She and I are slowly opening up to each other, but―perhaps because of this new power bestowed upon me, or perhaps because I have explained how I came to once again walk among the living―Sol continues to be wary of me.
Once Lunafreya touched nib to paper, the words poured forth in an endless torrent. She found herself unable to stop. There were so many things she wanted to tell Noctis, and she grew frustrated as her hand’s pace fell far short of her mind’s. For hours, she continued to sweep her pen across the pages, lost in thought. When she’d begun her watch, she’d worried she might not know what to do with herself or that she might fall asleep and let the fire die out. In truth, there was no need for concern. She was so immersed in her writing, she did not even realize it was time to change shifts until Sol came out of the tent.
It was already dawn when Sol felt her smartphone buzz. She fished it out of her pocket and checked the display: an incoming call from Gladiolus Amicitia.
She smiled. It was almost funny in a way―ten years ago, who could have imagined a citizen of Niflheim working together with a sworn Shield of the King?
If the man was reaching out to her now, odds were almost certain he wanted to ask about Luna. She answered his call.
“Can you talk?” Gladio asked.
“Yeah,” Sol replied. She understood exactly what the question meant. “She’s asleep in the tent. I’m outside.”
He laughed. “You’ve always been a quick one.”
Quick or not, it was hard for her to imagine any other meaning to his words under the circumstances. Once Sol had described her encounter with the Oracle to Cindy, the information had undoubtedly been relayed to Gladio and his comrades all but immediately.
“So what are your thoughts?” the Shield asked. “Think she’s the real deal?”
“I still don’t know. But that’s what she claims.”
“Noct would know,” Gladio muttered. “He’d be able to tell right away.”
“You really think so? Even he might not be able to know for sure, given the circumstances.”
According to Luna, their last proper encounter had taken place while they were still children. Twelve years later, there had been a reunion of sorts, in Altissia, but he had only been part of the crowd as she addressed the people, her eyes meeting his from afar. If that was the extent of contact King Noctis had with the Oracle as an adult, would he truly know her so readily?
“Well,” Sol said, “regardless of who she is, she’s . . . ”
Got my back, she was going to say but reconsidered. The woman’s power was unsettling. There was no getting around that. Even if it’d been granted by the gods, as she claimed, from any objective viewpoint, it was the kind of thing you’d expect of a monster, not from someone you wanted to place your trust in.
She reached for another expression and finally settled on “She’s proving helpful.”
“Right. I’ll pass the word on to Sania. She seems to think this self-proclaimed ‘Oracle’ and her powers, whatever they are, might make for some interesting scientific research.”
Though Sol had just compared her power to that of a monster, hearing Luna described as a potential research subject was somehow disturbing. She wasn’t sure exactly where that feeling was coming from, and she had barely begun to untangle it when she heard a rustling sound behind her. She turned to see Luna poking her head through the tent flap.
“All right, sounds good,” Sol hurriedly said into the phone. “Talk to you later.”
She cut the call and turned her gaze to the fire. For whatever reason, she couldn’t bring herself to look Luna in the eye. How long had the other woman been awake? How much had she heard?
Finally, it dawned on her why she was avoiding the Oracle’s gaze: it was from a sense of guilt.
From her seat in the sidecar, Lunafreya glanced over at Sol. The young woman’s brow was still furrowed, the same troubled expression she’d worn all throughout the day before.
At least her driving seemed to be more focused. There was no way to avoid the daemons that ambushed them without warning from the roadsides, but by keeping a careful lookout, they could spot and circle around ones that appeared directly on the road ahead. Every time Lunafreya noticed a suspicious shape in the distance, she alerted Sol. Up until recently, she had not realized that between them, her vision at night was far superior. And now that she knew that fact, she wished she didn’t. It was why she’d stayed quiet before, even though she thought it strange that Sol seemed not to notice the daemons Lunafreya could see so easily.
However, as Sol was clearly anxious to reach their destination, the fewer daemon encounters they had, the better. And so Lunafreya decided it was more important to do everything that she could to help rather than try to conceal her monstrous powers.
Thanks to Lunafreya’s efforts, the time they spent dealing with daemons dropped dramatically, and they reached Nohm before evening.
Once she saw the station building at Nohm, it clicked. She’d been here before, prior to her ascension. It must have been ten years ago―or, rather, twenty years in this new world she’d awoken into. But the sight brought not a sense of nostalgia so much as one of unease. In the past, this station had been a lively place, with throngs of people filing into or out of the trains stopped at its numerous platforms. Not a hint of those days remained.
Even more disconcerting was the fact that every window of the station building was dark.
“Why are they . . . ?”
Sol, too, seemed unable to hide her confusion. Sol had been the one to tell her about Nohm, describing it as one of the more important outposts in the area, with a permanent Hunter garrison and windows always shining with light. She’d even talked about how relieved she always felt as she approached the place, seeing those reassuring lights as she pulled up to the building.
The lack of lights now had them both worried. When they walked closer, they saw several of the windows had been smashed.
“What could have happened here?”
“Isn’t it obvious? The outpost was attacked.”
Lunafreya’s voice trembled. “May the gods watch over us.”
Sol explained, “It doesn’t happen a lot, but it’s not unheard of. Sometimes daemons show up in force and wreak havoc on an outpost.”
After Sol cautiously peered through several windows, she returned to the main entrance. She kicked the door in, gun held at the ready, and cautiously walked through the doorway. Lunafreya sensed no daemons inside, lying in ambush, but neither did she feel any presence of human life.