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nirgilis · 5 months

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SRNHNR 1 - Yozora and Noctis

Part 2 | Extra 1

This post was sponsored by this track:

Nachtflügel helped to trace some Yozora's elements back to Noctis, despite racking the author's brains first by Batman's Nightwing.

These are theories based on unreleased stuff or similar elements from not that distant from each other games, so they might be overthoughted.

Nachtflügel is number 137 on KH3 OST tracklist, "13" and "7," aka Nomura's favorite numbers.

1) Night-part of "Nightwing" is already pretty understandable with the whole Noctis-night-theme, but together with wings it might be leading to Lucis' feature which for FF15 on different levels was either completely cut off or heavily toned doned.

With FF15's theme of Noctis becoming the King of Light it probably didn't suit anymore for his country to be even more connected to death then it was, so the scull on Lucis' emblem for almost all imaginery had to go and only eight-pointed star in circle remained.

Since countries in VS13/FF15 world tend to depict some deities/summons on their emblems, like Leviathan probably would've been and still kinda is the one for Accordo, the summon on Lucis' emblem might've supposed to be Diabolos.

In one of VS13 trailers it was said, that Lucis' crystal was the last remaining one and Solheim, Accordo and Tenebrae already lost theirs. That makes 4 crystal, which can be Wind/Fire/Water/Earth, the most common combination.

FF Type-0 in the way it was released also has 4 countries with 4 crystals, but at some point in development there was considered an idea about making 5th nation with Void crystal. It's possible that VS13 also might've had Void crystal, which would've been Lucis' one.

Diabolos might be a match for Lucis' Void crystal bc:

His skills are Void/Gravity-based. Diabolos from FF0. Lucis' powers of warping and "flying swords" of all magic are most close to be void/gravity-based.

His skills are still technically present in FF15, but in the form of Ring of Lucii. Alterna Spell.

Diabolos drains HP of enemies and throws gravity-spheres at them. Yozora likes to drain (steal) HP, other things and using Gravity-spheres very much.

These attacks with trapping/magneting enemies into spheres and then deconstructing them into data-cubes look like some sort of high-tech Diabolos.

Not even talking about Yozora making a dome with sphere, that temporarily changes gravity on the field.

Yozora's attacks and sphere he summons both remind red moon from Episode Duscae demo.

Since Diabolos is practically a humanoid bat with a tail, it's doubful that it's a coincidence that Komory Bats also have gravity-magic and drain-attack.

2.1) In VS13 trailer where Stella and Noctis talk about the Light they can see after near-death experience, Noctis might be trying to dodge questions and avoid talking about himself not to let Stella know some information he might be knowing or/and to make her reconsider her curiosity in their world's mysteries.

In Fabula Nova Crystalis Etro was tasked by Mwynn to keep the balance of Chaos between real world and unseen realm. Etro initially didn't understand what Mwynn meant, but when she started giving Chaos to humans, which became their hearts, the cycle and balance of Chaos between real world and unseen realm established.

In FF13 when Yeul was returned to life by Etro, she received Eyes of Etro, which allowed her to see the future. Noctis and Stella obtaining Eyes of Etro, in VS13 in this case Eyes that can see the light of expiring souls, throught near-death experience is close to how Yeul received them.

Turning to Nachtflügel again. It reminds Richard Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries." It can be a coincidence, but it might've landed too accurately in mythology context, since Valkyries guide souls of the dead to Valhalla, or they might be guiding only those who they deem worthy. And Sora at the end of KH3 is sort of dead.

In VS13 Lucis line might've not only worshiped goddess of death, but served as her grim reapers in some way. Since the biggest problem of FNC's world is the balance of Chaos between real world and unseen realm, which if broken will doom the world, Lucis line' task might be to help maintain that balance.

2.2) There's a similarity between Snow's words in opening cutscene of FF13-3 and Yozora's, with "save" being taken in ditto marks.

Snow indirectly asks Lightning to kill him, despite that's being the opposite of her task, to free shacked souls by solving their troubles, so they'll be ready to be reborn in the new world.

These scenes might have the same subject, but with opposite events taking place. Yozora might've been brought to be Sora's "examinator" in a way. To test him if he still has will and strength to continue walking the road he brought upon himsef.

3) Apart from possibilty of Yozora's heterochromia coming from his appearance being a mix of 2 people, it might also be what he originally was supposed to have in VS13, but with kinda an opposite meaning and nearly devoid of its pros it was given to Ravus for FF15.

Ravus' eye turned purple from Starscourge infection from magitek arm, which he was given after the gods burned his hand in punishment for him trying to wear Ring of Lucii. Starscourge might've given him some increase in physical strength, but it was also turning him into a daemon.

In FF15 Omen trailer visual of Noctis going haywire is somewhat similar to Sora's Anti and Rage forms.

Diabolos and Yozora's red gravity spheres also recemble red spheres Darkside and Sora in Rage form have.

If in Anti and Rage forms Sora is relying on darkness or his feelings of anger, then in VS13 it might've been Chaos.

From Yeul's words about Chaos in FF13, it can give a number of abilities:

"The power to see the future. The power to travel the timeline. The power to bend monsters to your will. The power to remember in your dreams, even when the timeline has changed. They are manifestations of hidden chaos, and in a chosen few, these powers are great indeed. Such are the blessings of the goddess."

Yozora has a strange mechanic where he summons Gigases to fight for him, but as far as VR's trailer went, they weren't playing on the same team. Gigas might be VR's equivalent of magitek, so it might fit the words "The power to bend monsters to your will."

#SRNHNR theory #Final Fantasy XV #Final Fantasy Versus XIII #Kingdom Hearts #KH #KH theory #Verum Rex #Yozora

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queenoffishingandcookies · 8 months

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LUCIS CAELUM MAGIC HEADCANONS

In my previous post about LC pregnancy headcanons, I brought up the fact that the Lucis Caelum bloodline has (or more accurately, had) two separate forms of magic.

One was Innate Magic, something they had prior to Bahamut’s Revelation after the fall of Solheim that granted them use of the Crystal. Their ancestor was blessed with that power, perhaps at birth (which will be explained), and passed that down to their descendants.

The other branch is Crystal Magic. This wasn’t innate to the bloodline at first. It didn’t boil their blood, or rattle in their bones, or sing constant hymns and prayers in the back of their mind - not yet, at least.

Following the fall of Solheim, there was a massive power vacuum left where Solheim’s nobility and the Astral’s guidance used to be.

Most of noble houses were gone, or had to flee and lose much of their material wealth and immaterial power, becoming refuge to other ruling or noble houses of smaller nations.

The Astrals themselves, except for perhaps Bahamut (for those of you who have read Dawn of the Future) fell into slumber or death, the Sacred Laws they passed down to mortals becoming defunct as there was no one left to enforce them.

Bahamut doesn’t much care for mortals. A deity on high, he sees the world differently. If there’s in issue, he is the type to do a Hard Reset of the star, and then repopulate it after purging the issue (example being starscourge. If you can’t fix it, kill it and begin anew).

But this…he could, albeit in a roundabout way, fix this.

My personal headcanon is that Bahamut, in some way, is literally related to the Lucis Caelum bloodline. More than being the Patron Astral, he is also the family patriarch.

In some AU ideas, this means he perhaps descended to Eos himself following the fall of Solheim, to see what the humans were doing upon the star. There had to have been wars over previous Solheim territory, so much death and illness, not including lack of resources to heal and feed refugees.

Maybe he found love, as much as he is able to understand how to love and be loved rather than simply revered, with a mortal - perhaps one that had already been given his blessing before, and sired a somewhat mortal heir.

Maybe, as sentinels over the star, he forged magnificent scaled and winged beasts in his image, wove them from the steel of his blade and the scales in his armor, of the light of the beyond and the lifeforce of Eos.

Then gave them the ability to take upon a human form, so that they might better watch over the people. The Astrals can change for too, it’s not out of the ordinary - such as the legends of Leviathan taking a human or semi-human form.

So.

Bahamut, the Draconian. Bahamut, the God of War.

(Bahamut, the Father, Very Out of Touch with Human Emotion)

War encompasses so much.

When you think of war, the first thing that comes to people’s minds is bloodshed, isn’t it? Soldier’s prowess on the battlefield in cutting down or shooting enemies dead, death upon death in pursuit of victory for someone else, for safety. You think of illness and infection of the soldiers, or rationing of food and material on the home front.

What about the doctors and nurses who tend to the injured on the field? Healers and protectors, rather than fighters, although they can fight if necessary.

That too falls under the banner of war.

Bahamut is an asshole. He’s probably where Somnus got his ideology of “Cruel, Cold, but Fair” from.

But I bring to you the idea that he was God of War, (effectively a sort of God of Death), and God of Healing. Conflict, war comes to everyone - literal wars and more personal, emotional ones. But so does healing. Not equal to all, depending on what is on hand and status - but it does.

He was literally able to crystallize Eos’s life force, bend it into tangible shape, after all.

And who better to be Blessed with such power, than those who are already used to a modicum of divinity themselves?

His children.

(And later, the Oracles, after his blood slayed blood, and their truest form, of a dragon soaring through the sky, was all but slain in punishment, shackled beneath skin and layers of magic, too much too painful magic that becomes give and take, give your own life and take what might end another’s upon yourself, sacrifice and the sacrifice of your descendants-)

Many of the other Astrals children (they had more semi-mortal kids than Bahamut) had perished in the war, like many messengers had been sealed away in sleep like the other Astrals, so it’s entirely likely that Bahamut was just like… well, my bloodline is one that seems fairly okay after that, they should be able to handle it.

The Innate Magic

Now that I’ve gone over the lore of the Lucis Caelum’s Magic / lack of “true” humanity, let’s get into the more specific details of their two-branches-of-Magic-that-sort-of-became-one.

As mentioned above, Innate Magic is something the LC Bloodline was born with, after their ancient (mortal) ancestor was blessed/created by Bahamut.

I see it divided into two variants:

Healing and Combat.

