Chapter Text
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Apparently this is too big for the actual notes area.
I really hate writing these, but considering Nyx will be a fundamental part of my story I didn’t want to include a bunch of exposition that took away from the flow of what I was writing.
So, in my research I came to find that there was not a lot of information of Galadh. Nyx is such an important character in canon and fanfic that I really wish they’d had the chance to flesh out his history and where he came from. That being said, I’ve read quite a few fics that did a beautiful job of building his life before Kingsglaive but I didn’t want to steal the work those writers did. So, I set out to build my own.
According to the info I could find Galadh is based on the culture of India, however sparce what is canonically stated. However, I took inspiration from several Pacific Island nations. The other issues I had was the location of Galadh and the timeline of its fall to the empire. It all kind of conflicts.
What I could piece together is that Nyx was born in ME 724. One year later in ME 725 the Great War took place and King Mors pulled the wall back to Insomnia. In ME 726 Cavaugh was invaded by Niflheim but Galadh was essentially left alone. Until 18 years after the wall had been drawn back, so ME 743, and the Empire raided Galadh pretty much decimating the small island and its people. Nyx would have been 18 or 19 depending on when his birthday was, of which there is once again no mention.
And that’s about all we can say definitively about Nyx Ulric. We know that Nyx grew up as best friends with Libertus and that the two worked/ran/owned a bar together, he fought as part of the resistance in Galadh against the empire, that his family is all dead and at least his sister was killed in the attack, and at some point in his life was saved by King Regis. Nothing about that incident is mentioned on either character’s profile and there is conflict between Nyx’s official profile and the one from the Kingsglaive game. In the first it says it happened as a child, but the latter when he was fighting in the resistance. Now it's possible he fought as a teenager, but nothing is ever mentioned about how heavy a presence Niflheim had on the island prior to the attack. Also, there is nothing on when Regis may have been on Galadh so the event is open to interpretation.
I have yet to find when Nyx fled Galadh and took refuge in Insomnia. There are some clues in the Kingsglaive movie but it doesn’t quite fit what is mentioned in the official information I’ve found or what I had pieced together. In the movie, on the memory board on the table in Nyx’s apartment, there are some newspaper clippings, pictures, and other mementos. One of these is a letter written by his sister for his 20th birthday, which means she would have still been alive in ME 744. One year after the attack on Galadh despite Nyx telling Lunafreya that his sister had died during the attack and he hadn’t been able to save her. There was also a newspaper clipping with a picture of Nyx, Libertus and Regis that, according to the article, places Nyx in Insomnia a month after the attack in ME 743. There is something official looking and signed by Regis Lucis Caelum, but other than Nyx’s name I wasn’t able to make anything out. My guess, because it was a single line, is that it was something to do with his enlistment with the Kingsglaive. Again, there’s a very blurry date by no clue what it said.
There are other parts of Nyx’s history that don’t quite fit without further detail of Galadh and its culture. Like the bar he and Libertus ran. It would have been wiped out when Nyx was 19. Was he and his best friend managing a bar while still teenagers? Even if he became an “adult” at 16, which is pushing it a ‘modern’ world, even a fantastical one. And being part of the resistance? Like I stated, it’s possible he had been a teenager. If the Imperial presence was more than what was hinted at in canon than its all too possible he was one of the guerrilla fighters. And if that was the case, then I suppose him and Libertus running a bar isn’t that far fetched.
The other problem I had when building my AU world was the exact location of where in Lucis Galadh is. The only consensus I could find was that it was somewhere off the coast of Insomnia. Some maps show it as the large chain of islands to the northeast, the Kingsglaive movie showed it to the west but I’ve only ever seen that labeled as Cavaugh, and others the small handful of islands to the southeast of Insomnia and due east of Leide. Since Galadh was supposed to have been a small and somewhat insignificant region of Lucis, I went with the islands to the southeast.
That’s the big stuff, mostly, so you have an idea of where I’m getting my details. What I finally decided to go with as far as Nyx’s history, and the other little details I have about my Galadh, will be touched on as the story progresses.
I really hope you all enjoy it.
And sorry for the mammoth Author’s note.
PROLOGUE
Citadel Throne Room, Insomnia
Unknown, M.E. 766
The blood was still warm.
It seeped from behind the blade piercing the chest and a heart that only moments ago had been beating. The tip of the sword penetrated the back and gouged into the stone of the throne. The life-giving fluid had soaked behind the body and now dripped onto the previously exquisitely marbled steps. Features that had been pale in life were nearly translucent in death, and once star-like cyan eyes were dull and clouded as the soul slumbered in the Beyond.
