My Light

n i n e

As we drove down the road, I couldn't help but think of how suspicious Ardyn was. This feeling's been with me since I first met him in Galdin Quay. He knew nursery rhymes about the gods, and legends. And for some reason, he had Oracle ascension coins that he passed around in Galdin. I decide to let the topic go for now and just pay attention to the task at hand. Soon, the road stops and we all get out of the Regalia. "So we keep going this way." Noctis starts to say. "Then we'll find out what the empire's up to." Gladio finishes and we make our way down. "These ruins." Ignis says seeming to have a familiarity to the ruins. As we continue down the path, I notice a tomb lying ahead. "Is that what I think it is?" Prompto asks as we all look at it. "A royal Luciian tomb." I say in surprise as I cross my arms. "Didn't expect to find a royal tomb here." Ignis states and I had to agree. "Would be a shame not to grab that power, eh, Highness?" Gladio asks as Noctis cringes at being called 'Highness'. "Let's grab it and go." Noctis says walking up to the tomb. I take a look at the tomb to see a king  lying on the stone table holding a sword. Noctis lifts his arm and the sword glows changing into blue crystals, lifts up, and goes through him. I see all the royal weapons he's collected up till now in crystal form.

Suddenly, there was a huge tremor and I try to balance myself. "There it goes again." Prompto says trying to hold his own as well. "This one's huge." Gladio states, as even he was off balance. "Get away! Quickly!" Ignis yells out, but I suddenly see Noctis have another headache and the ground crumbles underneath him. "Noctis!" I yell as I dash over to him and try to pull him away, but we end up falling. Noctis grabs my waist and holds me close to him as we slid down the slope and he tried to get a grip on the dirt and I wrap my arms around his neck as I try to slow our fall by using my feet. We suddenly go over the edge, but someone grabs Noctis and we suspend in midair. I turn to see Gladio holding Noctis' arm, but I knew he couldn't hold both of us, even if he was a big guy. "I can't pull you both up." Gladio says and I frown as I look up at him. "Aura, do you trust me?" Noctis says suddenly and I look at him in confusion. "What?" I ask him as he looks at me. "Do you trust me?" he asks again and I nod. He suddenly throws me up into the air with all his strength and I land on the ground beside Gladio. I groan in pain, but I sit up and grab Noctis' other hand and help Gladio pull him up. Once he was up, I pant in exhaustion as I sit on my legs and put my hands on my thighs as I try to catch my breath.

Suddenly, the meteor starts to move and I look at it with wide eyes. "What the...?" Noctis says and I get up quickly only to see the Archean look at the three of us with a glare. He starts to say something, but no one could make out what he was saying. "Goddamn... This is the Archean?" Noctis asks and I look at him. "Seems we woke the big guy up." Gladio says and I nod in agreement. "He's trying to tell me something... But what?" Noctis says as he gets another headache. "Noct! Aurie! You ok?" I hear Prompto yell out and I turn to look at him. "Thank heavens you're both safe. Is there a way back up?" Ignis asks and I look around only to see a path. "No, but there's a path. Gonna see where it leads." Noctis says to the two up top. "You two try to get down." Gladio tells them. "Very well. We'll look for a way. Be careful down there." Ignis says. "You too." Noctis says to the two up above. "What? We're going where!?" Prompto asks in shock. "Prompto! Just think of what Akiko would do. She wouldn't rest until I'm safe. You do the same thing for Noctis." I say and he nods, then walks off with Ignis.

Noctis walks ahead of both Gladio and I, and I follow behind. "Don't rush off on your own, huh?" Gladio says to Noctis. "Don't get left behind." Noctis says and I can sense tension between the two at the moment. The heat seemed to be getting to me as we walked along the path, and suddenly demons seemed to fly up. "They're on edge... let's not ruffle their feathers any more." Gladio states as I wipe a bit of sweat from my forehead. "Um, try shutting your beak." Noctis says and I just sigh wishing I was with Prompto and Ignis now where those two aren't fighting. "Just offering sound advice." Gladio says and I roll my eyes as we continue along the path. The heat seemed to grow more and more intense the further we walk along the path. We suddenly come across the flying demons and I summon my daggers to my hand and start to fight them. I slash one's neck, killing it instantly then stab another. Once they were all gone, my daggers disappear and I start to feel dizzy from the heat. "The heat's making me woozy." Gladio says and I try to act like I'm fine, when I'm actually not. "How the hell does it get this hot? Feels like I'm about to combust." Noctis complains. We make our way to a ledge with no other way, and I look around to find a way across. "Guys!" I call them and Gladio walks over to me seeing a narrow ledge, then Noctis. "No room for error here." Gladio says as he slides along the narrow ledge. "No time to chill, either. Make it quick." Noctis says and I sigh as he starts to slide on the ledge, then me. "Just want this to be over." Noctis says as we slide along the wall.