Children of the Dawn

It was simple maths that such a young phoenix couldn't hope to match a millennia old Basilisk,. Thus, Harry Potter went up in flames, and Lumen Stella Proelia was reborn in them. Fate's plans were saved, but the method in which would be drastically changed. Slash. Prompto/Harry, Luna/Noctis, Cindy/Aranea

WARNING: I played with the Royal Edition, and recently too, I'm told that this means I've been privy to things that other players have not been, so there may be some spoilers or differences in my writing some scenes because of that.

000

Chapter Six

No less than five minutes on the road, and Lumen was already regretting the stupid, foolhardy challenge. Ignis was already suffering from severe sleep deprivation and caffeine over-dose, his reflexes were going to be shot. What did he think he was playing at making such a stupid challenge? Racing from one side of Duscae to fucking Cleigne. It was dangerous, reckless, and if anything happened it would have been entirely his fault for goading the older man into it.

He groaned slouching in his saddle, feeling his face beginning to burn.

He knew exactly why he had challenged them to that race, he wanted to look cool in front of the cute blond guy. He had just been so... bright. And cheerful. And cool. And stylish. Lumen felt frumpy and dirty and really awkward around him, and his very clean and cultured friends. So much so that he found it hard to talk to them outside the Hunt, but Prompto... he was bouncy and cheerful and just... easy to talk to.

He sighed and nudged Nimbus back towards the road, resigning himself to losing the stupid race in order to make sure the group made it to Lestallum without getting into trouble.

Or so he planned, until his phone pinged. A beacon going off at Secullam Pass, hunter by the name of Dali.

Glancing down at the phone he had slotted into his saddle under a clear plastic cover he cursed.

"About face!" he commanded, pulling on Nimbus' reins, the chocobo warking as she did so. He dug his heels into her sides and she shot off back the way they came, streaking across the road as they headed for the south side of the Disc of Cauthess, bolting in front of the very car they had been racing to Lestallum without a backwards glance. He would cut around the south-side, and then straight through Saxham farms.

Gladio huffed as they watched the young man's retreating tailfeathers, "Looks like we won't be having that race," he decided as Prompto practically stood in his chair to get some better photographs.

Noct grimaced, "Do you think we should follow?" he asked anxiously, "I mean, if he's gone haring off like that, then it means someone's hurt, right?"

"I'm sure they'll be fine, Noct," Ignis assured him, sipping his second can of ebony since they left the chocobo outpost. "While I can't say much for his personal hygiene, Lumen Proelia seems to be highly competent and a well respected rescue operative. Likely as not, we may very well get in his way if we were to attempt aid."

"We managed well enough against that Behemoth though," the Prince objected.

"That's true," Gladio agreed lazily, half of him was vibrating with the need to chase the kid – he didn't want to let a potential Royal out of his sight like that, but the kid had been doing this work for years according to Prompto, and he was good at it. Not to mention, he was very clearly strong. Despite only coming up to Gladio's shoulder, the kid had muscle, and not an awful lot of scarring either. He was fast too, and well equipped with weapons and curatives. "Hey, Prompto, what do you know about the Search and Rescue process?" he found himself asking.

"Huh? Oh!" he stowed his camera away and sat back down on his knees, hanging over his chair to talk to them. "Well, when people get their Hunter tags, they also get the beacons and download the phone-apps. He explained on the radio that when someone sets a beacon off, it pings his phone with their location, and gives him info on what Hunt they accepted. Then he goes and gets 'em."

"No hunting?" Noct asked curiously.

Prompto shook his head, "Naw, he was pretty firm on that. His job is to get your ass outta there and healed up, he's not going to do the work for you. He's also not old enough to get a Hunter licence himself, or he wasn't when he did the show. Dunno about now."

"We shall simply have to wait for him in Lestallum, and question the Marshal if he arrives first," Ignis announced, closing the cover on the discussion.