“This is a pyrrhic victory, Brother.” Like the low rumble of the storms he brought, Ramuh’s voice was as calming as it was menacing. A dichotomy that never ceased to amuse the Draconian. “Even you cannot be satisfied with the outcome of your ‘great plan’.”
“No,” Bahamut admitted to the surprise of the other. He turned his gaze away from the remains of his Chosen and looked to the world alight with a new dawn. The bodies of the men that had stood beside the Chosen in life, and followed him in death1, lay where they had fallen during the final push of the daemon hordes. Throughout the scorched and still burning ruins of the once-great city the bodies of the men and women that had fought for the return of the sun cooled with eyes unseeing, never knowing the light that they and their King had paid for with heart and soul. The world beyond rejoiced with the first sunrise of a new age, but there were many who wept with sorrow knowing the price at which it had come.
“We have erred greatly, now as much as we had then.” The watery hiss of the Hydraean surrounded them as the serpentine astral rose from the water surrounding the city. “The waters are stagnant, Brothers, the life they once held eradicated with the purging of the plasmodium malariae. The scourge may be cleansed but the world cannot continue after so long in darkness.”
“The earth is no better.” The Archean knelt with his hand pressed against the soil and stones. “Organisms needed for the growing of new life were infected during the long night and destroyed with the scourge.”
“Mankind will wither.” Words frosted with grief fell like snow from the Glacian as she manifested next to the mortal remains of their King of Kings. Of them all, Shiva had been affected by their Chosen the greatest. No larger than a mortal woman, her avatar reached a delicate hand out and caressed the body’s cheek with reverence. “The attempt will be made, and for a time they will linger, but it will be for naught. His sacrifice will be for naught.”
“Reorder time.” On his knees in supplication, the Infernian kept his head bowed as he presented himself to the others. He too was the size of a mortal, the grey of his skin beginning to bare the hint of crimson and orange after two millennia as the fires of his being smouldered and rekindled.
“To what end?” Ramuh asked crisply. “To turn back the stars will change nothing. The scourge will return, the Accursed One will reign, and the Chosen must perish again. Even you, fickle as your flames, cannot wish him to suffer as he already has to fulfill a destiny to heal that which we had wounded.”
“Not to as he was. But return him as he is.” Ifrit lifted his head and met his beloved’s eyes as she stared down at him. “The blood price has been paid, the covenants made, power greater than our own is his to command.”
“This mortal shell cannot house him again.” Titan stated matter-of-factly. “And the body of his past would not contain the power you speak of for long. He would be driven mad much as the Accursed was. It is why the Chosen was changed and strengthened within the heart of the Crystal.”
“A new vessel.” Bahamut looked down at Ifrit pensively.
“It can be done.” The Tidemother said imperiously. “This shell may not again hold the soul of all that he is, but we can build from it. Unite the sparks of his life then and now and give it breath.”
“We Astrals brought the scourge and the curse of the Daemons unto this star and to mankind.” Shiva looked back at the body on the throne and combed her fingers through the hair falling into the too-still face. “In our hubris and belief in our supposed divinity, we did nothing to stop their spread. We allowed fate and destiny to mend that which we broken. Even now we look to another to undo yet another of our mistakes. We go too far!”
“He has already done all we demanded of him.” Ramuh sided with the Glacian. “Has he not earned his peace? Mankind may name us gods, and our powers may be great, but do we have the right to place the burden upon him once more? To ask him to again endure the pain and suffering, to sacrifice the life given him, but for a chance?”
“He is your Chosen.” Ifrit finally rose from his knees. “Perhaps it’s time you let him choose.”
The blood price has been paid; His ascension is complete. Born of Us, The Chosen King is made manifest. Blood of Our blood. Flesh of Our flesh. Reborn of Us, The King of Light shall come before darkness veils the world.
CHAPTER ONE
Ausace Haven, The Nebulawood
25th of April, M.E. 754
The storm had been unexpected; thunder and lightning rending through the dusk sky. Dozens of strikes in a matter of minutes that had the people of Duscae running for the protection of their homes, the Outposts, and rest areas before the rolling clouds darkened the last rays of day.
