#Alata Mederi

[a-world-in-grey]

Sunshine Never Stops au hcs- part 3

part 1 part 2

(for fuck’s sake whERE IS ALL THIS COMING FROM)

-Nyx is in Insomnia when he hears the first reports. Of the base over in Cleigne lighting up like so many Founder’s Day fireworks. Of the fire that burned white, reducing even the stone to charred remains.

-Then the reports from the small team sent to investigate. How every MT and human soldier in the base was found dead; shot, stabbed, beheaded, crushed like tin cans-

-And Caligo Ullder’s head, spiked on an MT’s spear, SCOURGE-SPREADER and BUTCHER written in ash below the late Colonel’s head.

-There are no other clues, leaving the Kingsglaive with nothing but a new opening to push through and the knowledge that someone is very, very angry.

-As angry as Sola is, she doesn’t go on a one-woman war against Niflheim. The three of them have families in Niflheim, and they only have to get caught once. So instead they return to hunting daemons and clearing out the Scourge in Lucis’ outlands.

-Sola stumbles across the first of the Menaces. She knows of three, the knowledge gifted to her by the Oracle years ago when she pulled too deep on the Crystal’s magic. But there could be others, and after she opens the Solheim doors sealing the first daemon (thank you Ifrit of Fire and Knowledge) and kills it with extreme prejudice, Sola, Ravus, and Loqi hunt down the only people who might know how many Menaces there are.

-Ezma Auburnbrie eventually coughs up the locations of the other Menaces, but it takes Sola revealing Ifrit’s Blessing, revealing gold eyes once blue and the golden markings where she held the Holy Fire.

-Sola, Ravus, and Loqi proceed to plan a daemon-killing roadtrip, making detours for other Hunts because the Menaces aren’t going anywhere. Sola enjoys the irony of it - twenty years old and she’s going on a road trip just like Papa did. She wonders if she’ll meet someone like Papa met Mama.

-Sola quickly learns that anything with sleeves longer than her elbows will quickly burn to ash when she uses Ifrit’s Blessing. Thank the Six for the glaive Uncle Ardyn forged her, because it’s survived everything Sola’s put it through. (Including when she had to wedge it between the jaws of a Manxom to keep it from eating her, turning herself into a human version of the Infernian to roast it alive and disintegrating everything on her but her glaive.)

-(On the other hand, Sola can confirm her Shield definitely has hormones. Poor Loqi couldn’t look at her for days without turning bright red.)

-They meet rookie Hunter Selena Ulric when after accepting a Hunt and coming out to find the woman cheerfully spoiling Abyssus. Loqi groans when Sola immediately takes a liking to the Galahdian woman and Selena joins their group.

-Initially only for the next couple Hunts on the way to Lestallum, but Loqi wins the bet with Ravus when in three weeks Selena becomes the third member of Sola’s Retinue and Sola’s Hand. Loqi despairs at having to Braincell for another reckless idiot. Especially because Selena can Braincell but chooses not to. (Ravus stop laughing and help me you bastard-)

-And it’s a good thing that Selena is in on everything, because everything goes to Ifrit’s Pyre when the group takes a Hunt near the Tempering Grounds. The daemons retreat into the Tempering Grounds, and Sola can only scream in horror when Loqi is sent flying by a blow - straight into Gilgamesh’s territory.

-Sola, Selena, and Ravus bulldoze their way through the Trials, and arrive just in time to stop Gilgamesh from taking Loqi’s head off. They then proceed to murder Gilgamesh and Sola sets his remains on fire, just to make sure he never touches any of hers ever again.

-Loqi struck the killing blow, so he gets Genji as a trophy. Loqi is starry-eyed for a week before he decides to send it to Cor as a gift. Sola falls off her chair laughing and Ravus tells Loqi that he’s a little shit.

-(They do it anyway. Sola even makes a postcard that they all sign.)

-The spit-take Cor does when he opens it is legendary. When they get done hyperventilating, Regis and Clarus have no sympathy for Cor, nOW YOU KNOW HOW WE FELT-

-And in between contacting Nyx, Sylva, and Luna (Who did not know what their relatives were getting up to, what do yOU MEAN THEY WENT AND FOUGHT GILGAMESH-) Regis and Cor finally put together the pieces and realize that if Sola’s companions really are Ravus and Loqi, that means Sola’s also Alata Mederi, and the ‘Uncle’ she’s been referring to for the past fifteen years is Niflheim’s High Chancellor. 

Regis proceeds to sit on Cor with Clarus’s help, because if Regis doesn’t get to run off to Niflheim and murder the High Chancellor, NEITHER DOES COR.

So busy with Cor, none of them think to keep an eye on Aulea.

[a-world-in-grey]

@secret-engima

Thinking about Sola’s Holy Fire in the Sunshine au, and-

-The first time the white flames make a public appearance is when Sola, Ravus, and Loqi demolish the Niflheim outpost and kill Caligo. There aren’t any survivors to report what exactly happened, but Sola’s destruction is in no way subtle. 

-Niflheim wonders if Regis snuck out of Insomnia to burn the place down. They hope it is, because they at least they can keep an eye on the king, but if the Kingsglaive have come up with a new fire spell that can do that... well, they might have problems.