I think, in the context of other FF games, that means White Magic and Black Magic?

I wouldn’t know, since XV was my first game in the series (sorry those of you who weave the Goddess Etro into your worldbuilding, but I don’t really know who that is or the lore behind her, so she won’t be present. For now, at least. May change in the future).

HEALING MAGIC

Let’s look at Ardyn (Pre-scourge), as well as the Oracles, as an example of Healing Magic.

Ardyn was one of the most powerful healers in the Lucis Caelum bloodline, as I headcanon him. He was not just able to absorb the starscourge with his innate power, but other illnesses as well.

(If it was the meteor of the six which brought the starscourge to Eos, i headcanon that it fell during the Astral War and was what put Titan out of the running as a fighter. It probably would have first appeared over the course of the first half century or so, so I don’t think it would be too surprising to claim Ardyn was their first of his bloodline to be skilled over his magic enough to do so, hence having Bahamut’s blessing to try and absorb/purify the scourge in his own body).

Unlike the Oracles, who could first only soothe symptoms of pain and bolster the body’s immune response (until their power, like the LC’s with the Crystal, was spun into their very blood and bone and they were taught -), many LC’s could absorb the illness, easily heal wounds, and even abate infections and poisonings.

That wasn’t mentioning their prowess in creating healing potions - curatives - and salves. Things that relieved fevers and other symptoms, antidotes for poisons…for illnesses they couldn’t absorb (see: poisoning) on account of being unable to siphon the source of the problem into their body (unless you count blood-letting and absorbing blood into the body which was dangerous-).

Lucis Caelum’s could heighten the restorative effects of certain ingredients, make them more potent than what they normally were, blend them into liquid curatives or pills and then further bless them…….

Part of being able to sense and heal from illness was also being able to pinpoint what could reasonably cause illness and death, and what would have the opposite effect (later heightened by connection to the Crystal).

Such abilities were heightened, when was was able to earn another Blessing of one of the six. In the past, I consider it a thing where, perhaps, people would make pilgrimages to where the Astrals (except for the enraged Ifrit) slept.

For the ability to manipulate the elements, to better feel the world around them, having a greater awareness. In the past, these were the Revelations spoken of in the Cosmogony.

Lucis Caelum’s already had a quiet awareness of the star’s life and light, like a second heartbeat in their chest, could feel the cold steel that slumbered beneath the earth and the crackle of light-fire which forged that Draconian’s scale and blades-

With guidance from Bahamut, they sought to further their abilities by gaining the blessing of the six, prior to being bound to the Crystal.

How better to disclose a good water source from a poor one, with Leviathan’s blessing? To know the poisonous plants and metals from the ones which improve healing, with Titan’s? To bring rain to destitute regions, and grant the starving and thirsty succor, with Ramuh’s aid? To preverse meats and transfer goods, such as water, with Shiva’s?

The one thing they couldn’t recieve was the Infernian’s flame (but it should be noted that LC’s, even without a blessing had strong grasps on elements. Some widespread rumors in Dragon-verses were that, as children of Bahamut, when they were forged in The Beyond, that they Astrals blessed their dragon-forms, and that blessing waned slightly to fit mortal bodies).

(These are some of the few ways elemancy, typically regarded as Black Magic, combat magic, could be used to grant aid, grant healing).

Granted, Elemancy wasn’t….this wasn’t just a LC thing - not until the Crystal. Other people, too, not born to the Astrals the sought the favor of, looked for their blessings. But they could not absorb said element, could not create it with their bare palms - there had to be a source nearby, and they couldn’t just save that energy for later.

LC’s, being not entirely human, just had a one-up in receiving them.

In the fall of Solheim, they were who everyone flocked to in order to develop medicine, treatment procedures. Trade agreements….they were hailed almost as heroes, as something sacred and holy.

COMBAT MAGICS

As descendants of Bahamut, being bound to both life and death as they pertain to war, something I view as innate to the Lucis Caelum’s is the Royal Arms.

They are imprints of their forefather’s souls - of their life - left behind, embedded into a favored weapon that once belonged to them. With Bahamut’s blessing, they were filled with the light of The Beyond, which the LC’s are tied to by blood.

Up until the Crystal was bound to them, they didn’t have their own personal beyond (Armiger), but they could still touch upon the light of the Beyond, the royal arms woven with it and able to phase between the two realms because of that.

(Now I’m imagining Bahamut just holding onto the arms for his descendants, prior to granting them the Crystal - and, though it’s covered later, the Armiger isn’t actually The Beyond, but a Lucis Caelum’s personal hammerspace basically modeled after the Beyond. Bahamut taught them. He got tired of storing their weapons for them, and it had more than one use).

Similarly - to be able to absorb a person’s illness, symptoms of illness, their magic could almost mimic illness, mimic poisons - a LC could literally drain a person’s life. Similar to the Ring of Lucis, but to a far lesser extent. Being bound to the Crystal enhanced the effect of doing so, but they could do it before that.

They had something similar to warping, as well. Light blending. It was a result of being bound to The Beyond by blood, by being something more and less than human. Their bodies would become indistinct in light, like sunlight, and blur. They could phase and move faster. It wasn’t quite warping (literally through themselves through The Beyond for a few seconds, while anchored to Eos via their weapon), but it was close.

The last thing I considered was Elemancy. Again, this wasn’t innate to the Lucis Caelum bloodline (yet), but they still used it in combat. It was less like seen in the games (both the main game and Comrades) and more closer to The Avatar’s or The Legend of Korra’s bending arts).

They couldn’t create the elements either, they had to work with what was on hand.

Like with Crystal Magic, there is a sort of give and take with a LC’s innate Magic. It’s still their energy, if they overexert themselves, they will still get tired - they will be susceptible to falling I’ll with the very illnesses they heal/induce….but it comes back to them, eventually.

It’s not like the give and take of the Crystal.

With that explained, let us move on to the other-but-not-really branch of LC Magic.

The Crystal Magic

I already explained at the top my reasoning for why Bahamut made the Crystal, why it was given to the LC bloodline…but now I’ll get a little more into the details of what that means, how it was bound to his bloodline.

Bahamut, from the beyond, literally pulled Eos’s lifeforce from its shell, and gave it a new one. Then, he literally wove the essence of The Beyond itself, a higher plane of existence, the afterlife, into it.

It was given a low level of sentience, derived from his own consciousness as well as the plants, the earth and the water and rain and the people, and the other Astrals of Eos.

And Bahamut…Bahamut beckoned his children to come to him, to enter upon The Beyond and the light of Eos, and see if they could handle it - handle being chosen to guide and carry the land.

This happened some…thirty or forty years after the fall of Solheim. The creation of the Crystal, and a LC who could actually bind with it - with Eos and the Beyond without breaking underneath the wait of accepting it and it’s cost - took years.

The Crystal, literally being tied to Eos and the Astrals, enhanced their elemancy by far. Bound to the planet itself, a LC who was able to handle the weight of the land - the beating lifeforce of every creature and plant on it, every illness and death - was irrevocably bound to the elements.

No longer constrained to simply manipulating the elements, they could create it - fire, water, ice, electricity….it danced at their fingertips.

Their grasp on the flow of life, the ability to heal and sense both the properties of deadly things and (relatively) safe things expanded far beyond what it was…

They, now being bound to the beyond, could also grasp something beyond - something above Eos’ plane of existence.

Bahamut himself was able to guide them on molding that “other” existence, bound space and lack of time just to their person - the Armiger.

With time, they could also learn to Warp. Bahamut taught the first of his descendants how, tied to the beyond as they were through the Crystal, they could phase between realms in a way different from light bending.

As long as they kept a grasp on their tie to the star, though beginners of teen favored something in hand, a physical form of an element to use as an anchor, they could phase back out in a location of their choosing, rather than just become immaterial.

They were granted the ability to warp in and out of existence on both the mortal and immortal realm.

But Crystal Magic came at an immense cost.

LC’s using the Crystal’s magic weren’t drawing on their own power at first - they weren’t giving and taking from their own person like they used to, though the cost was still their body’s to pay.

They were drawing on the life of the star, of even the other Astrals, to a lesser extent. And the cost, to fill the space left in the wake of the energy they used….

Was their own life energy.

Give and take. Magic drawn from the land is paid back with the magic, the energy, of the person wielding it.

The Merging of Innate and Crystal

The Lucis Caelum’s weren’t born bound to the Crystal, and that was why originally there was a difference between the use of Crystal and Innate Magic.

But, as you might of noticed earlier, I mentioned that as time passed, that was no longer the case.

When Bahamut blessed and cursed his children, his chosen, with the Crystal, the first LC to bond with it was already an adult, already had sired children. His children, then (most likely Somnus and Ardyn’s grandparents and possibly aunts/uncles?) had to be bound and able to carry the weight of being irreversibly bound to Eos, to the elements, to the overwhelming push and pull and give and take of life and death and the elements of the world - not even including the weight of The Beyond.

Crystal Magic and Innate Magic…though both tangled together in their bodies….were separate.

By the time Ardyn and Somnus were born, that wasn’t the case. Either they, or their father/mother, were born bound to the Crystal, because their parents were bound and that tie passed down to them.

They never knew an existence without the scream of the land under the skin, without the cost of the power they were given.

From them on downwards, the LC’s innate Magic blended and merged and wove together with the Crystal Magic - so much so that the space between them no longer existed.

There was no longer a choice on giving and taking from themselves or the Crystal. They were bound to the Crystal, to the star, to the beyond.

Their magic; the beyond, Eos……it wasn’t separate anymore. All of it is bound to the LC bloodline, and as long as the bloodline itself exists…it’s not going anywhere.

Even if they Crystal were to shatter, the Astrals were to die…the magic is too deeply woven into their bodies, their very souls, to wither up and die.

The magic flows incessantly through them, building up and burning from the inside out, caught between the instinct to preserve the body and the cost of using it, burning itself up and devouring it.