So close to the Alstor station outpost, while most of the team spread out on patrol in the Nebulawoods had likely made it, Crowe Altius was one of the handful of Glaive that had been forced to climb the stone ramp to the glowing runes visible through the trees and rain. Soaked to the bone and unable to sleep, she stood a few feet from the haven’s edge facing North toward the slough a couple hundred yards2 away. Her back was to the crackling bonfire they had managed to build before setting up a waterproof canopy to take shelter beneath
In the hours since, they had kept it burning as a beacon to anyone else caught out in the storm. Luckily, it seemed as if they were the only poor saps stuck out in Ramuh’s deluge that night. Them, and the figure she could see silhouetted at the waters edge with every flash of lighting. He had been there when they arrived and was there still.
“He still at it?” Tredd Furia’s voice was the only warning she had before a hand was stretching into her field of vision holding a steaming tin mug. She took it without hesitation from the ginger who came to stand beside her. “I don’t get what could have a man risk being out in the open like that all night, let alone in weather like this.
“Depends on what he’s trying to catch.” Miles Kailani called from where he and their newest recruit, Sadda Pahn, were tucked beneath the canopy. “Some fish only surface at night, and the storm certainly won’t bother them. If I had known we’d be stuck here overnight I would have brought my rod and joined him. The slough has the best fishing spots in Duscae.”
Sipping at the cup, Ebony brewed not quite as strong as she typically liked, Crowe took a larger drink and curved her left palm over it to prevent more rainwater from diluting it. “There’s still a couple of hours until dawn and before I’d be comfortable moving us out to meet up with the others. You should try to get some sleep.”
Tredd shook his head and he took a drink from his own mug. “I’ll be fine. Gone longer on less. But I know you didn’t get more than a couple of hours last night, why don’t you call it a night?”
“The King’s magic has been buzzing since we got to the outpost two days ago.” With a sigh she gulped the rest of the drink in one go. “I feel like I’ve been hit with thundara.”
The man just hummed against the cup as he drank again and a companionable silence fell between them. Behind them they could hear the movements and low conversation of the other two members of their squad that had been stranded by the sudden storm. A flash of lightning ribboned across the sky, bright enough to illuminate the silhouette of the figure by the slough finally moving away from the water. The sky went dark a couple seconds before the thunder rumbled ominously in the quiet.
“Think we’ll make it back to Insomnia in time for the ceremony tonight?” Tredd asked after a few minutes.
She could only shrug. “Astrals only know. If the storm lets up enough before sunup we should make it to the outpost with enough time to get us back to the city by sundown. But if the clouds stay this thick?”
Out toward the slough, frantic barking started sounding in the dark and she felt Tredd tense beside her. Crowe knew she had done the same and prayed to the Six that the animal was only reacting to a beast and not something worse. It was bad enough when Ramuh wasn’t throwing a tantrum, but the rain and clouds had reduced visibility to practically nothing. It was why she and the others had taken refuge on the Haven instead of pressing onward for the Outpost. It would be all too easy for a daemon to sneak up and ambush anyone outside a haven.
“Ten years. Think this will be the year they finally declare him dead?” Her companion asked, his voice anxious and on edge.
The barking was even more frenzied now and accompanied by the low groans, growls, and metal-like grinding of something distinctly daemonic.
Miles and Sadda had stopped talking.
Crowe crouched and set the tin cup on the stone quietly, eyes straining to see into the dark and to where she had last seen the figure. Her feet moved of their own accord, taking her over the ledge of the Haven and a few feet down the rockface.
“Iron. Astrals let it be an Iron.” Tredd had mimicked her and put his cup down though stayed above her on the Haven.
Lightning flashed again, a jagged bolt this time that still illuminated the sky dangerously, and the thunder split the air barely a second after. The giant had risen directly between the Haven and where the figure had last been seen. Her heart stuttered inside her chest when she saw the metal red of its hide and the massive glowing sword being swung at something closer to the ground.
“Shit, it’s a Red!” Miles shouted, dropping his tin cup with a clang that was nearly drowned out by the resonating ringing of metal against metal in the distance. There was a spark as something, miraculously, stopped the monster’s blade. Whoever the figure was, they were fighting and that was all the Glaive needed.
“Sadda, secure camp and ready the kits!” Crowe snapped as she dropped the rest of the way off the protective stones. She was running as soon as her feet hit the ground and twin thumps of Tredd and Miles joining her came from behind. As she ran, she drew her dagger from its sheath across her lower back and into her right hand. She needed to get closer before she considered warping, but at least the glow of the daemon’s sword kept her going in the right direction.
The dog was still barking and as they drew closer she could see the animal snapping and snarling around the ankles of the glowing daemon. A man, his voice a rich tenor and authoritative like she had heard in few others, was actually taunting the monster and keeping its attention on him. She had a few seconds to marvel at the man’s obvious insanity before she realized he had kept the daemon’s back exposed to them.