-Lucis on the other hand is equally baffled, if not as worried. Oh, there’s some worry, given there’s an unknown person or group running around capable of such destruction. Because the fires burned for three days straight, and they burned white until they sputtered out into ashes.

-The Galahdians are a Dread. Because white fire? 

-Galahd has Tales of white fire. There are Reasons why the color white means Purity, specifically the purity of destroying everything, of leaving nothing but ash. 

-There is a Reason Galahdian art always depicts Ifrit in white.

-The next time Sola blatantly uses the Holy Fire is to heal Titus. Titus knows the process will involve fire, Sola briefed him on how the process worked beforehand so she didn’t have to worry about Titus trying to kill her in a panic. 

-But the glaives do not know, and so those watching the procedure - taking place in an outdoor courtyard of the Glaive outpost because fire - have no warning when Sola places a hand on Titus’ chest and fire roars.

-White fire, in a firestorm ten feet wide and twenty high, so bright and hot that those watching have to turn and shield their faces. Even as panic sends adrenaline through their veins and their hearts to their throats, because that’s their Captain in the middle of that!

-Several glaives have to hold their more reckless fellows back. Crowe and Libertus nearly tackle Nyx to keep him from leaping into the blaze. They wait, ten seconds, twenty, thirty, a full minute. Thinking of the fire that destroyed the Niflheim base and left nothing behind.

-Thinking of all the Tales of Ifrit and his Blessed.

-The fire dies, and... Captain is there. On his knees, clothing turned to ash, and still upright only due to Sola holding him up even as she tugs the blanket she’d dropped near her feet over Titus’ shivering form. The medics - Ioke Bellum and Delilah Ornata - surge forward. Ioke takes Titus’s weight and guides him back inside while Delilah lingers to speak with Sola.

-Not all the glaives watching swarm Sola once Delilah leaves. Only because the woman nominally in charge of their regiment - Pelagia Furia and even Tredd doesn’t piss off that particular relative - levels a glare at them and barks that the show’s over.

-Tredd and Nyx are able to near Sola, and Nyx immediately demands answers. Namely, what the Pyre was that?! Sola tiredly tells them that it was a Pyre. Tredd helps Loqi nudge Sola to the infirmary as well, because Tredd’s well aware of what magical exhaustion looks like, and clearly whatever Sola did took a chunk out of her. Selena and Ravus stay behind to answer Nyx and Luche’s questions.

-The next time the Holy Fire comes out is against Titan, which means all of the Kingsglaive know what Sola and Co were doing the moment the reports come in the day after. Tredd and Nyx want to strangle Sola and Selena respectively. Luche and Libertus have no sympathy for their Idiots.

-Later, Tredd asks why Titus lost his clothes while Sola didn’t. And Sola explains that the Holy Fire destroys everything that the person doesn’t consider part of them. It’s where the legends of Solheim burning people alive come from. People who were sick would step into the Pyres, and since diseases are always considered as ‘not me’, the Holy Fire would destroy the disease while leaving the person unscathed. Clothes? Not so much.

-Tredd says that explains Titus. Not Sola. Sola rolls her eyes and says that she makes almost all of her clothes. When you create something, you put part of yourself into that creation. Therefore, everything she makes is part of herself. Tredd eyes Sola and says that is the dumbest technicality he’s ever heard. Sola rolls her eyes and says that it’s not a technicality. Words alone aren’t enough - magic is will and belief. Sola had to truly believe it before she stopped burning her clothes. It’s why she took her boots off - she buys those. And she already had to replace her leather jacket. And she liked that jacket, dammit.

[a-world-in-grey]

Sunshine Never Stops au hcs

Because this au is All The Fluff and bby!Sola is giving me cavities.

-Ardyn helps Sola pack her things - cheerfully abusing his armiger to pack up all Sola’s stuff - while Sola writes a note for her parents explaining that she’s with Uncle and she’ll be back as soon as she cures him.

-Sola No. (Sola Yes.)

-Ardyn keeps Sola firmly away from the public for the next seven years, teaching Fiercest Niece pretty much everything he knows. Sola’s not a genius, but she’s stubborn and determined and soaks everything up as fast as she possibly can.

-This includes Science. Sola is Not A Fan Of Science. But if Science will cure Uncle, then Science she will learn.

-This leads to Sola meeting Besithia and following him around and asking Questions about the Scourge. Besithia is Offended when the six year old calls his research unoriginal and vows that she’ll find a way to do the so called impossible.

-The day Sola actually manages to come up with a working theory on why the Starscourge is vulnerable to sunlight is the day Besithia is Offended, and when Sola’s work with a medical task force to create a viable treatment for the early stages of vanishing sickness building off of said theory is published world wide is the day Besithia declares the twelve year old a Rival.

-Sola adds insult to injury by blowing a raspberry at him.

-Of course, now that his darling niece (Ardyn is so proud) is firmly established as his niece Alata Mederi, Ardyn decides it’s the perfect time to advance Alata’s lessons by introducing her to the Niflheim Court.