Gladio and Noctis exchanged a glance but settled down all the same. Gladio might have only had a few misgivings, but Noct obviously had more. Digging his book out, he wondered if the Prince had an inkling of the same thing he thought. He heaved a sigh as he opened it up, he wondered how everything would change if he was right. Iggy was going to flip his lid, no doubt about it, mainly because he didn't notice at first glance – not that anyone would blame him given his exhaustion. Prompto would likely be excited on Noct's behalf, congratulating him on finding family. He personally... he wasn't sure. He had his hands full being Noct's Shield, he wasn't sure how he was going to be able to protect another Royal, especially one that already had a fairly dangerous job that he would absolutely not be giving up any time soon. Noctis though... that was going to be a thorny issue. Had it been before the Fall, he would have been ecstatic to find a sibling, entirely welcoming, especially as it would be someone who wouldn't treat him with that same careful difference that everyone else did (save Prompto). Now though... Given the Fall, his father's death, he was going to be sensitive to anything relating to it. Not to mention the mess that likely would have resulted in said brother's conception – there was, what, two years between them? His mother died around then. Had Proelia's mother taken advantage of the King using her position as a Crownsguard? Or had it just been comfort, plain and simple? If so, why had she run?

He pretended to read, unable to get his attention to even focus on his book as his brain ran in repeating circles. He had been five back then, and all he remembered was his father being angry. Perhaps they had known about her? But for whatever reason, let her go? Did she blackmail them, hold her son hostage, or had she just vanished, successfully given them the slip and fled the Crown City where no one could find her?

The long drive passed in silence as they followed along the Disc of Cauthess and up over the tip of Taelpar Crag. They didn't see any sign of Proelia as they drove, and Prompto was definitely looking, practically vibrating in place with a chance to catch the Search and Rescue in action.

The open bridge/tunnel that hugged the edge of the cliff-face as they drove in gave them an absolutely breath-taking view, enough so that he tucked his book away to join the kiddies in their gaping.

And then they burst out into beautiful golden sunlight, and immediately into the heart of Lestallum.

"Wow!" Prompto exclaimed, almost blinded by light.

"Nice," Gladio agreed, catching sight of a few very nice young ladies up ahead.

"This place is pretty big," Noct said with a grin as he sat up straight to look around. Big compared to everything else they'd seen since leaving Insomnia at any rate.

"Haven't enoyed the city life in a while," Gladio agreed, wondering if they had any nightclubs around here. Once he'd checked on Iris, made sure she was alright, would he consider exploring around, maybe try to find some more pleasant company than present to enjoy an evening.

Prompto bounced in his seat, camera plastered to his face, "They've even got a cable car!" he yelped excitedly. Insomnia hadn't used them in over fifty years, it was like seeing an ancient relic in reality.

Ignis hummed, "I'd like to see where it leads," he admitted agreeably, the massive history dork, as they went down a small incline into a carpark.

Noct groaned as they killed the engine, and climbed out. "It's getting hot out here," he complained now that they no longer had the rushing wind to take the sting of the heat from the sun.

"Just need to pull in somewhere cool," the Shield pointed out as he too climbed out.

Noct grumbled an agreement, getting out of Ignis's way as his retainer got out of the car, knees popping as he did so. Specs looked wrecked, no doubt about it. Thank the Six for Prompto though, he took one look at their driver and immediately asked if there was a chance of a decent room for the night – phrasing it in regards to his own comfort, than concern for Iggy's, who would have gotten stiff and unhappy if he thought the others were displeased with his performance.

"Yes. I'm certain we can secure... suitable accommodations nearby," he admitted with a slight hesitation. Despite the many days of camping, he hadn't lost his slight distaste for 'slumming' it, so to speak.

It was incredibly hot as they made their through the narrow cluttered streets of Lestallum, the shadows providing some much needed relief from the sun, but killing what little breeze there was, leaving the air thick and stuffy. It might have only been late afternoon, but evening would be encroaching soon, and Ignis needed sleep as far as the rest of them were concerned. They asked around, and quickly found their way to the local hotel, a nice middle-rung place that probably classed as fancy for out here but would have probably only gained two or three stars back in the Crown City.

And then the ground shook.

Pain blossomed behind Noct's eyes, even as he heard Prompto yelp behind him. It felt like everything was ringing, his vision whiting out, Gladio's voice rumbling in his ears as he squeezed his eyes shut, something...

he could see something behind his eyes.

A single eye, inhuman, coppery-gold, glaring at him as something, images, flickered around it – he couldn't pay them any attention though, he couldn't look away from that baleful glare.

He groaned, feeling as though someone had lodged an ice-spike in the front of his head, right down behind his eyes.

"What's wrong?" Ignis asked, immediately noticing as always, no matter how tired he was.

"My head just started throbbing," he dismissed, not about to tell them about seeing something glaring angrily at him when he closed his eyes. The last thing he needed to deal with were doubts about his mental health, and all the fussing and hovering that would follow if they believed it were a stress related reaction.

