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year 5, quarter 3
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[attr=class,lyric1]i am noctis, prince of lucis and
[attr=class,lyric2]king of fishing
[attr=class,bulk] The prince’s warp-strike clashed with Caius’ sword as Noctis reappeared in a flash of blue. The force knocked the sword straight out of the kingsglaive’s hands, which was really only a second’s advantage in a fight where both of them could summon their weapons. Noctis gave up his brief upper-hand and his forward momentum in favor of hopping back lightly though. It was less a strategic move and more because this was just a spar. If Noctis had kept moving forward through the warp-strike when Caius was weaponless then he was liable to stab the man on accident. That wasn’t exactly what he was going for here. There was a difference between giving a spar everything you had and actively trying to hurt someone.
So instead he gave them both a moment to breathe as Caius summoned his gunblade back to his hand. The blond man paid him a compliment that Noctis returned with a faint grin. “I guess that’s one point to each of us.” He didn’t have much longer to rest though before Caius rushed forward.
The blond man was faster this time, and Noctis did his best to keep up with the flurry of blows. Speed was something of Noctis’ specialty, but Caius hit hard, so the prince had to grit his teeth and really dig into every parry. His blows weren’t quite as heavy as Gladio’s with his great-sword, but the tall man was definitely proving that he was physically stronger than Noct by a wide margin.
That was bad. The longer that Noctis stayed on the defensive, the more tired he got from defending against blows that made his arm shake and the more that the sword drained his health. At this rate, he’d fall unconscious from using the Sword of the Father too much, which would be a pretty poor showing. He needed to change tactics again.
On Caius’ next swing, Noctis did his best to dodge to the side instead of trying to block it as he brought up his hand with the ring on it and cast Holy as a counterattack. He was mostly just trying to get Caius to back off so Noct could get off the ropes and go back on the offensive.
Post by Caius Dragelion on Jun 5, 2023 10:20:51 GMT -6
The Dragonblade
Hitting hard and taking away the advantage of the Sword Of The Father was the only choice that Caius had. Even if it was only for a few short seconds before Noctis could simply summon it back into his hand and attack again, those short few seconds might be the only opportunity Caius could get to force Noctis into a yield. And he knew that he wasn’t going to get very many of those, not against Noctis. Caius hit with everything he had in each blow, but just when it seemed like Noctis’ grip might be loosening…
The Ring of the Lucii began to glow, and the sheer energy of Holy could be felt very quickly before it was even fully casted. Caius didn’t have knowledge of the spell itself, but he could feel its overwhelming presence and knew right away that he didn’t want to be in range of whatever the Ring was doing. It was hard to blame him for the decision – as far as he knew, the Ring of the Lucii contained the ultimate unfathomable and unbeatable power. And Caius was just slightly starting to regret telling Noctis not to hold back.
It was time.
Suddenly, without even looking or throwing a blade, Caius disappeared. How, it would at first be unclear. At least, until Noctis would hear the sound of his gunblade being de-summoned and Caius would come at him from the side to bring down a new weapon towards him. This weapon was smaller and a bit clumsy to wield, but it was much faster. A double-sided shortblade. To be specific, the object that Caius had dropped just before his first attack earlier in the fight -- and had kept track of its position as the battle progressed. Realizing the threat Noctis posed, Caius had enacted a contingency plan at the very beginning. This was admittedly a lot sooner than he had intended on using it, but Caius wasn’t taking any chances with the Ring of the Lucii.
Sometimes there is power in the belief that you are fighting a losing battle. For some, they fight without giving it their all because they believe it is a hopeless struggle. But for Caius, the prospect only spurred him to do everything possible to give himself a fighting chance, regardless of how hopeless the fight might be.
After a few aggressive blows with the new weapon, aimed specifically to make Noctis try harder to work to adjust to the new weapon, he would pull the blade apart mid-movement to reveal the duel-blade was actually the combined form of twin daggers. The specialty of the Kingsglaive – once the opponent adjusts to one weapon, hit them with another and surprise their guard once more.
