Chapter Text
I heard the rumors floating around like the buzzing of flies.
King Mors had intended to bring the wall down.
The wall protecting our village.
The wall that kept us alive.
As the days passed, the buzzing flies became angry bees.
The tension in the village grew heavy, like thick sludge.
Hope shifting into fear.
It felt as if we were walking on a thin tightrope.
We all gathered together in the middle of the square.
The order had finally come, the walls were coming down.
Thus, we watched in silence as they fell.
The soft shimmer fading away, opening the doors to the horrors outside.
I stood, watching mothers holding back their fear for their children.
Men, warriors, change their stance to be on the lookout for danger.
While the King and his entourage flew safely away.
Uncaring for the people he left behind to die.
And then it happened.
Screams filled the night as the empire reigned down upon us.
We had mere moments to gather ourselves, our loved ones.
Clinging to the hope that we will survive.
I stumbled out into the street
Disoriented from the gunfire, the explosions.
Metallic feet crunching against the ground
Creating a horrible chorus to the screams around me.
I only had a moment; Fight or flight
Fighting wasn’t an option being unarmed, so I ran.
I ran as fast as my legs would carry me.
It wasn’t fast enough.
The pain was excruciating, as the blow connected with my head.
Stumbling, falling, landing in a pool of someone else’s blood.
“He lives. Bring him back.” heard through static.
The world around me goes black.
Drifting in a void, uncertainty is my only friend.
Time has become non-existent, yet the pain is endless.
The sounds I hear around me make no sense.
Who, or what, is “Glauca” ?
Screaming rings out in the room, Bouncing off metallic walls.
Why won’t they stop this madness?
Stop torturing that poor person
Then I realized, those screams were mine.
The darkness was a welcomed blessing.
Until the world around me begins to come back.
Memories muddled, or forgotten.
“We have a live one!” is heard from above me.
Found by King Regis, I’m barely holding on.
“You’re lucky we found you. I think we can help.”
I cared not for his words of hope
I only longed for the sweet release of death.
I’m laying in the hospital bed.
Whispers that my wounds are healing faster than the normal man’s.
“What is he? This isn’t normal…”
What is he indeed, as I cannot remember what happened.
Finally cleared to leave, I’m met by Clarus Amicitia.
“I’m to take you to King Regis. Please, follow me.”
I say nothing, just nod and follow.
What would the King want with me?
The sound of our steps bounce along the walls.
The silence is heavy, but not quite uncomfortable.
He doesn’t know what to make of me.
I don’t know what to make of me.
The throne room was built to be intimidating.
Here, I kneel, he rises. Formalities are done.
He smiles, and leaves his throne.
“Come, I have much to show you.”
Being shown around by the King himself was not what I had expected.
He shows me the training grounds, the Crownsguard.
“We could use someone like you to help in the war.”
Me? What could I do in a war as massive as this?
“What happened to your home, your people? Was terrible”
I glare in response. Terrible doesn’t begin to cover what was destroyed.
“My promise to you, is to help rebuild what you’ve lost, but I need your help.”
“I accept”, for the promise of home is too much to turn my back on.
~
The years pass, the hope the King instilled in me is slowly fading
I had moved through the ranks quickly, finding normal soldiers were no match,
Yet losing out to the position of Marshal to Cor Leonis
I’m told, there’s a better position for me.
I watch as the wall is continuously pulled back.
More lives are lost as the empire comes in to destroy.
The villages and cities burn to the ground.
Galahd is beginning to fall.
Rumors began to fill the halls.
Some refugees could wield the King’s magic.
More pawns for the King to lose.
More lives to be thrown away.
“There are refugees from Galahd willing to fight.
Willing to risk it all for a chance to bring their homes back.
Titus, I’m asking you to be Captain of the Kingsglaive.”
“I accept”, knowing I’m leading those poor souls directly to their graves.
I meet them on the training grounds.
A ripple goes through them as I step out.
There’s anger and despair written on their faces
But hope burns bright in their eyes.
I train them hard, push them to their limits.
Knowing it will be life or death out on the field
But in the end, it won’t matter.
We’ve become fodder for the cannon in a losing war.
~
I’m watching through the small TV screen in my apartment.
The King announces that the wall will be pulled back entirely.
Only those in Insomnia will be protected.
Any hope I had left dissipates.
I’m standing in the middle of the room, shaking.
Anger flowing through me. How could he do this?
The whispers I heard years ago come back to me now
“Glauca…”
And then, it happens.
Pain rips through my body as it shifts, mutates.
A silent scream etched on my face as the darkness closes in.
When I open my eyes, all I see is red.
I panic as this new found power settles into me.
Fury and hatred flowing through, lighting my veins on fire.
All the years of sitting, waiting, watching, for nothing to happen coming out at once.
“Don’t be alarmed, Glauca. We’ve been waiting for you.”
As if floodgates have been opened, memories come back.
The testing under bright lights, the pain, the screams.
Voices speaking in a language I didn’t understand, until now.
Who is Glauca? I am Glauca.
I look down upon my new armored body, flexing my fingers, arms.
“Are you pleased?”
Am I? What was my purpose to become this monster?
“Come to Keycatrich Ruins. All will be answered.”
Left with more questions than answers, the fury begins to subside.
The red I saw slowly fades, and my vision is normal.
The armor once encasing my body is gone.
“Keycatrich ruins…”
The next mission the Glaives had near there, I inserted myself.
It was easy enough to walk away while the Glaives did their job.
The ruins were quiet, I began to question their motives.
“Ahh there he is.. The man of the hour. Captain Titus Drautos.”
The man steps out from behind a pillar.
“Let me introduce myself. Ardyn Izunia. Here to guide you.
You were tested on those many years ago, Glauca put inside of you.
The Empire is willing to give you your home back, for your allegiance, General Glauca.”
My home. Everything that had been ripped away, given back?
It sounded too good to be true, except...
General Glauca. The sound of it makes my body thrum in a new way
A way that surprised me, that I enjoyed it… “I accept”
Thus I began living two lives.
Captain Titus Drautos for Lucis, General Glauca for Niflheim
At the end of it all, it did not matter who I fought for.
My hope was diminishing, so I embraced the monster inside me