The Far Edge of Fate (Final Fantasy XV)

EPILOGUE - SOMNUS

chapter title comes from "Somnus" from the Final Fantasy XV OST.

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"You sure he has everything?"

Aaralyn glanced at Noctis as she followed him down the Citadel hallway towards their quarters. Noctis looked as commandingly handsome as always, wearing a black suit after their early-morning meeting. The corner of his mouth twitched with a smile as he glanced at her.

"Yeah," he said. "I triple-checked last night. And if he forgot something, Evangeline won't have."

"That's fair," Aaralyn said.

Noctis reached out to open the door to their living space, holding it open for her to go into first and then bringing up the rear. He looked around at their suspiciously empty living room and raised an eyebrow.

"Cal?" he called. "You good to go?"

From down the hallway, there was a clatter of things falling onto the floor, followed by a quiet swear in Galahdian. Aaralyn glanced at Noctis before following the direction of the noise. They opened the first door on the left, peeking in at the disaster of a bedroom they walked in on.

"Callum?" Aaralyn called. "You okay?"

The fifteen-year-old standing in the middle of the mess with an open suitcase looked up at his parents in surprise. He was the spitting image of his father, with the same blue eyes and black hair, even though his was a little tamer than Noctis's had been.

Noctis lifted an eyebrow at their son. "You ready or do you need a minute?"

Callum looked around at the mess of clothes and toiletries he'd taken out of his suitcase. He shuffled a little, picking up a random trinket from his dresser before putting it back down.

"I can't find my toothbrush," he muttered.

Noctis furrowed his brow, braving the mess to look around for it. "You sure? I swear I had you put it in your suitcase last night."

"I did! I just...can't find it anymore," Callum lifted up a shirt to check beneath it.

Aaralyn entered the room to help search as well. She found the missing toothbrush almost immediately. It was sitting on her son's dresser, wrapped in its plastic baggie to prevent it from rubbing against anything. She picked it up, handing it to Callum with a little smile.

"There you go, bud," she said. "C'mon, let's get all this back in your suitcase. The others should be here any second."

Callum nodded and worked together with his parents to repack his entire suitcase. When they were done, his room looked far less like a disaster zone and more like the bedroom befitting the Crown Prince.

"Thanks," Callum said as he stood up. Noctis pulled the lever for the suitcase handle and dragged it behind him. He looked at Aaralyn, still with the same fondness as he always did, and squeezed her shoulder.

"Mind getting Dawn while I get this down to the Regalia?" he asked.

"Yeah, no problem," she said. She kissed his cheek (Callum pretended to gag in the background) and went out of the room to the door across the hall. Behind her, her husband and son began making their way towards the elevator.

Aaralyn knocked once on the door before entering, finding her daughter lying in bed. Dawn was a picture-perfect blend of both of her parents, with Aaralyn's red hair and Noctis's blue eyes, but honestly, sometimes Aaralyn was mildly convinced her twelve-year-old really just wanted to watch the world burn.

"Dawn," she said. "Callum's about to leave, come say bye."

Dawn groaned. "He's only gonna be gone two weeks."