Ignis Scientia (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
chef_chocobro) wrote2022-06-11 07:07 am
chef_chocobro) wrote2022-06-11 07:07 am
Outside the Palace of Altissia; Altissia, Accordo; Eos; Saturday Afternoon [06/11 FT].
The crowd gathered before the palace, draped with banners, an excited murmur rippling through them as they awaited, finally, the Oracle's appearance to make her address. In person. In the flesh. Alive, and a beacon of hope in these dark times. But for the king…and his Kingsglaive…their attention was firmly on other matters.
Noctis was there, on the ground, in the middle of the crowd, with the others in ready and in position. It didn't matter where they were, every radio in the city was tuned into the broadcast that would send the Oracle's words out not only throughout Altissia, but all across Accordo, and reaching far beyond the Cygillan Ocean to Lucis. The whole city was in a quiet frenzy of excitement, until the moment when it began.
Lady Lunafreya emerged from the palace, taking careful steps toward the podium that awaited her. Her hands were folded in front of her in piety and contrition, and she lifted her hand before her when she reached it, bowing her head in a long, silent prayer, the breeze gently pushing faint tendrils of her blonde hair around her soft face.
"Dear friends," she started, lowering her hands again. "I stand before you today with little hope the words I speak…shall reach beyond these walls. For slowly, but surely, the Light fades from our world. And as it does, the shadows shall loom ever longer until all succumbs to the darkness."
Her hand lifted, clutching at the delicate crescent moon hanging from her neck. "Darkness…that evokes terror, hatred, and sorrow in the hearts of men. The ashes of Lucis…A dream of peace twisted into a nightmare of death and destruction, claiming innumerable lives and leaving myriad souls to suffer. Yet I beg you, do not surrender to despair. Have faith, for our gods watch over us.By their blessing, by the Stars that light the heavens above, our world will be delivered from the perils of the dark. I stand before you here, in Altissia, to call upon Leviathan, Goddess of the Seas, spirit of the deep."
A murmur of confusion and distress began to well up from the crowd, from the city, from the streets. Ignis held his breath, let his eyes pass over his stationed spot, already pinpointing the crucial exits for the precise moment when the inevitable chaos broke loose.
"By the sacred rite," Lunafreya continued, "I will commune with the Hydraean. But first, I offer you my solemn vow. On my honor as Oracle, I will not rest until the darkness is banished from our world and the Light is restored."
Those murmurs slowly began to turn into cheers, to applause, to a sudden swell in the change of tide from concern to hope. But Ignis knew better to trust it. The Tidemother, after all, was a fickle and vengeful goddess.
"Bless you all," Lunafreya concluded, quietly, with duck of her head and a deep bow to follow. And she looked out into the crowd, to catch the dark, tear-glazed eyes of a king standing among the people of Altissia, and nodded her head, before turning to depart from the stage.
But Ignis' attention had left the crowd completely, his eyes to the sky, and his phone lifted. "Noct," he breathed into it once the chirping call had been answered. "The Empire's here."
"I can see 'em," Noct answered back, since, really, four warships and a countless fleet of dreadnaughts and transports were really kind of hard to miss.
"Drop ships are closing in on the port," Ignis reported. "Look for a vantage point to approach them."
"Okay. Go take care of the citizens."
With that, Ignis slipped his phone back into his pocket and began to move. "And so," he murmured to himself, "it begins."
[[ this is a big chapter with a lot of set-up in (mostly) bite-sized pieces. Speech lifted from Final Fantasy XV Chapter 9 - Callings, because I"m a sucker for context, dammit ]]
Noctis was there, on the ground, in the middle of the crowd, with the others in ready and in position. It didn't matter where they were, every radio in the city was tuned into the broadcast that would send the Oracle's words out not only throughout Altissia, but all across Accordo, and reaching far beyond the Cygillan Ocean to Lucis. The whole city was in a quiet frenzy of excitement, until the moment when it began.
Lady Lunafreya emerged from the palace, taking careful steps toward the podium that awaited her. Her hands were folded in front of her in piety and contrition, and she lifted her hand before her when she reached it, bowing her head in a long, silent prayer, the breeze gently pushing faint tendrils of her blonde hair around her soft face.
"Dear friends," she started, lowering her hands again. "I stand before you today with little hope the words I speak…shall reach beyond these walls. For slowly, but surely, the Light fades from our world. And as it does, the shadows shall loom ever longer until all succumbs to the darkness."
Her hand lifted, clutching at the delicate crescent moon hanging from her neck. "Darkness…that evokes terror, hatred, and sorrow in the hearts of men. The ashes of Lucis…A dream of peace twisted into a nightmare of death and destruction, claiming innumerable lives and leaving myriad souls to suffer. Yet I beg you, do not surrender to despair. Have faith, for our gods watch over us.By their blessing, by the Stars that light the heavens above, our world will be delivered from the perils of the dark. I stand before you here, in Altissia, to call upon Leviathan, Goddess of the Seas, spirit of the deep."
A murmur of confusion and distress began to well up from the crowd, from the city, from the streets. Ignis held his breath, let his eyes pass over his stationed spot, already pinpointing the crucial exits for the precise moment when the inevitable chaos broke loose.
"By the sacred rite," Lunafreya continued, "I will commune with the Hydraean. But first, I offer you my solemn vow. On my honor as Oracle, I will not rest until the darkness is banished from our world and the Light is restored."
Those murmurs slowly began to turn into cheers, to applause, to a sudden swell in the change of tide from concern to hope. But Ignis knew better to trust it. The Tidemother, after all, was a fickle and vengeful goddess.
"Bless you all," Lunafreya concluded, quietly, with duck of her head and a deep bow to follow. And she looked out into the crowd, to catch the dark, tear-glazed eyes of a king standing among the people of Altissia, and nodded her head, before turning to depart from the stage.
But Ignis' attention had left the crowd completely, his eyes to the sky, and his phone lifted. "Noct," he breathed into it once the chirping call had been answered. "The Empire's here."
"I can see 'em," Noct answered back, since, really, four warships and a countless fleet of dreadnaughts and transports were really kind of hard to miss.
"Drop ships are closing in on the port," Ignis reported. "Look for a vantage point to approach them."
"Okay. Go take care of the citizens."
With that, Ignis slipped his phone back into his pocket and began to move. "And so," he murmured to himself, "it begins."
[[ this is a big chapter with a lot of set-up in (mostly) bite-sized pieces. Speech lifted from Final Fantasy XV Chapter 9 - Callings, because I"m a sucker for context, dammit ]]