Book Three: The Children of Fate

Prologue - {EDITED}

Thirty-three years ago, in a land known as Lucis, there lived a brother and a sister. The siblings, Noctis and Serafina Lucis Caelum lived happily with their father, King Regis. One day, not long after the siblings turned eight, during a farewell ceremony in Tenebrae, when the siblings had finally recovered from a Marilith attack, the Niflheim Empire attacked the small province of Tenebrae, massacring the residents, adding more physical and mental trauma to the pair, separating Noctis and Serafina for seven years.

After seven years of separation, the Imperial Chancellor of Niflheim, Ardyn Izunia, gave Serafina the chance of a lifetime offer; to return to the Crown City to reunite with her loved ones - on one condition though. Serafina had to be escorted by Imperial High Commander Ravus Nox Fleuret and his younger brother, Lord Sebastian, and she had to return to Tenebrae after two years, to prepare for peace talks between Lucis and Niflheim, an offer she couldn't refuse, especially once she realized that she was homesick. After the two years she had been in Lucis, she went back to Tenebrae, willingly, hoping that she would see her father one final time before the treaty ceremony.

The day of the peace treaty signing arrived and Serafina had been assigned to protect the King, seeing that she too was a member of the Kingsglaive as well, by demand of her commanding officer, Titus Darutos. It was only when the treaty ceremony went south between the two rulers that things among the entire city turned to chaos. Among the chaos, Serafina, alongside Lunafreya and Nyx, attempted to escape the Crown City of Insomnia, the Ring of the Lucii in the hands of the Oracle of Night. By nightfall, the Nyx was on his last leg, Serafina doing all she could to keep him alive while he fought Glauca, who had revealed himself as the captain of the Kingsglaive. Before she could tend to Nyx's injuries, Glauca thrusted his blade through her back, puncturing her daemon heart, the Ring rolling into the hands of Nyx.

Taking the opportunity, Nyx used the ring to his advantage, giving his life to take down Drautos by sunrise. While Serafina laid still until she knew it to be safer for everyone, she rose to her feet, her daemon heart mending itself as her blade summoned itself, using her abilities to help Nyx take down the traitor among her ranks. When it was all said and done, Serafina had the possession of the Ring of the Lucii and was on her way out of the city, Lunafreya at her side. Afterwards, Lunafreya and Serafina split ways until it came time to meet once more to awaken the gods so that the King of Light could later use the aid of the Six during his ascension.

Ten years later, on the day the True King was to reclaim the throne, Serafina ran through the halls to what was left of the throne room, prepared to prevent her brother from sacrificing himself to save Lucis from the darkness that already shrouded the land. But, Sera was too late. Upon entering the throne room, Serafina found what she feared; her brother was already moments gone, the Sword of the Father pierced her brother's heart, the Ring of the Lucii was nowhere to be found. Knowing the Light would soon overtake her, she summoned her trusted rapier and stabbed it into the floor, sitting beside her brother at the base of the throne, resting her head on his leg, closing her eyes as she accepted her fate at last.

Not long after, Serafina fell to her brother's feet, the scourge that once plagued her was now killing her from the inside as the Light purged it. Once her soul entered the Beyond, she found herself standing in the throne room once more, this time, finding it to be filled with a heavenly light, her brother now king and married to Lunafreya at last. Sera had been given another gift, this one being the gift to return to the living world to be happy with Prompto at long last. Tears filled her eyes as she made her way to leave the throne, taking in the sight of her brother and his happiness, wishing them a final farewell before stepping through the doors of the throne room. When she opened her eyes, she found her boyfriend sobbing while her shield and advisor had their heads hung low. She had been purified and able to live her life the way she promised her father and her brother; a life full of happiness with Prompto.

When the Light had finally been restored, Serafina set out to the rest of the kingdom, asking that the people of Lucis join the effort to rebuild what had been destroyed by the Niflheim Empire and the daemons that once roamed the land, with the accompaniment of Prompto, who she had later healed when he and his comrades were at death's doorstep due to the strong daemons in the process of protecting Serafina. As news spread that the Lucian Oracle and Kingsglaive leader had been collecting volunteers to help rebuild Lucis, more cities and outposts had begun to sign up long before the pair made it to them.

While Serafina and Prompto had been off gathering volunteers, Ignis had remained at the Citadel, attempting to figure out how he would recover the Crown City of Insomnia as it had been before the Fall, the way it had been when the former king, Sera's father, King Regis, had ruled. As for Gladiolus, Sera had sent him to Altissia and Tenebrae where Secretary Camelia Claustra and Weskham Armaugh would help aid him in the rebuilding effort of the City on the Sea, which had faced devastation for the wrath of Leviathan, the Hydrean, during the Rite that had occurred ten years before Noctis's ascension. The recovery of the notorious kingdom had gone underway, taking the entirety of Eos three years to rebuild what had been damaged by daemons and the wrath of various gods.

Everything had gone according to plan, Lucis was back to how it had been before the destruction that had been left in the Imperial Empire's wake. Insomnia could now allow its citizens to return, the city no longer in ruins from the attack that the Imperial army had left when they ambushed the city during the signing of the peace treaty that gave the people hope that there would be a ceasefire between the two nations. Altissia and Tenebrae could now thrive without the empire watching their every move. And now, without an Emperor or Chancellor in place within the Niflheim empire, Lucis had total control over its land, reviving it to the land it had once been before Ardyn had corrupted Emperor Iedolas Aldercapt.

After three and a half years, Sera could finally call the Citadel home once more. Although, things had certainly changed within the palace. The staff had greatly changed - many would speculate that it was due to the idea that those who had survived the attack on the city had wished to never set foot in the palace again. The city itself no longer needed a wall to protect its inhabitants from the Niflheim empire. The Crystal's chamber was no longer in place; it had shattered the night Noctis had brought the Light back to the world. Serafina now had a sense of safety, knowing that whatever threat came to the princess or the kingdom would now come from the gods, rather than a threat that came from within the lands that she would rule over in the coming months.

But enough about their past. Let me tell you about their present.