-Alata is distinctly Unimpressed. The Court collectively decides that Alata is going to be a nightmare when she grows up and can’t decide if it would be better to ally with or try to eliminate her. And Alata meets one Loqi Tummelt, all of eight years old, when Ardyn intervenes on behalf of Prince Icarus before Alata decides to go from considering to actually disemboweling the twenty- going on twenty-one year old Imperial Heir and shoos Alata off.

-Unfortunately for Loqi, Alata decides that anyone who so clearly admires her Uncle Cor is clearly her best friend, and neglects to give Loqi the option to refuse. Also unfortunately for Loqi, his family is of more minor nobility and all but leap at the chance to forge a connection between their family and the High Chancellor.

-Which means Loqi, brilliant Loqi who is genuinely smart if not quite on Ignis’ level, gets to join Alata’s lessons, martial and academic. Where Alata proceeds to bruise him and his ego, and completely shatter his worldview on Niflheim’s superiority to the Lucian savages.

-Due to the events that lead to Alata getting her Giant Death Cat (yes, I’m absolutely giving her Abyssus in this au as well, because it’s going to drive Loqi up the wall) and tearing the Kings of the Lucii a new one, Loqi learns that a) his best friend is King Regis’ eldest daughter, and b) his best friend doesn’t have two Braincells to rub together.

-Yes, he’s calling his best friend a dumbass (shut UP Alata you know I’m right-)

-And that’s how Loqi receives the dubious honor of becoming Alata’s Shield (even if the new magic lessons are cool). Ardyn claps Loqi on the shoulder and wishes him good luck. Alata flips her Uncle the middle finger.

-This means Loqi is witness to the regular debates between Alata and Prince Icarus, who despite being nine years Alata’s senior did not learn at Ardyn’s knee, and as such regularly loses to Alata. And if it weren’t for the fact that Loqi knows Alata is loyal to both Niflheim and Lucis he would wonder if Alata is attempting to sow dissention among Niflheim’s Court.

-She’s not. Alata just thinks Iedolas is a horrible ruler and thinks Icarus would make a better one if the Prince would dislodge that stick he welded to his spine. Even if it takes coming at it from a less moral and more practical argument. Like if your population catches the vanishing sickness from the miasma powering your MTs, soon you won’t have a population because they’ll have vanished.

-Then fifteen-year old Alata catches wind of rumors to assassinate the Crown Prince of Lucis (elder heir missing, the younger but a child, vulnerable, the courtiers whisper) and eleven-year old Loqi sees his Queen furious for the first time.

-And well, he’s not letting her run off to Lucis on her own, no matter how much distaste the thought of wandering through such a climate inspires, so he simply packs his own bags and meets her at the secret tunnel she doesn’t think he knows about.

[a-world-in-grey]

Sunshine Never Stops au hcs - part 4

part 1 part 2 part 3

In which things start to speed up.

-Around the same time Cor gets his present - and heart attack - Alata and her group visit one of the Kingsglaive bases in Duscae. It’s near enough to Costlemark Tower that the group hopes to leave the truck at the base and travel on foot.

-Unfortunately for Selena, her brother is stationed at that base. Nyx is not pleased to learn that Selena is taking daemon Hunts. While those two argue - loudly - and Loqi and Ravus staying to make sure that Selena doesn’t try to sock Nyx one and that Abyssus doesn’t get up to mischief, Alata asks Titus for a private word.

-Once assured of privacy and security, Alata proceeds to reveal that she’s aware of Titus being Glauca (hello miasma beacon), asks why no one’s treated him for Miasma Poisoning, and then straight up offers to heal him. Titus is justifiably paranoid until Alata informs him that she’s Alata Mederi, the Chancellor’s niece, and she’s not going to blow a deep cover operation. But he’s got Miasma Poisoning, and that will compromise both his mental and physical faculties long before it kills him. Titus schedules an appointment with Alata after they return from their Hunt.

-Alata grabs her group, but is convinced to take along a group of Kingsglaive when the glaives learn what they’re going after. They take Luche, Tredd, and Axis, because Titus puts his foot down on Nyx going.

-They kill the overpowered Jormungand, Alata demonstrates Ifrit’s Blessing for Solheim tech and fire immunity, and somewhere between Alata losing her favorite leather jacket and returning to base, Tredd and Alata have become snark-buddies. Loqi Despairs. He’s witnessed three bondings already, so he clearly sees the snap-bond happening right in front of him.

-The group returns, and Alata - who might be suffering the effects of a not-quite healed concussion - finally gets a good look at Libertus and has an ‘oh no he’s hot’ moment. Alata cures Titus with the Holy Fire the next day, which is more than a bit hard on everyone’s nerves.

-Alata and co head off to Lestallum leaving a Cleansed Titus - who is experiencing first hand exactly what Alata meant by ‘compromised mental faculties’ because he can think for the first time in over five years - and a murderously angry Tredd (and Kingsglaive) because people saw the scar over Alata’s heart and spine. Alata got to tell them that her grandfather caused it and her uncle saved her life - all true, just not the whole truth - and more than one Galahdian is maybe pissed that Alata’s grandfather is already dead and they can’t kill him again.

