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year 5, quarter 3
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Post by Caius Dragelion on Apr 11, 2024 10:04:48 GMT -6
The Dragonblade
“Yes, he is. And no, the guy who stuck a knife between my ribs and offed me in my early 20s being here doesn’t give me any amount of warm fuzzies. Especially when he later admitted to hiring bandits to ransack my home over something he claims my father did. My family’s gone because of him. I intend to pay both him and Ardyn back in blood.”
“If there is any chance that you can save Lumina… I will be in your debt beyond measure. Leave the Lunafreya investigation to me. You save your friends.”
“Be safe, Your Highness. Please come back to us alive.”
That was roughly around the last things he remembered saying to Noctis. He had been upset, tired, and it had come off the heels of him yelling at the Crown Prince. And he wished he had been better. He wished he had been able to spend more time going fishing with him, not as his once-superior, but as Noctis, his friend. His friend who had selflessly volunteered to help the woman he loved in any way he could, no matter the risk, without hesitation. But business had come first, even as the possibility rang high he would never see Noctis again.
He’d worried all this time, and kept tabs best he could, until he received confirmation from Cindy that she had successfully extracted Noctis, Prompto and the others from the Sonoran gulag. As they needed rest and time to tend to the injured, Caius had decided to give them space. He needed to tend to Lumina in the meanwhile anyway. But then plans changed, and he’d found himself on a boat for a few days with Lumina. He had drained his stamina beforehand keeping the parasite at bay, which made it clear he couldn’t do this forever. They were running out of time.
Once off the boat, he felt enough time had passed that he could finally do what he had wanted to do. Which was to check in on Noctis and Prompto. And talk to them about finally putting that plan into place.
Celes had been informed of the situation, and understanding the gravity of what would happen if they failed, stayed in charge at the Rest while Caius went to Provo. He’d already spoken to Cindy, so he knew where to go. Once allowed into the garage home that Cindy had bought for herself in the area, Caius would call out.
[attr=class,lyric1]i am noctis, prince of lucis and
[attr=class,lyric2]king of fishing
[attr=class,bulk] To put it lightly, Noctis felt like he was recovering from being hit by a train. After weeks of stressing out over what shape his friends would be in, it was surreal to suddenly have them back. They were both in such bad shape that they hadn’t really been able to talk on the journey from Sonora to Provo though. Even now, Noctis had been keeping a respectful distance while they healed and sorted out whatever hell they had gone through. It was taking a lot of restraint to not just kick in the door and see if they needed anything, but he didn’t want to overwhelm them when they’d been locked up for years. Noctis would be there to talk whenever they were ready. Even if he was completely losing it in the meantime.
The prince had been spending most of his time either sleeping or doing odd jobs for Cindy. He more than owed it to her after she’d driven the getaway car for all of them, and he found that it was kind of peaceful to do some mindless fetch quests for the mechanic again. It felt a little like being back at Hammerhead when they were searching for new parts for the Regalia. It was stupid to call that a simpler time when it was right after Insomnia had fallen, but…it really was, in a way. They’d all had to grow up a lot since then.
Noctis had slept in late one morning though, and by the time he sat up yawning on the couch it looked like he had the place to himself. Prompto must have been helping Cindy with something outside, and the prince was in no hurry to interrupt the two of them from having quality time. It sounded like one of them was on their way back inside though as the front door was pushed open, so Noctis was surprised when the voice that called out his name didn’t belong to either of them.
“Caius?” He stood up from the couch, suddenly aware that he probably had a bad case of bed hair, and it was almost noon. He was at least dressed decently since he’d passed out in his black capris and skull t-shirt, so thank the gods for small mercies. He was also still wearing the Ring of the Lucii, which might have contributed to him sleeping in. Taking it off always gave him such a sense of relief, like he’d been carrying around a mountain and had forgotten about it. Part of him never liked to place it aside for too long though. Whether or not he was on Eos right now, he still had a duty to finish eventually. That meant that he needed to train and get strong enough to be the king that everyone expected him to be when he was finally able to ascend the throne. And part of that was getting used to bearing the ring.
