Prompto placed an arm around Lorelai's shoulder. "What do you mean you 'feel at home' here?"
She smiled, looking around at the magiteks and city. "I just mean this place reminds me of Siderum. It's so comforting."
"To you, maybe," Noctis stated. "It's kinda creepy to me."
Lorelai laughed lightly. "If you had ever been to Siderum, you'd understand."
"Well, since we can safely have a look around, I say we find out where the source of energy is," Ignis said. "We need to figure out where it's originating from."
"You guys do that," the girl said. "I've got some stuff of my own to figure out."
Noctis, Ignis, and Gladiolus began looking around. Prompto decided to go with his girlfriend instead, eager to lend her a hand. Lorelai approached the kneeling magiteks, unsure of how to speak to them.
"E-Excuse me, is there a library around here?"
Two of the soldiers rose to their feet. They both held out their hands to her while also pointing down the streets. "That way?"
She slowly took both of their hands and they began tugging her along. Prompto followed after them. They went down a few streets and arrived at a large building. The two magiteks let go of her and pointed at the building.
"This is it? Thank you." She looked over at her boyfriend. "Let's go on in."
The two entered the old building. "So, what are you looking for exactly?" Prompto asked.
Lorelai immediately began scanning the many shelves of books. "Books that'll give me an idea of my heritage. Since Ardyn teased me with information, I'm going to find out for myself just what's so special about my ancestors."
The blond grinned. "Nice! I'll help you out the best I can."
The two began skimming the many shelves of dust-covered books. It took some time, but they finally managed to find a few books on the subject they were looking for. But as they were flipping through the pages, the front doors of the library opened and in strolled their three friends.
"You won't believe what we found," the shield said.
"There appears to be a generator that powers the city with light," the advisor explained. "I believe it's the source of the monsters running rampant. The energy it emits is sure to be immense."
"But why has it just now been causing problems?" the gunman asked.
"We can't know for certain," Ignis answered. "But if I were to guess, I'd have to say it was the buildup of energy from it lying dormant for so long."
"You should definitely check it out, Lora," Noctis told her.
She looked up from the book she was glancing through. "I will, just give me a minute. I think I've found something."
Her friends waited patiently as she read. Lorelai scanned the words with wide eyes, taking in every bit of information. Once finished, she closed the book and looked over at them.
"Wow. Okay, so turns out there were some magic users in Solheim. They were regarded as higher ups who used their powers of light to fuel their magitek creations. So, if I have that kind of magic, then that must mean that I descended from one of them."
"That's really cool!" Prompto exclaimed with excitement.
"Fascinating," Ignis added. "That answers one thing. But that still leaves your weapon summoning magic a mystery."
The girl sighed. "Yeah, I know. But that's half of it, at least." She placed the book back on its shelf. "Show me that generator you mentioned."
The group left the library. Magiteks began following them as they headed to the generator. It was a large, orb-shaped machine in the center of the city that glowed with a red light. At a close proximity, Lorelai could actually feel the waves of magical energy emanating from it.
"What do you think we should do with it?" the gunman asked.
"Probably destroy it," Gladio replied.
"No!" Lorelai interrupted. "We can't! Luminis is powered by this thing! If we destroy it, then everything here will be shut down for good!"
"That's a sacrifice we've gotta make," Noctis told her. "We have to stop that energy output."
"There might be another way!" she argued. "Please, we've got to think about this!"
"It would be a bit of a waste," Prompto admitted, understanding Lorelai's side of the argument.
"I suggest we sleep on it," Ignis finally said. "This place is plenty safe to stay and rest for the night."
Everyone agreed and the magiteks showed them to what used to be an inn. Like everything else, layers of dust covered everything. Most of the furnishings were so old they were unusable. One of the mechanical soldiers kindly lit up the fireplace in the lobby for them. After a simple meal, Lorelai quickly drifted off while laying on the floor next to the warm fire. The others stayed up longer though, sitting together and talking. Gladio glanced at where Lorelai peacefully slept.
"Spill it, Iggy," Gladio quietly urged. "What's the real reason behind having us stay the night here. I sure as hell know it wasn't just to think."