-Two days after Alata and co leave the base, Cor drops by, and Nyx learns that a magical giant snake is not the worst thing his little sister has recently killed. Of course, the glaives collectively bluescreen when they learn exactly who Nyx’s little sister has been Hunting with, and Cor has three consecutive heart attacks when he learns that Sola’s been hunting the Menaces, has Ifrit’s Blessing, and died because apparently Mors put a sword through her chest!

-(It wasn’t Mors, but Cor hears grandfather and thinks the worst, not knowing that Sola was referring to Somnus instead.)

-In Lestallum, the group’s plan to pick up a couple Hunts are dashed when Loqi gets a splitting migraine, because apparently now that they’re close to the Disk of Cauthess Titan’s decided to poke his nose into things.

-Alata does not appreciate the assault on her Shield’s mind. She’s still protective from the Tempering Grounds, so the group beelines for the Disk - passing the smoldering remains of Ullder’s former command - comes face to face with Titan, and proceed to kick Titan’s stony naked butt because apparently the guy has absolutely zero social skills.

-And somewhere during that, Alata’s far too stubborn Shield loses possession of the Braincell, decides to nail Titan in the face with one of the Ifrit Special ammunition Alata made for him, and winds up gaining Titan’s Blessing.

-Alata is going to sit on her Shield. After they hightail it out of the area before people come investigating because like Pyre that was quiet.

-And in Niflheim, Ardyn receives a personal invitation to visit Queen Sylva and discuss ‘his niece’s accomplishments with interested parties.’

[a-world-in-grey]

More Sunshine au please? Maybe everyone's reactions when Sola first gets published? I can definitely see Ardyn being a proud, bragging Uncle about it all. But just more of that verse in general would be amazing!

Alright, now that I’m not half-dead from work (three eight hour shifts in a row guys, eight hour morning shifts), I can properly answer this!

.

Reactions to Alata’s first papers getting published! (Two of her papers are published at the same time. Her personal research determining that miasma is destroyed by the UV radiation in sunlight, and the research by the medical task force in creating a treatment for early Vanishing Sickness using UV radiation.)

-Adryn is absolutely proud of his Dear Niece. And yes, he does brag to everyone about it. Because for years, Ardyn has very much been an Outsider among Niflheim high society. No one knows anything about this man who suddenly showed up and got the position of High Chancellor. No known lineage, much less a respected lineage, no history, no family, nothing. The nobility respect the fact that Ardyn is clearly a dangerous man, but they have only disdain for the man himself, for the filthy commoner who somehow has so much influence with the Emperor.

-So Ardyn takes great glee in bragging about Alata’s accomplishment. Getting published in any academic journal of notable repute is no easy task, and Alata’s work is in four journals in Niflheim alone, with reputable journals from Tenebrae, Accordo, and Lucis looking to publish the article as well. He brags partly as a way to thumb his nose at the nobles - my family is better than yours - but also as a way to advertise his niece’s research. The nobles are all but starving for any information about Ardyn, and Ardyn has just presented the bait of a previously unknown relative.

-And the nobles fall for it, hook, line, and sinker. They read Alata’s research. They contact the others involved in the research, asking about Alata. And if none of the scientists and doctors mention Alata’s age, well, she’s a sweet kid, and none of them want to toss her into the shark pit that is Niflheim politics. So an image of Ardyn’s niece is painted - a brilliant and kind-hearted humanitarian, with the ambition and determination to tackle the mysteries of the Vanishing Sickness.

-A possible chink in the High Chancellor’s armor, some think. A way to gain the Chancellor’s - and therefore the Emperor’s - favor, others believe. So they clamor for Ardyn to bring his niece to court. Such a bright and talented individual deserves opportunities to forge connections.

-Ardyn waits until the nobles almost think he won’t, then introduces Alata to court. Using the celebration of Prince Icarus’ betrothal to introduce her to the biggest possible crowd all at once.

-Alata shatters the nobility’s expectations. Yes, she’s bright and kind and ambitious and determined. She’s also fiercely passionate, sharp tongued and bluntly honest, with her uncle’s political acumen but no desire to pander to the song and dance of Court and stubborn enough to plant her feet and let any opposition break against her, like a wave breaking against a mountain.

-She’s also all of twelve years old.

-Ardyn is Smug.

-Besithia is an Outrage. He’s never liked the brat Ardyn picked up in Insomnia, not since she insulted his life’s work. But now, now this child has been acknowledged twice over by some of the highest academic journals worldwide. For the same research he’d scoffed at and dismissed as the idealistic ambitions of a six-year old.

-Besithia increases his efforts in his own research. He Refuses to lose to a child who isn’t as smart as he is!

-Queen Sylva is curious about this Alata Mederi. She didn’t personally attend Prince Icarus’ betrothal celebration, so she only has what her delegation and gossip can tell her. And Alata’s research, and does that spark Sylva’s curiosity. Because the research details how the Vanishing Sickness - referred to as miasma in her research - is destroyed by the UV radiation in sunlight, leading to the later medical research project in treating early Vanishing Sickness with UV treatments.

-Sylva can see how Oracle magic - Bahamut’s Blessing of Light - is able to cure the Starscourge where medicine and Lucis Caelum magic fails. But Sylva is curious how Alata discovered the Scourge’s weakness to sunlight at all. Prior research not published? 

