If Cloud didn't come, then Noctis would've been dead.
He ducked and warped a long distance away from Ardyn, summoning another crystalline sword and then charging towards him. He scowled as he stroke a strong blow towards the opponent's blade recklessly, "Die you imbecile!" He didn't care if the blade would slash against his skin. He didn't care if he would get wounds that blood would spill from the gash. He was too focused of Ardyn's moves. For Noctis, Ardyn didn't deserve to win for that man was too treacherous. Ardyn had taken away the love of his life— you— from him and now Ardyn had also allured Ravus, making him submissive and eventually letting him turn against Lucis. And when Ravus had learnt of his mistake, he was still urged to fight Noctis.
Noctis dodged Ardyn's blade. The clash of deafening iron filled the room once again. Their swords locked, but Ardyn found a hole that Noctis didn't realize he had been tricked-- he thought he had overcome Ardyn's weakness, but it was too late before he knew that Ardyn summoned another weapon and attempted to stab it to the prince's side. Noctis' eyes grew wide as he felt pain in his side, only finding a sharp metal pierced into it. The crimson liquid flowed continuously out of the gash. His breathing automatically slowed down, the air in his lungs running out. He gasped for air and knelt down the ground after Ardyn pulled the knife out of Noctis' side, more blood spilling into the floor.
His sight went hazy, allowing his lids to close but he forced them not to. He gripped his injured side and focused his sight on Ardyn, who stood before him. The man didn't hesitate to point his sword towards Noctis' neck. A sly smile formed in his lips. "I thought you said that you wanted me to die, but look at you now. Sitting on the ground helplessly as you await for death to come and take you. Shouldn't I be the one to call you imbecile? A useless prince who had no idea what the true meaning of ruling is," the blade of his sword hardened on Noctis' neck, blood trickling out of it.
Noctis gritted his teeth. "You'll never succeed in your plans."
"Oh I will never," Ardyn laughed, "unless you die." There was a brief moment of silence filling the room. The dim light flickered that made Ardyn's dreadful face appear and disappear. He didn't have a second thought to raise his sword high.
Noctis stared with a stern face as the blade goes down towards him, eyes closed. If this were what it took, then he had nothing to do about. He swallowed and looked down. The silence killed him more; he didn't know if the blade had already lunged into his body. However, before the blade would pierce right into his heart, the chandelier above swayed and the ceiling creaked. Ardyn paused for a moment and looked up to the ceiling, realizing cracks had formed in it until it exploded.
Dust filled the air and Ardyn's sight went unclear. Debris were scattered among the floor. Soon the entire ceiling fell, and Noctis had to run away before it would disintegrate on him. He tried his best to stand up. He couldn't see anything clearly, but he could hear the noises of robots and shooting guns. He turned his head once again to the sight; Ardyn was nowhere to be seen, but he was astounded of the sight laid before him. Some of the magiteks were in sight and they were destroyed, scattered among the broken concretes. He smelled a different scent filling the air that nearly intoxicated his nose. Smokes hurled from different directions. Flames spread throughout the room. He could hear explosions and the sound of machine guns and onagers filled his ears. Despite of the smoke that made his sight unclear, he could see five figures walking towards him, their shadows getting more human-like. He noticed that one of the five had spiky hair, and now he realized who had come to rescue him.
His blue eyes widened as the faces were now to be recognized. He opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out and he was about to fall towards the ground.
"Noctis!" Cloud sprinted towards him and succeeded on catching him before his body would hit the ground. Tifa helped by holding the prince's back to keep him up.
"We'll take care of this!" Yuffie shouted from afar, charging into another set of magiteks appearing out of nowhere while Vincent and Red XIII did the same.
Outrage had washed over Cloud when he saw blood stained on Noctis' torn shirt. "Does it hurt so bad?" There was panic and fear inside him. He couldn't let Noctis die.
Noctis breathed, cracking a smile, "Do you think I would die that easily?"
"Stop, Noctis," the blond scolded him. "No joking around in the battlefield. Now come on, we'll get you out of here first." He placed Noctis' arm around his shoulder and helped him up, but the raven grabbed his shoulders, making him confused.
"J-Just, leave me alone here," Noctis told him, which made him more irritated but Noctis continued. "Leave me alone. You. . . you have to find (Y/N)."
The blond widened his eyes but he furrowed his eyebrows, "W-What on earth are you thinking?! Do you think I would leave you here like I saw nothing? I can't leave you here in this dangerous place. I cannot let you here alone and I shouldn't."
"But you have to," Noctis tightened the grip on his shoulders. "Find her, Cloud. Please, I'm begging you. You have to save her from. . ." He trailed off, his breathing going more difficult. His throat went dry.
"F-From who? And where is she?"
"T-That man."
"What? Who is he? Tell me where she is and I'll find her, Noctis," Cloud breathed heavily as he felt the toxic scent of smoke passing through his nostrils. Noctis' lids lowered. "H-Hey, stay still. We'll save her okay? Keep holding on."
Tifa wrapped Noctis' other arm around her neck, and soon they escaped the explosions coming from the room. They darted out and found themselves running through a dark and silent hall, only finding themselves again within another dark room, but this time it was spacious and empty. Cloud could hear Noctis' heavy breathing. He looked down at him, "Please, not just yet. We should find her." He lifted his face and looked to Tifa, who was merely searching for any signs of another way.