It isn’t safe for a Lucis Caelum to not use their magic - there’s too much of it for their somewhat mortal bodies…but the cost of doing so isn’t healthy either.

——————-

Well, that got longer than I was expecting it to.

I didn’t get all the very intricate details I wanted to, but I can’t even explain all the nuances with their magic because I just…don’t have words for it?? It’s more of a feeling that I can’t put into words, and besides - it gives other people room to expand on it themselves.

Anyway, it’s currently almost four in the morning where I live and I’ve been up two hours straight writing this, so if you’ll excuse me -

I’m going to go pass out.

Bye!

#ffxv headcanons #Lucis Caelum headcanons #ffxv magic lore #Lucis Caelum magic lore #LC Innate Magic #LC Crystal Magic #ffxv Bahamut headcanons

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meissashush · 1 year

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4, 11, 17, 18, 25 <3

I liveeeeeeeeeee

4. What’s a word that makes you go absolutely feral?

Good feral or bad feral?

My favorite word ever is susurrus; a hushed sound, a murmur, the rustling of wind. It looks and sounds how it should and it makes my brain purr.

The word I hate the most is turgid. I don't think I need to quantify that, just look at the damn word.

11. Do you believe in the old advice to “kill your darlings?” Are you a ruthless darling assassin? What happens to the darlings you murder? Do you have a darling graveyard? Do you grieve?

Honestly? Nope! I don't kill my darlings much at all. I do, however, sometimes set them aside into a different dock to be recycled later. My 'darlings' are phrases and events that I think are fun and cool, so they get to stay because they are fun and cool.

17. Talk to me about the minutiae of your current WIP. Tell me about the lore, the history, the detail, the things that won’t make it in the text.

Uhhhhh -shoves my piles of WIP under a rug- What wip? I don't have wip. Haha.... haaaaa

Okay, well let's take a look at one that probably will never get published. Pre-Tears of The Kingdom being released, I was getting out my impatience by throwing Noctis to the wolves. Now I'm well into the new game, and ironically I can still make this fic work, but idk if it will ever evolve beyond what it is--selfish fun writing.

Some excerpts:

The Legend of Lucis Noctis wakes up in the Sheikah Resurrection Pool, completely alone and confused about where he is. There is no Zelda to speak to him, nor does he have a connection to any of the Messengers. The pedestal that held the Sheikah Slate is empty, just a glowing circle with a strange ruin carved into it and a rectangular space. His magic has no interaction with it. The ‘bed’ he had been lying it is entirely dry, as Link had resurrected here, and Noctis was just dumped there by Etro. The air is humid and warm, but Noct doesn’t exactly fancy wandering around the weirdest ruins he has ever seen butt-naked. They definitely aren’t from Solheim, though he couldn’t have placed them if he tried. Ignis would be so disappointed in him. ... Noct slowly tries to get his bearings, not sure where he is or what is going on. He feels like he’s in a sort of stasis as well, his head pounding and sluggish. He wanders down the hill and finds the remains of the Old Man’s fire, as well as the apple tree and a large church. He makes his way towards it, not in the least hopeful because it looks to be in as much disrepair as anything else, but unwilling to risk getting caught out at night when the daemons came out. He wanders past the broken and overgrown fountain and up the stone steps, mildly unnerved by the weird metal statue that sits half in a puddle, covered in rust and moss. ...

Up the stairs towards the Temple (of Time) leaves Noct with a foreboding feeling. There is the metal leg of one of the Guardians sticking half out in the archway and it sets his teeth on edge, but he feels stupid once he realizes it’s another statue. The thing is terrifying, looming over the rubble, but the designs are similar to the Shrine he came out of, and he’s not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. All he knows is that he doesn’t really want to meet the guy who designed them. He decides to skirt around the room and head up the left side, only to see the ‘statues’ frozen where they were climbing up the side of the temple, and Noct decides they _definitely_ aren’t statues. Fuck. He continues into the Temple, bummed to find it mostly torn asunder on the other side, but wanders over to see a few pots. Gladio is in his head, emphasizing the importance of hydration, so he picks one up to see if it might be water tight. Something rattles in it. He tips it over to find a bundle of arrows, which is weird as shit but he’s not complaining. He looks in the next few, finds more arrows and yet another chest, this one with a bow. He’s pretty much convinced he’s either trapped in a video game or in a coma dream, because there is no way anyone would leave around a bunch of chests with ‘loot’ in it. Still, he takes what he can carry and grabs a pot. Before wandering back down to see where the was water that wasn’t full of robot, he eyes the statue at the end of the Temple. After everything he’s gone through back home—did any of that even really happen?—he feels weird not being respectful of obvious religious iconography. His own gods, after all, we really very real. He can’t hope that the ones of this world will turn a blind eye to looting. The statue is way less… detailed, then he’s used to. All rounded edges and winged like a Messenger in the Cosmology. Also the six little ones circling the big one was making him uncomfortable, but he made a show of walking up to the statue and bowing anyway. “Hello, um, statue? Well, the… uh, god, I guess, that this statue depicts. I really hope you won’t mind me taking these. I mean, they’re just laying their otherwise, and I kinda need to be able to defend myself. I’m, uh, also going to take a pot to get some water. I hope that’s okay?” He feels weird and also stupid. The statue feels like it’s smiling at him like an indulgent mother. He takes the lack of smiting to be a yes. ...

He walks down the stone steps, carefully looking for signs of life or danger, and tries to ignore the amount of robot corpses frozen in time around him. If it weren’t for the bird and bugs and breeze, he would have assumed he was frozen in time with them. Instead, the whole thing just feels apocalyptic. The huge fuck-you glowing tower definitely wasn’t helping things. Big, blue, and foreboding. Just like his— Okay, no, that joke didn’t even make sense to him, and he’s the only one around to appreciate it There was also another weird glowy thing a little ways away, also blue, but he felt even less inclined to wander out there. Instead, he walked to the base of the glowing tower. It had a weird grate system along all its edges that he could probably climb, but he wasn’t sure how long that would take, let alone how long it would take him to get back down. Just beyond the tower, he can see what looks like a decrepit stone wall. He walks over the hill, man the breeze is nice here, and towards the wall. As he gets closer, he starts to see a road with lined with flags somewhere in the distance. At the edge, he can the road is full of destroyed buildings, leading towards a broken bridge and off in the distance a mountain with a split down the center. He feels incredibly alone. He walks along the wall, heading right, hoping to find the remains of a guard posting or possibly somewhere that leads off the plateau. He doesn’t want to believe he’s the only person left. As he moves right, he encounters the East Abbey, and, unfortunately, more guardians. It’s the humming noise that alerts him to them at first, having opted to ignore the creepy statues in favor of inspecting the wall. Once he hears it though, he whips his head around, desperate to find the source of the sound. He finds it, blue and red and aiming right at him. Noct warps before he can think. Once, twice, until he’s undercover. He’s breathing heavy, backing away from the robots with his heart in his throat, when he starts the hear the buzzing again. To his left (facing with his back to the east now) is another one. Without thinking, Noct runs.

18. Choose a passage from your writing. Tell me about the backstory of this moment. How you came up with it, how it changed from start to end.

Ah yes, the hug. As in, the one thing I have given you to survive on while I slooooowly stretch this relationship as thin as it'll get.

Nyx couldn’t pretend the warm tears on his face were the rain, much as he wanted to. He sniffed wetly as they came, unwilling to look at Cor, who must have thought him a child. He felt exhausted, as he always did once the storm finally came, the burn in his hands leaving behind an old, familiar ache. In Galahd, he used to bury himself into his mother’s arms, letting the storm roll around them as the grip of Ramuh’s Temper finally let him loose. He had no shame in his tears back then. Now? Now there was only shame.

This scene was rewritten TWELVE times. Mostly because Nyx did not want to admit that he was crying. For a while it was just a place holder as

He pulled away from Cor, quickly turning to rub the rough edge of his sleeve over his face like a sniveling child. Cor’s hand was still on his shoulder, firm, but Nyx was desperate to make space between them. To spare Cor the indignity of comforting him.

Nyx is such a drama-queen. He was so much meaner to himself about this before I cut it down. The man needs therapy.

“Cor, I’m sorry, I—” “No.”

This is where Cor having a kid makes him a MUCH better romantic interest. Pre-Rosea Cor probably would have let Nyx continue to pretend he was fine so he could keep his dignity. This Cor? Nah, he knows only one thing and it is Hug.

The fight left him as that firm hand pulled him in, warm arms coming to wrap around and hold him close. Nyx stood, stunned, as Cor hugged him. A broad palm made slow, warm circles on his back as Nyx choked on the tears he couldn’t swallow anymore. The thick embrace of the heavy rain swallowed the noises of the city, and as Nyx relented into his arms, all he could hear was the thundering of his own heart against the steady rhythm of Cor’s. He let his forehead fall to Cor’s damp shoulder, his arms coming up to grip desperately at the man that held him. “It’s okay,” Cor whispered. “I have you.”

This is about as much fluff I can manage before I start to squirm. Naturally I made Nyx reflect this.

Thunder shuddered around them as Nyx relaxed into his embrace. The proud part of him wanted to pull away, to fake bravado and deny himself this humanity as he had done storm after storm in Insomnia, but he didn’t. He burrowed his face into the crook of Cor’s neck, content to ride out the storm in his arms.

And then I made myself swallow that so we could get more hug out of it. You're welcome.

It was warm. Warmer than it had any right being, soaked from the rain as they were. Nyx couldn’t even remember the last time he hugged someone, beyond the barebones slap on the back Lib had given him a few weeks ago at Yamachang’s. He didn’t know how, but life had slowly dissolved into nothing but workday after grinding workday, every moment spent picking up the pieces that monster had left behind and attempting to cobble them back together into a respectable Kingsglaive. To sew himself back together, too, in the wake of his betrayal. They stood for a while, Cor gently murmuring comforting words in his ear as the man continued to soothe his hand against Nyx’s soaked jacket. His face was aching from where it was pressed against the obnoxious epaulettes of Cor’s formal uniform, and Nyx couldn’t help but snicker at the stupidity of their situation. Two of the strongest men in Lucis, soaked to the bone and hugging it out in an abandoned guard post. The press would have a field day.