-In Lucis, Regis is not expecting to get a call from Weskham. He’s been too busy the past few months worrying about his son - who the Astrals have declared will die to cure the Starscourge, and Regis refuses to lose another child - and researching everything he can about the Starscourge. Going as far as asking Queen Sylva for any knowledge the Oracles have.

-So when Weskham calls and tells him of the article about the Starscourge in a Niflheim academic journal, Regis and Aulea leap on the opportunity. They secure copies of Alata’s research. It’s no miracle solution, but it’s the beginning of one, and Regis almost cries when he finishes reading it because- because this is proof that something can destroy the Scourge. Something that doesn’t require magic, doesn’t require his little boy sacrificing his life.

-If Regis decides to discreetly invest in Alata Mederi’s research, even as Lucis begins planning research of their own... well, niece of the High Chancellor or not, this research could save Noctis’ life. 

And some other stuff!

-When Ifrit Blesses Sola, his Blessing replaces Bahamut’s. Because a) Ifrit is that petty, and b) his Blessing is Fire and Purity. The Holy Fire heals by destroying everything and anything that does not belong.

-(‘Reborn anew from fiery death.’ Sola burns in a pyre of white fire, and steps from the ashes with sun-gold eyes and white marks spiraling up her arms like fire from where Ifrit held her hands to bestow his Blessing. And when Sola later heals Titus of the scourge? Titus and Sola disappear in a firestorm of pure white, and well, as I said earlier, it’s rather hard on the glaives’ nerves. And oh does Sola healing Titus have unintended consequences.)

-Sola loses the Lucis Caelum magic. So do Loqi and Ravus, gifted with Sola’s magic as they are. No healing, no Elemancy save the Holy Fire unless Sola finds an Elemancy node, no warping, no shields, no armiger.

-Sure, Ifrit had Sola empty her armiger before he Blessed her, but he didn’t tell her why and now she can’t carry all of her weapons.

-Sola is still miffed about that.

-Half the people who meet Sola and learn of Ifrit’s Blessing are... shocked to say the least. Because, look. Sola is not reverent in any sense. Not to Ifrit or any of the other Astrals. Half the people in earshot choke on their own spit the first time they hear Sola call Ifrit a petty jerk.

-In this AU, Sola doesn’t pick up much Galahdian culture. She unnerves more than a few Galahdians wearing white and black. Combined with her red hair - that she keeps cropped short at jaw length, Sola hates dealing with her hair - and the white almost tattoo-like marks on her arms and the veritable armory she somehow stashes on her person (because I love the trope where a character pulls out weapon after weapon and everyone else is like, where are you keeping that?) Sola makes for an ominous picture to any Galahdian.

-And then they spend about five minutes in her presence and realize that she’s a massive nerd. Whose passion is linguistics, cultural development, and the reflection of such in literature and folk tales. That Loqi and Sola continue a previous debate on the accuracy of a translated historical work as they travel to Costlemark Tower, Ravus groaning in exasperation and Selena snickering, goes a long way towards easing Tredd, Luche, and Axis’ nerves.

-Noctis and Sola regularly write each other about once or twice a month. Sola doesn’t tell Noctis where she is or about her research. Not that she doesn’t want to, but she doesn’t know if Papa or Mama also read Noctis’ letters and she doesn’t want them trying to take her away from Uncle. Now that she’s older she understands why they would, but good intentions or no, Sola won’t let them stop her from reaching her goal.

-Noctis... kind of doesn’t tell anyone that he’s regularly writing to Sola. At first because it’s a secret, and managing to keep something secret from everyone makes eight year old Noctis giddy. Then it becomes something he’s possessive about. His letters with Sola are his. No one else’s, and Noctis is possessive of his new older sister and doesn’t want to share.

-Eventually Noctis does feel guilty about keeping his letters with Sola secret, once he’s a bit older and realizes how much Regis and Aulea and Cor desperately miss Sola. But he still doesn’t tell them, because how he doesn’t even know what he’d say. Oh, he’s been writing to his missing older sister for years now and never told anyone? Noctis is only eleven, but he’s not stupid. His parents would not be happy. Worse, they’d probably be disappointed.

-Then Noctis has the idea that if he convinces Sola to come home, his parents will be too happy about that to be mad or disappointed that Noctis didn’t tell them about the letters!

-Unfortunately, Sola tells him that she can’t come home yet. She has a very important promise to keep. And one should always keep their promises. But Sola promises Noctis that she’ll be home for his coming-of-age. Even if she can only visit. Noctis pouts and tells her that he’s twelve. That’s forever! 

[a-world-in-grey]

Sunshine Never Stops au hcs - part 2

part 1

-Alata’s first appearance in her homeland in ten years consists of her and Loqi tailing the Royal caravan to and from Galdin Quay, hoping that Ardyn has managed to interfere with the assassination attempt.

-When she and Loqi hear the scream of a Marilith, they know that whatever Ardyn managed, it wasn’t enough.

-Regis’ first sort-of sight of his daughter since her disappearance is an explosion of sunlight from where the Marilith looms over his son - not Noctis, he cannot lose Noctis, he cannot lose another child - a scream of pain from the daemon and oh so painfully familiar magic searing with panic-fury-defiance across Regis’ senses.