"You alright?" Prompto asked gently, his face twisted in concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he lied before gesturing towards the hotel. Headaches like this could only be resolved with a nap in his experience. Looked like both he and Ignis would be getting an early night tonight.

The group made their way into the hotel, Gladio pulling his phone out to text his sister while the others got all their check-in details handled (under Prompto's name as it was one of the ones that the Empire wouldn't be looking for).

"Gladdy!" a girl's voice exclaimed from the stairwell.

Gladio breathed a sigh of relief, "Iris," he greeted, watching his fifteen year old sister rush down the stairs to them. She looked whole, healthy, and clean. No sign of injuries or bruises, or even missed meals.

"Look at you guys, holding your own out there," she said as she made her way over, giving Noct a sweet smile as she did so. If it were any other guy than his Prince, Gladio would have done something about his baby sister's puppy-crush, but he trusted Noct.

Prompto laughed, the two of them had always gotten along whenever Gladio had brought the gang over to his place. Prompto tried to include Iris in their stupid antics so she wouldn't feel left out in her own home, the two had built quite the friendship. "What can I say?" he laughed, before giving her a quick check up and down, "You look good," he decided, relief colouring his voice.

Iris grinned at him, her eyes a little tight, "All things considered," she said mirthfully. "You guys are staying here, right?" she asked, her eyes flickering between Gladio and Noctis eagerly.

"That's the plan," Ignis agreed.

She was barely holding it together. Gladio's mouth tasted vinegary and tangy, "When you have time, we have catching up to do." She had been there. During the Fall. She had seen the Niff ships raise their city to the ground. And right now, she was holding her wrist tightly, smiling at them in that horrible strained way that was a hundred percent fake, but still relieved, but so close to breaking. They were in hiding, he realised, all of them. And she was trying so hard to pretend that she wasn't a refugee of Insomnia – because the Empire would be on them in seconds if they knew.

"Sure!"

000

Lumen rode into Lestallum well after dark, bruised, hungry, and tired.

He waved to a few of the ladies who called to him by name, chuckling and shaking his head when a few offered to buy him dinner. He asked where Holly was, and got his usual brand of heckling from the boisterous women until one of them finally gave him the info he wanted. Swinging off Nimbus' back, he lead his favourite girl through the back-streets, greeting a few people as he passed, stopping to let a few kids pet his girl who quite happily let the clever little fingers scritch her in all her favourite places, and finally reached the little alcove that Holly and Dave had fixed up for Nimbus's use while they were in Lestallum. It was just a small cut out of a wall where once there had been pipes, but that line had gone defunct so Holly had ripped them out, and stuffed it with straw and affixed a gate to it. It was a tight squeeze, but there was enough room for Nimbus to curl up, and if he were tired enough, he too could sleep in there if he didn't want to disturb Holly.

But right now, he wanted a shower more than he didn't want to disturb his step-mother (she'd finally worn Dave down enough to make things official between them, Lumen had jokingly called her mum, and nearly gotten the stuffing hugged out of him for it. He liked to think his real mother would have liked Holly, he definitely did).

He let himself into Holly's place, she wasn't home yet, so he helped himself to the fridge – grabbing several ingredients and whipping up a quick veggie stir-fry with chocobean sauce. He dished up a plate for her for when she got in and tucked it into the oven so it would stay warm, wolfed his meal down, washed the dishes up and put them aside to dry before writing her a note telling her about the food before going to get a shower.

Today had been a close call, Dali would need a few months to recover properly, but he would live, all limbs intact at that, small mercies. Lumen had thrown enough gil at the Saxham outpost motel to put him up for a few days and sent a message up to Meldacio to come and pick him up. A few hunters would be around to collect him and take him back to his own home soon enough, and the money he'd given the hotel would be put into the pot for the next poor soul that came by to stay when they didn't have the gil for it. Lumen very firmly believed in paying it forward out here. His business was in saving lives, and through that he had an understanding with the local hotels and motels. Amazingly other people had also taken to following his lead, paying forward an extra day and asking the staff to put it in the kitty for someone in need further down the line.

