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She wondered if a melted heart could truly break. Was the pain of melting enough to render the pain of breaking a moot point, or if those two experiences were unique enough? Or was the betrayal of her first love enough to leave her forever aching to know what a heart should really feel like?
So many questions went through her mind as time slowly dragged around her. Time and peace and slumber did little to bring clarity, nor did it sooth the yearning ache in her breast.
---
Oracles rose, and they fell. Much like the countries did around them. Her eyes did not open to take in the testament of time, but she knew.
She always knew how the march of time worked on the world. The ice slowly recovered her heart and let her know.
Platitudes offered comfort to those who struggled against the moments of the day. Soon though, they felt like the same words spoken over and over again. Time passed, but nothing changed. Not really.
The blissful time with her first love had passed, and now she was trapped in a world where nothing truly changed.
---
A prophecy lingered around everyone she touched. Whispered and coveted, a spoken promise to end of the worries haunting them. They begged her for answers, but her iced over heart gave them nothing. Time would heal their wounds, just like they refroze her heart.
She refused to tell them the true cost of the prophecy. They cared too much, and she cared too little. While her heart still remained slightly softened, she kept that forbidden truth away from them.
---
She thought meeting the Chosen Oracle would have been an instant reaction for her. The Messengers all thought they would know their Chosen. To hear they were wrong in their assumptions had been a surprise.
The children had grown for many years before learning they were the Chosen of the prophecy. She hadn’t opened her eyes on her Oracle; she hadn’t opened her eyes in centuries. Part of her wondered what this girl would be like. She had gazed upon the first few, before she refused to keep watching the passage of time along with experiencing it.
One night, she decided to open her eyes. To witness the child who would finally call upon the ghost of the Astrals to finish the war they had started millenia ago.
The small girl slept peacefully in her bed, white blond hair spilling over her pillow. She looked no different than the other humans she remembered seeing. How did they know this was the one who would give her life to form the bonds needed to strengthen the Chosen King?
Her eyes drifted close once more, as her heart beat painfully in her breast with uncertainty.
---
Years had passed. She didn’t truly recognize the years in anything other than the change in how people sounded. Or the comments people made around her Chosen. How she had grown, how much bigger she was getting. Was time speeding up? Or was she slowing down?
Or had she simply been out of time for too long to recognize it?
---
She lingered along the edge of the room, as she liked to do. Trying to understand the world her Chosen lived in. Trying to understand life again. Her heart might be frozen, but she could still think and understand.
Hearing another child, not the Chosen’s brother, but a stranger, surprised her. Especially one who was being taught the prophecy. She listened closer and got another surprise.
Had she been unable to recognize the Chosen King? How had her Chosen recognized him and not her? Was her power waning with the coming fulfillment of the prophecy? Or had she been too far removed from the rest of the world to truly be part of it.
Too many questions filled her mind before the Chosen children were in front of her. Should her eyes have been opened, she would have blinked at them, but instead she tilted her head down at them.
Her Chosen was kind and gentle during their introduction, and she did not realize the subterfuge of her role. None of her family recognized the being underneath the guise of Messenger.
The Chosen King, with power suffusing his body, he looked up at her with less awe and more questions. Did power recognize power? Had he done what no one had managed while she was in this role? The others who she worked with did not see through her disguise.
The moment passed and the sweet child allowed her Chosen to pull him away and back to their studies. Part of her wished he had been successful in his search.
If the Chosen King had such strength as a child, what would he do when he stepped up to claim his role?
---
Fire should not be able to melt her heart. She was a being of ice and diamonds, immortal and outside of time. She did not allow mortal affairs to affect her emotions when time ground against countries that rose and fell around her all the time.
As her Chosen were forced apart due to war and fire and tragedy, the ice around her heart began to crack and melt.
---
Her Chosen Oracle was too young to understand the true nature of time. She did not receive
comfort in the grinding of time to ease and heal wounds. Perhaps they were similar in that way. Time did not heal a wound of the heart.
Time only made it ache less and allowed for ice to cover up the gaping wound to make it numb and stop bleeding.