-By the time Regis and the guards blink the blindspots from their vision, Sola and Noctis are gone, only the smoking, bloody wreckage of the car remains.

-Cid does not appreciate having intruders in his house. He appreciates it even less when he realizes that the eldest intruder is his missing niece, the youngest is Noctis who Regis called Cid to tell him about the attack earlier that day, and the third is Sola’s Shield who can’t be more than thirteen.

-Cid tries to get Sola to stay, but Noctis is unconscious on his couch and Sola and her Shield are as fast as cactuars. By the time Regis, Aulea, Cor, and Clarus arrive in Hammerhead, Sola and her Shield are long gone. That, and Cid sitting on him, is the only thing keeping Cor from chasing after his goddaughter.

-Regardless, Regis puts out word to the Hunters and Kingsglaive. Not identifying Sola by name, but that there are two children that need to be taken into protective custody. But there’s nothing, and the two disappear into thin air.

-Ardyn grounds Alata and Loqi when they get home. And Abyssus, don’t give him that look he knows the cat was involved.

-Then a Messenger brings Alata a fox kit to heal, and whisks the kit away once Alata is done. Loqi and Alata think nothing of it until the same fox kit, now a Carbuncle, finds Alata two months later with a letter to her from Noctis.

-And so Alata gets to know her little brother.

-At sixteen, Alata meets Aranea Highwind when the nineteen year old mercenary begins working for the Empire. The newly formed Kingsglaive is vicious, pushing Niflheim back for the first time in years, and MT production isn’t fast enough to keep up. As both of them favor polearms, the two women spar and the friendship that forms does Loqi’s sanity no favors. Fortunately for Loqi, it’s a casual friendship and Aranea is often on deployment.

-Sixteen almost seventeen is also when Alata publishes her work for effective preventative measures to prevent miasma poisoning and the detailed studies of how miasma infects organic matter and how it progresses through its victim. The papers are published alongside the newest treatment for vanishing sickness that cures all but the most severe cases.

-(Besithia’s Screech of Indignation is the highlight of Alata’s week.)

-Alata is seventeen when she gets an invitation to Ravus’ coming of age gala. Nominally as the High Chancellor’s niece, but reading between the lines it’s clear Queen Sylva very much requests Alata’s presence. One doesn’t say no to the Oracle.

-Sure enough, Ravus doesn’t spend more than the bare minimum of social courtesy, but Queen Sylva subtly interrogates Alata over her research and Niflheim’s motives in suddenly researching a cure for the Starscourge.

-And Alata oh so politely tears a strip out of Sylva’s hide. Because why haven’t the Oracles tried to find a cure?! Two thousand years, and Alata is the first to seriously research the possibility? For a cure that does not rely on magic? And even after she proved that it is a possibility the Oracle has yet to join their efforts?

-Ravus eavesdrops on the whole conversation. Sylva and Alata don’t notice. Loqi does. Loqi is the only one unsurprised when Ravus shows up at Alata’s laboratory two weeks later, announcing his intent to help Alata in her goal of curing the Scourge. (No, Sylva did not know before Ravus upped and left, leaving only a note behind a la Sola.)

-(Ravus Regrets Everything when he later discovers that Alata is Sola and Ardyn is the Immortal Accursed and another Lucis Caelum. Loqi pats him on the back in sympathy and offers the newest member of Alata’s Retinue a drink.)

-Alata turns eighteen. Ardyn takes Alata, Loqi, and Ravus to the middle of nowhere, unleashes Ifrit on them, and gives Alata the challenge of curing the daemonified Astral. Alata succeeds, then beats the shit out of Ifrit when the Astral turns on Ardyn.

-Alata... still isn’t sure how that led to gaining Ifrit’s Blessing. Other than the Infernian having a massive grudge against Bahamut and pouncing on the opportunity to Wreck Bahamut’s Shit Prophecy.

-Standing in the smoking ruins of their battle, Ardyn crowns her. Sola Alata Lucis Caelum, The Ardent Queen. She of Holy Fire and Righteous Fury, She who Struggles and Persists. The crown he bestows is gold, decorated with rubies, topaz, and citrines, until it looks like Sola wears the setting sun.

-Ardyn could not be more proud of his niece. She’s been healing him for almost a decade now, slowly chipping away at the sheer volume of Scourge beneath his skin even as Ardyn contributes his own efforts. And creating a non-magical treatment so that Ardyn can continue healing even when Sola cannot do it herself, so that others can be cured without ever suffering the same fate Ardyn did.

-She’s nineteen, Loqi is fifteen, and Ravus twenty when they leave for Lucis. Because Luna is now wandering Niflheim healing those afflicted by the Starscourge. But there’s no way Niflheim will let her go to Lucis, and Lucis’ outlands don’t have the widespread technological advancements that Niflheim or Insomnia do, no matter how much her parents have pushed for it. 

-And those damned MT units leak miasma everywhere.