Out of the shower, he towelled himself off, combed and clipped his long hair up out of the way, and cleaned up a few bits and bobs here and there. He had an open invitation to stay at the Leville, he'd saved the owner's son a while back and he had been so grateful he'd told all of his staff that Lumen and his chocobo would never have to pay for lodgings, but for Lumen, he had just been doing his job and didn't feel comfortable taking advantage of that. So he often stayed with Holly instead because her only demand was that he keep tidy, and pick up after himself. The little Harry voice in his head poked him into doing a little bit more though – which was how he found himself doing her dishes and laundry for her whenever he stayed over. There had been no complaints yet, and she got him moogleberry cheesecake as a thank you, so win-win.

He gave passing thought to popping his head into the Leville to talk to Prompto and Noctis, they said they would be calling this 'Cor' guy to come and meet him, and it made his stomach twist and knot at the thought, both in a mixture of excitement and trepidation. He didn't want Holly or Dave to think he wasn't grateful, or that he didn't love them, and yes it was a stupid fear to have, but it lingered in the back of his mind all the same as he summoned his pillow and blankets from the Crystalline and got himself comfortable on the couch.

His mother had called his father a soft coward, too clean, and clueless about life out here. When the others heard this they said it was absolutely not true, that Cor was the coolest and the strongest.

Lumen would withhold judgement until he met the man. That was fair, right?

000

Annoyingly, no matter how late he rode in the night before, he would always wake with the dawn, no matter how little sleep he got. He'd slept the sleep of the dead, not even Holly coming in last night had woke him, and he knew she had because the oven had been turned off, and her stir-fry had been eaten, the dirty place left to soak in the sink. She was also fast asleep in her arm-chair to the left of him, the TV on with the volume turned down low showing some kind of cartoon about a chibi-malboro.

He stretched unhappily, feeling his joints popping before he got up and waddled to the bathroom to sort himself out.

Business done, he carefully covered Holly with his blankets and tucked a pillow under her head so she wouldn't get such an awful crick in her neck, before he got changed and slipped out to go and feed Nimbus.

The children were there, as expected, holding greens just outside of her reach, shrieking and giggling when she tried to snap them away only to have them pulled away as the children thought their fingers were about to be eaten. Thankfully she knew it was a game, and that he would be coming to feed her soon, so she wasn't getting worked up like a regular chocobo would have at constantly being denied food and being screamed at.

He laughed and caught one of the little rascals, tickling him into submission, letting the others hang off his back and arms as he stood up, all of them dangling off of him with yells and laughter. He showed them how to feed her without losing any fingers in the process, the children squeaking happily in excitement as she daintily took the greens from their open palms and swallowed them down before nosing them for more. Only once every handful had gone, and every child had their chance to feed her, did he drag the two buckets over – one of feed, the other of water.

Then he went and got breakfast of his own.

He visited Andrew's skewer stand, gleefully digging into the grilled Chickatrice skewers as they chattered about things changing in the local area. His girlfriend had proposed to him last week, they were planning to have a winter wedding when it wasn't so hot, then having their honeymoon down in Galdin Quay, just a weekend, they couldn't afford any more. A Niff base had popped up not too far away at Coernix Bypass though, best he be careful around there as everyone knew daemon activity seemed to pick up where-ever there were Magitek troopers in large numbers.

Eventually he found himself outside the Leville, once again surrounded by children, skewer in his mouth as he showed them how to do cat's cradle with a length of string.

That was the scene Cor walked into after receiving a text from his Prince asking for a meeting in Lestallum, saying they needed to talk urgently about an issue nineteen years ago. He stopped in his tracks watching as the young man carefully allowed the little boy in front of him to collect the string from his fingers, and then pulled a single section – the whole thing snapping shut and tying the boy's hands together.

Immediately all the children were shrieking and laughing as the little boy howled in offence.

The hair was the wrong colour, but the style was painfully nostalgic.

He had only ever known one woman with eyes that colour, and staring at him now, he could see her in his face, the young man who laughed freely and loudly as he was tackled by children, letting them push him down and climb on top of him. He then caught all three of the little hellions on top of him and rolled over, commenting loudly on how uncomfortable this mattress was as he pinned the three down under his arms – being careful not to crush them as the three wriggled, screaming and laughing.

That was the scene that Prompto, Ignis, Gladio, Jared, and Talcott stepped out to witness.

Prompto laughed and whipped his camera out, bouncing forward to take photos of the gleefully wriggling pile on the floor, Talcott laughed brightly but didn't join in, his Grandfather's hand tight on his shoulder, the over over the man's mouth as he stared in shock at the young man in front of him. Gladio folded his arms, grimacing a little as he looked to Ignis who had stopped, frozen, and then paled as he choked on his coffee.