This last line was actually one of the first I wrote. I was mostly making light of them hugging in the plotting portion of this fic, so its at least a little bit surprising how serious it got. Though, to be fair, the Original also had no hug at all, soooooooooo

“Feeling better?” Cor asked, voice warm and bemused against Nyx’s temple. “Yeah,” Nyx sighed, still unwilling to pull away from Cor’s embrace. “Fuck, I needed that.”

25. What is a weird, hyper-specific detail you know about one of your characters that is completely irrelevant to the story?

Tredd is lactose intolerant.

#ask game fill #garbria #cor leonis #nyx ulric #cornyx #noctis lucis caelum #botw!AU

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halchron · 8 months

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okay since we don't know that much about versus xiii / a lot of it is left to speculation about what actually was going to happen, here's just a few thoughts on what's up with prompto in my verse for it. all my understanding from what could've happened comes from this post.

still a clone, though from the beginning he's known that he's verstael's "son". however, to tie it into what might have actually happened in vs xiii, prompto isn't actually verstael's son that he preformed all his failed experiments on, but rather the first clone and only clone that had potential to control both his human and daemon dna after the death of his actual son. every other failed clone was instead made into mts or kept to preform further experiments on.

once the gang finally gets to niflheim, prompto does get controlled by verstael and requires noctis and the others to save him, though this happens due to a failsafe verstael put in all clones that allowed him to control them within a set vicinity.

due to his daemon blood, prompto can naturally see in the dark and has a natural affinity for dark type magic. however, due to the solheim genes also present from his human side, this also gives him an affinity for light magic ( though to a much less extent than the daemon side ). the solheim ancestry also prevents him from having more daemonic like features, though an extended use of his daemon dark magic makes prompto's scleras black while his pupils turn yellow while his veins becoming more predominant and black ( like ardyn's )

also he's aware that cor was the one to rescue him from niflheim, though he was still raised by cor's cousin. regardless he does see cor as his father and looks up to him, though he keeps their relationship a secret per cor's request ( cor still loves his son though and taught him how to defend himself and shoot firearms long before prom became a crownsguard )

besides what i listened above, not much else is different except that he's in general more confident in a casual way as he's aware of his past from the beginning and has come to terms with it, relatively speaking. of course, he still has his self esteem issues, but not as bad as they are in his regular verse. his self esteem goes down when verstael controls him and he thinks that he will hurt his friends if he stays with them, but soon recovers after they give him the spiel that they do in regular xv

#☾ ━ prompto ( headcanons ).#perhaps a hot take but I actually like xv's story more than what could've been bc from what I gathered vs xiii just seems too convoluted lo #even if xv's story is flawed and definitely could've been way better #REGARDLESS here's my thoughts which are really just a mix of the two lol #gonna be 100% real with y'all I really skimmed half of that long ass post bc I saw etro and I was like lord not again #granted it's literally versus xiii so what else should I expect lol

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laimabynight · 2 years

Text

Original Character Masterlist ♡

Count:90 Systems:32 Active:7

Vampire: The Masquerade

Camilla 'Georgia' Soledad, Brujah (x)

Vendelín Rusizka, Toreador (x)

Anastasia della Giordano, Tzimisce (x)

Devon Rowe, Malkavian (x)

Salvador Dolorosa, Brujah (x)

Kuriyama Tomoe, Banu Haqim (x)

Angelina Cruz, Lasombra (x)

Raffaele Giovanni, Giovanni (x)

Eugen Radetzky, Nosferatu (x)

Margarita D'aureville, Follower of Set (x)

Killian Darkwater, Thin-Blood (x)

René Debussy, City Gangrel (x)

Sister Mirona, Caitiff ( )

Jack Ramiro, Gangrel (x)

Pavlo Stepanovych Makarenko, Brujah ( )

Werewolf: The Apocalypse

Jana Mirtschin, Silent Strider (x)

Ljudmila Nikolaewa Sokolova, Silver Fang (x)

Mage: The Ascension

Yvonne Ebert, Verbana (x)

Dungeons & Dragons

Markus Abdiel, Human Monk/Barbarian (x)

Oriana Vylmythe, Eladrin Archfey Warlock (x)

Ladislava von Koldov, Human Undead Warlock (x)

Dorryen Whitestone, Half-Elf Wild Magic Sorcerer ( )

Hatake Yuka, Half-Elf Swaschbuckler Rogue (x)

Beladrin Halhadamorir, Wood Elf Ranger (x)

Tamar Balabanian, Tiefling Champion Fighter (x)

Thames Donahue, Human Undying Warlock (x)

Das Schwarze Auge

Najara al Kira ibn Sajida, Aranian Majuna (x)

Zidanja Walsareff, Bornlandian Adventurer (x)

Call of Cthulhu

Helena 'Harvey' Fountain, Artist (x)

Weston McNamara, Journalist (x)

Else von Sydow, Scientist (x)

Walter E. Harlan, Private Investigator (x)

Lord Ernest of Somersetshire, Noble (x)

Karl Eduard Nauditt / Karol Edward Naumowicz, Thug (x)

Eli Wilkinson, Missionary (x)

Joan Olson, Law Student (x)

María Ascunción Leguizamo, Nature Boy (x)

Vito Massarelli, Gangster Boss ( )

Hearts of Wulin

Ruan Qingshan, Little Brother (x)

Lín Xiǎo Dān, Wanderer (x)

Monsterhearts

Gjest Solheim, Queen (x)

Salem Lotte Harlan, Heir (x)

Jordan Bennett, Seraphim (x)

Michelle Bader, Siren ( )

Elvis Stalten, Witch (x)

Nathan Garcia, Mortal (x)

Moby Liberman, Mimikry (x)

Miranda Kean, Werewolf ( )

Amber Magdalene Dawson, Mortal ( )

Arcane Codex

Yatoth dex Selkasha, Morai Cleric (x)

Okagami

Saya, Kitsugo Noble (x)

Schatten über Volgorod

Ser Ilya Lynnhardt of the Blue Iris, Human Knight (x)

Benoît Vaillancourt, Human Occultist (x)

Cresentia 'Senta' Läufer, Human Model (x)

Rodion Mihail von Blankenheim-Lebedjev, Human Noble (x)

Mircea Eliadescu, Undead Warlord ( )

Pasión de las Pasiones

Fernanda Salazar, La Belleza (x)

Hyboria

Pallantia, Aquilonian Mercenary (x)

Shadow of the Demon Lord

Zinnober, Changeling Magician (x)

For The Queen

Mitena, Inventor (x)

Kasmeer Valorante, Florist/Magician (x)

Htut, Tiger Keeper (x)

Shiverin' Shelley, Pirate (x)

Nicola Snyder, Reporter (x)

Rippers Resurrected

Ashkara Kathat, Warrior Princess (x)

Mausritter

Annotto Crowley, Bat Cultist (x)

Vespuccio, Envoy (x)

Estragon Heller (x)

Devil, Aim For Me

Tennessee Dixon, Pamphleteer (x)

Pathfinder

Solaris Tarkovisk, Human Cleric (x)

Marquis Donatien Jaques de l'Ostrove, Elf Swashbuckler ( )

Magic School

Ulysses Elevander, Ravenclaw (x)

The Spirit Of '77

Tiago 'Tuco Velocidad' Garrido, The Good Old Boy (x)

One Last Job

Donna Wang, The Driver (x)

R'lyehwatch

Paige DeLuca, The Medic (x)

Electric Bastionland

Dr. Ichabod Bellagamba, Cryptohistorian (x)

Shadowdark

Nourin/Moitreyee, Witch (x)

Solo

Blanca von Hallberg, Noblewoman (x)

Endymiodes, Spartan Warrior (x)

Cartel

Sofia Casagrande, La Esposa (x)

City of Mist

Bethany 'Bassie' LaRue, Bastet (x)

Parisa Keshmiri, Gilgamesch (x)

Vaesen

Olga Klockar, Doctor (x)

Kuzma Vitalijovych Bojchuck, Soldier (x)

Freeform

Draven Schwarzschatten, Cleric (x)

How To Be A Hero

Clementine Sybil Montgomery, Heiress (x)

Edda 'Die Bärin vom Odewald', Swordswoman (x)

Fantasy Forge

Xylenea Octava, Intergalactic Reality Starlet (x)

CY_BORG

GUL, Burned Hacker (x)

Fabula Ultima

Yanagi Yoru, Ambitious Assassin (x)

#masterlist

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adagaium · 2 years

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here’s some fun ardyn things

can ardyn give the scourge yes. now he can. we see that in ep ardyn. do you get the scourge from coming in contact with ardyn no. that’s not how that works, he’s not like other carriers . the starscourge is literally magic malaria down to its scientific name ( although as a nurse i am never not amused at the fact they picked a harmless strain ), MALARIA SUCKS GUYS. malaria is spread by mosquito bites, or needle sharing, because it’s blood.

the starscourge is spread through: bites from infected animals or bodily fluids ( namely blood products ), or miasma from dead things that were infected. YOU CANNOT GET THE STARSCOURGE FROM HAVING SEX WITH AN INFECTED PERSON, also here’s a fun fact it doesn’t spread from casual contact. it won’t spread from bumping into a daemon. the reason daemons spread the scourge is ... they also like to tear each other apart, which usually leaves them covered in the blood of other daemons, hence the blood-based spread. so people aren’t getting the scourge because ardyn bumps into them.

quite the opposite, actually! for everything that ardyn has done in spreading the scourge by willing it ( a process of infection unique to him ), his innate ability is still to heal it. a sick person bumping into ardyn is more likely to make a miraculous recovery, because ardyn’s soul had a kneejerk reaction to being smothered by daemons — making his healing abilities involuntary. he couldn’t stop that just like we can’t stop our involuntary bodily processes. for this reason, coming into contact with people is fairly counterproductive to the goal of plunging eos into darkness.