-Not that they’re advertising their presence. Alata isn’t the only one traveling under an assumed name, though if anyone recognizes Ravus the story is that they are traveling Lucis to study the Starscourge there, in case of regional differences that might affect treatment. (Because there are no research facilities outside the Wall, and neither Regis nor Aulea will run the risk of bringing a daemon anywhere near Noctis.)

-Which means the three of them sign on with the Hunters, both as a source of gil, solid covers for both Lucian and Niflheimian authorities, and a way to get information on local daemon activity.

-Six months in, they stumble across the base commanded by Colonel Caligo Ullder. Who deliberately inflicts the Scourge on the nearby populace at even a hint of resistance. When the miasma research has been spread to every high ranking officer, and where the three Hunters have taken on more Hunts to clear out daemons than anywhere else in Lucis.

-And Sola sees red.

[a-world-in-grey]

Sunshine Never Stops au hcs - part 5

part 1 part 2 part 3 part 4

Warning: I broke my feels at the end of this so you might want a couple tissues on hand.

-Ardyn manages not to lose his head that first time he sits down with Sylva and Aulea for tea. It helps that Aulea does not have her guns, and the hidden knife she throws at him instead kills his favorite hat. (Ardyn suddenly realizes who his dear niece got her vicious streak from.)

-He also realizes where Sola got her cunning, because Aulea - for all that the woman would rather he drop dead - is a delightful verbal opponent. Ardyn hasn’t had this much fun in years!

-Of course, several bombshells are dropped, and Queen Sylva turns a fascinating shade of white when the two ladies learn that Ardyn is in fact the Immortal Accursed and a Lucis Caelum. Though that’s nothing compared to Aulea’s expression when Ardyn adds, smile poison-sweet, that he’s not the last family member his dear brother Somnus has tried to kill. His dear niece can attest to that.

-(Let it not be said that Ardyn is a nice person.)

-Unaware of the war being waged in Queen Sylva’s tea parlor, Alata and co kill the last two Menaces, and none of them appreciate getting ambushed by the Elder Coeurl right after dealing with the Menace in Greyshire. Thank Titan for Loqi’s new durability. Both Loqi and Selena appreciate the pelt coats Alata arranges to be made while they finish up at the Vesperpool, ducking Axis, Luche, and Tredd as the three Kingsglaives attempt to intercept them. Axis is good, but they’ve got an Ulric and a Warptastic cat all too willing to lead them around by their noses.

-Still, with their covers all but blown, they figure it’s best if they skip back to Niflheim to plan their next move. A decision that made for them when a High Messenger pops up out of nowhere and tells Ravus that the Oracle requires his presence at home. Urgently.

-At the same time Luche, Tredd, and Axis finally catch up with them. Which is when Alata learns that her mother has disappeared, presumably because she ran off to Niflheim to... speak with her uncle. Without an escort.

-Loqi smacks his head against the table and mumbles that of course Alata gets it from her mother. Alata and co make their way to Galdin Quay to catch a boat to Tenebrae - and the glaives get to witness the epic argument between Alata and Cor that devolves into a no holds barred fight halfway through - with Tredd coming along as a nominal bodyguard. Not that Tredd is actually in Kingsglaive uniform, instead dressed as a Hunter like the rest of them.

-The boat ride is uneventful. The train ride from Succarpe to Tenebrae on the other hand, is way too eventful. Because Ravus’ sister, who is SUPPOSED to be wandering Niflheim healing the sick, decided to wake up SHIVA. And in the process of getting Shiva to stop freezing half the country, Ravus gets her Blessing. And then they learn from a beaming and unapologetic Luna that Shiva had asked her through Gentiana to wake her so she could test Ravus.

-Alata would dearly like to know when the Astrals decided to start handing out Blessings like candy. (Selena and Tredd might be a bit paranoid now, but it’s not paranoia if they really are out to get you.)

-Still, they arrive at Fenestala Manor mostly unscathed. Ravus drags Luna off to go meet their mother - and probably tattle on his little sister - while Alata and the others gleefully take advantage of the rooms provided as personal guests of the Prince. Namely, the baths.

-It’s later, as Alata is relaxing in her suite, that there’s a knock on her door. Alata gives permission to enter, but instead of a servant or one of her friends, Alata looks up to see a woman with brown hair and blue eyes, dressed in Lucian black.

-It takes a moment, but even after fifteen years Sola knows that face. Knows those blue eyes - the same shade she once shared - and that smile and gifted magic of light-steel-will.

-Sola crashes into her mother’s arms, crying.

[a-world-in-grey]

More on Loqi and Sola because this relationship makes me giggle.

-Loqi would like it to be known that he did not have any choice in becoming Alata’s best friend.

-He would also like it to be known that Alata is bugfuck nuts. No matter how good she is with weapons.

-Anyone who has a giant, sentient cat is not sane. But then, Alata is clearly cut from the same cloth as the High Chancellor, which does not fill Loqi with confidence as to how Alata is going to grow up.

-Loqi Regrets ever complaining to his parents about being bored in his lessons. Because now he’s taking lessons with Alata. Sure, he’s no longer bored. He’s learning all sorts of things. But he also has to spend the majority of his time with Alata and it’s driving him nuts.

-Because Alata hears Loqui claim that Nilfheim is superior to the Lucian savages once, and proceeds to not only smash his nose but also his worldview into teeny tiny pieces.

