Losvillion Awaits

Stepping out of the rift, the first thing Fayden noticed was the protective barrier around them, and the dark blue-tinted ambience.

"Huh?" He breathed out.

"A protective measure, the monsters here are beyond your current capabilities." Noctis explained, morphing into his wolf form, "Get on, we have a long way to go."

The three teenagers glanced at each other before Fayden walked up to the asura, hoisting himself over his back. The others followed soon after.

Noctis was right when he said they had a long way to go, for it had been hours without any sign of civilization.

"Could you not have opened the rift any closer to this losvillion?" Nico grumbled.

"If i had, we could have a platoon of guards at us nigh instantly, we take our security seriously." Noctis explained, "Besides, we're almost there."

Fayden squinted his eyes, struggling to see the small dot in the horizon. As the dot got closer, he could see its resemblance to Xyrus, if Xyrus had multiple loose blocks tethered to it by bluish-white metal.

If he had to guess, it was larger than all of Elenoir, and far more advanced than anything he had seen in this world. In fact, it reminded him of his own world.

"Is that Losvillion?" Nico asked.

"A part of it, yes."

"A part of it?" He echoed.

"Losvillion is not a fixed place. It is a cluster of floating masses of land. They are never stationary." Noctis elaborated.

"So you're telling me Losvillion is something like a cluster of miniature moons revolving around this....realm?" Fayden confirmed.

"In simpler terms." He replied.

"What is this place anyways? Is it like a different planet?"

"In a way. It's the same as the world we came from. It just exists on a different plane."

Fayden shared a glance with Nico, the theories about parallel universes might just be right.

Slowing down once we neared the country, Noctis headed towards what was unmistakably a gate.

A microphone blared to life, "ID and reason for visit?"

Noctis placed one of his front paws into the turquoise scanner, "Noctis Caelum, and classified."

"O-Of course, Lord Caelum."

Fayden raised an eyebrow at the sudden change, but his words died in his throat as he took in the city of the Marchosias

The city looked downright futuristic in comparison to Dicathen. Polished concrete roads crisscrossed the entire landscape, and multi-storey buildings dotted the landscape.

The buildings appeared to be made out of metal molds, not bricks and had an almost rectangular shape as if molded from the purest of metals. Yet patches of natural flora existed, not only in gardens but throughout the city.

It was the perfect combination of science and nature.

In the center of the city hovered a smaller landmass, almost triangular in shape with a flat base. Fayden could see some sort of blue energy beam shooting down from it.

"That is our castle, our base of operations if you will. It is also responsible for generating energy for the city." Noctis explained as he took off in that direction.

"Let me guess, you're the king." Fayden said.

Noctis laughed, "Hah, no we don't have kings. It's a council of seven."

"Huh, like a democracy?"

"Not exactly, the seven are chosen on the basis of their strength."

"So these seven asuras are the strongest of your kind?" Nico confirmed, "And you're one of them."

Noctis only grunted in reply, coming to a stop at the structure. Once everyone was off, he turned back to his human form.

"I'll never get used to you doing that." Nathan said, looking somewhat unnerved.

Noctis smiled, "Come, I must take you to the council."

The inside was just as beautiful as the outside. The polished black steel interior was accentuated with bright neon blue lights following the walls and ceilings and intertwining together. Doors came at regular intervals, each looked automated with a keypad near it.

'They are pretty damn advanced.'

'You don't say.'

Fayden rolled his eyes at the asura, the sarcasm was not missed by him.

Soon the corridor came to an end, a beautiful silver and black door, easily twice his size, stood in their way.

"Beyond these doors lie six of the nine most reputed Marchosias in Losvillion." Noctis said, his palm hovering over the scanner.

"Six? Counting you as one, what of the other two?" Nico said, fixing his glasses.

"Valen and Riza are currently on a mission, they will join us in time." Noctis said, letting his palm drop on the scanner. It beeped once and something clicked in the door and it swung open.

Beyond the door lay a U-shaped table, pristine white with some black and turquoise etched in. An aged man sat at the end of the table, his grey hair left free to reach his neck. His silver eyes snapped to Fayden the moment he entered.

The other five were split unevenly, two on one side and three on the other, leaving enough room for three others to sit. Noctis walked up to the right wing and sat beside a silver-haired woman who beamed at them, specifically Faydens bond.

The three Dicathians glanced at each other, before collectively bowing to the council.

"Oh, don't be so uptight with us, you are our champion are you not?" The woman on the left side said, she had long black hair and forest-green eyes.

They relaxed, and stood up once again, waiting for the council to continue.

"Welcome to the capital city of Losvillion, Valencia. I am Korzag, the leader of this council." The man at the end of the table spoke up.

Fayden nodded in response, "Thank you for agreeing to train us."

"You have Noctis' support, that is good enough for us to agree." He said.

