Chapter 02:

He was too late.

The attack had already started.

The city was burning.

The people, his people were dying.

This was worse than he had expected so much worse.

He had gone over what little he had known about the night the kingdom had fallen while he was speeding here. He did not know the exact numbers of the enemy, but they must have been great. After all nearly everyone had been pulled back to the city; even the kingsglaive, men and woman who had been gifted with his father's magic and had been fighting the Empire for years now.

Then again numbers alone mattered very little. The number of Magitek Troopers he and his friends had cut through with relatively ease had proved that. Not to mention the Empire commanded some truly powerful beings; both human in nature and Daemons. Not to mention Ardyn. He got the distinct feeling the bastard probably had been there … if only to see the death of a king of Lucis.

Their goals were easier to understand. According to Iris they had focused on priory targets, not mindless slaughter. They had gone after his father probably for multiple reasons. A king, a powerful combatant in his own right, the source of power for the Kingsglaive and holder of the Ring of Lucii. Another target had been the Crystal which they had moved to their own Capitol.

They had succeeded in most of their goals. While Cor hadn't been very forthcoming after the fall of the kingdom the only forces they had left were a handful of Crownsguard and the loyalty of the Hunters. They had gotten away with Crystal and his father had died, but they hadn't gotten their hands on the ring; Luna had the ring … Luna was in the middle of all that.

So with what little had knew he had formed several objectives.

Protect His friends

Protect Luna

Protect his father

Protect the people

Protect the Crystal

He knew that it wasn't much of a plan, but it was not like he had time to actually plan or time to think much about anything for that matter. Still he had a goal in mind and he thought he was prepared for this. He thought wrong.

''Dear Gods, the city … ''

Yeah my thoughts exactly, Prompto.

''What are those things?''

Those? Those are some kind of Daemon/machine hybrid that even I have never seen before, Gladio, but definitely very, very dangerous.

''Noct, we need leave, there is nothing we can do here.''

Well you are not wrong, Specs, or at least you wouldn't be if things had been different at least. Still you are half-right none of you are ready to fight on a battlefield like this.

It seems that even before he had set foot on the battlefield his objectives were already conflicting.

If he had wanted his brothers save he should have kept them as far from this battlefield as possible.

If he wanted to complete his objectives however he could not leave and if he did not leave then he strongly doubted he could order the others to do so.

After watching the burning city for a moment longer he came to decision. If he hadn't been here he might have been able to make a different choice, but he could not turn away from this. With little more than a passing thought all thirteen of the Royal Arms he had collected sprang up around him and he felt himself float into the air.

''Guys.'' He intoned drawing their attention away from the city and toward him. He ignored the sounds of shock and awe. He was pretty sure at least one of them was aware of what what floating around him, but he didn't have time to answer questions. ''I know I said I would explain, but there is no time. Our people are in danger. I want you guys to gather any Crownsguard, city guard, and Glaive you can find and help assist the people out of the city. Do not engage unless necessary, retreat if necessary and above all protect each other.''As he said those words Noctis had to steel his heart, knowing that despite he was giving them the least dangerous (but still meaningful) job he could manage they were still in the middle of a war-zone they weren't even remotely ready to be in.

''Noctis, wait.'' Gladio called out just as Noctis started moving. Noctis turned and saw his former trainer with his hand outstretching seemingly unsure whether he could grab hold of him while the weapons were floating around him.

''I know, Gladio.'' Noctis answered knowing what his Chosen shield wanted. ''I know you feel like you have to protect me, but trust me … I known what I am doing. I know what I have to do.'' Not giving his friends any more chance to stop him Noctis floated higher up and without hesitation or sparing even a single glance backwards he flew directly toward the nearest enemy.

The next couple of moments passed in a blur as he carved himself a path to the Citadel, cutting down every foe he could as he made his way to at the location of at very least the Crystal and hopefully his father and Luna. His light infused Royal Arms launched at high speeds proved to much for most of the Daemons, empire's soldiers and even occasional airship that he passed and even those he had couldn't kill quickly enough weren't fast enough to pursue him.

It was draining for all the power he had obtained he had limits and unfortunately it was not enough.

It was not even nearly enough.