Caius didn’t let up the attacks, upping the ante in aggressive blows to make up for the lessened power of the daggers compared to the gunblade. He figured Noctis would either try to duck away, warp or phase in order to gain some distance, it’s what Caius would do. The aggressive attacks would restrict warping, which presumably limited Noctis’ options.
He wasn’t as fast as Noctis in this style, so he couldn’t keep it up forever, but if he could just knock the blade away or knock him off guard…
[attr=class,lyric1]i am noctis, prince of lucis and
[attr=class,lyric2]king of fishing
[attr=class,bulk] Caius seemed to recognize that he was casting a spell with the Ring of the Lucii because he did back off a little, but he also completely dodged Holy by suddenly vanishing from view. Noctis hadn’t seen him warp or phase in the light from Holy, so he cursed under his breath and whirled around, deducing that the man would probably show up somewhere behind him. He was close at least—Caius suddenly appeared from the side with an entirely new weapon that he brought down overhead. Noctis wasn’t surprised that he had something else in his arsenal, but a double-sided sword was pretty unfamiliar to him on an opponent. It wasn’t something his friends or any MTs usually had.
Noctis definitely felt like a fish out of water dodging the first few blows, but just as he was getting a bit more used to the new style of combat, the kingsglaive caught him off guard by pulling the sword apart into a set of double daggers. Thanks to Ignis, the prince was very used to sparring someone with daggers, but the sudden change meant that his grip on his sword was all wrong to block a slash when he had been expecting a strong blow. One of the daggers caught his blade at a bad angle and wrenched it out of his hand as it went whirling off to the side.
Suddenly weaponless, Noctis quickly tried to retreat backwards, but he figured that Caius would be on him almost immediately with the other dagger in an attempt to force him to surrender. A crazy bit of inspiration struck him, and he called one of his crafted spells to his hand instead of trying to get his weapon back. Spells really weren’t meant to be used at this range, but Noctis credited Prompto with his idea. The one time that he’d given his friend magic to use had ended…poorly. It had hit the monster sure, but Noctis, Gladio, and Ignis had all taken the Blizzard spell straight to the face too. That’s why the prince knew that while being in the spell’s radius sucked, it would mostly just slow them both down and be freezing for a minute. Plus, if Noctis managed to recover first then maybe he could get the upper hand back. He was feeling crazy enough to take those odds.
In a race against getting a dagger to the throat, Noctis launched the Blizzard spell straight downwards between their feet. He might have been a prince, but he liked to think that he knew how to fight dirty.
Post by Caius Dragelion on Aug 15, 2023 13:26:07 GMT -6
The Dragonblade
Noctis was right about one thing – the moment the weapon was sprung free, Caius pushed forward with a renewed aggressive streak. He knew this was the Kingsglaive’s best chance to bring the battle to a yield in his favor, and he wasn’t going to waste this opportunity. But Caius knew that Noctis would have something up his sleeve. After seeing him use the Ring of the Lucii, Caius had realized Noctis was getting serious and would use anything at his disposal to get out of a tight spot. Which meant Caius needed to be ready for him to use the ring again, or at least some sort of magic. So when he had seen his hand begin to glow, Caius wasn’t all that surprised. However, he noticed that it was headed down towards the ground near them…
“Shit-“
The Kingsglaive had taught Caius many things about how to use his abilities. But compared to the older Kingsglaive, and to the King himself, Caius had been nothing. Eager to close the gap and be of service to both his kingdom and its King in a time of uncertainty, Caius had sought ways to make use of his abilities that would give him an edge…
The King and his Glaives were capable of utilizing their abilities to warp gravity just a little bit when fighting in mid-air, allowing them to step through the air just for a moment to avoid attack or adjust to hit an enemy’s weak spot in the midst of a combo chain. But he was neither striking or in the air…
Fortunately for Caius, he didn’t have to be.
