt wrong. Lesser than his brother. Unable to walk as tall as him, unable to command, unable to plan and see far enough ahead. All he had that made him someone was the crystal. All he had was the magic burning his blood and forsaking him since Noctis had arrived in Tenebrae.

"You're wrong," Ravus claimed, pushing himself to his feet. His right arm hung grotesquely, his bandaged hand laying on the floor while a stretched piece of shredded muscle held his lower arm to his upper arm.

Iris covered her mouth with both hands at the sight, not seeing the host or the twitching eyes watching over the prince from the dark walls. Her voice was stuck deep in her throat, her eyes unblinking as Ravus's right arm shifted.

He gripped his fleuret, the stretched muscles coiling up like a snake, more green blood dripping from the mess that was his upper arm.

"My brother turned you into a monster, just like him," Somnus whispered, raising his own sword.

"I'm no monster! I just need one royal arm to fix it. Why won't you let me have one?!"

"We don't let monsters into this family," Somnus declared.

"The crystal picked me!"

"Heh, the silly thing has been wrong before…"

"If so, then what's the fucking point?!"

Ravus slashed at the ghost, moving so quickly his shape seemed to shiver and change. Iris could have sworn she saw a horn on the side of his head; and something wet hit the back of her hands. From what she could see, Ravus was fighting against thin air, and yet his sword encountered resistance, the clash of blades throwing sparks of flames across the tomb.

"Iris, if you don't get out right…" Gladio's voice started, warning and worry laced together.

"You stay the fuck out of this," Ravus howled, kicking the door shut with a gust of wind.

"Ravus…" Iris squeaked.

"I'm getting answers now, Ris, I swear to the gods, we can get out as soon as I…"

The ghost kicked him in the chest, a cruel smile on his face.

"What answers? You listened to my brother. He sang you pretty lies and you swallowed everything like a some parched idiot. You're not worthy of my blood. You're not even worthy of my name. I'll never let you have my royal arm."

Ravus snarled, stabbing him in the mouth and dragging his sword all the way down, looking at the blue guts falling as his body split open. As soon as the first bit hit the floor, the ghost was stepping forward, unmarked and smiling even more. The prince frowned, feeling the fear coming back, stronger than ever as it seized his heart.

"Do you mean my brother hasn't been here?"

"HA! Like I'd let him have it either. I was never held back by doubt, I've always known my worth and what I wanted. What I needed, I took. And if you can't do the same, you have no place within my legacy."

Somnus went on the offensive, his ghostly royal arm skidding against the thin fleuret, Ravus somehow holding his own.

"I. am. The. Chosen King."

"Then prove it, monster-spawn."

Ravus's scream was so heart-wrenching, Iris forgot to be scared. Her friend was in such pain and somehow turning into something different, something that had scared him into taking the worst decisions. What he truly needed was someone to believe in him and if none of the ghosts of his ancestors were ready to do that, at least she would. If only to end his misery and drag him back into the light. She stepped forward, her legs shaky and her breath uneven as more clashes of metal made the room boom and tremble.

She was afraid this might be a mistake, but more than anything she wanted him to stop crying in such a broken way. She might not get her old Ravus back, but if there was something to salvage, at least she had to try. Her arms reached around his waist, her chest pressing into his back as she pushed herself as close to him as she could. He deflected the ghost blade that threatened to hit both of them, out of breath but finally grounded.

"If you harm a single hair on her head, I'll burn your legacy to the ground," he threatened, not caring for his worth or his duty as chosen king.

He had already dragged Iris far enough into this. She was shaking just as much as him, even harder as he summoned actual fire in his charred palm, glaring down a the oldest of their Kings.

"All of it? Our castle? Our crown?" Somnus asked. He sounded amused. "Show me what you can actually do with your broken bond to the crystal."

The thunder that roared next had nothing to do with the storm or Ramuh and everything to do with Ravus. Pure energy burned and sizzled, Iris forced to hide her face against Ravus's back to escape the blinding light. The ground shook beneath them, the tomb cracking open, bursting as the prince hurled his rage at the stone and mortar his ancestors used to hide.

Gladiolus could only thank his reflexes for avoiding the following rain of broken cobble and stones, raising both arms to cover his head as he dodged the worst of it.

Ravus dropped his sword, his right arm churned so far by the counter effect of magic, he doubted feeling could ever return to his limb. He left it hanging by his side, his left fist held tight, smoke rising around as frost, heat and sparks came out through his clenched teeth. His tongue felt burned, he couldn't blink anymore, his tears salt in his bloody eyes, glaring at Somnus so hard, a human might have vaporized on the spot.