"This room is a dead end. We should get back to the main hall," she said as she scanned the room. She gestured for them to leave but Noctis objected. "What were you saying?"
"There. . . " His blue eyes glanced towards a trapdoor. "The right corner. . . a t-trapdoor. . ." He coughed. Automatically they headed for the trapdoor, and Tifa had to give the arm she held to Cloud so she could open the trapdoor. She took hold of the handle and pulled it with all her force; it didn't budge.
"It's locked," she said yet she tried once more but this time it opened slowly. "Not locked after all," she muttered and fully opened it. "Alright. Cloud, you go down first, then you'll assist Noctis as he goes down. If it's deep down there, both of us would jump in first then we'll catch him. Get it?"
"Yes, ma'am." Noctis said.
"No time for joking," Cloud rolled his eyes and gently put Noctis' arms down. He took a deep breath and jumped into the hole.
Tifa peeked down. At first nothing could be heard, but she heard a loud noise. "You good there?"
"Yeah," the blond answered, "I can feel heat beneath me. It feels as if there is a tank generated here. Geothermal power I guess?" He paused, then said, "That's it. We're about to walk into a tunnel."
"That's both a good and bad idea," Tifa frowned. "But we have no choice." She straightened her shoulders and startled as she heard footsteps coming. "We have no time. Make it quick. Is it deep down there?"
"Not that much," Cloud answered and soon Tifa helped Noctis get down into the tunnel. She was then the last to jump in. When her feet landed on the ground, she turned up her head and saw nothing but darkness coming from the upper ground, and it spread throughout down into the underground.
"Let's go," she said. They helped Noctis again and walked onwards. "Do we even know where we're going?"
"Heading into unknown places; that's terrific," Noctis mumbled.
"We should heal your wound at any minute. You've lost a lot of blood," she looked into Noctis' eyes with a concerned face. The darkness was definitely unsettling. They didn't know where they were heading to.
"Look." Cloud's voice echoed until the end of the tunnel. Their eyes stared off at the end and saw a metal door. Beyond it glowed a light. They walked towards it and finally when they reached the door, it soon gave off heat. Sweat trickled down their foreheads. Cloud wiped his forehead with his forearm, "What is this?"
They all stared into a tiny speaker attached beside the door on the wall. Below it was something more like a microphone.
Hello, Sir Ravus. Please say the password to pass through.
They startled when a monotonous female voice spoke. Cloud rubbed his temples, "Noctis, you know the password?"
Suddenly there was a loud buzzer that made them yelp.
Wrong. Please try again. The voice said.
Cloud swallowed, turning to Tifa who made a naive expression. Noctis looked down and felt the temperature rising to one hundred sixty degrees, sweat rolling down the side of his neck. He thought of any pass code relevant to the Imperial Army, but unfortunately he had found nothing. "What should we do now?" Cloud whispered.
Tifa mouthed 'I don't know', while Noctis kept thinking.
Then he remembered the voice calling them Ravus, so he thought of anything that was relevant to him. He cleared his throat, "Um, Luna?"
There was a loud buzz again.
Wrong. Please try once more.
"Tenebrae?"
Another buzz.
Wrong. Try one last time. If you fail to answer the right pass code, they will come and get you.
What the hell is with this thing? Noctis furrowed his eyebrows, annoyed. But he knew he shouldn't give up. He prayed for the answer he thought to the gods. He hoped it would be the right one.
He took a deep breath.
"Fleuret?"
Slowly, the bolt lifted by itself and the huge door opened. Noctis turned to Cloud and Tifa, who gave him a nod.
Thank you Sir Ravus. May you enjoy your stay.
"This isn't a hotel," Noctis joked but Cloud immediately hushed him and scolded him again. They watched smokes come out from the doorframes as the door itself fully opened, sliding to one side. "Alright. We're coming now-- "
His jaw dropped open. His wide eyes stared in horror and his breathing hardened once again, by seeing that horrid scenery just made him want to scream. The love of his life sat on a chair with her arms tied to the back of the chair.
Your head hung downward. You did not make a single move.
Noctis pushed away Cloud and Tifa's hold and sprinted towards you, dropping to his knees as he held your face. "(Y/N). Wake up. Please," agony and fear washed over him. "(Y/N) wake up!" His voice trembled, lifting up your face. His eyes widened, seeing that you had slashes, bruises and scars on your face. Your left eye was swollen, and blood trickled down your cheek, yet you showed no sign of consciousness. Tifa ran towards you and knelt beside Noctis.
Cloud stood there speechless. The sight gave him terror and fear. The one he loved was tortured, treated so badly. The brutal and inhumane sight was too much for him. He was about to walk towards you when he felt something sharp, something like a metal touching his back. He stiffened and was unable to move when the familiar voice he had heard so many times before spoke behind him once again,
"Good to see you again, Cloud. It's been a while."
Omg guys 2,065 words I'm so shookt. And the author's note is not included like whaaat I can't believe to myself that I have written a very long chapter but anyway, it was worth writing it.
Also I guess four chapters left? Three? Or maybe one!
Just kidding guys. Don't wanna scare y'all but I'm so evil right now. Hehehehe
That's all for now.