-Learning that when Lucis invaded Niflheim 850 years ago, it was because Lucis was superior to the ‘savages’ of the Western Continent and it was their divine right to rule the world... well, nine years old or not, Loqui is smart enough to recognize the parallels between Lucis’ justification for their conquest and Niflheim’s justification for their current conquest.

-Because Alata has access to Ardyn’s reports, which includes exactly how well Niflheim isn’t treating the locals.

-Also, if all Lucians are savages, that also means Cor the Immortal is a savage. And again, Loqui’s only nine. He hasn’t yet moved Cor from Hero to Rival. And the thought that his Hero is a ‘savage’ just does not compute in his brain.

[a-world-in-grey]

Hi! I love your new AU! Any headcanons on how the Lucis side of things are going while Sola is on her journey to cure Uncle? Especially Regis, Aulea, Cor and Noctis. Do they find out Sola = Alata after the Marilith?

Hi right back! I’m glad you’re loving the new au, it’s fun to write and see everyone’s reactions XD.

-To answer your last part first, no they don’t realize that Sola is Alata yet. Because Sola comes blazing in, blinds everyone present when she creates an explosion of sunlight to kill the Marilith, and Warps back to Loqi with a fatally injured Noctis before anyone finishes blinking away blindspots because she doesn’t want to deal with distractions while trying to heal a fatal wound on her brother’s spine.

-But Regis knows that magic searing across his senses. That’s. That’s his little girl. And he’s so relieved to know for certain that Sola lives and yet grieving all over again because he was too late (but that’s the theme isn’t it? always too late-) and now Sola and Noctis are gone.

-Then Cid calls him, calls him and tells him that his son is on his couch, that Sola brought Noctis to Hammerhead, and Regis doesn’t so much as break the speed limit as leave it in the dust.

-It doesn’t make a difference. Sola is gone by the time he arrives.

-(Too late.)

-As far as Lucis during the years before she shows back up to save Noctis - well, it’s a lot less Power of Stubborn and Cute and far more Angst.

-No one knows who took Sola or even how. Especially because they took all of her things as well and Niflheim is denying anything to do with Sola’s disappearance, and no one’s stepping forward for a ransom.

-They find the note Sola left, and Regis wants to murder whoever took Sola, because he knows his little girl. So fiercely protective of her family and they had used that.

-It’s a year before Regis even thinks about having another child. Because having another child while Sola is still missing feels like replacing her, feels like giving up and accepting that she’s dead. And Regis... he can’t bear the thought of his little girl, his little Sun never coming back.

-Cor throws himself into his work as Marshal. Every possible lead for Sola’s whereabouts is exhausted, even if it takes Cor infiltrating Niflheim himself.

-He doesn’t find Sola. But he finds another child, and Cor cannot let himself fail another child. He rescues the babe and refuses to give him up no matter how difficult being a single parent is.

-Cor almost names the child Elianus, for the sunshine smiles and bright laughter. But it’s too close of a reminder of the child he failed, of his goddaughter who he fails everyday she remains missing, and so instead he names his son Prompto.

-Prompto and Noctis are the bright spots in Cor, Regis, and Aulea’s lives. They keep Cor from taking suicide mission after suicide mission, keep Regis from fading under the demands of the Crystal, and gives Aulea the little extra strength she needs to struggle through the illness doctors thought would kill her, only two years after Noctis’ birth.

-“I want to see my son grow up,” Aulea says, “I want to see my daughter come home.”

-Then Regis learns that Noctis is to be the Chosen King. Bringer of the Dawn.

-And Last of his Line.

-Regis cries.

-And then he Refuses. He’s already lost one child. He Refuses to lose another. If Noctis is to die curing the Starscourge, Regis will make sure there is no Starscourge left to cure.

-And he will end this damn war so Noctis doesn’t have to.

-It’s two months later that Aulea - who took the lead into researching the Scourge when he told her of Noctis’ fate - tells him of the newest research out of Niflheim. Of Alata Mederi, the twelve year old niece to the High Chancellor who has not only researched the Scourge’s weakness, but is also one of the pioneering minds behind the first-ever treatment for Scourge-sickness.

-Regis immediately orders verification and possible implementation of the treatments, and Aulea directs another team to verifying and reproducing Mederi’s research. Because this is more than anyone has had in two thousand years, and unlike the Oracles, Aulea’s family cannot use their magic to cure the Scourge.

-But perhaps it’s time they reached out to the Oracles for help.

-Noctis doesn’t know a lot about Sola. He knows that he has a big sister, has seen the pictures of the little girl who looks so much like Mom and shares his blue eyes. He knows that Sola was kidnapped two years before Noctis was born and that Uncle Cor is still looking for his godsdaughter. He knows that Sola’s disappearance is the reason for the heightened security around him and Prompto and Gladio and Ignis and later little Iris. 

-But it doesn’t really affect him that much. He’s eight. His days consist of lessons and playdates with Prompto and Ignis and learning how to use a sword beside Gladio from Uncle Cor.

-Noctis knows he has a big sister. But he doesn’t usually think about her because Sola’s not there.

-And then she is.