For every enemy he managed to cut down there were dozens more to take their place and that was not even mentioning the enemy´s heavier hitters. Without the ring it would take time and effort to take down those giant Daemons he had seen before and he wasn't even sure where to begin if he wanted to take down one those giant warships.

The sad truth as he already knew was that he was only one man and time was against him.

It was then that something so unexpected happen that he paused in mid-air in shock; a massive wave of light magic washed over him, neither harming nor really benefiting him anyway, but still greatly shocking him. While magic was from uncommon in the kingdom light magic was. Light infused weapons while relatively rare were still somewhat common due to how effective they were against Daemons, but there were only at most two people at any given time that could use light magic; The Oracle while wielding their trident and the kings and queens of Lucis while wielding the ring. So with that in mind Noctis knew either his father or Luna must have been responsible.

Noctis frowned he hadn't really been expecting it so he was not able to pinpoint the exact origin of the magic, but one thing he knew for sure it did not originate from the general direction of the Citadel. Before he could decide if should continue toward the Citadel or track down the source of that light spell he was once again distracted … and what a distraction it was.

'Is that … is that the Old Wall?' Noctis wondered in awe as he saw the giant statues of the king and queen of old come to live and started warping around the battlefield utterly decimating everything they set their sights on. He knew of the Old Wall of course; he was the heir to the throne after all, but reading about it and actually seeing it were two very different things. How in the name of the gods had the city fallen with those on their side?

Noctis grimaced as he saw the statue of one his ancestors bulldoze through several buildings as it made it's way to one of those giant daemons. If it really was the kings of old controlling those statues like the legends say then they didn't seem to care much for collateral damage. Still as long as the fighting remained to the military and industrial districts and far away from the residential ones then he guessed the pros outweighed the cons. Buildings could be rebuild after all and those Daemons needed to be dealt with. Not that he could actually stop them even if he wanted.

It was then that he hear a familiar roar; it was not a Daemon, nor an airship rather it was a sound that despite the situation sparked several pleasant memories. Noctis eyes shot downward and found that his ears hadn't deceived him; driving below him was his car, not the Regalia, his father's car had been stashed away safely. Rather it was the 'Star of Lucis', a rather corny name for a car he knew, but he didn't name it, the designers had and considering those same designers had not only build one of the most awesome cars he had ever seen, but also gifted it to him on his most recent birthday he could cut them some slack.

Not that the name of his car was important right now of course. What was important was the fact that only a handful of people had access to his car and he was more than a little curious who was behind the wheel.

Before he had the time to decided whether it was a good idea to check it out or not something rather odd happened. A fully armoured man jumped from a nearby building and landing in front of the car. The man seemingly unfazed by what most considered a crippling if not downright deadly landing braced himself and to Noctis' shock stopped the speeding vehicle dead in it's track's.

The feeling of shock gave way to anger as he suddenly recognised the distinct amour the man below was wearing. It had been years since he had seen it, but it was one of those things he could not, would not allow himself to forget.

General Glauca, murderer of Luna's mother, queen Sylva and Ravus' predecessor as Supreme Commander of the Imperial Army, a very powerful combatant was right below him.

He could still remember the day that Tenebrae had burned. The panic and chaos that had followed as the empire's troops had dropped out of the sky and started slaughtering everyone in sight. The sight of the kind queen Sylva, the woman who had healed him after his first and nearly last encounter with a Daemon, mercilessly impaled by Glauca's sword, the same sword that had nearly stabbed his father in the back. Suffice it to say the man ranked pretty damn high on the list of people Noctis utterly loathed. Not to mention the man was far too dangerous to be left alive.

So whiteout hesitation Noctis commanded several weapons to launch toward the enemy general. Despite attacking from a blind spot Glauca somehow sensed the attack coming as he without even releasing the still trying to move car moved his free hand to casually deflect several of his sword with his own massive one. That was fine however as just moments before his swords would dissipate Noctis had warped to one of the blades that had been deflected to the ground.

Noctis swore as he was forced to phase through an attack coming at him immediately after warping that showed the man really had some incredible reflexes, but like many people who use large weapons they left openings when they missed and Noctis was all to happy to exploit that. Gather a significant amount of magic in his right hand Noctis didn't hesitate as he unleashed one of the stronger lightning spells he could pull of without time to prepare.