"I see now," the ghost said. "You can be strong. Maybe you can get what you want."

He swung his sword forward, the tip hitting the middle of Ravus's chest. And the frozen metal pierced through, Iris violently pushed back as her prince instinctively tried to protect her. Gladio caught her mid-fall, cursing as he tried to understand what had caused this outburst.

"What the fuck is wrong with you, Rav…"

The prince faltered, a gash the length of Gladio's forearm digging into his chest, his right arm spasming as blue flame sparked in the air surrounding him. The rain turned to snow and the to pure ice, Iris screaming in pain, her brother shielding her with his body and then keeping her from rushing to the fallen prince.

"I'm not letting you anywhere near that freak again!" he warned.

…

Miles away, following a nameless man who might actually be Cor Leonis the Immortal, Luna's retinue was hit by the aftermath of Ravus's stormy uses of his power. Noctis suddenly pulled away from Luna, clawing at his chest as he felt the tug of his royal arms. All pulling him in different directions.

"What the fuck…?"

"Noct, are you…" Luna asked, her voice shriller than intended.

"Stay back, Luna, I don't… think I can control…"

His armiger violently sparked to life, his head aching with screams he'd never heard and were yet awfully familiar.

"Your brother is getting further away, Noct," Regis told him. "I don't know what's wrong, but something's wrong about him, if you don't find him soon."

Noctis held his head with both hands, breathing hard as he tried to keep the armiger within control. It was like a spark of madness rushing from one Arm to the other, his right arm shaking and jerking.

"Noct, surely I can…"

"Please stay back!" he pleaded, his eyes blinking through the pain, seeing the blades rushing around him in a tight circle. He'd never called them all out at once, and yet, here they were, fully tangible, slicing through the air and threatening his friends and moreover, keeping the woman he loved away from him.

And it was his brother's doing?

Father, how do I make it stop?

He could barely sense his connection to Regis through the crystal.

"You can if you find your brother. I'll hold the armiger for now, I just need a minute to gather my…"

Regis gasped, the screams swelling to pure dread, Noctis unable to fight back against the infinity of pain pouring harder than the rain.

He's awake, he's awake. He's awake, it's almost time.

"Just make it stop, make it stop." Noctis begged, rolling back and feeling dirt slapping him in the back as his armiger started a crater of its own from the slight movement. He was just containing it, he couldn't do much more than containing this shit.

"Noctis, I fear he might be lost and so far... There's something wrong with the ring. Something wrong with…"

Everything's wrong father, surely you've noticed, Noctis angrily thought.

But then the armiger retracted back into something the prince could control. He felt the weapons turning pale and intangible again, felt their steel plunging into his flesh as he called them back, one by one, but as quickly as he could. It was nothing like the pain sent to him from wherever Ravus was. He didn't know the armiger could link them that way, but somehow, through the haze of the confusion, Regis had him understand this reaction was due to his brother collecting his first royal arm.

"He's set out weeks ago already and it's only happening now…"

Noctis sensed the sorrow in his father's voice and a building ache at the pit of his stomach. The royal arms he'd collected had refused his brother? Had the damn brat been rejected over and over again, getting a taste of his own medicine after all these years.

"Noctis please…" Regis insisted.

Father, I… I know he's your son too, but you can't forget what he did.

I can't.

The pain faded, along with Regis's presence, the last of his armiger vanishing. Noctis slumped back against the ground, gasping and looking for breath. He barely had the time to look up as hasty footsteps rushed towards him, catching a glimpse of Luna diving and… Then he felt her weight on him, huffing and coughing, his hands looking for her round stomach, finding her own arm already wrapped around it.

"Luna, the baby!"

"He's fine, we're fine, Noct, what happened to you?"

"It was Ravus, I… I don't get it, Luna, I'm sorry for losing control like that."

"Oh, don't be silly, there are forces at work out there that are beyond us. And you immediately reacted to push each and everyone of us safely away," she shook her head at him.

Prompto cleared his throat.

"We're very much still here, guys," he reminded them.

"Give us a minute," Noctis nearly growled back, Luna not even looking away from his face, entirely focused on him. Turning his attention back to her, his face fell a little more. He didn't want to worry her, not in the middle of a covenant, not when she was already stressed over so many things.

He held her face with his jerky right hand, the tremors calming down at the feel of her skin. She was warm despite the rain and the wind.