unfortunately for ardyn, he’s bad at not being physical with other people, not only is he horny on main ( read, touch starved actually, and he’s expressing it like this ), he’s just overly affectionate in general. the good (?) news ( for adagium, at least ) is with each daemon he pulls out of a person ( willing or not ), his power grows. so, it’s ... conflict. ardyn’s really lost control of most parts of his life and he hates that. it’s the one thing he WANTS, control, because he doesn’t want to be the pawn of the gods, he wants to do what HE wants ... which if he thinks too hard, he doesn’t know what that is. he barely knows who he is anymore, which is a whole new cause of distress.

ardyn’s soul is still in his body, i don’t care what dawn of the future says there. ardyn’s soul never stopped being the soul of the saintly healer of eos, but it wasn’t strong enough to not be smothered by daemons. out of fear of losing himself fully, ardyn keeps journals where he’s written things down that he KNOWS are true about who he really is.

his true name is ardyn lucis caelum ( he doesn’t remember being mithra which is sad ).

he died at 33 in the throne room. aera died that day, too.

he was born in solheim ( but he doesn’t remember he was technically born a deity ).

he was engaged to aera mirus fleuret and they had two sons, but they never married due to uhhh tragedy.

he and aera named pryna when they were young.

his black chocobo was a female and her name was iaso.

the first person he healed of the scourge was somnus, when he was 7 and somnus was 4.

he and somnus liked playing chess together .

he didn’t want the throne, he just went because if that was what it took to heal people he’d do anything.

he is the chosen savior of eos and his calling is to save lives, not to take them.

sadly, that’s literally all ardyn actually remembers for certain about himself, his real life and true fate. everything else he has as memories are other people’s memories. he can’t even really figure out how verstael found him, he sorta just ... out of a need to be a Complete Person ... listens when people tell him shit that doesn’t conflict with the only solid memories he has. this mental vulnerability made him an excellent target for verstael, who uhhh caused a LOT of ardyn’s “new personality” to happen. that’s concerning in itself and something for another post.

anyway, there are times where ardyn’s soul will actually try to put up a fight against the daemons and it gives him horrible headaches and throws his emotions all out of whack and usually he just hides somewhere because he doesn’t want anyone to see him so vulnerable. this erratic behavior became more frequent as days passed in the ten years where noctis was asleep in the crystal, because the daemons knew their host was going to DIE and ardyn’s real soul wanted to wrangle the daemons so he COULD rest. noctis gets to see the real ardyn when he’s dying and he asks what will happen in the future. when he dies with a smile because he thinks it’s over.

#and when god asks me about love‚ i always respond with cruelty ❜ › meta analysis

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bard-druid-multiclass · 3 months

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❧ VIGGO SOLHEIM

Tiefling of Zariel, Bard of the College of Swords

❧ Tarokka Card: The Mists

❧ Major Arcana: The Sun

❧ MBTI: Assertive Campaigner (ENFP-A)

IN MATTERS OF PERSON…

❧ Age: 23

❧ Gender: Masculine AMAB

❧ Romantic Orientation: Panromantic

❧ Sexuality: Pansexual

❧ Tadpoled?: Yes

❧ Height: 6’2” (~188cm)

❧ Hair Color: Ashen Black

❧ Iris Color: Shocking Blue

❧ Sclera Color: Black

❧ Tattoos?: Yes

❧ Makeup?: Yes

❧ Facial Hair?: Yes

❧ Pubic Hair?: Yes

IN MATTERS OF WAR…

❧ Alignment: CG

❧ Weapon of Choice: A well-worn dueling sword

❧ AC: 16

❧ Armor Proficiency: L

❧ Spell Save DC: 16

❧ CR: 10

❧ Violent or Tame?: Tame

❧ Merciful or Cruel?: Merciful

❧ Diplomatic or Commandeering?: Diplomatic

❧ Magic or Martial?: Mixed

❧ Finesse or Brutality?: Finesse

❧ Opportunism or Etiquette?: Etiquette

❧ Wary or Fearless?: Fearless

❧ Fear response?: Flight

❧ A knife in the front or a knife in the back?: Back

❧ The swift death or the slow demise?: Swift death

IN MATTERS OF PEACE…

❧ Place of Origin: Elturel

❧ Current Residence: Wandering

❧ Occupation: Knight Errant (self-proclaimed)

❧ Family, Living: None

❧ Family, Dead: Parents, Siblings

❧ Religious?: No

❧ Romance?: N/A

❧ Compassion or Dispassion?: Compassion

❧ Vociferous or Reticent?: Vociferous

❧ Obedient or Recalcitrant?: Recalcitrant

❧ Fatalist or Self-Determining?: Self-Determining

❧ Optimist or Pessimist?: Optimist

❧ Angelic or Red-Handed?: Angelic

❧ Patient or Impatient?: Impatient

❧ Laconic or Loquacious?: Loquacious

❧ Fickle or Unwavering?: Fickle

❧ Devout or Areligious?: Areligious

❧ Wild or Controlled?: Wild

❧ Temperamental or Hard to Anger?: Hard to Anger

❧ Resolved or Indecisive?: Resolved

OPINIONS ON…

❧ Undead?: Negative

❧ Celestials?: Neutral

❧ Elementals?: Neutral

❧ Beasts?: Neutral

❧ Fiends?: Negative

❧ Humanoids?: Neutral

❧ Aberrations?: Negative

❧ Monstrosities?: Neutral

❧ Constructs?: Neutral

❧ Dragons?: Neutral

❧ Giants?: Neutral

❧ Oozes?: Neutral

❧ Plants?: Neutral

❧ Fey?: Neutral

❧ Magic?: Positive

BIOGRAPHY

To be updated

#viggo

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sparklecryptid · 2 years

Note

Wrote this down a while ago:

Immortal spirit or time traveler from Solheim ( not Gil or Somnus?) recognizes Ace as the son of Ardyn (magic?) and calls him the crown Prince of Solheim.

1. Ace as Siren with Cor

2. Ace as "Ardyn's nephew" in Niflheim

3. Ace as Siren with Cor and Nif/Lucis gov. members

4. Ace as Ardyn (Crown Prince and King) in Niflheim or Lucis

5. Ace and Ardyn in Solheimr ruins (spies?)

---

I got nothing else. Maybe your muses can do something with this?

This is fine, Ace thinks as the light that momentarily left him stunned fades and reveals a figure dressed in clothes Ace knows were common in Solhiem. Ardyn had thoroughly schooled Ace on the now ruined kingdoms and Ace vaguely remembers it because Ardyn had offhandedly mentioned that Ardyn’s mother was descended from Solheim royalty.

By the time Ardyn had been born the kingdom that was hers by right was nothing more than ruins, but Ardyn was still taught their customs and history which he passed onto Ace.

So Ace stares at the spirit in front of him and holds out a hand to stop Cor from attempting to stab a Six damned ghost.

Cor gives him a questioning look, Ace ignores it as the spirit comes closer.

“Oh,” the spirit sounds delighted as Ace feels a warm tendril of magic poke and prod the cold electric magic that runs through Ace’s veins, “You’re one of theirs! How delightful. I didn’t think any of Amarath’s children still lingered.”

Cor stares at Ace.

Ace ignores him.

“And you are?” Ace asks, voice tense and praying that this ghost doesn’t out the fact that Siren is more than he appears.

The ghost grins and bows in a way that is far to similar to Ardyn for Ace to be comforted at all.

“Healer of the Sun Asclepius greets the Star of the Kingdom, the Crown Prince of Solheim,” Asclepius pauses and glances up at Ace, “Though it pains me to say I don’t know you’re name.”

“Prince?” Cor questions.

“It’s complicated,” Ace answers with forced cheer before he addresses the ghost, “My name is my own, I do not give it out lightly.”

The ghost looks at Cor who is still staring at Ace like he wants to put Ace’s brain on a table to see how it works.

“Would you tell me his name, good sir?” Asclepius asks politely.

Cor judges the ghost.

“Tell me about how Siren here is the supposed Crown Prince of Solheim and I’ll consider it.”

#royal bastard au #cor: do i even know his real name? no. am I going to tell the ghost that before i get info out of him? also no #Ace wants the ground to swallow him whole

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ffxvficrec · 8 months

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by OhWormsNice Ignis would call himself a patient man. Growing up taking care of Noctis had ensured that he could be firm but not insistent; be accommodating without being indulgent; be patient without being a pushover. Ignis however, drew the line at sitting in a meeting room for over an hour waiting for the American’s senior staff of government to arrive with their president. ----------- None of the countries on the Eosan continent have made contact with the world outside since the Solheim era. Now with Noctis on the throne that silence has been broken. Lucis will enter the world stage and the world will have to grapple with the existence of magic, gods, and chocobos. Part one in a series of fics Words: 2235, Chapters: 1/2, Language: English Series: Part 1 of Noctis vs the media Fandoms: Final Fantasy XV Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: M/M Characters: Noctis Lucis Caelum , Gladiolus Amicitia , Ignis Scientia , Original Characters Relationships: Gladiolus Amicitia/Prompto Argentum/Noctis Lucis Caelum/Ignis Scientia Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting , Kinda , Fluff , United States , Ignis centeric kinda , Post-Canon , Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies , POV Ignis Scientia , Noctis Lucis Caelum Lives , Not Canon Compliant , The West Wing References , You don't need to know the West Wing , I was just watching a lot of it when I was writing it , Prompto will be there later , world building , Established Relationship , Politics

