"Black Snow"

rorudesu-chan

.::.::.::.

A silhouette-like Being looks over a ruined kingdom from a far-off distance.

A figure in a dark cloak watches this Being from behind.

"Have you come to take me away already?" The Being asks. But the figure does not answer.

Enter the goddess. She is clad in green, blue, black, and white satin robes. Her snow-white hair flowed past her waist. On top of her head, a crown of small, silver skulls lay. "It is time," she says softly. Her voice is akin to the sound of wind chimes playing when a breeze blows by.

"There's someone I have to see for one last time," replies the Being. He is but a mere soul now. He wants to travel to the world of the living – for he is already there in the world of the dead – and say not a farewell to that 'someone,' but an 'I'll see you later.' He would communicate not by words, but by presence.

However, this desire of his is most unfortunate for it could not be done. His soul felt hesitation, thus convincing him to turn away from the gates and seek the deity.

"Before all this happened," he starts. "When I first arrived here, you mentioned that there was a l'Cie who came here before me… Who was it?"

The goddess steps aside, her bare feet showing from underneath her robes. She cups a hand in midair, and makes a push backwards. A rectangular frame forms and through it, a marble path walk lined with lush green trees, leading straight to a dark, medieval-style castle, is seen.

"There is no need for you to return to that world now," she beckons. "Come. And sleep, for awhile."

The goddess Etro did not answer the question directly. But this soul knew what her words meant. The death of that l'Cie pained him. But with this sorrow comes his understanding. He nods, and enters the door. He must rest – until he is called forth again.

.::.::.::.

"You have to give back the crystal. And save everyone… and live on… I… Believe in you."

Her words kept ringing in his head as though they were the heartbeats that had been keeping him alive throughout the battle. Noctis, the Caelum Prince, was in the middle of a fight with Etro when he recalled his last moments with Stella, the girl who sacrificed her life so he could live up to the moment when he would be able to return the crystal. But when he did, Etro crushed the sacred stone right before his eyes. He was very much surprised; he could not fathom a reasonable explanation as to why the goddess did what she did.

The crystal. It was the gift of Etro to the first humans. It was the artifact that had been protected by Noctis' family for generations – a source of power that many desired, yet only the Caelum clan was fortunately bestowed with. And it was not until the recent outbreak of a war that had rendered all the hard work and effort of Noctis' ancestors, useless. Niveus, the leader of the enemy kingdom of Niflheim, stole the crystal. It took a year before he could be captured, not by the Caelum Prince, but by his enemy, Stella of Tenebrae – and be killed, not by any earthly weapons, but by his overwhelming desire for power that had turned him into a crystal statue.

So when the goddess herself shattered her own treasure, a torrent of emotions came over Noctis. Confusion was the most powerful of all. His father-king died trying to prevent Niveus from stealing the crystal. Stella died wanting to keep him alive as long as possible, so he could return the crystal. The crystal. It was all for it. And yet, Etro did not want it back.

Instead of explaining her part to the prince, the goddess engaged in a combat with him. But it was not her who battled Noctis. The 'Cies' – l'Cies who had failed the mission given to them by Etro, and were now serving her for eternity – obliged to her bidding and fought with no mercy. Noctis summoned every weapon he had – swords, lances, guns, and even Stella's rapier – to defend himself against the army of half-dead humans, cloaked in dark robes. He used magic from every element known to mankind, however they were not enough. The Cies were even able to match his speed, for his every turn had him either blocking an attack with equal strength or receiving it wide open. He was finally thrown to the ground as a result of his own miscalculation when Noctis tried to perform a combo magic attack with his sword, but was counterattacked with a double combo instead. The Cies held him down on his arms and legs so he could not escape. And when this finally happened, Etro stepped down from her throne, tired of watching and waiting for the endless fight to come to an end.

She looked down at Noctis. "Humans cannot change themselves," she said. "That is why they must be destroyed."