"My father is asking me to save my brother from something. I don't even know…"

"Himself?" Luna supplied, Noctis looking away as the anger and hatred he still felt for Ravus were overwhelmed by the grief.

His baby brother had been led astray. Something about him was very wrong right now. Wrong enough to convince him breaking their family was needed to mend whatever he considered broken. Should Noctis have done things differently? Had he not done his very best throughout their life?

"This is not the time for this, I'm good now, I don't think anything like this may happen again before a couple of days."

"What even caused it?" Luna insisted.

Her hands on him were alight, but there was no wound to fix on him and all he could sense was the warmth of her magic.

"Ravus collected a royal arm somehow. It went… wrong."

Is he hurt? Why did my arm twitch so much? Why is father so damn worried?

"The lightning!" their mysterious guide nearly begged, his voice shuddering.

Looking up, the pair of royals realized he was shaking, his every limb jerking around so roughly, it had to be painful.

"What's wrong?" Cindy asked, covering her mouth with one hand in fear.

"I… If it takes too lo… long… Pr… Princess please… it's… g-going to fade," the man managed.

Luna tensed even more, as though that was possible. Noctis pushed himself into a sitting position, his arms wrapping around her, as much to comfort her as to comfort himself.

"How about we get this over with?"

"Are you sure, Noct?"

"Yeah, we can deal with one crisis at a time. End this storm and get you somewhere dry."

"But…"

The nameless man gasped, Ignis and Aranea on either side of him, ready to catch him or offer him a potion, but he just covered his head with his worn hands, his teeth chattering over his words.

"Please, please, please."

"Gods, now they want to put a time limit on things?" Luna whispered, her hands turning into fists on top of Noctis's chest.

Prompto simply swore, loudly, effectively voicing how they all felt.

The shift in their guide, from silly enthusiasm to pleading urgency had doused whatever was left of their energy. The gunman helped the royal back to their feet, Cindy standing back with her broken arm, feeling a little more useless as the minutes went by. The rest of their walk to the third spot hit by lightning was short, Luna nearly falling into a run, tempted to ask Noctis to warp them all forward, but not voicing it.

With his recent loss of control on the armiger, she couldn't risk him. She wouldn't.

They finally came into view of a cave, some burned leaves poking out of the stone from afar according to Prompto. Ignis confirmed it a few steps later, the rest of them never spotting any leave or catching the scent of burn wood. The nameless man was a trembling mess by then, rushing into the cave face-first, Luna hurrying after him, wishing it wasn't really Cor hiding under that wrinkled skin.

Her mentor was the only family she had outside of Noctis and knowing he was lost somewhere was entirely different then seeing him lost like this.

Her heart was beating so fast, she screamed out loud as her feet slid on the stone, Noctis warping quickly enough to catch her, even though the rush of movement that followed made her scream a second time.

"I'm sorry, Luna, you…"

"No, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scream, I'm just…"

"Guys," Aranea cut them off, the apology clear in her voice despite the overwhelming worry in it.

In the center of the small cave, wrapped with purple light stood a bush, smaller than the previous tree, surrounded by rivulets of water coming from an underground source. The nameless man had sat himself in the largest puddle of water, his knees dangling before him as he rocked himself back and forth, as though in another trance.

Child of light, Ramuh spoke once more.

"Why are you doing this?" Luna said, a hint of defeat on her tongue.

My link to this world is very weak, the Astral told her, his voice booming within her skull, and yet gentle. It crackled and whipped from the sheer energy the being possessed.

Luna saw bolts of lightning going over their guide's hair. The smell of roasting flesh made her gag.

"Is he paying the price of the covenant?" Prompto asked.

He is. Knowing Bahamut, the men travelling with you will need more strength to appease Them…

Luna's eyes widened at the knowledge. Ramuh was already planning ahead for her next covenant. And it was true that pushing Noctis and Prompto into another of those godly pact right away had been risky and stupid. But to think she was submitting yet another person to this horrible toll. Wasn't this man too old to pay with his life force for her to gain the full power to cleanse their Star?

Shaking her head, she stood on her own, taking a step forward

"Luna, if you walk in the water…" Cindy and Noctis warned her, their words mixing together.

"I'll be fine," she declared.

Another step, the nameless man whining as the bolts of energy drew a cage around him.

Luna felt the magic in her veins as she extended one arm to touch the charred bark, more words pouring into her very brain.

Each of these gods had a presence, a persona capable of assaulting her every sense.