#final fantasy xv #ffxv #ffxv fic rec #final fantasy xv fic rec

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zorrostep · 2 years

Photo

Mar 28, 2022

Day 547 Hey Diary, Hope things were well for you today. Me? I'm quite alright. Thanks for asking. If anything interesting happened? Well, during work, a customer, an average, polite hedgehog approached us. Well, they approached me. Melvin was asleep. The customer asked me, "What's the hardest part of running your shop?". I'm not sure why they were curious, to be honest, but the answer was rather complicated, I found. For starters, creating a product is certainly difficult with only two contributors. Not to mention, most of our items are one of kind so we're forced to invent new items constantly. I thought this would be my answer but, it quickly dawned on me that even if we make an invaluable product, we won't make anything when no one knows we exist. Advertising is a monumental task for people with nothing but a table and a few trinkets. No connections or money to get ourselves seen either. I thought "Surely that's my answer". And it is what I ended up telling the hedgehog. After a bit of small talk, they went about their day. I'm telling you this because my answer would shift once more later that day. The work hours dragged by and after their conclusion, I woke Melvin. It was only 3 PM, but we had planned to go on an expedition today. And that we did, which is when my thoughts on the hedgehog's question changed. I am sure now that resource gathering is the most exhausting part of our business. The Shop of Myth is unique in many ways, but this feature is the most troublesome for us. Most blacksmiths can order their metal and tools from an in realm shop. Not only do we have to collect our own materials and hop realms. The materials are often rare even in its realm! This time we were looking for these special flowers. They aren't magical from the recordings, but they do possess an unnatural element only found in what we call "Solheim". The issue is, Solheim is nothing but sun with many bright colors and the flowers are white. Melvin says it was "Worse than shoveling snow in the Frigid". While I've never done such a thing, I must agree with the notion that the task felt practically impossible at times. After that, we went to Niflheim for icicles. In hindsight, that was a bit foolish on my behalf. I wondered why Melvin wore a hoodie when we set out for Solheim. The chilling realm provided my answer upon entry. Its cold air always surprises me. I should invest in a Frigid-made hoodie like Melvin's at some time. Thankfully, our target was much easier to locate this time, but the environment was much harsher to me here. That was all we had time for today so we hopped back home afterward. Dinner should be ready soon so this is all for today. See you later, diary. Sincerely, Ricardo

#Melvin #Ricardo #cat #jackal #gathering #forrest #Realmwalking #flowers #diary #furry #short story #Junda #digital art

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calligraphist-artemisia · 5 years

Text

The Sun Prince (Chapter 6)

Summary: It was an accident. A simple misstep that sent him plunging into the darkness and waking an ancient magic. Now Prompto has to deal with the consequences of making a deal with an Astral and learn how to control the magic blooming inside of him.

Also posted on AO3 and fanfiction.net under the username “kishirokitsune”

I now have an incredible beta-reader to help me polish up chapters and stay on track for where I need to be! And also has been super patient in helping me find and fix mistakes, as well as flesh out scenes.

-----

6. Across the Great Ocean

There were only so many interesting pictures he could take when they were surrounded by the sparkling blue waters of the Cygillian Ocean. He got plenty when they first left, including a selfie of himself with the lighthouse in the background, as per Noctis' request to take more pictures of himself, but his interest waned the further they got from the shores of Lucis.

Prompto flopped onto the bench seat next to Noctis, who was turned so he could stare into the water. “See anything cool?”

Noctis shrugged. “Hard to see anything when we're going this fast.”

Prompto refrained from looking over the edge, knowing his motion sickness would kick in hard if he did so. He was doing well so far, but he wasn't going to tempt fate. He looked at his camera instead. “Yeah, it's too bad we can't stop and let you fish; I bet there’s lots of big ones here, too. But we shouldn't keep Lady Lunafreya waiting.”

“It'll be good to see her again, though,” Noctis said with a soft sigh.

Prompto deleted a blurry picture of the shoreline and then looked away from the camera to face his friend. Noctis moved so he was sitting in what Ignis would consider a manner befitting a prince.

“Wanna look?” he asked, holding up his camera.

Noctis nodded and scooted over until they were nearly touching.

Praying that his blush wasn't obvious, Prompto turned the screen so his friend could see as well, and began the process of saving the pictures they liked the most.

“But that one's awful!” Prompto burst out when Noctis indicated he should save one of his selfies. The sun had caught at a bad angle in it, making his face look much redder than it really was. “No way, dude!”

“I like it,” Noctis said.

“Nope. No, I'll take another one, but we're not saving that. I look like I've been outside all day and got a terrible sunburn!” Prompto said, erasing it even as Noctis made a sound of complaint. “Hey, look how silly Gladio looks in this one!”

Gladio, who was sitting on the bench in front of them, glanced up from his book, but made no move to turn to see it for himself. He listened to them for a moment before going back to his reading.

Prompto saved that one and Noctis tried to stifle his laughter.

After a while, Ignis exited the bridge where he'd been talking with Cid about what they should expect once they arrived in Altissia. The old man insisted on coming along after all the hard work he put into the repairs, and they were all grateful for his presence, especially when it meant the Regalia wouldn't be unguarded while they went ashore.

Ignis joined them just in time to see a photo featuring Noctis with his mouth wide open in preparation of biting into a juicy burger.

“I think Lady Lunafreya will quite appreciate that one,” he said with a note of amusement in his voice.

Noctis shot his adviser a dirty look. “We're not keeping it.”

“I dunno, I kinda like it,” Prompto teased, pretending to think about it.

“You deleted the selfie you didn't like!”

“My camera, my rules,” Prompto decreed, holding it out of Noctis' reach as the prince stretched forward and tried to snatch it from his hands. Prompto grinned, silently daring his best friend to try again… and forgetting that Noctis was never one to back down when his pride was on the line.

Noctis lunged and Prompto squawked as they both went tumbling from the bench, landing in a heap on the deck of the Royal Vessel.

Gladio chuckled at the sight they made.

The camera slid out of Prompto's reach, but before he could scramble to retrieve it, Noctis rolled over on top of him and pinned him in place. Prompto felt like his face was on fire, his heart beating so loudly that he was sure everyone else could hear it, even over the pounding of the waves against the boat as they sped across the water.

“I won't let you up until you promise to delete it,” Noctis said, his mouth twisted up into a triumphant smirk.

Prompto blinked, his mouth suddenly dry. “I, uh, no?”

Why were words so hard?

“Then I guess we'll be here for a while,” Noctis said.

Prompto was absolutely not staying in that position for any longer than he needed to. Nope. No way. Either his head would spontaneously combust or something else bad would happen, like the ocean swallowing them all to bury his mortification, and both of those would require too many explanations.

He made a half-hearted attempt to wiggle free, but Noctis' hold was firm. “Okay, okay! I'll do it.”

The pressure lifted and Noctis stood so that he could ease himself back onto the bench seat, his back evidently bothering him after their little tussle.

Prompto retrieved his camera and checked it over for damage as he sat back down next to Noctis. His finger hovered over the delete button and for a moment he entertained the idea of saving it instead.

He pressed down.

“There. All gone,” Prompto told him.

“Thanks,” Noctis said, flashing him a smile. “Have any good ones of Iggy on there?”

Prompto grinned back. “Let's find out.”

Ignis remained impassive as they scrolled through to find any of him that could be deemed silly or embarrassing, but no matter how hard they looked, they found nothing. He remarked that he had no “bad sides”, which only encouraged the pair to try harder.

As they drew closer to Altissia, birdsong filled the air. A flock of seagulls flew in circles overhead, never breaking away to land on the rocky outcrops.

“How odd,” Ignis murmured, adjusting his glasses as he watched them.

“What's up, Iggy?” Gladio asked.

Prompto and Noctis looked up from their plotting.

Ignis gestured to the birds above them. “The behavior of the seagulls here is unusual, is all. I don't believe they typically fly in a formation like this for so long.“

A low cry echoed across the water, almost haunting in tone, and the Royal Vessel began to slow. Prompto was about to ask Cid why they were stopping, when a horn jutted up out of the water, followed by the massive form of a whale-like creature. It breached completely from the water and then crashed down, making the boat rock violently.

“Wh-what the hell is that thing?” Prompto asked, gripping the side of the boat so hard that his knuckles turned white.

Noctis leaned over the edge, his eyes wide with delight. “Whoa, look at all of those fish!”

“The fish?! That's what you're focusing on and not the giant creature trying to capsize us?” Prompto asked incredulously.

“Well now,” Cid's voice cut across the deck. “Never thought Ah'd get the chance to see the Legendary Bismarck. Count yerself lucky, boys. The fishermen 'round here count his sighting as a blessing.”

Noctis was still gazing at the sea creatures as though he were seconds away from leaping in to join them.

Ignis gave a hopeless sigh, removing his glasses to clean off the ocean spray. “I suppose we could stop for a short while.”

Noctis had his fishing rod out before Ignis stopped speaking, quickly switching lures to something better suited for the ocean. He settled into a comfortable position and cast out his line, lost in his personal joy of fishing.

Best friend that he was, Prompto dutifully raised his camera and captured him in action.

-----

Before they disembarked at the Altissian docks, Ignis made them all change out of their Crownsguard uniforms and into something that would allow them to walk around without attracting too much attention. Prompto didn't see how a white shirt and black cap was going to stop anyone from recognizing the Crown Prince of Lucis, but it was worth a try.

Cid waved them off, promising to keep an eye on things from the Royal Vessel. As agreed, he would take off first thing in the morning, retreating to a safe distance in case things went poorly with Leviathan.

“You can find Weskham down at a little place called 'Maagho'. He'll help,” he told them.

The only problem was actually finding it.

The streets were built like a labyrinth. Walkways crossed over one another, stairs led up one way and down another, some into dead-end streets. Everywhere they turned, there were fancy stalls set up with unique trinkets, all designed to attract tourists. At one, Noctis found a cactuar figure and couldn't resist purchasing it. Talcott would appreciate the gesture for sure.

Ignis had a map, but it was virtually useless for anything except vaguely pinpointing where they were standing within the city limits.

Gladio peered over Ignis' shoulder, trying to help make sense of which way they needed to go. By the way Ignis kept frowning and shaking his head, Prompto assumed they weren't having much luck. Really, they would be better off asking for directions from one of the locals.

He left them to it and joined Noctis in investigating one of the many market plazas. Everything was so colorful and lively that it was hard to figure out where to start, so they picked one to their left and began to work their way around, taking a look at everything there was to see.