In a small exertion of magic, Caius slid back against the sand with an azure glow right before the ice could hold him along with Noctis. Not trusting that Noctis would freeze himself in place and potentially leave himself open for very long, Caius knew he had to act quickly now that Noctis had made distance between them once again. While he could no longer see the Chosen King behind the wall of ice that had formed, that meant Noctis couldn’t see him either as he began charging his magic…
A blast of Fira would strike and shatter the ice, and Caius reverted to his signature gunblade to begin slashing the ice that rose, forwards, in hopes of catching Noctis off guard. The Kingsglaive continued striking the ice shards as he dashed forwards full speed, trying to locate and initiate the attack on Noctis once more. This time with a more aggressive spark than ever in his movements, intent on finishing this. If he could find Noctis, he'd renew his assault with all the fervor he could muster. Odds are Noctis would have re-summoned his blade by now, so he would just have to knock it away even more quickly.
[attr=class,lyric1]i am noctis, prince of lucis and
[attr=class,lyric2]king of fishing
[attr=class,bulk] Caius actually cursed when Noctis threw the blizzard spell down by their feet, and the prince nearly counted that as a victory in itself. The kingsglaive had a pretty calming presence most of the time, so it was good to know that he could get worked up too. There was a flash of blue as the blond man warped backwards away from the spell, and Noctis did his best to dodge the worst of it too as he slid backwards. Blizzard went off as it hit the ground and a wall of ice sprang up between them. Frost rocketed outwards from the point of impact, setting the prince’s teeth chattering as he got coated in it. Yeah, this was about what he remembered from the time that Prompto had accidentally gotten them all caught up in the spell.
Noctis summoned the sword of the father back to his hand, grimacing a bit as it started draining his health again. They needed to end this quick, or he might just pass out on Caius. Something told him that the kingsglaive might find that ending a bit anticlimactic when he was trying to judge how much stronger he’d gotten during his time on Zephon.
The ice sheet between them suddenly blew apart with a fire spell, and Noctis was caught off guard by the melting ice shards that shot towards him. Caius must have been slashing at them, so the prince tossed his sword to the side, warping after it to dodge the worst of the shards. Judging by a slight sting in one cheek, a piece of ice might have hit him there, but he could worry about that later.
Caius was rushing towards him with a more aggressive stance than before, and Noctis suddenly had the presence of mind to realize that he probably wasn’t at the kingsglaive’s level when it came to straight sword-fighting. It wasn’t too surprising—Gladio was older and better than him in that regard too—but Caius hadn’t asked him for a sword fight. He’d wanted every tool that Noctis had at his disposal. So ultimately, the prince didn’t hesitate as he banished his sword and conjured his armiger. He respected Caius and his abilities enough to realize that it was probably his only path to victory.
As the blue spectral forms of his royal arms sprang up around him, he immediately realized that something was off. It was the first time that he’d called upon his armiger while he’d been on Zephon and it was draining. Whether it was because they were so far away from the crystal or something else, Noctis felt the last of his magic ebb away entirely. He probably would have entered stasis if not for the power of the armiger keeping him upright. Outside of his battle with Leviathan though, he’d only ever managed to hold onto the armiger for ten seconds at a time. Which meant they had about ten seconds to end this before Noctis just passed out at Caius’ feet. That was going to be pretty embarrassing.
That realization came in a split second though as he used his hovering royal arms to block Caius’ incoming strike. The difference in their strength was thankfully easier to manage when he wasn’t holding onto the other end of the weapon, so while Caius was preoccupied with those, Noctis grabbed onto the sword of the father again. All his movements were warps during armiger, so he did his best to warp to the side and come in swinging. Tick tock, after all.