Ignis smiled lightly. "Well, I just assumed Lorelai would want to stay here a while. She seems quite taken by this city."
Prompto happily grinned, gazing over at the girl's sleeping form. "Yeah, it really reminds her of home. Did you see the way her eyes sparkled when she saw all this?"
"Oh, I noticed," Gladio replied. "I just don't think she should get too attached to this place. It won't be here forever."
Noctis sighed. "Let her enjoy herself while she can. We'll figure out what to do in the morning."
Soon enough, the four men fell asleep as well. But while they rested, someone else entered the city. Ardyn strolled in, humming while he acted as if he owned the place. The two magitek beasts guarding the entrance growled and quickly approached him. He paused and looked back at them with a wicked grin. He formed dark, shadowy orbs in his palms and tossed them at the two. Upon touching them, the dark orbs absorbed into the mechanical bodies of the creatures.
They both crumpled to the ground, their armored bodies rattling with a new form of energy. After a moment, the light of their eyes darkened into red. They both stood up, completely under the darkness's control. Ardyn chuckled and continued onward into the city.
Late that night, the lights of Luminis flickered red. The five friends still slumbered peacefully, until a magitek soldier came crashing through a window. Everyone jolted up, quickly noticing the trooper rising to its feet. They saw its red eyes and knew something was wrong. Before it could even take a step, Gladio summoned his weapon and took a mighty swing, separating the magitek's top and bottom half.
Now without its legs, the soldier slowly crawled toward them. Lorelai marched forward, passing the shield and crouching before the magitek. She took its outstretched hand and imbued its body with light. Its armored body rattled and finally collapsed, its eyes now hollow and empty. Lorelai's light magic counteracted the darkness that corrupted it. Standing up again, the girl could see bunches of corrupted magiteks walking around outside along with the lights flickering red. She was stunned.
"W-What's happening to them?!"
"They've become corrupted by darkness!" Ignis explained. "They're now reminiscent to the soldiers the empire deploys!"
Noctis summoned his sword. "Then that means we cut 'em down!"
Following the prince, the group rushed outside. They were immediately forced to fight off swarms of magiteks. The lights continued to flicker until they finally stayed red.
"What's up with the lights?!" Prompto questioned, shooting down enemies.
"Could it be something with the generator?!" Gladio shouted.
Ignis swiftly cut down the opponents before him. "Yes, I'm certain that's it!"
"Then we need to get there, now!" Noctis said.
Lorelai paused, scanning the route to the generator. It was teeming with magiteks. "I'll clear a path! Follow me!"
She took off running, forming a barrier in front of her that knocked enemies out of the way. Her friends hurried after her. With her magic, she easily cut a way through the swarms. Making it to the generator, they saw a familiar enemy - Ardyn. The man stood at the mechanism, imbuing it with his darkness. The two magitek beasts stood at his sides like guard dogs.
"Ardyn!" Lorelai yelled in anger. "I knew it! What are you doing to this place?!"
Ardyn chuckled, looking over at them. "I'm simply taking what was meant to be mine ten years ago. You finally served your purpose, Lorelai."
The girl gasped with realization. "This is what you needed me for. If it wasn't for my power, you never could've gotten here."
"And I can't thank you enough," he said, finally pausing and ceasing his corruption of the generator. "Now I can raise an even greater army, especially with these beasts." His eyes fixated on the girl. "By the way, Lorelai, did you get the chance to discover the truth about your ancestors?"
She frowned, gripping her scythe tightly in her hands. "I descended from one of the magic users of Solheim. So what?"
He chuckled. "That's only half of it. Allow me to tell you the rest of the story. The Founder King had both a brother... and a sister. Being of the same bloodline, they were all gifted with the same weapon summoning magic. But during the Astral War, the sister took a group of survivors and fled with one of Solheim's magic users. With the aid of the dragon you know as Purnima, they made it to safety together."
Lorelai was slowly piecing together what he was saying. "S-So, wouldn't that mean..."
"You originated from the Lucis Caelum bloodline. That's why you share a bit of the same power as Noctis." The five friends all looked at one another, shocked by the information. "Unfortunately, your little family reunion will also be your funeral. Lorelai, my dear, I'm afraid your usefulness has run out. I no longer have need you."