It was easy to forget they weren’t on vacation.

He and Noctis stopped near a stall selling a number of unusual hats. Prompto spotted a captain’s hat and wondered if he should get it for Cid as a small way to thank him for everything he’d done for them.

“So, when do you want to tell Ignis and Gladio?” Noctis asked as they moved away without buying anything.

Prompto’s mood soured. “I dunno. Figured we’d get settled in first and then I’d do it.” He met Noctis’ gaze and something about the intensity he found in those dark eyes made him look away with a shiver.

“Do you want to talk about it some more? We never had time to go over what Rhyos told us and work it into your explanation,” Noctis said, keeping his voice low. It was doubtful that anyone around them would glean anything important from their conversation, but it never hurt to be careful.

Prompto shook his head. “Probably better not to mess with it. Look, let’s just worry about finding Maagho’s right now. That’s what’s important.”

Noctis studied him for a moment and then gave an exhausted sigh. “Fine.”

Prompto swallowed, fighting back the sickening feeling that he was a disappointment. Why couldn’t he do the one thing he promised both Noctis and Iris? Why was it so hard to find the strength to tell Gladio and Ignis?

He kept his head down and was only able to muster up a fake smile until they reached the very last stall, which had a sign proclaiming that they sold the World’s Best Gelato.

Prompto had seen at least three other places proclaiming the same thing since they began their walk from the docks.

“Do you think we should?” Prompto asked, glancing back at Ignis and Gladio. They were still looking over the map, though they had acquired help in the form of a young woman whom Prompto assumed was a local. It never ceased to amaze him how easily Gladio charmed the ladies, despite his intimidating stature, but she looked perfectly at ease as she stood next to him and helped map out their best path.

“We'll get them some, too,” Noctis said, choosing not to remark on the fact that they'd finally asked for help. “What kind do you want?”

Prompto took a few minutes to deliberate before settling for a vanilla swirled with Duscaen orange, while Noctis got one called sea-salt for himself, a simple chocolate and vanilla for Gladio, and one ulwaat berry for Ignis.

By the time they rejoined their friends, the woman was gone.

“So, did you figure it out?” Prompto asked.

“I believe so,” Ignis said as he folded up the map. He made no complaints about having dessert before dinner, wordlessly accepting it from Noctis. “Maagho is only accessible by gondola, so we will have to take a ride to reach it.”

“We also heard that Lady Lunafreya's wedding dress is on display somewhere around here. Sounds like something we should check out,” Gladio mentioned. He took a huge spoonful of gelato and stuck it into his mouth, the very taste morphing his face into one of bliss.

Prompto looked down.

He was sure it was a beautiful gown, perfectly suited for the Oracle, but it was also a reminder of a wedding that never happened. A wedding staged by Niflheim in a pretend gesture of peace. A wedding that he could have sworn was still going to happen.

He frowned, trying to remember when they had gone from “going to Altissia to get Noct hitched” to “going to Altissia to wake Leviathan and earn her blessing”. Had it been when Insomnia fell and he just never caught on to their change of plans? Was it some unspoken thing?

A spoon appeared inches from his nose and Prompto went cross-eyed to look at it.

“It's weird. You should try it,” Noctis said before shoving the ice-cream into Prompto’s mouth.

“Wha-mmph!”

Prompto refrained from spitting out the gelato as salt hit his tongue. There was a sweetness behind it, easing the taste, but it didn't stop him from making a face. “Oh, that is weird.”

“Told you,” Noctis said as he swiped a scoop of Prompto's in return.

“Hey!”

A small scuffle broke out between them, which by some miracle didn't leave either of them with their dessert melting on the ground. Ignis attempted to calm them, while Gladio stood by and did nothing.

“If you're quite done,” Ignis said sternly, swiping Noctis' cup of gelato and replacing it with his own. He took an experimental bite of seasalt. He frowned. “May I inquire as to why you chose this flavor?”

“Some kids were talking about how good it was. You're always telling me I need to branch out more, so I figured I'd try it,” Noctis said, shrugging. He looked much happier with the flavor of ulwaat berry.

“Clearly they have poor taste.” Ignis gave Gladio a look as he snuck in to try it for himself.

The shield hummed thoughtfully and swapped his half-eaten cup for the sea-salt. “It's not that bad.”

Once they finished eating, Ignis took out the map and guided them through the streets. It took them a few wrong turns to find it, but it wasn't too long before they were standing at the store front where Lunafreya's wedding dress was on display.

Prompto snapped a quick picture and tried not to think about how something meant to bring renewed hope to the people of Eos was instead the centerpiece of horrific tragedy.

Noctis took his time standing there, voicing none of his thoughts to his companions. It was only when he began to walk away of his own volition that anyone dared to break the silence.

“Now we just have to find one of those gondolas, right?” Prompto asked. “Shouldn't be too hard.”

It wasn't.

Everyone was able to breathe more easily once they were on the boat and off the winding streets. They relaxed and enjoyed the slow voyage, and Prompto could tell that Noctis spent the time making mental notes of every fishing spot, just in case.

As Ignis said, Maagho was only accessible by boat and was located in the underbelly of the city. It allowed for a crystal-clear view of the broad Cygillian. Fishing vessels were able to dock around the back of the restaurant, allowing easy access to fresh goods.

An older gentleman - whose hair had long been gray - stepped forward to welcome them, introducing himself as Weskham Armaugh, proprietor of Maagho.

He regarded Noctis with fondness and invited them to order whatever they liked from the menu.

For all that Altissia was the capital of Accordo and had a busy tourism industry, there was a peacefulness to the city that was different from anything they'd felt before. Insomnia was busy in an anxious way, constantly moving and never staying still. Even Lestallum, which was way more laidback than Insomnia, had a presence that moved with a sense of urgency or purpose.

Altissia was all about moving at your own pace.

It was nice.

If he had the time, Prompto knew he could spend days, maybe even weeks, exploring the city and not get bored of it. He mused on the odds that he could come back and do that one day as their food arrived and everyone began to eat.

They had chosen to sit at the bar, and Prompto was tucked between his best friend and Gladio, while Ignis was on the other side of Noctis, likely because the prince was the least likely to try and sample his food.

He listened to the conversations around him, hiding his grin into his food when Ignis broke away from talking to Weskham in order to scold Noctis for nonchalantly moving his vegetables over to his plate.

At least Weskham looked amused by their antics.

The peace couldn't last forever, of course. As Noctis requested a look at the dessert menu, a hush fell over the bar. The four of them turned around, fearing the worst, but saw no imperial guards coming for them.

Instead, there was a stern-looking woman with short blonde hair, dressed in a stylish turquoise suit. She carried herself with an air of importance as she made her way towards them.

“I believe that is First Secretary Camelia Claustra,” Ignis quietly told Noctis.

Prompto was sure they were about to be asked to leave the city. Why else would the First Secretary of Accordo travel down to speak with them personally? Just having them in the city meant her people were at risk of encountering imperial soldiers.

They all listened as she stated that she was aware that they were in Altissia to wake the Hyrdraean. She had already spoken about it with Lady Lunafreya, who was being kept in a safe location and hidden from the empire, but she still had reservations about allowing them to rouse the Tidemother.

It was with that information that Noctis agreed to speak with her at her private estate, and it was the most diplomatic act Prompto had ever witnessed from his friend.

“So, what do you think, Iggy?” Gladio asked once she was gone.

“I believe that speaking with her will be our best chance. Unless I'm mistaken, she has no desire to allow the Empire to gain complete control over Accordo. She must believe that allowing you and Lady Lunafreya to call upon Leviathan will be in her best interests, but we will not know for sure until Noct speaks with her,” Ignis said. He turned to Noctis, who looked stiff and uncomfortable at the reminder of why they were in Altissia. “I believe it's time for us to retire for the night. Tomorrow, you will be able to speak with her and we can make plans from there.”

Noctis nodded.

-----

Morning came bright and too early for Prompto, even after a night of restful sleep. A feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach dragged him down, preventing him from being his normal ray of sunshine. Luckily for him, Noctis was far grumpier in the mornings and all of Ignis' focus was on getting him ready for his meeting, while Gladio tried to help.

Ignis forced Noctis into a chair so he could properly fix his hair, and that was when Noctis’ eyes met Prompto’s from across the room.

Normally, there would be some form of silent communication which would pass between them, like Noctis begging his friend to save him from Ignis’ perfectionism, but all Prompto found was an unreadable expression.

Again, he was struck by the thought that he was a disappointment. That Noctis was angry with him for not keeping his promise. It was the only thing that made sense.

Suddenly, the airy room they’d been given felt suffocating.

He stood up, trying to remember any breathing exercises that would help, but his anxiety only rose as he garnered attention from Ignis and Gladio as well.

“Prompto, is something the matter?” Ignis asked.

“No!” Prompto blurted out, mild hysteria flooding his chest. “No, um, I just need to step out for some air, I think. Good luck with your meeting, Noct!” He gave his friend a thumbs up and then practically ran for the door and yanked it open.

From behind him, he caught the start of Gladio saying “Hang on, I’ll come--” but didn’t stop to hear the rest.

It was much easier to breathe out in the fresh air, and Prompto quickly hung a right to head out into the wider city. A walk was just what he needed to clear his head and calm down.

He let his thoughts drift, trying not to let himself get bogged down by the negative ones. He moved to the unfamiliar beat of a foreign land, standing out even as he went with the crowds, letting them direct him for a while, until finally he came to a fountain in an area that had less crowds.

Prompto took a seat on the raised edge and tilted his head back to look at the blue skies, letting a soft sigh pass over his lips.

Noctis was likely speaking with the First Secretary by then. He hoped his friend was faring well and that he hasn’t messed things up by running out on everyone, but he did feel better after his walk around the city. His mind was finally clear.

He knew he could tell them. Iris had helped him practice until his voice went hoarse and he was sure he had everything straight, and he didn't want to let her or Noctis down.