Post by Caius Dragelion on Sept 9, 2023 21:00:10 GMT -6
The Dragonblade
He couldn’t underestimate Noctis, nor let the Crown Prince gain an inch. Not even for a second. If he was to be victorious in this duel, he needed to go all out. Knowing that Noctis would eventually warp if he hadn’t already before he’d even shot the ice, Caius kept his eyes open, keeping track of his location, and homed in on him with every bit of force he could muster. He could feel himself wearing out, it had been one of the most exhausting fights he’d had in a long time. But thankfully, his ability to stay calm and strike at the right moments had allowed him to conserve his stamina throughout. Now it was time to use what he had left for the final push.
But Noctis had one more trick up his sleeve. Something he had only seen in passing, and from a distance at that. The Armiger. Caius grimaced at the sight, knowing that the last stage of their duel had become nigh impossible for him. As his attacks were blocked, it was clear as day -- he didn’t have a counter for the armiger. How could he? None else he had faced were capable of it. Caius had held an advantage thanks to experience dueling with other Kingsglaive, and had lucked out against the Royal Arms and Ring of the Lucii. But this? Caius didn’t know how he was going to face this.
But face it, he would. Refusing to show weakness in the face of His Highness, Caius kept a calm exterior even if he was starting to panic. Something that used so many weapons would be an almost perfect offense and defense, he knew. But, he realized… While his initial plan to force a yield had been put to an end by the armiger’s appearance, he could still find an opening. If Caius didn’t attack right away, well… Something like this would take a lot of energy, and likely couldn’t be held forever. Otherwise he probably would have pulled it out earlier. If his logic was correct, Noctis would be forced to go on the offensive to make the most of something like the armiger.
So the Kingsglaive backed up, abandoning his strategy, and sought to take his time. Stayed in a guarded stance. Waited for Noctis to act, in hopes of finding an opening in the coming barrage of attacks… One he did not look forward to dealing with. Noctis came in hard and fast, his movements solely warping. Knowing it was his only chance, Caius mimicked the motion, Phasing to move past several attacks as he sought an opening. But while doing so, he got a good look at the face of his opponent…
“Stop. Cease your magic.”
He knew the face of someone that was about to keel over when he saw it. He didn’t understand why, but Noctis was finished physically. Had he used up his magic already?
Caius didn’t de-summon his weapon yet, keeping the blade pointed at Noctis in case he tried to again again. Caius never let his guard down until the battle was truly over. But it was pretty clear that Noctis was finished. Even if the Prince himself refused to acknowledge that.
“You’re finished, Your Highness. Call off your magic and sit down.”
His tone was calm, but very firm as he stared Noctis dead in the eyes. He was not taking no for an answer here. He highly doubted that Noctis could stay up for much longer regardless, but it was better to end it now than when it may be too late.
[attr=class,lyric1]i am noctis, prince of lucis and
[attr=class,lyric2]king of fishing
[attr=class,bulk] Caius jumped backwards to avoid the armiger, but before Noctis could move in to continue the fight, the kingsglaive held up his sword between them and demanded for the prince to stop and rest. Well shit. Apparently it was obvious what was going on even from the outside.
For once, Noctis didn’t need to be told twice to do something. He’d known immediately that something was wrong when he’d conjured the armiger, so he relented to Caius and dropped the magic before it was completely finished. The royal arms all disappeared in a flash of blue sparks, and exhaustion hit Noct like a truck as soon as it was over. He ended up sitting down in the sand without entirely knowing how he’d gotten there. “Sorry,” he managed to say between heavy breaths. “It’s not usually like that. Haven’t pulled that out here yet.” He wondered again what the problem was. None of his other magic had given him any trouble on Zephon. Maybe the armiger just used too much too far from the crystal. There wasn’t much he could do to fix that. It looked like he better only use the armiger during emergency life or death situations on Zephon, which was pretty devastating given everything that they’d gone through to collect the royal arms.
“Didn’t mean for it to end like that,” the prince added a bit ruefully as he looked over at Caius. “You’re really good with that sword though. You’d give Gladio a run for his money.” That didn’t seem like enough for depriving the kingsglaive of the chance to test himself like he’d wanted, so he gave the blond man a weak smile. “Seriously. Without magic, you’d have had me pretty quick. I can tell you’ve fought in plenty of battles.” Noctis himself probably had a long way to go before his power approached the king that Caius knew. At least it sounded like he had ten years to get there.
