My Princess | Nyx Ulric

Chapter 22

Lyra looked at the tall man in front of her, not expecting him to be there.

“Well, what do we have here?” Ravus said as he looked at Lyra before turning his attention to Noctis. “The remainder of Lucis' royal family right in the middle of Niflheim's capital city.”

Prompto and Libertus went and secured the scientist to make sure he didn’t try to contact security. Noctis, Gladiolus and Ignis were on guard and Lyra kept her gun pointed at Ravus.

“Why are you here?” she asked him. “What-“

She was cut off by the sound of muffled screaming. Everyone looked towards the same direction. It almost sounded like growling. Lyra walked passed Ravus, slowly walking towards the large window on the other side of the room. When she peered inside, the gun dropped from her hand and onto the floor as she placed her hands on the glass.

“Lyra, what is it?” Gladiolus asked as he held Ravus against the wall.
Lyra couldn’t believe her eyes. Her chest began to heave as her breathing became heavy. “It’s Nyx...”
Noctis quickly went and stood beside Lyra, looking through the window as well. “Are you sure? Are you sure it’s him?” Noctis didn’t seem convinced. To him, whatever was in that room looked like demon.

She didn’t say anything. Her hands that were pressed against the glass slowly turned into fists. He was chained up, trying to break free from his restraints as he continued to scream. She suddenly grabbed her gun from the floor and angrily walked over to Ravus. Tears glazed her eyes as her brows furrowed together in anger.

“What have you done to him?” she asked slowly.

Everyone looked at her, unconvinced that the creature inside was Nyx. Noctis walked over to her.

“Lyra,” he said quietly. “I don’t think-“
“Tell me!” she shouted, cutting him off as she yelled at Ravus.
Ravus simply glared at her. “A weapon for the empire. I’m just here to observe,” he answered her.
“Test subject 101,” Prompto spoke as he read off the computer screen. “Magic still contained. Quick healing abilities,” he read a couple of points from the document.
Lyra turned and aimed the gun at the scientist who looked as though he was about to faint. “Open it.”
“A-are you crazy?! He’ll kill you,” the scientist said as he trembled.
“I said open it,” she repeated.
“Lyra, just calm down, okay? Let’s think through this,” Gladiolus said. He knew she had lost control of her senses.
She ignored him and turned her head to look at Ravus. “Tell him to open the door.”
Ravus sighed, unable to move because of Gladiolus. “He’s not lying. If you go in there, he will kill you.”
Lyra wasn’t willing to listen to reason anymore. She cocked the gun and put her finger on the trigger, putting the gun to the scientist’s head. “Now!”

The scientist shook in fear and everyone looked at Lyra with deep worry. They couldn’t believe she was willing to kill someone in order to achieve her goal. Noctis didn’t even try to stop her, not knowing how she would react.

“Killing him makes no difference to me,” Ravus said calmly, making the scientist look at him in disbelief.
“Very well then,” Lyra moved the gun away from the scientist, which made him sigh in relief. She then moved and pressed the gun to Ravus' head. “I’ll kill you instead. I’ll get him to open the door eventually.”

Ravus scowled at her but he could see the fire and determination in her eyes. When they were kids, they used to play together. Chase each other through the lush green forests of Tenebrae. He even once imagined marrying her when they were older, not that he ever told her that. Then everything burned and now here they were. Ravus working for the enemy and Lyra ready to kill him. How did everything go so wrong?

Ravus sighed and looked at the scientist. “Open it.”

Lyra was slightly surprised that Ravus gave in. He had changed a lot since they were kids but she could still see that boy she used to know within him. She lowered her gun slowly and gave it to Noctis. The scientist quickly typed in a secret code into his computer and soon the motors of the huge bulky metal door in the corner of the room that led into the next began grinding together as it opened.

The muffled screams became clear and it set a sense of fear on everyone’s minds. Lyra's heart thumped hard in her chest as she slowly made her way to the door but someone grabbed her arm. She looked back to see that Gladiolus had stopped her. Ignis was now keeping an eye on Ravus whilst Noctis too went to stop Lyra.

“You can’t go in there. It’s too dangerous,” Noctis protested.
Lyra sighed. “Don’t stop me now, Noctis. He needs me.”
“I’m not letting you go in there. We’ll find another way,” he said trying to reason with her.
“Please, Noctis. I-“
“AHHHH!!”

Lyra gasped and looked into the chamber where Nyx was. He was in so much pain and it was slowly killing her to see him that way. She looked back at Gladiolus and tried pulling her arm free.

“Gladio, I'm begging you. Please let me go!”
“Don’t let go of her!” Noctis fought back.