“What am I going to do?” he asked himself.

Prompto hadn't expected an answer, so when a dog barked right next to him, he nearly fell over in surprise. His eyes went wide at the sight of the white-and-cream dog staring up at him. He blinked, frowning as though he was having trouble believing what he saw.

“It can't be... Tiny?”

She barked again and wagged her tail in excitement.

Prompto laughed and reached out to pet her, his worries ebbing away as he lavished her with attention. He sat up after a moment and she hopped into his lap, clearly enjoying herself as she settled in.

“I'm really glad to see you, y'know? I was worried when you disappeared. When I was a kid, that is. If not for Lady Lunafreya's letter...”

If not for her letter, much of Prompto's life would be different. He never would have found the courage to reach out to Noctis and become his friend. He wouldn't have gotten to know Gladio or Ignis. Would he have made it out of Insomnia during the invasion? So many hadn't...

Tiny whined to get his attention and Prompto resumed petting her.

“I owe you a lot,” he told her. “Maybe you can help me again? I have to tell my friends something really important and I'm afraid of how they'll react. It's silly, I know it is. They'll be disappointed that I've hidden it from them, but maybe that's what scares me the most... I don't want to disappoint them. I've worked so hard to prove that I can stand by Noct's side and not get in the way. Some secrets are necessary...” His hand strayed to his wristband. “...but not this one.”

Tiny nudged his hand and he smiled at her.

Prompto was sure he made an odd sight, sitting on the edge of a fountain and talking to a dog, but being able to voice his thoughts to Tiny was helping his nerves settle. She was a very good listener.

“I just need to go up there and tell them. Like ripping off a bandage, right? It's too bad I can't take you with me when I do it, but you belong at Lady Lunafreya's side, not mine. She needs you,” Prompto told her.

A figure in white. The glint of light on the trident.

Prompto closed his eyes and pushed the vision away. “I don't think she's safe, Tiny. There's something – someone – who wants to hurt her. I know the First Secretary told us she's safe here, but...” He trailed off as he looked down at Tiny, whose twitching ears were the only indication that she was still listening. Her eyes were shut, as though she were asleep. “I guess you wouldn't be here if you thought she was in trouble. And this is a nice place to think.”

He sat there, enjoying the warmth of the sun and the laughter of children around him, the feel of soft fur between his fingers, and the chatter of the locals and tourists as they went about their daily routine. There was just enough going on around him that he didn't lose himself to negative thoughts.

By the time Tiny woke with a wide yawn, he felt ready to march back to the Leville and tell his friends everything.

She gazed up at him for a moment, and then stretched up to lick his cheek. With a soft bark, she jumped down and vanished into the crowds.

“Thank you,” Prompto whispered after her.

-----

Noctis didn’t know what to do.

After Prompto fled the room as though a pack of daemons were clawing at his heels, Ignis and Gladio turned to Noctis for answers. He had them, but they weren’t answers that were his to give. He stayed silent, just as he promised he would, and shrugged each time they asked.

He wished he could help somehow. Prompto was clearly struggling, and Noctis assumed that it had to do with his powers and the fact that he still hadn’t come clean about them, but it didn’t seem to matter how much he tried to reassure Prompto. All he could do was continue to be there for his friend, though if it went on for much longer, he doubted he would be able to stop Gladio and Ignis from tying Prompto down in order to get their answers.

Ignis sighed heavily. He did that sometimes, when he thought Noctis was being particularly stubborn about something, but was willing to let it go for the moment. “The two of you will have to tell us what’s going on eventually. I believe I speak for both of us when I say that we hope it is sooner rather than later.”

Noctis grunted and hoped that he was right and that was as far as Ignis was going to push.

“Still can’t believe he ran off like that. What the hell happened to the three of us escorting you to the estate?” Gladio asked grumpily.

“Plans change,” Ignis said, his tone one of patience. “I believe you are now ready to speak with the First Secretary, Noct. Shall we go now?”

Noctis breathed in deeply. “Yeah… Actually, could one of you stay in case Prompto comes back first? I don’t want him to feel left behind.”

“Very well,” Ignis agreed. “I will stay and look over our supply of curatives. It would be prudent to stock up before your Trial with Leviathan. Gladio, do you mind?”

Gladio stood up and stretched. “Sounds like a plan to me. Let’s get going, Noct.”

Hoping that he hadn’t just left Prompto to fend off Ignis on his own, Noctis left with Gladio. He was sure they’d be fine.

#FFXV #fanfiction #Promptis #The Sun Prince #Final Fantasy XV #slow burn promptis #solheim magic

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alyss-spazz-penedo · 4 years

Text

Okay, so so, basic cliffnotes for that Magi-FFXV fusion I mentioned @secret-engima:

Daemons are Not A Thing, and neither is the Crystal. All Astrals are basically djinn while Oracles are Magi equivalents and able to choose King candidates by offering them the Covenant of an Astral. If the person passes a test of the Astral’s choosing, then the Covenant is forged and the Astral’s powers are now at the beck and call of the King candidate.

Now, unlike the Magi, the Oracles can only offer the Astrals that they’ve previously performed a Rite with. While Magi can pull up any old Dungeon they please, Oracles need to establish a link to an Astral before they can bring a potential King to said Astral’s attention; if the King gains the Covenant, then the link to the Astral’s power goes to straight that King until the King dies, after which the power either goes back to the Oracle who performed the Rite or, if the Oracle is dead too, goes up for grabs to whichever Oracle next locates the Astral and sings it into submission (ie. performs a Rite again. The singing is really hard for Astrals to ignore, which is how Oracles past have managed to establish a link to even the finicky astrals. Which, for the record, is ALL SIX of the major ones. Minor ones like Carbuncle are more tractable.)

So, to give a hypothetical example: Let’s say Sylvia inherited Bahumut’s Rite from her mother, which is a thing she can do since they were both Oracles and Rites can be passed from Oracle to Oracle. Holding the Rite means she can beg Bahamut for power nicely and Bahamut might choose to answer if he’s in a good mood. Holding the Rite also means she can tell Regis that Bahamut says to go master 12 different weapons if he wants access to the Astral’s power. So lets say Regis does that, and masters the Sword of the Father too just because, and then Bahamut is forced to agree that Regis passes and so a Covenant is forged.

Holding this Covenant makes Bahamut Regis’ lil bitch, and gives Regis access to all sorts of nifty hard-light powers that he can use to form those 13 weapons or, say, slap a ginormous Wall around his lands to keep Nifs out—and Bahamut can’t do a thing to stop him except complain whenever Regis deigns to pay him attention. However, Regis isn’t able to pass on the Covenant to whoever he pleases (or else Mors would’ve given it to Regis when the man was still alive; Bahamut has traditionally always gone to the Lucian King), and Sylvia (who would now no longer be able to even ask Bahamut for power) can’t offer Bahamut’s Covenant to someone else while Regis still lives, though she can still pass on the Rite if she wants. So basicaally Bahumut would be with Regis til the man dies. (Household Vessels are still a thing though, so the Retinue still gets to play a bit with their own hard-light powers. Just. Endless bullets, blades and shields and polearms of all kinds. Cid likes to make tools, though the bolts and screws don’t really last long enough for his liking.)

Now then, if Reggie boy were to die, Bahamut’s power would go back to the Oracle that handed it out, ie. Sylvia. However, if Sylvia were to happen to have previously died in an unfortunate invasion attempt by Nifliheim forces before she could pass on Bahamut’s Rite to bby Oracle Luna, then Bahamut is free in the wind till the next irresistably-singing human finds him. In fact, EVERY Rite Sylvia hadn’t yet passed on would die with her, and Lunafreya would be doomed to living under Nif rule as an Oracle with no real power to offer. If she wants to be able to forge Covenants for any major Astrals she’s gonna need to track those Astrals down herself and sing them into submission.

Some of them, like Shiva, will make it easy and just come to her directly and teach her how to perform Rites instead of merely receiving them from her mother. Others, like Ramuh and Leviathan, will immediately faff off wherever they like and, if they’re not careful, run the risk of being seduced by Oracles not as... polite as those of the Tenebrean royal line. Of which there is basically just the one.

(Did I say hypothetical I meant Actually Happened in this fusion)

Oh also the Astrals like to whisper about there being this ~2000yo prophecy that someday a King candidate will arise that will unite all of Eos under one king—a King of Kings, if you will. Three guesses who they’re talking about.

There’s also one wandering Lord Ardyn in play, infamously known as either the Mad Oracle or the Immortal Accursed, who’s been kicking around for longer than anyone can recall and who’s every chosen King candidate (few as those are) has inevitably risen to incredible glory followed swiftly by a widespread, ghastly fall to ruin. (Solheim was his first stain on history; Niflheim is his latest.)

P.S. also very important: Noct's very first Astral Covenant was at nine years old, when he caught Carbuncle in a dream.

#ffxv #magi: the labyrinth of magic #my writing #This is basically me rewriting FFXV so that a happy ending is even POSSIBLE #so scrub that Crystal nonsense wholesale #keep an element of prophesy bc I like that #I'm a fantasy traditionalist that way and also it's a thing i liked in magi #Bahamut is demoted to being no more or less important than any ol High Astral #aND HE SHOULD BE GRATEFUL HE GETS EVEN THAT MUCH #Ardyn is not betrayed by anyone but his government bc Solheim needed an Oracle for their no-no Astral Cloning experiment #which is what the Starscourge is jsyk #you KNOW the first King Ardyn picked was his brother #such a shame what happened to his Kingdom after Ardyn tried to foist Scourge off on Somnus #guess the Lucis Caelum line were *ahem* lucky *ahem* that Somnus’ son was traveling outside the kingdom at the time #and never got on with his dad anyways bc he took after his uncle more #so he survived the blightening and mass death of his hometown and fucked off to spawn progeny elsewhere in the wide world #yes that makes Noct Ardyn’s grnephew still #concept #ask me about this fusion i will rAMBLE UR EARS OFF #think I'll name it #gotta catch them all verse

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