The introductions began after that. The man with short white hair and orange eyes was called Azrul, and was apparently their lead artificer. The woman who had spoken at first was Xena, the lead healer in Losvillion. Noctis introduced himself as the General of Losvillions army. The woman next to him introduced herself as Sierra, she was basically what counted for an accountant in Losvillion's government system. Beside Xena was a woman called Megaera, she had metallic blue hair tied in a high ponytail, with some strands forming a lock that came down the side of her face, her eyes were peculiar, greyish black with pink pupils, and she introduced herself as the leader of the espionage department. The last guy had to be shaken awake by Azrul.

"Huh? What do you want?"

Azrul rolled his eyes, jutting his head towards us. "Oh, right, the names Faran. What I do, is none of your business."

"Faran." Azrul warned, but the man was already asleep.

Korzag sighed, "Please forgive his behaviour, he's not the best at communication."

Fayden shrugged, "It's fine. Back to the topic at hand, when do we begin?"

"Tomorrow," Noctis answered, "Rest for today, you three need to rest."

"Fair enough." Fayden said, they did just fight a Scythe.

"I'll show you your rooms," He said, getting up from his chair.

Outside both Elijah and Nathan sighed in relief, relaxing significantly. "Did you feel the sheer amount of mana they were releasing?" Nathan asked.

"They're gods, it's natural for them to be that overwhelming." Elijah said, fixing his glasses.

"They were only doing it to intimidate you, we don't usually go around leaking mana all the time." Noctis said.

"That's not very reassuring." Nathan muttered.

Noctis didn't reply, instead focusing on leading them to an elevator. Nathan and Elijah were the first to walk out when they reached the next floor, but before Fayden could follow, Noctis closed the elevator doors.

Fayden raised an eyebrow inquisitively at the sudden action.

"Sierra wants to talk to you two," Noctis said, "Without the others."

"Alright then," Fayden shrugged.

"Uh, I've been meaning to ask-" Zeke began, but was interrupted.

"If she is your mother?" Noctis finished, "Yes."

"Oh," He said, "makes sense. Do I have a human form too?"

Noctis smiled, "You do, but it will take some time before you're able to access it."

"Why?"

"You have only known one form for your life, changing into a completely different shape would be disorienting and dangerous for you now." He said right as the elevator came to a stop at the top floor.

Sierra was waiting on the other side of the door for them, how she got there so fast was anyone's guess.

Zeke walked out first, hesitating for a moment.

"Hello, Zeke." Sierra said slowly.

"I feel like I shouldn't intrude on this," Fayden muttered quietly to Noctis.

Noctis shook his head, "Zeke needs you to support him right now."

Fayden exhaled deeply and nodded. Walking out of the elevator, he said, 'Zeke, remember they must have left you for a reason, do not hold it against them.'

'They still left.'

'Give them a chance, that's all I ask.'

'Should I?'

'You never know when fate might snatch them away from you, don't do anything you'll regret further down the line.'

'...' it took him a while to respond, 'Okay.'

Taking a deep breath in, he walked forward, "Hello…mom."

Sierra made a noise halfway between a squeal and a choke and ran up to embrace him, "You called me mom!"

"Ack!" Zeke wheezed, "I can't breathe."

'Now you know how it feels.'

'Help me!'

'Oh no, I know better than to separate a mother from her son. You're on your own buddy.'

'Traitor!'

"My job here is done," Fayden said, walking back to the elevator.

"Not so fast, mister," Sierra's voice had barely reached his ears when a strong and slender arm grabbed him and pulled him back.

"What the-?!" he exclaimed as he was squished beside Zeke. He could hear Zeke snickering through their mental link.

"Thank you," Sierra said, making him relax, "for raising him all these years."

"It's the least I could do." Fayden said, 'Especially considering he saved my ass a couple of times.'

It took a while before she let them go, and the real conversation began.

"Fayden," Noctis said, "Can you tell us anything about your Vritran friend?"

"Elijah?" Fayden said, "Well, his mana is very similar to a Vritra, but he's not one, he probably has some Vritra blood in him. And, uh, how do I explain this…"

"We know about your reincarnation, Fayden." Noctis said, "Is Elijah one too?"

Fayden was taken aback by their knowledge, but didn't question it, "Uh, yeah, yeah he is."

"Is he trustworthy?" Sierra asked.

"Well, his goal right now is to reincarnate Cecilia, someone from our past lives. As long as the Vritra don't make a better option than the Marchosias to reach that goal, you could trust him."

"Reincarnation is something we seldom delve into," Noctis said, glancing at Zeke, "But we can try to find a way."

"Thank you."

"What is your goal, Fayden?" Sierra asked, mindlessly caressing Zeke's fur.

Fayden went silent, is mind flashing back to what Rinia had told him. The news of his supposed death had hit him hard, and without Zeke there to calm him down he didn't know how well he would have taken it.

"Fayden?"

Fayden breathed in sharply, "My goal, is to make sure that the people I cherish live through this war, that I live through it. To survive what's coming."

Noctis and Sierra shared a glance with each other, before Noctis spoke, "We cannot guarantee your survival, all we can do is make it more likely, by training you so that you can fight beings like the Asura and the Vritra and live to tell the tale."

"That's all I need."