“Hey, I’m glad you made it out safe! No worse for wear or anything?” He hadn’t really had a chance to catch up with Caius after the jailbreak since the blond man had made his own way out, so he was really glad that he’d taken the time to stop by. Honestly he owed the kingsglaive quite a bit for risking his life like that. He owed Alex too, but that was more difficult to repay given the burned bridges between him and Prompto now.
“Honestly, you look…way better than the last time I saw you.” Maybe that was a low bar since Caius had been exhausted and desperate for a chance to save Lumina. He probably still was, but he at least looked like he’d slept this time. “Everything going okay on that end? I know things weren’t looking so good then…” With his friends safe, maybe it was finally time to focus on the scourge though.
Post by Caius Dragelion on Apr 15, 2024 22:17:35 GMT -6
The Dragonblade
“I got out fine. It’s you lot I’ve been worried about. How are your friends?”
Noctis looked fine, at least. Stressed, tired. But better than he had been back then. It probably helped the lot of them were sober this go around. Bed hair? Might as well be his default because Caius didn’t notice. And, looked better, he said? “Guess I would. I took my first day off since the first time I picked up a sword, at Lumina’s behest. So I guess that counts as sleep” Caius admitted with a slight smile. It wasn’t exactly peaceful, not all of it anyway. But he had been able to confess to Lumina successfully, so he supposed it would look like he had a spring in his step in comparison.
“I had a few messes to clean up when I returned. Talking to Yuna about Alex’s… Possibly murderous issue when it comes to summons and the Astrals. And apparently some psychopath attacked Torensten’s crystal while I was gone. Celes stopped him, but holding him has been a lot of headache and paperwork” Caius at least elaborated to give Noctis an idea of what had been going on. So, essentially, he had been busy as always. Being a mercenary guild that doubled as a peacekeeping force was never going to be easy, but there were days that were incredibly hectic for them. These last few weeks had been some of the more hectic ones, that’s for sure.
Of course, Noctis was curious about Lumina. Caius chewed the inside of his cheek awkwardly at that. “I’m glad you’re looking well, Your Highness. I wish I could say this was purely a social call, but truthfully, I don’t know how many more times I can fight back against the parasite on my own before it becomes too strong for that to work. I was able to do so long enough to give her a few days of peace, but… It’s already showing signs of returning” Caius admitted softly. “It’s time. We have to act soon.”
Caius wiped his face with his sleeve, fighting hard to keep his emotions in check after having to admit that, especially in front of Noctis of all people. He had to stay strong, for her sake. Both because of the power of kings, and a veil against darkness protecting him, he had been able to delay its advance and allow Lumina to live a normal life at times, without a risk of becoming infected himself. But while Caius was wearing protection, so to speak, that didn’t mean they could keep this up forever. Eventually, the parasite would win out.
“I’ve been thinking hard about what we should do. And I think our best bet is to do what I’ve been doing so far, but with the intention of driving it out entirely” Caius brought up, then. The kingsglaive paced back and forth a bit, as he let his thoughts turn like cogs on a wheel. “Because of it being scourge-blighted, I’ve been able to project part of my magic, light magic in essence, into Lumina to force the parasite to retreat further down, for a time. The Power of Kings is able to move from body to body, fluidly, which is how Kingsglaive are created and linked to their King. That’s how I am able to do so. Your magic, as well as a strange power I gained after defeating the Lich that protects me a bit from dark magic, has kept me able to do this for some time. My thought is… If we work together, and I can show you how to do it, we may be able to make her body temporarily inhospitable for the parasite. So long as we don’t overwhelm Lumina with it…”
Alex was an idiot, but Caius wasn’t taking any chances either. They had to do this carefully.
“This would theoretically force it to leave her body. Then, when it takes form, we can engage it in battle. Your magic makes us possibly the only people on Zephon who can take it out.”