Shiva was cold and direct, while Leviathan was harsh and controlling. Titan was immense and yet soft, more soil than rock in his magic. And Ramuh… Ramuh was wise but eclectic, an idea within each spark and a maze to hold them together as he rushed and abruptly stopped through everything. Moving, thinking, existing.

Which was why he'd needed an anchor, Luna turning her golden eyes toward the man without a name. She didn't blink as the lightning raged around her, bright, red and blue mixing into purple and dissipating into her skin. There was no pain, a mere pinching sensation in her chest, but then she saw the white hair turning shorter. The face turning smoother while the man's eyes remained revulsed through the violent sparks.

The anchor was Cor Leonis himself. Her mentor. Her second father. And now, he was the third man shedding some of his life for her sake, while her heart ached. She rushed to his side, the others taken aback by the speed at which she moved.

It literally looked like she'd zapped from one spot to another.

"Cor," she called to him, catching his shoulders and sinking to her knees, her light pouring out.

Noctis dug his nails into his palms deep enough to draw blood, holding back on pulling her away from the man. Prompto simply stood and stare, wondering what would happen with the next Astral. Cause there was still at least one if he wasn't mistaken, right? Ignis and Aranea were just as helpless, while Cindy pushed them aside to make her way up to Luna. Out of them all, she was the one who also knew the Immortal and just how much he meant to her best friend.

"Leonis, you old bastard, if you croak here…!"

"I won't let him!" Luna cut her off instantly. "You hear me, Cor, I won't let you just…"

He was still shaking, his body trying to pull back to keep the rocking motion going, Luna's hands holding him steady. She could still feel the stench of burnt flesh, yet she couldn't see where it was, her light rushing after lightning, her magic eclipsed by Ramuh's.

Let him pay. He asked me to make sure you wouldn't be hurt by me, child, Ramuh insisted.

"No, no, Cor, snap out of it, please, it's just one Astral, you can't…"

A cough racked up Cor's throat, the man hissing as smoke rose from his tattered clothes. His eyes blinked, wet with tears of pain, wide with confusion.

"Luna…freya?" he managed.

"Oh…"

"What the fuck did you do, Leonis!" Cindy asked.

"I… The Fulgurian needed a… messenger… I think that…" he leaned forward, Cindy catching him with her good hand to help Luna balancing him upward. "How long did it… Luna, you really did convince the Astrals…"

"Cor, you've… What happened to you?"

"I'll explain, but… If I can muster some of my memories, they took a lot."

"Why?"

"Well, mortals aren't supposed to link this realm with theirs."

"But you're not mortal!" Luna finally snapped.

"Ow, ow, I fucking am, young lady. Gilgamesh is no god, just a well-guarded ghost. To think it was supposed to be you enduring this pain."

His resentment for the gods was obvious, but then Luna's magic finally worked and it soothed the man into appraising things fully once more. He took a better look at her, his hands two tightly melded by the lightning to properly hold her shoulders. His eyes still went to her belly, to the fatigue written all over her face.

"Little warrior," he started, his voice still rough, but genuine fondness transpiring. "You're having a baby…" he blinked at her, touched her chin with one hand, concern laced with the next words. "Waging a war and having a baby… I've always told you, plan ahead and don't…"

"Don't burn any step. I'm fine, I'm not the one who was jumping on a car roof, half high with Astral magic and…"

"I'm not doing that right now, am I?"

He seemed to take notice of the rest of them, standing back awkwardly, his eyebrows twitching as he realized just how more vulnerable he was.

"You're alive," Luna marvelled, wrapping her arms around him.

It was a strange hug with her pregnant belly taking space, the Immortal letting out a weak gasp of pain, raising weak arms to hold her back.

"Always said I'd train every last one of the Fleuret kids, didn't I?"

She laughed and cried at that, gripping onto him with even more strength, as though he could vanish again. Noctis couldn't swallow down the knot in his throat. His Luna had worked so hard to fight against the empire on her own. Without her parents. Without her mentor. Now she was getting him back at least, but in such a weak state…

We'll make this right, Luna.

To be continued…

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There will be fluff and hurt/comfort in next chapter, since it's wildly needed on both Noctis and Luna's parts, but I'll try to keep the story moving forward, because we're almost there while keeping a pace that I feel adequate for this. What do you think of this way to use Cor? I wanted to do things differently and I'm trying to tie together some threads of intrigues I planted a while ago regarding this story (Cor going off chasing Astrals from what Nyx told Luna forever ago).

As always, review gives me life. 😊