Chapter Text
Have you ever had a dream where you were falling? Even though you’ve never really fallen from anything before?
Yeah, neither have I. At least, I hadn’t until one day I found myself outside every comfort zone I knew. And you know what? Falling isn’t fun. Not for you, not for the people involved, if any. Because once you fall…
...it’s a bitch getting back up.
Noctis had never really been one for mornings. That was no secret to anyone, certainly not to Ignis. So once he had finally forced himself up from his sleeping bag and dragged himself outside the tent, he had been expecting breakfast waiting, or at least being cooked. And, of course, that particular day was no exception.
The warm morning air was a nice change from the sweltering heat of the day before. The sun was shining brightly, gleaming on every smooth surface. Noctis wiped the sleep from his eyes and let them adjust.
“Nice of you to join us,” Ignis quipped from the camping stove they had set up that night. He have Noct a small smile. Prompto and Gladiolus were sitting around the now-long-dead fire.
“Mornin’, Noct!” the bubbly blonde greeted.
“Almost thought you were gonna sleep the day away,” said the Shield.
“I could, but then who’d keep your asses in line?” Noct threw back.
“Breakfast is served,” Ignis interrupted, as if to say “Me. I would keep their asses in line.”
The other three soon swarmed the poor man. No one ever had first dibs on breakfast. It was every man for himself and Ignis would take what was left. As soon as four plates were full and four chairs were occupied, the day had commenced. Sausages were scarfed down, eggs were devoured. Bacon was abundant and would not run out any time soon.
As the three finished up and were ready to leave and finish up the hunt they had taken on, there was a loud B O O M that sounded like a sonic boom and a clap of thunder had just shaken hands. Not too far away, up in the sky, what looked like an actual sonic boom (but was later to be revealed not as such) lit up the blue sky with white like a cloud. It was so high up that the four boys did not immediately see what was now falling from the odd formation.
“What is that?” Prompto spoke what they were all thinking.
“Looks like a shadow,” Noctis observed.
“A falling shadow?” Gladio questioned.
“I daresay it’s a person,” Ignis declared, clearly confounded.
“A person?!”
“What do we do?!”
As the dark figure continued to fall from much too great a height, it became more recognizable as at least a person-sized thing at least. Not too much could be determined from so far away.
“The hell do we do?” Gladio roared. As panic set in, Noct began frantically looking around for something to help. His eyes finally settled.
“The tent!” he shouted. “If that’s a person, there’s no way they’re not going to survive a fall that big.”
Without much care for their things, the tent was uprooted from its cozy spot on the Oracle Runes and rushed out into the wilderness. Noctis was warping far ahead to get an estimate of where exactly the thing - or person - was going to inevitably land. There wasn’t much of a shadow on the ground just yet but luckily the occurrence hadn’t happened far from their campsite.
“Over here!”
The four took formation, each holding a different side of the tent. With their practiced teamwork, they followed the the strange form until it came closer.
“By the gods, that really is a person,” Ignis breathed.
“What if they go straight through the tent?” Prompto panicked.
“Not gonna happen,” Gladio growled determinedly.
“Focus,” Noctis directed.
The person’s shadow grew ever larger.
I had an odd dream one night. I was flying through the sky over an ocean of deep blue. The clouds and I made friends, their fluff fueling my excitement. I’d never had such a dream before. I had always longed to fly, but I was afraid of falling. What happens when you fall and can’t get back up? Is there anyone to help you? What if no one comes?
My dream was not so. There were islands beneath me. I tilted myself forward and began to descend. The islands were not islands, but smaller continents. I was overlooking a beach with white sand and a pier with no boats. Out from the coast was an actual island. It’s mountains looked like angel wings. That intrigued me more than the beach. I had see beaches before, had gotten tired of them. But an island of angels? What did they guard? A heavenly secret? The domain of God?
I hovered near it, the water below me sloshing lazily. Something was stopping me from moving forward. But I wanted to. I drifted slowly, inch by inch, hoping nothing would fly out and command me to stop. This continued until I reached the shore and stepped down onto what looked like the smallest of battlefields.
I should not be here. I really shouldn’t be here.
I took another step. And another. And one more after that and still more until I was standing in the middle of a circle of swords. What was this place? It’s very air screamed dread. Something had happened here. Something awful.
“And thus, the Lost Child reaches the angel’s guard.”
A soft voice spoke behind me and I whipped around to see- a blur. What was I seeing? An angel? She was- yes, she - blue with wings sprouting from her back. I couldn’t make out a face, and suddenly the air became cold.
And then I was falling.
My eyes opened to see blue once more, but this time it was the blue of the sky.There were clouds beside me and wind in my ears - and then the clouds drifted above me. The screeching currents of air tossed me about. My glasses slipped off my face and I was jerked around. My heart jerked, too, and nearly stopped.
That was definitely ground below. It was a mix of brown and green. I couldn’t see much more than that.
It then dawned on me that I was falling and could not stop.
“Oh my god,” I managed to force out, but my voice was left behind. It was like my bed had pulled out from under me. Hadn’t I just been sleeping?
...Was I screaming? I couldn’t tell if it was me or the wind. My limbs scrambled to find purchase on anything, be it the wind, the disappearing clouds or the sky itself. My hands met nothing and so did my mind. I couldn’t think and that scared me more than anything.
And so I fell.
And fell.
And fell.