Even now, for all he had learned to do with it. Caius could not look Noctis in the eyes and call that magic his own. In his view, no matter what version of Noctis it came from, and no matter how far away… It was still power borrowed from Noctis. It was not his own.
“That brings me to why I’m here a little bit early, without Lumina. To make sure you’re physically able. And… Because something keeps bothering me,” the Kingsglaive admitted then. The second biggest thing besides Lumina’s fate itself. “The parasite has been in hold of Lumina for some time, gaining strength. And had another victim before her as well, likely making it even stronger. With how much magic it could take, the last thing we need is for us to both be in, or near Stasis when the fight starts. It could kill us, and Lumina, if we aren’t at our best.”
That was what had been bothering him for some time. Being responsible for Noctis’ death and preventing him from growing up to be the one that brought light back to their world. On his honor as a Kingaglaive, and… As a friend. That was unacceptable. And that was why Caius had long been agonizing over possible ways to prevent this.
“I thought back on my studies back at the Citadel, and… There’s something I wanted to run by, and maybe test with you” Caius brought up, as his gaze moved to Noctis’ ring hand.
To the Ring of the Lucii.
“The Ring of the Lucii is a wellspring of magic power, gathered by souls of the Kings and Queens of Lucis’ past. While it can wield powerful offensive magic, and heal great wounds. I was wondering if it was possible to tap into that wellspring of magic to top up one’s own reserves? It might not work in combat, but this procedure should leave enough leeway for you to top up if possible. At the least, I would be more comfortable if I know that in the worst case scenario, you will be able to fight” came his broach. The reason he had come. Was to ensure Noctis had a fighting chance if it came to it.
His next remark, as flippant as ever over himself in comparison, came with a shrug. “If it can restore my own stamina as well, all the better. We would stane a better chance; then. If not, at least I know you will be fine.”
And that was the part he was even less sure about. The Kings of Yore had never allowed another to utilize the Ring, not without a horrific price being paid. But when commanded by the True King, what then? Would the Kings refuse, even if he was a Kingsglaive? While not a Lucian King himself, it had to count for something, right?
[attr=class,lyric1]i am noctis, prince of lucis and
[attr=class,lyric2]king of fishing
[attr=class,bulk] Caius reassured him that he had gotten away from the prison fine before asking how his friends were doing. Noctis hesitated for a moment and rocked back on his heels as he debated how to answer that. “Not…great. Physically they’re healing up, but they were in bad shape. I haven’t really gotten to talk to them much yet…” Once they were ready, Noctis planned to have a heart to heart with them though. The four of them hadn’t even seriously talked about Gralea yet, let alone what had happened on Zephon so far. They were long overdue to catch up.
Caius talked a little about what he’d been up to since the jail break, and Noctis shook his head when he said that Lumina had forced him to take his first ever day off. “I didn’t give you time off in the future? Sorry for being a hard ass then.” Sometimes it was hard to reconcile himself with the king that Caius knew, but he supposed that he did have a decade to grow into it at least.
As the kingsglaive continued with his tale, Noctis was definitely concerned about someone attacking the crystal in Torensten, but he had a lot more questions about the first part. “Wait, what was that about Alex and murder?” Astrals above, he was going to go back to the Rising Stones and launch an intervention when he had time. He’d really liked the guy when they’d first met and…stolen a taxi together. Okay, that part was best forgotten. Point being though, Alex’s temperament seemed to be going downhill, which led Noctis to wonder if something else was going on with him. Maybe all of his past lives were getting to him.
Caius finally admitted to the real reason he’d come to visit, and Noctis nodded slowly at the revelation. “I expected something like that. I didn’t get the impression in Sonora that there was a lot of time left.” The couch was currently made up into a makeshift bed for the prince since Cindy didn’t have enough beds for all of them, so Noctis gestured at a chair instead for the kingsglaive to sit down if he wanted to. On his end, he shoved the couch blankets to the side and sat down across from Caius. He was ready to help however he could, though part of him was glad that Prompto was still outside for this discussion. His friend had gotten pretty worked up last time.