He snapped his fingers. Immediately, the two beasts jumped into the fight. They were faster and much stronger than the soldiers. Amidst the fighting, the gang were slowly separated from each other. It seemed like there was no end to the number of magiteks they had to fight, not to mention the two beasts. One of the beasts circled Lorelai, dodging her attempts at using light orbs to purge the darkness that consumed it. She finally gave up and used her scythe to fight it normally, but its heavy armor was very resistant to her attacks.
Prompto caught sight of her fighting among the swarms and struggled to try and reach her. He could see that she was losing her battle against the magitek beast. When he finally made it through, Lorelai was slicing at a soldier that had tried to sneak up on her. From behind, the beast swung its tail around. Knowing it would hit her, Prompto jumped in, shoving the girl out of the way and taking the blow instead. The beast's whip-like tail hit the gunman right in the side of the head, knocking him across the area.
Lorelai jumped to her feet, realizing what had just happened after she was pushed. Her eyes widened upon seeing her boyfriend lying limp on the ground.
"Prompto!"
She used light walls to shield herself as she hurried to him. She fell to her knees at his side and lifted up his head.
"Prompto! Wake up, Prompto! You've got to get up!" There was no response from him and Lorelai noticed the lump already forming on the side of his head. Her eyes grew wet with tears. "You're going to be okay! Please, you've got to be okay! Prompto!"
"Aww, how touching," Ardyn said, watching with a smirk amongst the army. "Isn't it hard feeling so weak when you want to protect others? You'll never be able to compare to your mother."
The magiteks gathered on the outside of her barrier, banging against it. When the beast slammed into it, the wall cracked and the girl winced. She glanced up at the surrounding enemies gathered around her barrier. With tears already cascading down her face, she hugged her unconscious boyfriend, trying her best to shield him from the dangers around them. She leaned her forehead down against his.
"I'll protect you, I promise," she muttered.
"You know, everyone else has proven to be so much stronger than you, Lora." Ardyn's voice caused her to tighten her hold on Prompto, but she didn't look up at the man. "Purnima was especially powerful. She even gave you her precious light, and still you don't compare. And here I believed you had so much more potential. But all you've been able to do is make barriers and nightlights. How truly sad."
His words were getting to her. She didn't want to think of herself as weak. She knew she hadn't gotten as strong as her mother or Purnima, but she was working hard in hopes that she would one day get to their level. Right now though, she only wanted to protect her friends. Gazing down at Prompto's face through watery eyes, she did feel a bit useless. She couldn't stop him from getting hurt. One thing she knew for certain though - she would keep him safe now, when he needed her most. Lorelai slowly lifted her head, glaring at the man.
"I won't let you hurt my friends," she said firmly.
Ardyn chuckled. "Oh, you're not letting me."
She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to harness as much of her magic as possible. "I will protect those I care about. I won't let anyone hurt them." Her own emotions were strengthening her magic. Images of her friends flashed through her mind. Iris, Talcott, Ignis, Gladiolus, Noctis... Prompto. "I. Will. Protect them! I will keep them safe!"
Upon her last outburst, light exploded from her body in waves that rolled through the city, purging the darkness from the generator and the magiteks. Ardyn was taken by surprise and stumbled back from the blinding light. The generator, now cleared of Ardyn's dark power, reacted to the surge of magic. It absorbed all the light from within Luminis and transferred it all straight to Lorelai. Ardyn and her friends watched in astonishment as her whole body glowed brightly, creating a light within the now dark city. Her eyes were pure white as she stared at Ardyn while rising to her feet.
"You," she spoke in a calm tone.
She carefully stepped over the blond and walked toward Ardyn, her hand reaching out toward him. He fearfully backed away, the light emitting from her blinding him. He threw a couple of daggers at her, one slicing across her shoulder and one across her side. But she barely even flinched and continued to advance toward him until she stood directly in front of him.
"Know that the light will always illuminate the darkness," she told him. "And that those shrouded in the shadows, will perish with them."
She held out her hand, a bright light emitting from it and engulfing Ardyn. His body disintegrated before the powerful brightness. Once he was gone, Lorelai's light steadily faded and she lost consciousness.