"Why do you hate humanity so much?" he barked. He was struggling to free himself from the Cies' tight hold. One of them threatened Noctis with a scythe on his neck, should he succeed in breaking loose.

"Foolish," Etro replied calmly. "Why would I hate what I created? I would rather have them destroyed by my own hands, than have Buniberzei do it."

"Bu-ni-ber-zei," he repeated the name, encountering it for the first time.

"I can see that you do not know who Buniberzei is."

Finally, Noctis heard an explanation come out from the goddess. Buniberzei was a god, the son of Muin, who is the creator of the universe. According to Etro, she was one of the fal'Cies, Buniberzei's creations whom he designed to serve and obey his will, similar to her relationship with the Cies. But when Buniberzei turned himself into a crystal and went into a deep sleep, Etro remembered Muin's final words to her before she herself disappeared from the universe. Etro did not repeat what Muin had told her, however it was implied that Buniberzei would destroy humanity once he discovers its existence. Noctis still could not understand why the god would do such destruction, since he was also a creator like Etro. But what he knew was that the fal'Cie had to make sure that Buniberzei did not rise from his sleep.

"However, I have failed my mission," said Etro. "Slowly, Buniberzei is waking up. And it will not be long before he regains his true form. He will soon realize that there are creatures that are weak and do not live for very long and would rather create havoc instead of harmony. Buniberzei will destroy the humans. Muin is gone. I am less than a god. No one can stop him."

"But I can stop you," replied Noctis; determination evident in his voice. "What must humans do to change your mind from destroying our kind, Etro?"

"Change my mind? It is the humans who must do the changing. You cannot even change yourself, mighty savior." The goddess mocked. "I can see in your heart that you still have not let go of your father's death. There are still traces of revenge left in you, even if you already know that his murderer is dead. What change did you create there, dear prince?"

"His death did change me, Etro!" Noctis managed to pull his right arm free, and he summoned his machine gun which he immediately used to shoot the Cies who were holding him down. He teleported himself to a safe spot as the Cies gathered quickly around the fal'Cie to guard her.

"If it was not for his sacrifice," he exclaimed as he summoned his sword to fend himself from the other Cies who were coming after him. "I wouldn't be able to—" he clashed with the servants as he spoke. "—to accept my duty as the protector of your crystal!" He raised his left arm and set the Cies surrounding him, on fire. He jumped away and continued, "I was able to change even more when I met her."

Noctis suddenly appeared before one of the servants who were protecting Etro. He impaled the Cie with a lance, and kicked him away. But more Cies stepped forward to keep him from approaching their creator.

"Because she helped me accept my fate as a l'Cie!" Noctis lunged head-on, summoning a golden rapier, his only tangible memorabilia of her. "You wanted me to meet her, didn't you, Etro?" He performed a lightning attack that electrocuted the Cies, before slicing each one of them with cruel agility. "You wanted me to meet Stella because you wanted me—" Suddenly, a Cie from out of nowhere, hit him with a crystal mace. He grunted painfully as the perpetrator weighed him down on his back. He could not escape again.

Etro approached and bent down. "And did you?" She held him on the chin with her ice-cold fingers. "Did you change your heart, and accept your fate as one of my l'Cies?"

"Yeah," he smirked. "Like I said, I've come to save humankind. Even if it means stopping the very person who gave me that mission."

Etro looked deeply into his cobalt blue eyes. She smiled faintly. "Perhaps… I did not observe you more carefully." As she stood up, the Cies slowly vanished one by one. Noctis felt the weight of his opponent on his back disappear. He had won.

But the fal'Cie Etro did not let him go just yet. In order to prevent the god Buniberzei from harming the humans, she implored his assistance. Noctis' soul would remain in Etro's kingdom, while his body would be hidden away in a safe place, somewhere in the world of the living, where no one – unless she willed it so – could find it.