“Tredd!” She snapped, calling a ball of electricity to her left hand in preparation.
“I see it.” The ginger started pulling to the left. “Miles, flank!”
“Got it!” The other man banked to the right.
“Incoming!” She hollered to give the man warning as she flung her left hand out.
Lightning streaked through the night sky and slammed into the Red Giant’s back. The daemon was resistant to most magic, but it was enough to stagger it. Thankfully, she saw the man jink out of the way and follow up with a slash of his polearm into the back of the monster’s knee and sending it into the mud. A pair of kukris sailed through the air, one into it’s left shoulder and the other to its right elbow. The blades sunk deep and a second later, in a streak of crystal-blue light, Tredd and Miles warped to the handles of their weapons. Crowe sent her own dagger through the air, pulling herself through the between to grab the handle a second before it connected with a spot in the giant’s back.
“Hero, out!” The man shouted the command and, as she leapt from the back while slashing her dagger across its shoulder blade, she saw him drive the point of his polearm into the mud. A second later he had a sword in hand and was moving in closer to the giant that was roaring in rage into the night air.
“Reaper!” Tredd shouted somewhere to her left and she barely saw the thing’s glowing scythe before the giant filled her vision. She warped away from a wild swing of the monster’s sword and came out a few feet on the opposite side. The man had already taken advantage of the giant’s distraction by the glow of her warp trail and leapt at the thing’s left side. She heard the metallic snap as something broke within the beast and followed up with a strike of her own to the same spot when the man danced away. She ducked beneath its flailing sword arm and snapped a prismatic dome into place to shield the man when the sword sailed over his head.
It was a deadly dance, the four of them moving in synch between the two daemons. In the back of her mind, Crowe was impressed by the way the guy moved. The hunter, she assumed given the way he could fight, was easily as skilled as Nyx, or Drautos, or even The Immortal himself. He ducked and wove and slid his attacks between the trio of Glaives and their magic almost effortlessly, as if he’d done it before. The reaper had fallen to Tredd and Miles and the pair had quickly rejoined them against the larger threat. Despite being one of the worst daemons to come across it was gearing up to be one of her easiest fights.
And then the throw of Mile’s kukri had him warping directly into the line of the giant’s sword.
She was calling the shield to her hand, already knowing it would be too late, when, suddenly as if out of nowhere, the man was pushing her comrade out of the way and parrying the enormous blade with the sword held in a single hand. The screech of metal against metal was painful to her ears, but nowhere near as painful as the man’s scream of pain when the edge of the glowing blade was cleaving into his shoulder.
Miles roared, a rare burst of ice flashing from his hand exploding dead center on the chest and sending it crashing back. Tredd followed up with a blast of lightning that mingled with Crowe’s stronger bolt and shattered a chunk of the daemon’s frozen chest. It groaned, miasma bubbling up around its feet as it fell prone onto its back. The sword fell from its hand as she heard the shattering of a crystal vial behind her but kept her focus on the daemon as it was reclaimed by the soil. She and Tredd stood at the ready for a few seconds after it was gone and the still of the night returned.
“-best healers we’ve got.” Miles was speaking levelly, though Crowe could hear an edge of hysteria to his words. “Crowe!”
At his call she was turning, eyes adjusting quickly to the sudden loss of light from the daemon’s glow. She hurried to their sides. Miles was on his knees in the mud, partially holding the man against his chest and out of the sludge. She went to one knee, noting the dark staining the right side of his torn leather jacket in the last sparks of a potion’s magic seeping into his chest. “How bad?”
“Don’t think I’ll lose the arm.” The man grit through his teeth as he clenched his right arm to his side with his left hand. Behind them, the ground was bubbling with warning and a crimson arm was rising out of the earth.
“We need to move!” Tredd stood between them and the rising Giant, in his hand the hunter’s sword and polearm. “Now!”
With Mile’s help, they got the hunter to his feet. Each had an arm around his waist, mindful of the injury to his right arm, the three of them hobbled toward the glow of the Haven they could just make out through the rain and trees. Tredd brought up their six, sending blasts of magic to push the giant back until the aura of the Haven kept it at bay.
“The kit’s beneath the canopy.” Sadda said as she met them at the bottom of the ramp, taking the extra weapons from Tredd as they made their way up and into the light. “Three potions, two elixirs if they’re needed, plenty of sterilized bandages at the ready, rainwater in the kettle boiled and cooling and ready to clean any wounds.”