She did her best to comfort her Chosen during those times when people left her, either permanently or temporarily. For reasons which made no sense to those mortal or immortal. Death and betrayal made sense to no one.
As she stood with her Chosen, handing down the lessons mother should have granted daughter, eyes began to open more and more. Usually cracked, to just gaze through tangled lashes, but sometimes fully open to witness the growth of her Chosen to become a young woman.
Perhaps she could begin to understand the testament of time on humans. She could understand how people could say children grow up quickly, or how they become remarkable adults. She did not feel like a parent though. She did not feel like a relative.
She was always on the outside, but now circumstances had made her someone close. As they worked together to learn the skills her Chosen would need, their relationship had grown and shifted into something more.
She had become a confidant. She was trusted. She was a friend.
Each time their relationship grew; she felt more of her icy heart crack and melt. No one had managed to get through to her in such ways since the last time she had allowed her heart such weakness, and to know another could manage it shook her greatly.
---
As she watched, she learned. As Lunafreya grew, she understood. She did her best to be there when no one else stood at her side. Even when no one could be seen to remain with her.
By remaining out of sight, she brought back information Lunafreya required to make better decisions. She witnessed ugly arguments between siblings. They reminded her of when arguments between her own lover and siblings brought down entire countries.
Yet Lunafreya, despite those long, drawn out battles with her brother, still showed great kindness and compassion, not only toward the rest of her country, but to her brother. A trait she soon learned to adore in Lunafreya every time she watched her interact with other people.
And she learned some of the greatest kindness was reflected back to her. When asked why such kindness was given to a Messenger, Lunafreya only smiled and shook her head. As if her kindness was not something to be traded, but a gift for the world.
---
Lunafreya, her Chosen Oracle, was being treated as a great pawn of war. Those in the other countries did not understand the value she represented to their salvation from the Starscourge. Her freedom was tested year after year.
She railed internally, wishing Lunafreya would fight for her own freedom. Instead, her Chosen allowed those limitations with a bowed head and soft words. Her own brother had more harsh words for her captors than she did.
Her Chosen would be forced to marry another prince. Only after Lunafreya spoke to her in quiet, did she realize she would marry to the Chosen King. A marriage doomed to tragedy from the very beginning.
Did those who wanted to see them together know the horrors awaiting them in the future? Would this be the first step toward seeing the fulfillment of the prophecy?
These questions burned in her heart. The ice no longer protected her from getting hurt by the pain of the unknown as it had in time gone by. She longed for those days when she could detach herself from time once more and drift in and out.
---
The demands of the other, insignificant counties demanded Lunafreya leave her home. The kind soul of her Chosen requested she look after the Chosen King. All while she sent a letter with another Messenger to give him comfort. The kindness of her Chosen knew no bounds.
Did her heart have any ice left in it? Was there any protection between the world and her heart from the actions her Chosen enacted to protect her betrothed?
Did her Chosen love her betrothed?
They had been trading long letters since their doomed meeting as children. Each letter had brought such smiles to Lunafreya, and previously those smiles meant nothing, and now perhaps that meant she truly enjoyed even the most offbeat words from the Chosen King.
Why did she feel such need to protect her Chosen?
---
She refused to be left alone in the dark.
The feeling of obstinance took her for surprise the first time she took a step forward and demanded answers from her Chosen.
Lunafreya simply looked up from the suitcase and gave a small smile. Her words were the same gentle tone and timber as always. Nothing belied a betrayal of the rules and regulations of how the world should be. Still, something laid within her breast that she needed more. She was unsettled. She needed to know her Chosen was safe now she was out of sight.
After several days of quiet, she eventually found her Chosen in another place. The Crystal burned in the back of her mind once she found what she longed for, and she hesitated to linger. And, her target bade her flee soon.
Somehow they both knew where they stayed was a doomed location.
The land of the Chosen King was a land doomed for desolation. No one could save his home. No one could save his family.
---
Only days after seeing her Chosen, she longed to see her out of such a doomed location. She tried to find her again, only to be sent on another mission.