The blond man outlined his plan and what he’d been doing so far, and Noctis frowned as he considered it. “I’ve never used my magic like that, on someone with the scourge,” he admitted. “That might have just killed them honestly. But I know this situation is different from back home since it merged with some other parasite. So if you can show me what you’ve been doing, I can try it with you.” He hesitated before adding one caveat though. “It…does make me a little nervous doing this without an oracle. Forcing it out sounds like it could hurt her depending on how far along she is…” He had a feeling that he wasn’t saying anything that Caius hadn’t already agonized over, but he still felt like he needed to offer the warning. “It might be our only option though if you haven’t heard anything else about-...about Luna.” The prince hadn’t really let himself focus on the possibility that she’d been sighted in Zephon. He didn’t want to get his hopes up over someone who might not even be her. Not after he’d watched her die.
The kingsglaive also broached another idea he’d had. He was clearly worried about the strength of the parasite that they’d be fighting once it had been freed from Lumina’s body, and he asked about the Ring of the Lucii in terms of adding to their chances. Noctis nodded thoughtfully as he mulled over how to best use the extra boost of power that his ancestors could give them. “I guess I could either take it offensively or defensively. In theory I can use a more powerful version of the full armiger with it, so we could hope that goes better than when I tried it without the ring against you.” The royal arms had drained him a lot faster on Zephon than they ever had on Eos. Maybe channeling the ring would help with that though. “Or…I never had to hold up the wall around Insomnia,” he added a bit hesitantly. “And I doubt I could do something the size of a city so far from the crystal and without any augmenters. But maybe I could do a small version of the wall around wherever we’re doing this? It would at least stop the parasite from escaping and hurting anyone else until we deal with it.” Or until it killed Noctis, but that went without saying. “I hear it’s pretty draining though. That might land the bulk of the fighting onto you…”
Which led to Caius’ second proposal, but that made the prince seriously hesitate. “I know you’re worried about her, but I don’t want you to get hurt. And asking the other kings for power…historically hasn’t gone too well.” The fact that they’d blinded Ignis of all people was enough to have him scowling down at the innocuous piece of jewelry on his finger. All Specs had tried to do was protect him, and his ancestors couldn’t even forgive that much. “I really wouldn’t put it on unless it’s a last resort.”
Post by Caius Dragelion on Apr 29, 2024 21:58:40 GMT -6
The Dragonblade
The others weren’t great. That got a frown out of Caius. “I see,” he spoke quietly. “I’ll be sure to keep checking in on them. I owe Mr. Scienta for his contributions in my time, even if he hasn’t done them yet. Though I don’t remember him being…”
That was a can of worms Caius wasn’t ready to open, so he didn’t voice his thoughts further. Ignis had been blinded prior to his incarceration, he knew, which potentially had implications Caius didn’t want to think about.
He smiled slightly when Noctis apologized for the lack of time off, though. “I had time between missions, though we never really had time for vacation. There was a lot to clean up while rebuilding Lucis, and… I used my time between missions studying. Even if I had gotten a vacation, I had never finished my formal education — I would have used the time to continue bettering myself in learning our history and culture. And whatever would help me be better to rebuild Lucis.”
This was the first time he’d had time that he wasn’t spending preparing for a mission, or studying. At Lumina’s insistence. He had no reason to blame Noctis for that.
Of course he asked about Alex. He could almost swear he had gotten around to mentioning it in Sonora, but a lot had happened since. “He’s targeting Yuna, the girl from the clinic. Because she can summon. I am not sober enough to cover that fully” Caius admitted as blunt as could be. Alex was a difficult subject and he was already in a poor headspace.