“Damn, you need to come on all my hunts.” The hunter hissed under his breath as they settled him onto the ground out of the rain beneath the canopy. Miles slid in behind the man to keep him sitting upright while Sadda placed the sword and polearm on the stone next to them.
In the firelight, Crowe could see the wince of pain beneath the blood and mud splattered across his face and several days worth of stubble. There was something familiar about his face, but she pushed the thought aside while she shucked off her filthy bolero jacket, removed her fingerless gloves, and used some of the water Tredd had fetched to rinse the grime from her hands. She knelt beside the hunter, using her knee to carefully nudge his foot to gain his attention. “I’m Glaive Crowe Altius. These are my comrades Miles Kailani, Sadda Pahn, and Tredd Furias.”
The feeling of familiarity only intensified seeing bright blue eyes that reflected the flickering of the fire. He nodded at her and returned the introduction. “Guardian Sidereus Rex3. I appreciate the save.”
“Sidereus Rex?” Tredd asked with peculiar expression on his face as he crossed his arms over his chest. “That’s an Insomnian name if I ever heard one. Didn’t think many city-raised ventured out from behind the Wall let alone became a hunter.”
“Never been inside the Wall.” The hunter rolled his eyes and Crowe wanted to do it herself at Tredd’s obvious condescension. “I was born and raised in Hulldagh Pike. Most people just call me Rex, or Sid. Feel free to use either.”
“Rex then.” Crowe offered the injured hunter a soft smile and motioned to the kit. “I have field medic training. May I look at your injuries?”
He nodded and started working his jacket open with his good hand. “Just enough to get me back to Wiz’s. The old man lets me set up in one of his outbuildings when I’m in the area and I had most of my gear stored there. Including a few potions.”
“What the hell,” Tredd demanded with a scowl. “Were you doing out at night, in this storm, without your gear?”
“I had gear.” Rex inhaled sharply with pain as Miles helped get his jacket off the injured shoulder. He wore a dark brown t-shirt beneath, the sleave sliced, bloody, and barely clinging to the seam. Even against the dark of the fabric they could see the entire right side was wet with blood and the limb was hanging unnaturally in obvious dislocation. Rex completed the tear, ripping the sleave off fully and sliding it carefully down his arm. The action allowed Crowe to see the deep bruising on pale skin and the swelling of the joint. “Gear that is somewhere out there in the brush along with the fish I was going to have for dinner. As Guardian, I don’t typically get a lot of down time for fishing but the hunts I had were taken care of quicker than I anticipated.”
“And when it started to rain and night fell?” Sadda asked, handing the sanitizer to Crowe without prompting.
“Not a lot of daemons are willing to get close to the slough on account of the Catoblepas.” Rex started to shrug only to abort the motion with a wince. “Besides, I’ve been hunting for nearly half my life and have been Guardian for two years. I’ve learned when to run from a fight and have no shame admitting that. The giant was coming up behind me and, despite it being further away, Digythe Haven was a straight shot. If I started running I would have put enough distance between me and it chances are it wouldn’t have pursued.”
“So why didn’t you?” Mile asked, accepting the tin cup of water from Sadda and slowly poured it over the injured shoulder to clear away the blood.
Rex had winced at the first contact of the water but his expression quickly eased into one of relief at the warmth Crowe knew was radiating into the damaged muscles. “Hero was egging the blasted thing on. I wasn’t about to leave the mangey thing to the giant, pain in my ass or not.”
Getting a better look at the arm, and glad to see the wound mostly closed over from the potion already given, Crowe inched a little closer and reached for it with a tentative hand. “Anything more than the shoulder I need to know about?”
The hunter shook his head. “A few nicks and cuts. Might have tweaked my knee a bit in the mud when I first blocked the hit, but nothing life threatening. The potion you – Miles, right? – gave me closed it up so I won’t bleed to death. I’ll be fine until dawn and I can get back to the outpost.”
“So, Hero, is that your dog?” Crowe asked, wanting to distract him as she began her examination. “I don’t think he followed us back to the Haven.”
Rex grunted when Crowe pressed lightly against the shoulder, feeling the tendons and ligaments for any damage. “He’s not actually my dog. Not sure if he belongs to anyone, honesty, but he finds me on hunts occasionally and tends to stick around for a few days. He comes and goes as he pleases. He’ll be fine and is likely waiting for me back at the outpost so I can feed him. If not, I’ll see him when he feels like it again.”
“Sounds like another ‘Hero’ we know.” Tredd snorted his amusement from where he had moved a short distance away. He had his phone in his hand, reading something on the screen before slipping it back into his pocket.