The Chosen King seemed to be something far more boring than she had already witnessed watching over her Chosen. What could this Chosen of Bahamut offer her that she had not already witnessed?
---
She felt the need to reconsider the thoughts she had given the Chosen King weeks ago. He was not a boring King at all. He was a King who had no strategy she could predict. He moved around his kingdom and spoke to any and all people of his land.
She thought this well. She thought this wise. She also thought this a touch manic at times since he found himself wandering in all directions to satisfy the needs of his people at all times.
Why he did not focus solely on the needs of the prophecy, she did not know. She refused to go back to her Chosen just yet. She had a mission, one given by her precious which she would fulfill to the fullest. Only the best reports back would be satisfactory.
---
Watching the Chosen King complete the Rite with Titan brought forth a strange desire within her breast. She beat it back and determined it would be something to discuss with Lunafreya. Until then she would keep watching over the Chosen King and his retinue to see how he worked within the prophecy.
Still.
The Chosen King and his retinue had a humanity to them she had not witnessed for so long. She lingered for far longer than she needed. Lunafreya never fussed when she disappeared for days to just linger in the backgrounds of their happenings to see how they operated and enjoy their teamwork.
A long forgotten part of her soul ached when watching them find the best way to work to defeat a particularly difficult hunt. She stayed in the spot where they celebrated together to soak in their happiness as if it was her own, before she stepped to join them again.
Being someone who wasn’t entirely part of their timeline helped and hurt. She could be part of their celebrations and hurts, but they could never be part of her emotional journey.
But. .. would she ever want someone else with her for that journey?
---
Lunafreya knew something. She hinted at this knowledge when they spoke together. She did not use it as a bartering tool or something to be feared. Instead, Lunafreya simply smiled at her when she hinted at this before moving onto another subject.
She did not know how to take these little teases. Sometimes Lunafreya would reach out and touch her. Sometimes, she would lean in close to simply be close.
These moments made her unfrozen heart flutter and pound within her rib cage. Emotions stirred inside her, foreign entities she did not understand. Even when her heart had melted previously, she had been aware of what she felt, and why she felt the way she did.
Lunafreya, and even her Chosen King, these two people made her believe in something irrational. Made her body betray her in ways she was unaware could happen. When she thought she was alone, she would press her hand against her heart and plead with it to have it behave as it had for ages past.
If her siblings could see her now, they would surely laugh at her. She had always prided herself at calm and rational emotions. This made her doubt everything she believed about her senses.
---
Talking with the Chosen King only made her realize how much she enjoyed speaking with her two Chosen. They no longer seemed merely Chosen of the prophecy. They seemed to be the best features of humanity she could select to witness and cherish.
Or perhaps the prophecy had selected the two individuals who would represent humanity the best?
The Chosen King watched her when they spoke with the same knowing expression he had watched her as a child. She wondered what he was truly seeing, if his powers were so innate he could see her for what she truly was. His power had grown since their previous meeting, even if his injuries had blocked most of it. She simply smiled and bowed her head with closed eyes.
Part of her longed to open her eyes to truly look upon him, as she had done with Lunafreya.
Noctis brought such curiosity to her mind, so much like his counterpart did.
---
One day, a thought occurred to her: she did not want to lose her Chosen. If she allowed the prophecy to continue, she would lose them. First Lunafreya, and then Noctis to the toils her brother would demand on their body and soul.
That did not make it easy to find a way to save them though. She didn’t have the power on her own to stop the prophecy, not against one of her own brethren, and if she had had the power to stop the blight on the world she would have done so already. Even in the times when she only faded in and out of time and enjoyed that.
Already the prophecy had claimed one of her brothers. His power made his mark on her Chosen and slowly brought the prophecy closer. She would need to work fast to ensure no more would fall to this siren call.
They had not spoken in ages, since the battle which brought the ice back to her heart. Still, she spoke with her sister. The conversation had not gone well, but she had made her case though. With the same tease of hidden knowledge, her sister had finally agreed to the plan she had created in her most desperate of moments.