"Gladio," the man coughed as he cleared his throat, voice faint as he took in the scene.

"Your eyes ain't playin' tricks on ya, Iggy," the Shield assured him.

"How could I have missed – " he trailed off faintly as the young man sat up, snickering gleefully as he released the children who immediately ran off laughing screaming about how he was going to catch them.

Gladio shrugged a shoulder, "You were exhausted. The other two have no excuse," he grunted as he made his way down the stairs. "How was last night?" he asked the chocobo rider as he got to his feet, not even bothering to dust himself off as he grinned up at him. Dirty kid, Iggy was going to have his hands full with this one, Gladio decided with a huff of amusement.

"He'll live," the kid declared happily, "Might be a while before he's fighting fit, but I got there in time," he said, clenching a fist in determination, green eyes bright.

Gladio nodded, and held a fist out in congratulations. The kid laughed and cheerfully bumped fists with him. Yep. No matter how hard they tried, there was little to no chance of their ever getting him to stop his Search and Rescue operations, and in all honesty? Gladio kind of didn't want to. All the Royals had to serve in the military at some point, usually they took the time during their pilgrimage to the tombs to do so, it was well known that unless you served and visited the tombs of your forebears that a King, or Queen, could not ascend to the throne. The Ring of the Lucii would not accept them. Lumen may not have been military, but he was performing a service to the people, hell, if you looked at it in the context that the Hunters were a separate branch of the Crownsguard then he was technically in service.

He spotted Cor lurking in the shadows of a near-by building then, and glanced over at Ignis meaningfully.

Freshly washed and rested, the retainer was far more on point and noticed immediately, casually sliding himself into the conversation without a ripple, "Would you like to join us, Lumen?" he asked kindly, smiling at the young man, "I believe you are the closest we have to a local at hand."

The young man grinned, "Sure. But I imagine the sights are a bit of a secondary priority compared to the markets?" he asked slyly.

Ignis straightened, interested despite himself, "Markets, you say?" he asked intently.

"Oh yes," Jared interjected calmly as he hobbled down to join them, Talcott at his side. "Lestallum is famous for its produce markets."

Lumen beamed at him, "You're well informed, sir."

Jared smiled kindly, "Now, now, there's no need to 'sir' me. Jared Hester, and my grandson Talcott, a pleasure to meet you," he introduced, gently nudging his wide-eyed son forward.

"Hi, I'm Lumen, it's nice to meet you too," he greeted, squatting down to grin at the young boy.

"You look like the Prince," the ten year old blurted before turning pink and ducking down behind his grandfather.

Lumen laughed, "Somehow I think he's probably a lot cleaner than I am, and with better manners!"

"You'd be astonished," Ignis muttered under his breath, making Gladio snort hard enough to hurt. Noctis had been an absolute nightmare to get into the bath as a child, even Gladio had heard of the epic battles between nursemaids and royalty, and the resulting flooding.

"Well, you guys go on ahead. I think I'll wait for the others," he announced with a lazy stretch.

Talcott opened his mouth to say that this had been his idea, only for Ignis to sweep him up off his feet, turning the objection into a startled yelp and then laughter as he was slung over the retainer's shoulder like a sack of potatos.

Gladio waited until the group had left, Lumen leading the way and telling them about the markets, Talcott laughing and wriggling on Iggy's shoulder, acting his age for once in a long time. It took until the group were entirely out of sight before his Marshal peeled himself out of the shadows to approach.

"Tell me I'm bein' paranoid," Gladio challenged him, canting a sideways glance in the older man's direction.

Cor sighed deeply, "I wish I could."

Gladio clenched his fists, "So the King really had an affair on his wife's death bed?" he demanded, the words scraping out of his mouth like broken glass.

Icy blue eyes glared at him, before the man sighed deeply, "It was... more complicated than that. Is Noctis still upstairs?" he asked, and as much as Gladio wanted to refuse because this was the last thing Noct needed dropped onto his lap, he still deserved to know. He nodded, and the Marshal gestured to one of the tables in front of the Leville, "Then we wait."

0000

BOOM. Chapter done.

Not everything is as it seems, but yes, Lumen is in fact Noct's younger brother – it hasn't been a double fake out, I promise.