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Many sacrificed all for the King; so must the King sacrifice himself for all.
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Noctis awoke in a cold sweat, gasping for air as he tried to steady his pounding heartbeat.
Beside him, Ravus stirred and quickly moved to gather Noctis closely in his arms. His boyfriend had always been a light sleeper, and it didn’t take much to wake him.
“Was it the dream again?” Ravus asked quietly as Noctis’ breathing began to even out.
“Y...yeah,” Noctis replied as he tried to shake off the horrifying images that haunted his sleep. “Sorry, I woke you.”
Every night the dream grew more detailed and more gruesome. What was worse was that it felt so real.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Ravus murmured as he pressed a kiss to Noctis’ bare shoulder.
Noctis shuddered as the images of his nightmares danced behind his eyes. Ravus, only he looked monstrous as he stalked towards him with a sword in hand. His boyfriend’s distorted voice begged him to kill him and end his suffering.
“I think...” Noctis admitted in a small broken voice. “I think I might have killed you...in a past life.”
Ravus froze up against him and for a long time, he didn’t respond. The silence was unnerving. Finally after releasing a long hiss of breath his boyfriend finally answered, “You did. I asked you to.”
A wild sob escaped Noctis as he tried to force his nausea back down his throat. “You remember it? It’s not just a nightmare?”
“No,” Ravus admitted quietly. “It is not. None of them are. They’re your memories, Noctis. From another time and place when you were a king of prophecy, born to return the light to the world.”
“How long have you known?” Noctis asked in disbelief.
Ravus’ eyes, one blue and one purple caught his stormy blue ones in their gaze as he replied sadly, “From the moment I met you.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Noctis wailed in frustration. “I’ve been plagued by these nightmares, visions, memories for years and you knew they were real and you didn’t tell me. I thought I was losing my mind.”
“I’m sorry, I guess I hoped they’d eventually go away,” Ravus said sadly. “I understand if you’re angry. If you want, I can go spend the rest of the night on the couch and give you some space.”
“No!” Noctis cried as he clung to Ravus even tighter. “I’m sorry. Please don’t go.”
Ravus nodded.
Noctis couldn’t fully relax until Ravus settled closer against his side. He pressed a kiss against his boyfriend’s lips and sighed deeply as Ravus returned it. The pounding of his heart against his chest finally calmed.
“Can you tell me?” Noctis asked quietly. “What you remember? The only things I see in my nightmares are the bad things.”
Ravus nodded, took a deep breath, and began to weave a tale of two princes, caught on opposite sides of a bitter conflict through no fault of their own and a manipulative villain who had been pulling the strings, ultimately resulting in both of their destructions.
Noctis was left shivering in the end and he clung to Ravus and cried, “I’m sorry I killed you.”
Ravus smiled and kissed Noctis sweetly as he murmured against his lips, “I’m not.”