With no small amount of satisfaction Noctis watched as the man was launched away from him. That feeling of satisfaction did not last long as the man managed to halt his momentum by slamming his sword in the road and halting himself.

What little satisfaction he still felt disappeared and gave way to shock as the man before him raised his head and glared at him. How did he know the man was glaring at him? Because the helmet that had previously covered the man's face entirely had been damaged pretty badly and Noctis' could now make out the face of his enemy and much to his shock it was very familiar face.

Titus Drautos, the man that all the Kingsglaive called their captain, the man that was one of his father's closest bodyguards? That was who hidden behind that amour? Glauca was Drautos? Drautos was Glauca? The captain of the Kingsglaive of The Kingdom of Lucis and the Supreme Commander of the Imperial Army of Empire of Niflheim were the same person? How? How was that even possible?

'Not that it really matters right now.' Noctis thought grimly as his opponents charged at him without saying a word. The how and why did not matter. Not now, maybe never. The man before him was an enemy, most likely a traitor of the highest order; if his amour hadn't made that obvious then the fact he was attacking him, the crown prince most definitely did so regardless of all other things; the man was a very dangerous enemy combatant that needed to be put down.

He summoned one of his favourite weapons to his hand and got ready to meet the charge halfway when he suddenly a single dagger was thrown into the road between the two opposing warriors and moments later someone warped to it´s thrown weapon. Both Noctis and Drautos paused for a moment surprised by the new combatant suddenly appearing. With his back turned to him Noctis could not identify who it was, but he did recognise the uniform and that put him on edge. The man was dressed in the attire of the Kingsglaive and considering their captain had just tried to kill him he was not very inclined to trust the newcomer.

The newcomer then turned his head for a moment. A look of clear confusion on his face before he turned his attention back to Drautos. ´Well that answers the question on who´s side he is. Noctis thought concluding that he probably wouldn't have turned his back on him if he was an enemy. It was then that he realised that he recognised the man. He didn't known any Glaive other than Drautos by name and barely interacted with them, but he recognised this man.

It was back in the throne room when he had confronted Ardyn for the last time. The man had conjured illusions of four people.

The emperor, his father, Luna and him?

The leader of an Empire, the King of a nation, the Oracle and … this guy?

What was so special about him?

It was then that the two started to fight and Noctis was forced to reevaluate his opinion on the unnamed Kingsglaive a bit. With a combination of magic, swordplay, acrobatics and warping he proved to be a match to the skill and power of his opponent.

Okay, really glad that guy isn't an enemy.

While he was pretty damn confident in his own abilities even he would admit having to face both of those powerhouses at the same time would have been more than a little challenging. Was that the strength of the Kingsglaive? Were they all that strong? If nothing else the sight of the Glaive using magic at least reassured him that his father was still alive.

With a weapon still in hand Noctis decided to charge in to make sure the traitor was dealt with, but before he could do just that he heard a familiar voice call his name.

''Noctis!''

For a moment it felt like his heart stopped as he swirled around and saw just who it was who was standing next to his car and during that moment he was not in the the crown city no he was back in Altissia lying helplessly on the ground as he could only watch as she was fatally stabbed, but then the moment was over and he could see her standing there. All the sound of fighting and chaos around him faded into the background, the guy on the other side of the car barely registered all he could see was her. She was there … she was alive.

''Luna.'' He whispered.

Author Notes:

So I have seen the movie since the last chapter and damn did it look great and it had some pretty good fight scenes. Sadly that is also the really the only positive thing I can say about it. The plot was a bit meh. Why people say you have to watch the movie to understand the plot of FFXV is beyond me as it only really answered one or two question that weren't answered in the actually game (like why Luna was in the Crown City when the Empire attacked.)It also left me with several more questions like why the Kingsglaive can warp, but not summon weapons as opposed to Noctis' friends who can summon weapon, but not warp (most of the time anyway). The rules of magic in the FFXV world are also a bit weird. In the game you use some kind of magical grenades, but in the movie they used more traditional forms of magic.

About the future of the story: I can't promise anything, but I will probably make a couple more of these short chapters for this. Again I will promise nothing since this was originally intended as a one shot so I don't really have a plan, but I see what I can do. I can say that this will never be a long story. Not only do I not have the time for another full length story, but I also have nothing planned.