Gladiolus watched as the two argued. He looked at Lyra with sadness in his eyes. He loved her. But she was in love with someone else. Someone who made her truly happy. She wasn’t truly happy anymore. And he would do anything to see her smile again. He let go of her arm causing them to fall silent.

“Go,” he told her.

Without another word, she ran into the room. Noctis looked at Gladiolus angrily.

“What are you doing?!” he yelled at him
“Trusting her,” Gladiolus replied simply.

They all became silent as they watched what was happening through the window. Once Lyra was inside, she stood in front of the chamber that Nyx was inside of. He continued to growl ferociously. Lyra looked at him more closer. His skin was grey and harsh, almost like ash and it had cracks going all throughout his body, making it look as though he was on fire from the inside. His eyes were black and soulless.

As she looked at him through the glass chamber, he caught sight of her and became calm for a moment, shocking the onlooking scientist. It was only for a moment though before he began growling again, directing all his rage towards her.

“Nyx, it's me. I’ve come for you,” she said as she tried to hold back her tears.

He continued to scream and growl at her but she didn’t lose hope. She looked around the edges of the chamber to find a way to open it and she soon came across a keypad. She looked at the scientist through the other side of the glass.

“What’s the code?” she asked loudly.
“0-6-2-9-2-1-9,” he replied.

She keyed in the code as he told her the numbers and soon the chamber opened up, the sides and the roof lifting up from the ground. Now there was nothing shielding her. He continued to growl and charged towards her but the chains on his wrists held him back.

“I know who you are,” she said to him, her voice soft.

He suddenly stopped growling but continued trying to charge at her, his feet pulling back across the floor since he was unable to go further. Everyone in the other room watched in awe, even Ravus. Lyra couldn’t deny that she was a little frightened, thinking that it wouldn’t work but she had to try. She slowly lifted her hand and reached out to touch his face. She inched forward ever so slightly until her fingertips reached his cheek before brushing them across it.

“You are Nyx Ulric. You are not a monster,” she continued to speak, soon her whole hand holding his cheek.

Her hand felt as though it was on fire, causing her to flinch but she didn’t pull away. He began to calm down more, becoming still and just standing there.

“You called me to find you. So, I came and I found you.” She stepped closer to him and looked into his black eyes. “They’ve taken your heart and soul, but I’ll return it to you.”

He began to lower himself to the ground, falling onto his knees and he already seemed a lot more human than just a few minutes ago. Lyra went down onto her knees too. Suddenly, his eyes closed and he fell to the side but Lyra quickly held onto him and lay him down slowly with his head in her arms, almost cradling him to her chest. His skin was still broken, and she knew he hadn't fully returned.

“Nyx?” she whispered as she looked at his face, cracks everywhere. “Nyx?”

She shook him slightly but there was no response. Her heart pounded in her chest, thinking that she had lost him again. But at least she was able to put him to rest in peace. She sat in the room alone with a lifeless Nyx, holding onto his upper body as she pressed her forehead against his. Her body shook as she began to cry silently. Everyone in the other room watched in silence, no one approaching her to allow her space and time alone with him.

As she cried, she gently pressed her lips onto his cold ones for a few seconds before pulling away again. She held him tighter and wept over him as she closed her eyes, her tears soon falling and landing on his face. The tears ran down his face and into the cracks on his skin. More tears fell and the same thing happened again.

Suddenly, a bright light began to shine inside him, the light seeping out of the cracks on his skin and casting the whole room with white light. Noctis and the others stepped forward, having never seen anything so beautiful before. Lyra remained oblivious to it all as she continued to cry with her eyes closed. Soon, the light disappeared and no one could believe what they were seeing and they were too shocked to say anything.

Lyra slowly calmed down her crying but she still kept her eyes shut, her head still down.

“Lyra...” came a weak voice.

Her eyes shot open and she lifted her head to look at Nyx. She couldn’t believe it. His skin had returned to normal and he was breathing. Not only that, he was completely dressed in his Glaive uniform. Lyra hoped she wasn’t just dreaming again as she looked at his face. His eyes were closed but he was definitely breathing.

“Nyx?” she breathed out as she held his face.
He slowly opened his eyes, revealing the soft blue colour she had fallen in love with. “You found me...” he whispered before closing his eyes again.

Lyra's face lit up and her eyes were filled with tears of joy this time. She kissed his face all over, his head, his cheeks, his nose, his chin, and finally his lips. She kissed him softly in case she hurt him and very gently, he kissed her back before falling asleep. Lyra pulled her lips away and looked down at his sleeping face, smiling with tears of happiness.