Chapter Text
It had been such a lovely day.
It wasn't particularly sunny, but it wasn't particularly cloudy either, and the temperature was just right. It was a lovely warmth, and the breeze hadn't been too chilling.
Stella's smiling mother stood a few feet away from her, and her hand was in Ravus'. He'd tried to fold them behind his back, where she knew he'd fiddle, and pick at the hems of his jacket sleeve, so she'd tugged it free. Luna danced happily around the visiting Prince Noctis' wheelchair, his father happily watching on from behind them. A few other members of the Lucian envoy, and some of the manor's staff were also gathered in the meadow, here to celebrate the Prince's healing.
Stella had been in the library a few days ago, and had herself seen the extent of his recovery. Luna had stepped away for a moment, to grab a book, and Noctis had stood, shakily, and made his way over to her to peer over her shoulder. The cheer Luna had given out made her look up from the book she was reading (about the different sword fighting techniques) and give the young Prince a cheer of her own. The apprehensive grin on his face had been moving, she thought. He was all of eight, and had already suffered great hardships. She couldn't imagine what it must have been like.
She wasn't empathetic, like Luna was, but she could understand how something was saddening. She'd prepared herself for tragedies though. She knew that when she was older, she was going to help Lucis fight Niflheim, while Ravus ruled Tenebrae and Luna healed the citizens of Eos infected with Starscourge. She'd read all about it, in books, and she knew war saw many casualties. She couldn't allow herself to feel too sad over such losses, she told herself, because it would slow her down, and then she'd be of no use to her family.
That wasn't going to happen. Stella wouldn't let it.
The sound of Pryna's barking drew her out of her thoughts, and she gazed over to where the white dog was stood at Lady Gentiana's heel. She'd been sleeping a minute ago, now she was up on her hind legs, jumping up and barking at the sky. Ravus tutted when Pryna ignored Lady Gentiana's attempts to hush her, and Stella let loose his hand to go over, lest the barking upset the Prince. He'd taken rather well to Umbra, but he still flinched at loud noises.
The sky seemed to darken as she made her way over to the pair, and a quiet murmur filled the air as an odd chill ran up her spine. Pryna's yowling grew only louder, calling the attention of the adults around them, and Stella saw Gentiana's face pale as she looked up. She looked afraid. She'd never seen such an expression on the Lady's face. Following the woman's eyes, she saw the cause of the sudden shadow; Several imperial ships floated above the meadow- She recognised them from her studies. Dread filled her in that instant as she let her eyes drop for just a moment. Luna stopped dancing. Her mother and the Prince stopped smiling. Ravus' hands fell from behind his back, to his hilted weapon. Crystal shards filled the air and time seemed to slow for all of a second.
Then the soldiers fell from the sky, and the screaming began.
The Tenebrae guard fell in the time it took Lady Gentiana to cover Stella's eyes, and begin pulling her away. She struggled against the older woman's grip, and managed to free herself. The Lady shouted her name, but she spurred onwards. She had to get to her family. Swords of glass flew through the air, and she saw King Regis sprinting towards Luna and Noctis, and before she could join them, she heard Ravus cry out. Whipping her head around, she pulled her hair out of her eyes just fast enough to see her brother fall to the ground, clutching his upper arm. A Magitek soldier stood not five feet away, and her scream seemed overshadowed by that of her mother as Sylva flung herself before him.
Fire took her mother.
Her throat was ripped apart by the screams that tore from it, and as ash fell from the sky, it mingled with her tears, tracks of gray lining her face. Imperial and Magitek soldiers stormed the land, trampling flowers and killing any who attacked them. The Lucian Envoy either fell or fled, and Stella could see no more of her own country's guards. Crystal shards no longer filled the air, now flakes of ash and embers settled instead. She could only hope Luna had been whisked away along with the Prince, and she crawled towards Ravus' fallen form. Blood splattered against his face; There was a sword buried in their mother's chest, and she felt her stomach lurch. Her muddied hands dirtied his shoulders as she grasped them, shaking her elder brother to no avail. His eyes were fixed to the body of their mother in front of them.
She took his rapier in hand, and her eyes darted around, desperate, desperate to find anybody to help, and found only enemies approaching. Somewhere, a dog howled, and she stood before Ravus, rapier held afront. Her legs shook, but she held steady, and charged.
Stella's burst of movement surprised the first two soldiers she took down (could you surprise a machine? She wasn't sure what MTs were made of, but they weren't human.), as she plunged the rapier into the heart of the first one she came across, and hauled it around into the one beside it, both of them crashing to the ground. Fires raged around her, and she watched the flames suffocate the beautiful flora around her.
As she fought, fire took her home.
An Imperial Soldier came at her, and the rapier was pulled out of the MT, straight into the man's chest. A cacophony of noise echoed around her; The soldier's cries, the groaning of falling trees, gunfire, and the incessant howling of the dogs. Gunfire. She heard it before she felt it, a burst of pain in her shoulder, then one in her thigh, and she fell. Dogs, again, louder and louder, until she wanted to scream at them to quiet. Why had they not fled with Lady Gentiana?
Somewhere behind her, Ravus cried out for aid, and she struggled to keep her eyes open. Heavy footfalls came her way, and then froze. Everything froze. Stella shuddered, and the blast of cold air prompted her to lift her heavy eyes. The soldiers were unmoving, frost patterns forming on their armour. A bark at her side, and Umbra's dark fur came into view. A hand at her nape, trailing down until she felt the liquid running down her back smudge and slow. It was cold now, terribly cold, and she thought she must be dying, she failed her family, and she'd die, and would Luna be alright? Would Ravus? She couldn't die, she had to make sure they were safe.
Her ears rang, and she heard nothing but her own laboured breath as she choked on smoke. Then, a whisper, and the press of soft lips at her forehead.
"I am so deeply sorry. Rest now, child."
And she closed her eyes, and fire took her life.