The ground was now approaching fast, a dark shape on the ground I could only assume was my shadow. This was it. This was how I died. I was going to die. By all things holy, I was going to actually die.
I’m going to die I’m going to die I’m going to die I’m going to die I’m going to-
“Woah!”
That was not my voice.
My fall was instantly broken by- a trampoline? I was bouncing now and a prolonged squeak left my mouth as the trampoline moved with me.
How on earth did I survive that? How the hell did I survive that? I should not have survived a fall from that high.
“Careful, now,” said a different voice that still wasn’t mine. My bouncing slowly came to a stop and the trampoline deflated. Wait, trampolines don’t deflate. I was lying on my stomach on what felt like...a rain jacket? Yeah, I definitely should not have survived by a fucking rain jacket. Deciding I wasn’t ready to face the world just yet, I stayed lying down.
“Is… is she okay?” came yet another voice.
“Hey, you alright?” asked a fourth. I was nudged. I maneuvered my head to look up. I was met with a bespectacled gaze. Two more people came into view. One was blonde, the other… was there a word for people with black hair? And then another black haired person showed up. Four. Four guys were surrounding me. I wearily lifted myself up only to fall back down again.
“Here,” said the tallest one, coming to help me up. My shock and near-death experience told me to lie the fuck back down but these four men figuratively said otherwise. I was propped up by two strong arms. “You okay? That was some fall.”
“I-I…”
The gravity of the situation - literal and otherwise - came crashing down on me and my eyes stung as I tried to hold back tears.
“I… I don’t… I…”
“Give her a moment, Gladio.” The only one with glasses spoke now. His hair was light brown and styled so his bangs were standing over his forehead. One of my shaking hands came up to wipe the rapidly forming tears away.
“What… What happened…” I finally croaked after what felt like an eternity.
“We were kinda hoping you’d tell us that yourself,” said the first black haired guy. His eyes were a striking blue. And he… looked like an anime character?? What…?
“I-I don’t… I don’t k-know. One moment I was asleep, dreaming, and then I- I woke- I w-w-wo… I w-woke up and I was f-falling…”
I looked up to the sky I just plummeted from. How far up had I been for these four to have time to catch me?
“Th-thanks for catching me…”
“No problem,” said the anime protagonist. “But uh, next time you decide to go skydiving, maybe try it somewhere less… dangerous?”
“Y-yeah… Sounds good…”
“Perhaps we should help her to camp,” suggested Glasses.
“Right,” answered the one holding me up. “Can ya walk?”
“Um…” I hummed quietly. I took a shaky step forward - and promptly collapsed. “...No.”
I was suddenly yanked up. The tallest was now carrying me towards what looked like a flat rock with blue carvings. I squeaked again as I realized I was now in the air again. Squirming, I tried to get comfortable.
“Stop moving,” my carrier grunted.
“Sorry,” I whispered. As I was carried, I looked around. I was in what could be described as sort of desert mixed with grassland. I wasn’t really up to date on overly specific biomes.
I was transport up a natural ramp of a walkway and found the four guys had made a camp here. But the tent was… ohhhh… So that’s what I landed on. As I inspected the place, I realized I had interrupted their breakfast. Whoops. Note to self, apologize for that later. There were four camping chairs around the remains of a campfire. I was deposited in one of said chairs. The foursome moved around so I could see them all.
“Thanks…”I trailed, not knowing who to look at. So I looked down at the campfire. It was just charred wood at this point.
“So you don’t know how you got here,” stated the Carrier. I shook my head and looked back up at each of them.
“Do you have a name?” the blonde one asked. I told them my name quietly.
“Where are you from? Anywhere around here?” That question came from Anime Protag. My heart felt weird the longer I looked at him. It wasn’t fluttering, per se, but there was a weird tug towards him. Due to the look on his face, he felt it too.
“Uh… Where am I?” I asked in return.
“Near Hammerhead,” Glasses answered.
“And… where’s that?”
“Leide.”
”And…. where is that?”
The four exchanged glances and looked back to me.
“Lucis,” said Anime Protag.
”And… where is that?” I asked for the millionth time, feeling utterly lost.
“You don’t… You’re not from Lucis?”
”Lucis?”
”What about Niflheim?” Carrier interrogated. “You from Niflheim?”
“Niflheim…? You know that’s not a- Wait, what?”
I looked at them, extremely confused and wondering why they thought I was from a mythological realm.
“If you’re not from Lucis or Niflheim, then are you from Altissia?” the blonde one asked curiously.
“From where?”
“Or Tenebrae?” Anime Protag looked hopeful.
“Darkness??? I’m not from darkness, that sounds ominous…”
“Then where the hell are you from?”
“I’m from America.”
They didn’t look convinced.
“Y-you know, the United States? On North America? B-Bordered by Canada… and Mexico…?”
“Yeah… Never heard of any of those places.” Carrier was looking at me like I was now a suspect for a murder.
“So you’re from Nowhere,” Anime Protag deadpanned. I slumped in my seat.
“Might as well be…” I muttered. “I’ve never heard of… Lucis? Light? O-or… What’s an ‘Altissia’?”
”Not Niflheim?”
“I’m not from a mythological realm, no.”
“A what?” Blondie looked more confused than ever.
“Niflheim? One of the nine realms from Norse mythology?”
They exchanged glances once more.
“Is there an Asgard? Midgard? Jotunheim?”
No answer. Yep. I was totally screwed.