"It takes a century in human time for Buniberzei to wake up and regain his true form," the fal'Cie said. "But a century is only a number of days for gods and fal'Cies. Rest, my dear l'Cie, until that moment comes when your soul shall return to the world of the living, to defeat Buniberzei, son of Muin whom I have failed."

Etro added further that after he does defeat the god and save mankind, Noctis would be able to live a normal life again, though things would never be the way they once were. The fal'Cie hoped that he would still be able to find a way to be happy with the fate that he had chosen to accept and fight alongside with.

.::.::.::.

A trail of smoke rises. Fire crackles. Red-orange flames slowly lick flesh to a burnt crisp, leaving hills of grey ashes on the ground. A ritual that burns the body as the soul is set free from its earthly abode.

A man with an untidy, blonde hair approaches. The stench of burning corpse irritates him as he pulls out a piece of cloth from his pocket, and covers half of his face with it.

"Ignis, is it done yet? You know we still have to keep looking for him."

A figure emerges from the shadows. He has been watching the cremation process since he first lit the body ablaze. "Almost," he replies.

"Are you even sure he would want this for her? He's not going to be happy if he finds out you just cremated his girlfriend without permission."

"They didn't have that kind of relationship, Prompto." The blonde turns around. "Don't be silly. And besides," The man whom they called, 'Gladiolus,' said as he joined the two of them. "She's dead. What else is he supposed to do with her body?"

"I can think up of a few ways." A smirk flashed in Prompto's face, earning him a hard knock on his skull, courtesy of Gladiolus.

"Anyways," said Gladiolus. "It's been seven days. The soldiers whom we've asked to help us with the search just keep coming back with the same results. You think we should…" his voice trails off. He slams a fist on a nearby concrete wall.

Ignis crosses his arms before his chest, and leans back on a broken pillar. "No. We shouldn't throw in the towel just yet." He looks up at the sky, and sees a million dots twinkling in the wide evening horizon. "He's out there. Somewhere. After all, it's only been seven days."

Somewhere, he tells them. Ignis had never been the one to spout words of comfort. He had always been the one to tell what needed to be done to achieve the best results. He is the master planner, the coolest adviser there is, the guy whom his comrades run to for a battle strategy. But most of all, he is the friend who had always lent a helping hand to the prince. These labels had one denominator in common – Ignis always knew what happened next. But it is different this time. That, Ignis knows. Seven days had passed and still, none of them knows where Noctis is. There's something that I have to finish. And did he? The war was over. But Noctis insisted that the 'real one' has just begun.

The fire soon died out, leaving a heap of grey and black powdery residues. Ignis walks towards the ground which he had dug up to perform the cremation. Behind him, he hears his comrades toss around words of comfort, infusing them with their natural sense of humor.

"He's out there alright, dozing off on the side of a street," Prompto happily bets.

"Or in an abandoned hotel where he thinks no one can ever find him!" Gladiolus laughs.

"That idiot! Wait 'till I get my hands on him!"

"Not if I get mine on him first."

The blonde looks at him. "That's just disgusting, Gladiolus."

"Hey! That's not what I meant!"

He was to blame if ever their hopes of finding Noctis did not come true. He was the one who started comforting them, though he was doubtful himself. As Ignis carefully collects Stella's remains into a clay jar, he pauses to look at his palms. The hot ashes had stained them with black soot, tracing the lines and curves of his two distinct handprints.

Suddenly, a white speck appears on the surface of his palms, but it faded away in an instant. More specks appear, but it also faded away quickly in the warmth of his hands. Ignis tilts his head upwards and saw that it was raining snow. He remembered it was also like this a year ago; winter had just arrived when Noctis' kingdom first declared war on Niflheim. Ignis continues on with his task, hurrying this time, before he mixes the pure, white snow into the jar of black ashes.

Author's Note: When I think of Prompto, I tend to speculate that he's somewhat of a pervert. *heehee* Please review! Constructive criticism is welcome too. Thank you!