A Heart Of Fire (Final Fantasy XV)

Chapter 7

It was a long ride from Solis to Insomnia, just as King Regis has said before. We made a few stops along the way to get gas, food, or get the blood flowing in our legs again. I would always catch myself staring at things I've never seen before. It was liking entering a completely different world, although it kind of was.

I chatted with the King, telling him more about the history of Solis and a bit about myself. I even showed him my trick with the embers and the paper birds, and he seemed rather impressed that I could do such a trick. After that, he began to tell me about Lucis and their responsibility to guard Eos's Crystal, a magical artifact that the Lucian royal bloodline are sworn to protect. He also told me about the history between them and Niflheim, the military empire and rival nation. The two nations have been a war with one another for a very long time, and it was apparent that Lucis would have fallen under the empire's control hadn't King Regis's father, King Mors Lucis Caelum, set up the Wall to protect the nation from Niflheim's Magitek army.

However, the power to keep the Wall up came at a great price. In order to keep the Wall standing, only the ones of the Lucian royal family could wear the ring that allowed them take the power from Eos's Crystal to strengthen the Wall, but that power also took away the bearer of the ring's own strength, thus making them age and grow weaker faster than normal.

That is the reason why King Regis seemed to look much older than he was; he was tired, but he made it seem as though it didn't bother him. King Regis, to me, proved to be a very caring and merciful ruler. It was clear that he loved his nation and it's citizens, and he would do everything in his power to make sure that they and the Crystal all remained safe.

Finally, after hours and hours of constant driving, naps and chatter, we finally entered the city of Insomnia, and let me tell you, it was both amazing and terrifying. Buildings ten times taller than any tree I've ever seen seem to nearly touch the sky, roads and highways full of cars zooming by, sidewalks filled with people dressed in nice and beautiful clothes, lights and street signs on every street, and shops of all sorts on every corner. It was all so overwhelming that I even got a little dizzy looking up at a tall tower that seemed to be a million feet high. I leaned back in my seat anxiously when I felt a hand rest on mine. I looked to my side and saw King Regis giving me a small smile.

"Are you nervous?" he asks me. I let out a nervous laugh and looked out the window.

"Oh no, I'm just peachy," I say sarcastically, earning a chuckle from the King.

"I understand it's all a lot to take in, but do not fret, my dear, everything will be fine," he says reassuringly. I nodded and continued looking up at all the buildings and people we passed by. We passed multiple stop lights and made many turns until we stopped in front of a giant gate. A guard in uniform came around to the driver's side and peered inside. Once he saw the King of Lucis sitting in the back, and give me a puzzled look, he nodded his head and signaled with his hand to open the gates.

The gates slowly opened and we drove up to the front entrance of quite possibly the most beautiful and largest building I have ever seen. There is no doubt in my mind that we have finally arrived at King Regis's palace. It is an incredibly large and tall structure made of the finest pale stone with accents of gold and amazing details carved into the pillars and walls. The front entrance to the palace stood upon a large flight of stairs with a giant red rug neatly placed on the steps. Despite its looks, it strangely didn't feel out of place; it was actually quite similar, in terms of looks, to the other buildings in the city, only it was more extravagant.

The butler drove around the round-about and parked the car right next to the flight of stairs. I looked up at every nook and cranny to be seen from the car when the butler exited the car and opened the door on the King's side to let him out. King Regis ducked his head and exited the car before turning to me with a warm smile.