So slowly, they went to gather their other two siblings.
To protect humanity and to stop a prophecy of doom.
---
There were days Noctis would look at the camera with such interest. She did not understand why he would act in such a way, especially when he would point the camera in random directions before staring at it again.
One day she understood, when he put the camera down and simply stared at her. She could feel his eyes on her directly. Soon, he departed from his friends and walked up to her.
No longer able to resist the temptation, she opened her eyes to look at him fully. He was smiling at her, and his eyes were much more expressive than she believed from listening to Lunafreya talk. He watched her closely and made no shifts when he realized she was truly staring back at him.
They spoke, just for a little bit. Noctis knew she was hidden from the others, but he gave no hints of being awkward about speaking with the air to everyone else. He could see her. They spoke of small things, and soon of Lunafreya, and eventually of the prophecy.
Listening to him speak of the prophecy made her feel protective, and she wanted to tell Noctis to run from the doomed thing. She didn’t, not then, not when the plan was still too loose to fully work. Instead, she bade him for time. She could use time to save them both.
Eventually, his friends grew restless watching Noctis speak to nothing. He was called back from her, but not without another smile and nod.
She was alone but not forgotten.
Her heart raced the entire time she watched Noctis return to his friends.
---
Lunafreya explained how she would be meeting with Noctis soon in the city her sister protected so dearly. They would discuss why her siblings had been so hesitant to perform their part of the prophecy, and how to go forward from there. Her dear Chosen asked for advice on how to perform her part.
She ached to tell her the truth. That Lunafreya had done nothing wrong. She was the perfect Oracle for the prophecy, but her gods had been the ones to rebel.
She stayed her hand for the moment. This was news both of her Chosen deserved to hear together.
---
Time worked so strangely for her. She knew weeks were long to her Chosen, and she could see it when she watched them at different times. She did not have the sense of anticipation they experienced.
Then the day came when she walked with Lunafreya to the hotel room Noctis kept.
That day, she understood what anticipation felt like.
---
“Noctis, you made it,” Lunafreya said softly. She rushed across the room to embrace him.
He had no hesitation to return the hug and pull her in close. “Of course I did. How could I stay away from you two?”
She could see his eyes come up to meet hers, and his smile grew a little wider. “The two Chosen, together again, after such a long separation.”
The pair pulled away from their hug and settled to sit next to each other on the edge of the bed. Their hands lingered next to each other on the bedspread while their eyes kept darting to look at each other. She could see why many would see them as a perfect and lovely couple.
Her heart yearned to have a romance such as theirs. Her racing pulse made her nearly dizzy as she watched her Chosen with a strange sense of longing.
“It has been a long time, hasn’t it, Noctis? We have grown much since Tenebrae,” Lunafreya mused.
Noctis ducked his head. “Yeah, guess so,” he muttered. “It’s been good to you. I mean, you look good.”
Her Chosen covered her mouth to stifle a small laugh. “Has it? I suppose I would be a poor judge. I am glad you think so. After all, we were to be wed. I’d hate for my husband to find me unseemly.”
“Luna!” Noctis laughed while pushing her gently with his shoulder.
She watched her Chosen dissolve into laughter. The moment was so much like the time they were children. A time full of innocence and unspoiled memories. She enjoyed seeing them be free of the trauma and burdens which weighed upon them now.
The laughter faded into a peaceful quiet as they looked at each other for a moment. Then, the pair turned in unison to watch her.
“Gentiana,” Lunafreya was the one willing to break the quiet first, “the prophecy. Why do the Astrals not heed the words of the Oracle in our time of need?”
She clenched her jaw at the initial reaction to simply hide both of her Chosen away to keep them safe. Her Chosen were too free spirited to accept such a sentence. That was why she was doing this. To allow them to be free and alive.
Instead she bowed her head and opened her eyes to gaze upon them. “The Astrals, bar two, have joined together to create a plan differing from the prophecy.” Her words were soft in the room as her Chosen allowed her to speak easily without interruption.