Crowe struggled to keep the grin from tugging at more than the corner of her lips as she shook her head and leaned back from the injured limb. “I don’t trust what’s going on beneath the skin enough to set it. The bruising is deep and set in too quickly, and I think the hit may have torn or even severed the muscles. There may also be damage to the ball and socket of the joint depending on how the sword hit you. I can put it in a sling to limit movement, but we need to get it checked out by a Healer. There’s one at the Outpost in Longwythe or we could bring you back of Insomnia with us to one of the hospitals there. I’d recommend the latter, as they’d have the better equipment to scan it while they heal it.”
“Thank you for the offer, but that’s the wrong end of Lucis.” Rex said. “I’m due back in Meldacio by the end of the week. There’s a healer of sorts at Wiz’s that I trust to take care of me, she always does, but worse comes to worse I can catch a ride to Lestallum.”
“The Chocobo Post?” Sadda asked incredulously. “You’d rather a bird doc than an Crown City trained Healer?”
The man ran his good hand through his hair, slicking mud and water off deep black strands, and sighed. “Look, I appreciate the help, really. But folk outside the wall don’t always have the same options as those from inside it. We make do. Even the Lestallum Hospital is understaffed, underequipped, and still too expensive for the average citizen. A single day’s stay can cost a manager with EXINERIS Industries upward of a full month’s salary before taxes. You, the Glaive, who I know understand better than anyone, have access to the King’s magic and resources at no cost to you. You don’t have to pay for curatives, or treatments, or Healers. You get hurt or sick and the Crown picks up the tab. So, again, I am grateful for the offer, but I trust Camilla to know how to patch me up. Astrals know she’s had plenty of experience.”
“Fair enough.” Crowe conceded, though she didn’t like it. To be fair, she didn’t like anything about the situation for the citzens outside the Wall. It’s why she had joined the Glaive and fighting to push the Empire out of their homes.
Crowe took the sealed packaged sling from Sadda when the youngest of their squad was offering it to her. She unwrapped it, shook it out, and went about carefully securing the dislocated limb to Rex’s side and across his chest to keep it immobile. Once she was happy it wouldn’t be jostled and injured further, she picked out a sealed pack of analgesics. “To help with the pain. Then you can take it easy out of the rain until we escort you back to Wiz’s after sunup.”
“I don’t need an escort.” He said even as he held out his hand to accept the sealed pills. “I’ve made it further with worse.”
“Even If they don’t, I will be.” Miles insisted and pulled a canteen of water from his pack while Crowe popped the pills into Rex’s palm. “You saved my life, man. It’s the least I can do.”
She left the two and Sadda talking beneath the canopy when she noticed Tredd motion for her to join him by the fire. They stood on the opposite side of the stone ring, watching the trio through the flames. Understanding his obvious want for what privacy could be given, she kept her voice low and hushed and unheard by the others over the crackling of the fire and the rain still falling on the stone. “What’s got your panties in a twist?”
“Tell me he doesn’t look familiar to you.” He said, taking the phone from his pocket again.
She looked over at the hunter who was still leaning up against Miles though his eyes has closed even as he was still speaking to the others. “I can’t. I don’t know how though.”
“Make the beard thicker, a few more lines and wrinkles in the face, more grey than black in his hair and not as unkempt.” He tilted his phone for her to see a photo of the King from his most recent press release.
For a moment, looking at the picture on the screen, she couldn’t see it. And then it clicked and she was turning her wide-eyed and shocked expression away so as not to be noticed. “No!” She whispered under her breath. “No, it’s not possible. He’d be seventeen. This guy’s easily pushing thirty!”
“Ten years, Crowe.” Tredd hissed through barely moving lips. “No one is going to know what he’d look like at this age. And it’s dark and he’s filthy and the firelight ages all of us. Take away the stubble, the mud, the blood, the Hunter leathers-”
“What are the odds that we just miraculously happened upon him after he went missing in Tenebrae when he was eight years old? No, don’t tell me the odds because it’s too impossible to be true.” She shook her head, not wanting to even consider it, but when she looked back over at the man in question she couldn’t deny that the similarity was uncanny. “He’s not.”
“I took a pic while you lot were busy and sent it on to the captain. I’m just waiting for orders on what he wants us to do here.”
“Shit,” She cursed and felt her heart racing beneath her chest. “Shit! I really wish you hadn’t done that without talking to me first.”
“Without Axis here you may have rank, but you’re not my commander.”
“You think I care about that?”