After sitting down and getting the plan out, Caius took a deep breath. Okay, he managed to get that out of his system. He had been stressing about this issue so much, it was a huge weight off his shoulders to finally come to Noctis and be open about it. But he immediately regretted bombarding the Prince with all of that right out of the gate, and the Kingsglaive quickly grew sheepish and averted his gaze as it hit him what he had done. He had intended to shoot the breeze first, work up to it. See how everything was going, ask a few questions, maybe offer to go fishing again later…
But Noctis had mentioned Lumina and just like that, everything spilled out without a thought. Perhaps unconsciously he knew he wasn’t going to feel right until he was more confident that everyone would come out of this intact, but he still regretted it. End of the day though, while he had faith in the Chosen King, Caius still feared that even though he had detailed part of this plan to Noctis in Sonora already, he risked leading his own King to his death. And Caius would do whatever it took to prevent that. And whatever it took to save Lumina. He wouldn’t be himself, he knew, until everyone was ok.
Fortunately, Noctis was understanding. Of course he was understanding, he had always been like that. Too understanding, he knew that Caius had been in the wrong to spill everything all at once like that, right? But that was how he has been as King and apparently that was something that he just always had. Patience. It was a reminder of just why Caius had followed him in the first place. Was this how the other three felt? Why they followed him, even if to the ends of the earth? Even if they had to wait ten years to be at his side again?
Caius listened as Noctis outlined his thoughts. He chewed the inside of his cheek at the first bits. “I met her, she looks just like the Oracle from the pictures. But she doesn't remember anything of her previous life, and we’re out of time” Caius admitted softly. “I still owe you a debt for this. I will continue investigating when this is over, but right now… This may be our only choice.”
He had long agonized over all these possibilities. And yet, this was the best option he had. He wished Noctis had a better one, but it didn’t seem like he did. Speaking of options, Noctis had used the ring in ways Caius hadn’t been aware of, which could potentially aid their chances in battle. And the possibility he could summon a small wall was…
“It’s tempting to try, but that may be too much strain on you” Caius brought up then. “Even if it works, our initial problem still remains. Wall or not, if we die, it escapes.”
Then came a bit that Caius had only a passing knowledge of. How fickle the ring was. He had heard tales, of course. The people it had rejected, and had burned. Those who did gain their blessing in turn, had paid a blood price. All who did not possess the royal blood. The thought of what could happen to him, gave him chills…
“I wouldn’t dream of putting on the ring. I am not of the bloodline, it would only be my undoing and may not even grant us anything” Caius corrected, while also agreeing with Noctis’ concern. “However, you are the Chosen King. All these generations of kings, their souls have lain in the ring for you to command. The only one who should wield the ring is you.”
He stared at the ring on Noctis’ hand a moment. For a few fleeting seconds, Caius could feel its power calling… Urging him to put it on. To commune with the Kings.
Then he sobered back to reality. Had he really grown so desperate that he sought greater power this much? Was this what love was like, how it changed people? Or had Caius always held deeply-ingrained desires for power of this magnitude? He didn’t know, but the fact it came to him so suddenly, so unconsciously, he didn’t like it. He didn’t like that desire to wear it, even if it didn’t last. Only a Lucis Caelum, nay, only the King should wear it. Its power was theirs alone.
Besides, he had a better ring anyway. The one Lumina had given him. It held magicks of its own, right? He remembered that the rings were paired... Could Lumina see from her ring just how distressed he felt?
“Augmenting your magic reserves with the ring’s should be simple. But for me… That may be something you would have to commune with your forebears for. And by what you’ve said, it sounds unlikely. Still, there was a link between myself and a Noctis, one that even now yields me power," Caius brought up, not entirely sure if this would work, but they were running out of options, and their situation was looking grim. Yet, they had no other choice but to act soon. "Meaning the connection must still be there in some form. It may be the Kings will allow that connection, if I still technically hold it, to be used to share their strength between us. Even just temporarily.”
It was a long shot, but… They had to do something.
“Their mission is to end the starscourge. That is the purpose of the Ring of the Lucii. And if I can keep fighting, I can protect my King in this battle. That, in turn, benefits their calling. They need you, and even if they don't like it... I don't know if even they would dare defy the True King.”