“What? Without the prophecy? I thought that was the only way,” Noctis replied. His confusion was clear. Of the three, she appreciated his honesty with his emotions, as rare as it was even for him.
“Shiva,” the forbidden name made her shiver for a moment. So much so she had to pause before she could speak again. “Shiva decided the prophecy would be too much. She wanted to find another way. The Archaeon would have given support, should he have been available to grant it.”
“You didn’t tell me there could’ve been another way! I didn’t want to bring his destruction!” Noctis cried. He stood up with a wide gesture of his arms. “The Empire- we tried to stop them! I promise. We never wanted to see them destroy another Astral.”
She raised a hand to placate him. “Be at ease, Chosen King. The acts of the Empire will be atoned for another day. Do not take responsibility for them. The actions you took were correct. The Glacian and her group would help you forge another, dear Chosen. To save all from the toils required from the prophecy.”
Lunafreya looked up at her with narrowed eyes. “What of you, Gentiana? How do you play in this?”
The question was a surprise. She knew her Chosen were smart, especially her Oracle. She wondered if they would understand her story, or if they would condemn her as she had always feared.
As if reading her mind, Lunafreya stood up from the bed to place a hand on her arm. “Gentiana, whatever you have done, we know you do only in the name of loyalty.” She looked over her shoulder, where Noctis smiled and nodded. “We trust you, and we know you. We do not judge you.”
The last phrase, the lack of judgement coming off of both of them, sent such a rush through her. She did not know how to truly feel, but she nodded in response. She took a step back from Lunafreya, taking her hand at the last minute to squeeze gently, before her form faded away.
Her previous body, her frozen body, felt both familiar and strange. She knew how to use all of her powers, she knew how to be this person, but she also disliked having to be this person. She would rather be the person her Chosen knew. She would rather be the Messenger they interacted with day to day, and the one they liked to speak with.
Still, they did not look upon her with scorn. They did not look upon her with distaste. Instead, they watched her with awe and hope. She smiled at them, and her hand reached out to brush their cheeks. Her frost decorated their faces before quickly fading away.
Perhaps one day she could mark them forever as one of her own?
“Glacian,” Lunafreya breathed. “You have been here, this entire time? Why only reveal yourself now?”
“So this one can explain why the roles of fate must change. The bindings on the Chosen are too overwrought, and one would bring comfort and succor should that be available,” she explained softly.
Noctis looked between the two women and nodded. “This has to do with the prophecy, yeah? Why the Astrals stopped talking to Luna?”
She smiled and nodded. “This one would see the Chosen survive through the banishment of the Scourge on this planet. To follow the footsteps laid before them would only spell destruction for many. Including the ones who fill her heart.”
This time Lunafreya smiled and reached out to take her hand. “You’re protecting us? What can we do to help get rid of the Starscourge?”
“What she said. We’re here for you,” Noctis added. He stepped up to take her other hand.
Frost climbed up their arms, but neither of her Chosen looked affected by the cold. She looked at each of them before she bowed her head and shifted back to her other form. The frost melted quickly, leaving nothing of the Astral behind.
Still, their hands stayed connected, and smiles only grew wider.
“The faith shown today by my Chosen, the future will have much happiness,” she said softly.
Noctis reached up to gently touch her cheek. She looked over at him, to see his smile had twisted into a small smirk. “Your Chosen?” he asked softly.
“Noctis,” Lunafreya hissed before falling into a soft giggle.
“I don’t see you complaining!” Noctis teased. “It was your idea in the first place.”
“Idea?” she asked softly.
Lunafreya reached up to place her hand on the other cheek in a mirror of Noctis’s hand. “Your affection for us, well, pardon me if we happened to notice it before today,” she explained.
Rolling his eyes a little bit, Noctis added, “What she’s not saying is we talked about it, and we feel the same. It’s not everyday an Astral decides to rewrite prophecies for you.”
“Noct!” Lunafreya hissed.
She looked between her Chosen and felt warmth and pleasure bloom in her breast. This was happiness and contentment.
And she never wanted this to change.