“I’m just glad I was fighting you when I figured out that the armiger doesn’t work great here,” Noctis added with a grimace. “That would have been really ugly if I’d tried that during our prison break for the first time.” Thank the astrals for that at least. He wouldn’t have been able to forgive himself if he’d spoiled the rescue mission by needing to be carried out.
Post by Caius Dragelion on Oct 28, 2023 15:08:37 GMT -6
The Dragonblade
When Noctis dropped his magic, so did Caius. And only then did the kingsglaive let out the breath that he didn't even realize he had been holding. Even with his reduced age and experience compared to the Noctis he knew, and the strange way that this world seemed to interface with his magic, Noctis was still a terrifying opponent. And with the upper limits Caius knew Noctis was capable of, he would only get even better. So it was that Caius would sit down himself, sucking wind to try and catch his breath. Now that the battle was over, he no longer had to hide that he was tired. Not as much as Noctis, but the Prince hadn't made this sparring session easy for him either.
To be complimented on his swordplay instead of his abilities as a Kingsglaive was a strange thing to hear from Noctis of all people. It wasn't the overall evaluation of his abilities Caius had gone in wanting, but... Being compared to the King's Shield of all people in swordplay? That was extremely high praise, Caius knew full well. And in its own way, Caius appreciated that just as much as any overall evaluation. His swordplay might be enhanced by his use of these borrowed powers, but it was one of the few things that Caius had to hone himself outside of them. Swordplay had been what had saved him from daemons for years and years before becoming a Kingsglaive, and his battling instincts had narrowly saved him from the Ifrit with no magic to speak of.
To be complimented on that, on the level of his own Shield, meant a great deal to Caius. The Kingsglaive moved to sit up, before bowing his head.
"You honor me, Your Highness."
Plenty of battles, huh? Caius yanked at the tunic under his armor to reveal a unique scar under his neck. It looked like a mix between a claw mark and a deep burn, laced with powerful magic to where it seemed to faintly glow like it was on fire. That was the scar he had received from the Infernian.
Yeah. "Plenty of battles" sounded about right.
It was concerning that Noctis' powers appeared to have been weakened here though, even by the Prince's own standards. That was going to potentially be a problem in the jailbreak, but he agreed that it was good they found this out now instead of later. "I would continue training it with Prompto and your other allies. You might be able to lessen the stamina drain" Caius recommended, looking around to find where Vordun had gone off to. Then his eyes transfixed on something in the distance and he would squint. "Vordun, leave that alone!" he scolded the dragon, whom during their battle had caught sight of a chocobo and had begun chasing it. Considering it had a saddle, Caius guessed it might be the one Noctis had brought with him to get here. Fortunately, Vordun was just playing. But Caius doubted that the chocobo knew that. Vordun let out an annoyed groan and a smokey huff before beginning to trudge back to Caius' side. The dragon would flop down in the sand next to him and curl up, making sure that they were facing away from Caius so the kingsglaive knew Vordun was cross with him. Such a dramatic dragon.
So with that, Caius turned back to Noctis. "Thank you for obliging my request, Your Highness. It was a good opportunity to see where I am at, and identify some of my weaknesses as well. It was a learning experience."
He needed to learn how to best handle being put under pressure. Staying calm on the surface was good, but he needed to get his emotions in check and formulate a plan more quickly. If Noctis had actually used the armigir for longer than a few seconds, Caius wasn't sure what he would have done. He couldn't phase past it forever, he'd have drained his magic even faster than Noctis had. He had panicked and gone into self defense mode with a half-baked plan thought up on the spot.