“Then what does it matter?” Tredd snapped quietly. “We would have had to report our suspicions during debrief, and if there’s even a slim chance that this guy is-”
“It matters,” She could feel the glare on her face when she interrupted him. “Because regardless of how slim of a chance it is, the captain is now going to send every godsdamned Glaive we’ve got in Duscae to lock a hunter down until he can confirm one way or the other.”
“Can you blame him?” Tredd’s arms folded across his chest and he was staring at the man as much as she was.
“Were you not paying attention during basic training?” She looked away from the hunter, and took hold of Tredd’s arm to ensure she had his full attention. “After the Wall was pulled back, the Hunters essentially became the authority out here, above the Guard and Glaive. Even the Nifs know not to push their luck with them! To the people outside Insomnia’s walls, a hunter’s word is law even more so than that of the King. If Drautos comes back with the order to sit on Rex?”
“We’ll be going up against the Hunters.” Tredd blanched as he realized the situation they were now in because of this. “But seriously, ten fucking years Crowe!”
“Quit saying that.” Crowe felt like she couldn’t catch her breath and forced herself to take several deep breaths. Rex was smiling at whatever Sadda had said, Mile laughing carefully so as not to jostle the injured hunter, and the girl was gesturing wildly as she spoke. The ease in Rex’s expression was nothing she had ever seen worn by the King and yet she could not look at Rex and not see their monarch now that it had been pointed out. “Do you really think it could be him?”
“I don’t know.” He muttered and she saw his fingers curl tightly around his phone. “But the godsdamned Missing Prince, Crowe? It’ll change everything if he is.”
“Khara to Altius; you there Crowe?”
The voice over her comm crackled in her ear and she saw Miles and Sadda go quiet at the communications officer sounding through their comms as well. She glanced at Tredd briefly and steadied herself before pressing the comm to activate the mike. “I’m here, Pelna. Go ahead.”
“New orders coming from the Marshal: you are to hold position and take custody of the Package, priority Alpha One. Glaive Arra and the rest of your squad are being dispatched immediately from Alstor Station, ETA-”
“We’re moving double time.” Axis’ voice cut in over Pelna’s. “We’re less than thirty minutes from your location Crowe, barring any daemon activity.”
“They are to help secure the area until transport from Citadel arrives. Captain Drautos, Commander Leonis, and a contingent of Glaive and Guard are enroute from the capital now with transport to return the Package to Insomnia. ETA eight hours.”
Her stomach dropped and she only just managed to keep her eyes from staring at the hunter that was now looking at them in concern. She knew Miles and Sadda wouldn’t have context for their new orders but felt Tredd’s entire bearing shift. “Copy that, Pelna. Anything else?”
“Just that you’ve stirred up a hornets’ nest, that’s for sure. They’re pulling every Glaive on assignment back to the city and calling up every Guardsman onto active duty until further notice. Something tells me you really don’t want to misplace whatever this ‘Package’ is. See you when you get back, Crowe. Citadel out.”
“Shiva’s holy tits!” Tredd slid his phone away and ran a hand over his mouth and chin. “This is-” He cut himself off, obviously not knowing what to say.
Not that she could fault him for it. Priority Alpha One was a direct order from the King and explained why both Drautos and Leonis were being sent out of the city today of all days. It meant that His Majesty had been made aware, in a matter of minutes, of the possibility that they had found his son.
The son who had been missing, and presumed dead by most of the population, for the past decade.
The son who, if true, seemed to have no idea who he truly was.
“Is everything all right, Glaive Altius?” The man in question called across the Haven.
“Mind your approach, Axis.” She said into her comm while trying to school her features into a neutral expression. “We encountered two Reds in the area north of the Haven.”
“Copy that.”
Crowe clicked her comm off and made her way over to the canopy. Tredd was right behind her. “Just new orders coming out of Insomnia.” She told the trio watching them.
“Looks like we’re sticking around for a while.” Miles said uncertainly and helped Rex into a more upright sitting position. “If the rain lets up enough by the time the others get here I may thief a rod from you, Sid, and get a bit of fishing in myself.”
“But what’s this package Glaive Khara was talking about? And why send the Captain and Marshal both out?” Sadda asked, the confusion plain on her face, and Crowe nearly winced when she saw the understanding in the man’s eyes.
Rex’s expression didn’t change overtly, but his back stiffened as he glanced between her and Tredd. “If they’re sending the leaders of the Royal army out it must be important. So, sunup’s not far off now and I’ve got a Chocobo somewhere out there I can call. I can be out of your hair in a few minutes.”
