Book Two: The Journey of the Lucians

XIV - The Path Ahead

The four sat at a table in the dining car as the train headed for Gralea, the only sounds heard was the clacking of the tracks.

"How did Prompto take the news about your marriage to Ardyn?" Noctis asked, causing Sera to look down at her hand on the table. Gladiolus looked over at the princess, unable to believe what he heard.

"You're married to that chancellor?!" Gladiolus asked, causing Sera to look out the window. "When did you plan on telling us?"

"When I felt it was important enough to mention. And it wasn't my choice to make. It was only put into place in case Lunafreya or Noctis couldn't make it to their own wedding," Sera explained, looking over at Noctis. "Thank you, brother. Gladio was the only one that didn't know yet. But if you must know, Prompto didn't take it well. Last I saw him, he wasn't responding to anything I was saying, at least not like he usually did. But from what I know now, he's no longer in the sanctuary of the cave we were in that night when I came back with Aranea. He appears to be in the empire's hands now."

"Once we arrive, we'll make for the Keep," Ignis added.

"The Keep?" Noctis asked, confused.

"Zegnautus Keep, regrettably. It's in the heart of Gralea," Sera added.

"An imperial megafortress said to be impregnable," Ignis continued.

"With Prompto and the Crystal inside it."

"What goes in, must come out," Gladiolus stated, earning a smirk from the princess. After a while of silence, Gladiolus spoke up once more. "So, are we buying this story that the Crystal can purge the daemons?"

"It is no story, fortunately for us, Gladio," Sera piped up before anyone else could. "The kings of Lucis since the Founder King, Somnus Lucis Caelum, have been trusted to safeguard the Crystal, a duty that has been passed onto Noctis and will eventually become my duty should Noctis ever pass before his reign ends, without any heirs to take his place." Sera pulled the Cosmogony out of her bag and placed it on the table. It was clear that it was an old book, the binding tattered and fraying, the pages yellowing in some spots. "The crystal was a gift, handed down to the people of Lucis, by the Draconian. Two millennia ago, Bahamut handpicked two noble houses to safeguard the Crystal. House Caelum, to use its power to purge the darkness and House Fleuret, to be the bridge between man and the gods."

"Besides, the proof is in the purging, but it does stand to reason," Ignis pointed out. "We've observed that as the nights have grown longer, the daemon hordes have grown stronger. If they are in fact averse to the Crystal's Light, it could save not only Lucis, but the world."

"We'll find out once we take it back," Noctis said, looking out of the window. Suddenly, the train came to a screeching halt once more.

"The hell?" Gladiolus said, looking around to see what could have caused the stopping of the train.

"What is it?" Ignis asked, wondering what was going on.

"My guess? Something sidetracked us." The four make their way to the cabin car, the series of large windows suddenly cracking and the cars shaking. "What now?"

"City's trying to keep us out... with the daemons," Biggs said over the loudspeaker again. Small snaga daemons swarm across the windows, causing Sera to flinch a bit by their movement.

"Whoa-whoa!" Gladiolus said, putting himself between the windows and the siblings.

"Gotta run! Don't worry about us!" One of the daemons burst through the windows, landing in front of Sera and Noctis, the prince stepping in front, attempting to summon his engine blade to fight off the daemons that are now charging.