[attr=class,lyric1]i am noctis, prince of lucis and
[attr=class,lyric2]king of fishing
[attr=class,bulk] Caius dropped down to the sand to catch his breath when Noctis did, and the prince had to laugh a little at the pair of them just huffing and puffing on the beach. They really had gone all out. Maybe more than they should have for a spar, but the kingsglaive had formally requested that he not hold back, and Noctis had wanted to oblige. He didn’t regret it either. Now he knew that calling the full armiger on Zephon drained his magic dry.
Caius bowed his head to him when Noctis complimented his skills, and then he moved to show the prince a nasty-looking scar at the very top of his chest. “Ouch,” he winced in sympathy, noting the slight glow of magic still laced in it. “Daemonic? I thought the one on my back was bad.” He didn’t often joke about it honestly—it was the wound that a Marilith had given him as a kid after attacking the car he was in. It had nearly left him paralyzed until he’d been sent to Tenebrae to heal. Luna and her mom were the only reason he could walk, let alone fight. That was another reason why everything that had happened to Tenebrae had hurt so much. Noctis had owed them his life, and he’d never been able to repay it.
Caius suggested that he continue working on the armiger with his allies, and Noctis nodded his head slowly. “Maybe I can try to get used to it. I just wasn’t expecting it to be any different than usual.” Privately he wasn’t sure if the armiger was meant to be used here with how draining it had been, but practicing with it wasn’t a bad idea. As long as he wasn’t in a situation where it would be dicey if he lost consciousness of course.
Caius barked at Vordun to stop chasing a chocobo, and Noctis leapt to his feet as soon as he laid eyes on the yellow bird with a saddle on its back. “Oh hell, the chocobo I rented.” He’d lost track of it after the initial sight of Vordun had frightened it into running down the beach, and somehow with everything that had happened he had forgotten that maybe he should have been looking for the poor bird. Finding a kingsglaive from the future had been pretty distracting after all.
After Vordun flopped down in the sand, Noctis managed to latch onto the reins and stroke the bird’s neck. “Hey, sorry buddy. I hope you’ve had an okay afternoon at least.” In an attempt to make it up to the chocobo, he pulled a handful of gysahl greens out of the armiger and let the bird munch on them as Caius came up to bid him farewell.
“Absolutely. Let me know if you ever want to spar again. Maybe I won’t even pass out on you next time,” he said with a slight grimace before getting a more serious expression. “It really was nice to meet you, Caius. I guess I’ll be heading to Sonora now. I’ll write to you if I manage to find Prompto and learn anything more about Ignis and Gladio. The Dragonblades guild, right? I’m sure I can find the address to write to you there.” He had a long journey ahead of him to the north, but it would be worth it if he could finally reunite with his friends.
Post by Caius Dragelion on Nov 14, 2023 17:44:30 GMT -6
The Dragonblade
Caius chuckled a bit as Noctis commented on his scar. "Something like that. But not exactly, either" Caius answered at that, his tone growing soft and quiet. "I got this from the last fight I ever had where I didn't have magic... And one of the most important fights of my life. They couldn't heal me in time to prevent it from scarring, but I'm fine with that."
He re-adjusted his shirt then, stretching out once he was up to his feet. "It's a reminder to keep fighting for what's important."
Noctis' magic issues were concerning, but he would have to learn on his own for that matter. "I can help you train when there is time. But that's for another day" Caius offered, though he was sure that his Shield would be better for training than Caius. Someone who knew Noctis' strengths and weaknesses like the back of his hand would know exactly how to push the young Prince the way he needed to be pushed. Caius had knowledge on his side, but lacked the experience with Noctis that his friends did.
It seemed that the chocobo that Vordun had been harassing was indeed Noctis' rental. Caius let out a long sigh as he scratched behind Vordun's ears. "Sorry about that" he gave a simple apology before it came time for Noctis to take his leave. Noctis offered to spar again, as well as to write to the Dragonblades to get ahold of him, and he nodded at that. With that, it was time for them to part. Caius stood to his feet then, and gave Noctis a salute most familiar.
