Chapter Text
"Long has it been, Noctis," and the rest of the words died on his tongue. For a soul-crushing, horrifying moment, Ravus was cursed with the possibility that the spark to his shard - the soul that complemented his, that had been severed by Shiva's heartbreak when Ifrit was killed - was his sister's betrothed. The weak, erratic son of a cowardly king that was failing so spectacularly at his destiny to help Lunafreya cleanse the world. Her lover by letter, to hear her tell the story.
"Ravus." Noctis hissed through his teeth, rallying, as he and his guards arrayed in an arcing formation that probably helped against less dangerous things than Ravus.
They split apart in front of him, and the tug at his heart, the feeling of that spark, moved to his left, and relief flooded in, enough that the sight of Noctis' face refilled his rage. Of course. He'd lost everything to this boy, of course his own spark would be part of Noctis' entourage. One of the blondes, then.
"You receive the Storm's Blessing," He growled, and aimed his sword at the young man's throat. "And yet you know nothing of the consequences."
"Watch it," growled Amicitia, shouldering his way closer, and Ravus flicked his wrist over, aiming the blade at his throat instead to press him back, to keep his view of Noctis clear.
The taller blond nearly lunged at him, took one threatening step with his hands opening to recieve weapons from the Lucian royal Armiger. Ravus held up a hand, barely glancing at him a bitter tang in his throat - was it to be Amicitia, then, that had taken his spark? Fallen in love with a man on the other side of a war, never to find out what the tie between their souls, woven by Ifrit and Shiva's love, meant to them?
"Be still," He said through the bitterness. "All of you."
"Not. Good." Whispered the little blond standing all the way behind Noctis - and when Ravus' eyes lit upon him, the taller one so close, the tug on his soul still too far - he realized with a shock of lightning that this -
This delicate little thing hiding behind the prince was his spark.
The shock paused him long enough that Noct rallied in response to his accusation. "Consequences?" He sneered. "For who, Ravus? The Empire?"
"For Lunafreya!" Ravus' roar was so immediate he barely even felt his own rage before it flew from him, silencing the awful, empty parking lot. He stared into Noctis' eyes, willing it down so he could speak through his teeth. "Your precious destiny was not meant to be faced apart, Chosen One."
"I know," Noctis gritted out, to Ravus' surprise.
Ravus narrowed his eyes. "And yet still you tarry here, traveling erratically across the Lucian continent, failing to follow where she leads," He snarled.
"I'm gathering whatever power I have," Noctis snapped. "What I was left with, after your Imperial Army took everything else."
Maybe it was true. Maybe it wasn't. The Empire's monitoring systems were good, reporting them all across the continent, but they hadn't been able to keep a proper tracker on them, so they weren't working with a full path - just dots for sightings on the map. Perhaps he was going on that quest his family all did, gathering up their Royal Arms, in an attempt to be stronger for Lunafreya.
Perhaps he'd have to, if he wanted to meet their destiny with the same dignity as she was meeting it.
Ravus curled his lip, his eyes darting unwittingly back towards the little blond in the back. His spark. The complementary piece of his soul - apparently close enough to Noctis to be kept in his innermost circle.
The Lucii had been most definite about his place in their chosen one's precious destiny, taking his own destiny as Oracle as price for attempting to usurp it. The gods had intervened on his behalf, saving his life for his years of service as one of their Oracles, though he was now deafened to their call, his healing power burned away. If Noctis did not meet his fate head-on, at Lunafreya's side, Lunafreya would die.
"Hear me, Prince Noctis," He said, low and hissing. "Go to Altissia. Meet with the Oracle before the Rite of Leviathan. She is the last of the Astrals you will find. Ifrit has fallen, and Shiva was felled in Niflheim years ago. Do this, meet my sister and your fate, and all that I command will be yours after the Rite. Your father's glaive will be returned to you." He opened his hand briefly, flickering his own sword to his Armiger, replacing it briefly with the sword wielded by Regis Lucis Caelum, to punctuate his point.
Noctis' face twisted with anger and he reached for it as if on instinct, and Ravus flickered it away instantly in a flash of white-gold magic.
"Fail," He growled, meeting Noctis' eyes again, "And I will ensure you complete your destiny. I will take you to the Crystal myself, let you face its judgment, and hand you over to the Scourge to sacrifice yourself as she was sacrificed. Either way, this world is cleansed." He pointed with the clawed fingers of his magitek hand, just a step too far away to touch. "In only one am I yours to command. In only one am I loyal. In only one do you survive."
Noctis narrowed his eyes back. "Either way, you're helping me?" He asked suspiciously.
Though it rankled, Ravus graced him with a curt nod. "Until you reach Altissia, all I offer is reduced Imperial patrols near your sighting locations. Meet with the Oracle, Chosen One. Face your destiny properly. Prove to me that you will do what it takes to save my sister's life, and our Star. Then, and only then, am I fully on your side."
He sensed the two guards exchanging glances to his sides, but he didn't lift his eyes from Noctis. In the corner of his vision, he saw his spark twitch too, but he didn't let himself look away to focus on the movement. He stared the young prince down, no weapon in hand, only his magitek arm poised in his own defense.
Noctis' crystal-blue eyes narrowed further, but he slowly nodded, warily straightening his back and looking at Ravus through calculating lashes. "Okay." He said gruffly. "I'll meet her in Altissia. We'll face the Rite of Leviathan together." He pointed back at Ravus. "But I'm holding you to that command."
"Should you do as you claim, you will have earned it." Ravus sneered, and graced the prince with a near-mocking bow - only to freeze as he felt the uncomfortable, slimy, cold feeling arc up his left arm into his back again.
Adagium.
He thought he'd have a little more time than this before the daemon realized he had slipped free of the rest of the Army, and that little mess he'd made back with Verstael.
"Well, now, isn't this lovely," Ardyn purred, striding up after materializing somehow from his shadows. "I expected to head off a fight. How polite of you to make things easy for me, Commander. Hesitation isn't usually your style."
Ravus looked away, schooling his expression flat once again, focusing on his breath to get his mind off the path he'd just been so focused on. He couldn't risk Adagium knowing what he was thinking, and he could only hope Ardyn failed to read it in the others. That they were smart enough not to expose his offer. He thought instead of Lunafreya, of his worry for her, not knowing where she was, perhaps hoping these people knew more.
"What are you doing here?" Noctis snarled, at least smart enough by now to know not to trust the Chancellor.
"Oh, I'm here to help," Ardyn announced cheerfully, and it was twelve long years of practice that kept Ravus' tension from reaching his muscles.
"And how is that?" Growled a smooth, deeper Tenebraean voice - the other blond, it must be.
"By taking the Army away," Ardyn said simply.
"And we're supposed to believe that?" Amicitia's response was a threat.
Ardyn ignored it. "When next we meet, it will be across the seas." Ravus felt his accursed gaze on his back where he'd turned away. "Just so happens we have business of our own with the tutelary deity, don't we?"
He was trying to draw Ravus out. It wouldn't happen again. Ravus turned halfway back, letting the plate of his magitek arm obscure his face, and did not reply. He glared over the plate at the daemon.
"Fare thee well, Your Majesty," Ardyn said smoothly, striding up to Noctis and raising a hand toward Ravus. "And safe travels." He flicked the hand dismissively.
Ravus took the silent order as he always did, his old resentment only churning faintly in the box he kept it in. It served no purpose for him now. He left Archeole without another word, though a part of him felt colder with every step he took away from . . .
He didn't even know his spark's name.