“They’re hours out still, so there’s no hurry.” She tried to sound casual but knew she failed when Rex placed his hand the stone beside him and leveraged himself onto his feet, pulling the pommel of his sword into his hand as he did so. Tredd flicked his fingers in a signal to the others who quickly rose to stand on either side of the hunter. Crowe was internally cringing when she realized how obvious it was they were surrounding him. “Please, Guardian, I think it best you sit back down.”
He flicked his eyes at the four of them, slid the sword into the sheath on his belt much to her relief, before settling on her face with a stare that was cold and hard like stone. It was unnerving how much like the King he looked in that moment. “I think it best you tell me what’s going on, Glaive Altius.”
“You are being taken into Glaive custody.” Tredd told him without preamble and to the shock of Miles and Sadda. “To which you will be remanded to the Crownsguard and taken to Insomnia by order of the King.”
Most people would have acquiesced at a statement like that, but Crowe had learned a long time ago that hunters were unlike most people. And Rex was proving to be no different. The scowl he levelled at the ginger would have quelled a lesser man, and she still saw her fellow Glaive swallow apprehensively. “On what charges?”
“You are a person of interest in a missing persons case in the Crown City.” Crowe prevaricated.
“Considering I have never set foot inside the Wall I find that hard to believe.” The hunter turned his attention back to her. “I know you have no writ for arrest, no cause to detain me on behalf of your King, and my credentials with the Hunters mean that without it you have no lawful grounds to hold me. So, Glaive Altius, I want you to seriously, and quickly, think about what are you going to do when I decide to leave?”
“Sid, don’t do this.” Miles said hopefully, though Crowe saw his right-hand flexing in preparation to draw the dagger from his thigh sheath. “When the rest of our squad get here from the station, we’ll take you to the Outpost for your friend to look at your arm. We can have the Marshal and Captain meet us there and you can talk to them; sort this misunderstanding out and be on your way.”
It was reasonable and the best outcome they could possibly hope for, even though Crowe thought it incredibly naïve of Miles. She held no illusion that Rex would be free to go once the contingent from Insomnia arrived. Given the situation, if the hunter was still here when Drautos and Leonis got here, the man would be dragged back to Citadel willingly or not.
And by the way Rex was not looking away from her, it was obvious he understood at least that if nothing else. “Glaive Altius?”
She hated this. Absolutely and irrevocably loathed the idea of what she was about to say and knew it was reflected on her face. “I’m sorry, Guardian Rex, but we have our orders.”
“Sit back down, Rex.” Tredd ordered the man firmly.
For a moment, Crowe thought the hunter was going to comply as he didn’t move or say anything. But when Tredd reached out to put a hand on the hunter’s uninjured arm, the man reacted the instant Tredd’s fingers brushed against his skin.
Crowe was impressed with how quickly it happened. One second Tredd had been standing with arm stretched out and in the next Rex had twisted his elbow around that arm, swept a kick to Tredd’s feet, and had the Glaive on his back gasping for the breath knocked out of his lungs when he hit the stone. Then, before she and the others could draw their weapons, Rex had scooped up his polearm and bolted from beneath the canopy.
Her feet were moving before she had made the conscious decision to pursue him. He was nearing the edge of the Haven and she knew they would lose him in the dark if he made it. Her hand snapped out to direct the shield of magic she willed in front of him. Except before it could fully form, Rex had skidded to his knees and she could only watch as he slid across the rain slick stone, beneath the growing shield, off the ledge and out of site.
The night was pierced by a sharp, shrill whistle just as she leapt from the Haven after the hunter.
“Find him before his bird shows up!” Tredd shouted breathlessly behind her.
Except Rex had gone south and deeper into the woods and she had left the jacket of her uniform, and the flashlight clipped to its lapel, behind. With the trees and plant life growing thicker the further she ran, the clouds overhead blocking the stars and moon, and the rain still coming down in heavy sheets, she could barely see where she was going. Only Sadda and Mile’s lights coming up behind her gave her enough visibility to keep from tripping.
Less than a minute later, she heard Sadda cry out suddenly and the light was gone. A few seconds passed before something fast, solid, and strong, bodily knocked into her side and sent her to the ground. A large, three-taloned foot splashed into the mud right beside her head and she was forced to roll out of the way of the second. With her vision obscured by the mud, Crowe could just make out a dark-feathered chocobo stop next to a tree. Rex stepped out from behind the trunk, slid the polearm into a sheath on the saddle, and mounted the large bird easily despite his injury.
“Go back to the Haven, Glaive.” He told her briskly, taking hold of the bridle and turning the bird to the west only to disappear into the night seconds later. “You won’t like what finds you in the dark if you try to follow me.”