Chapter Text
“How far are we from the settlement?” you asked your driver, practically yelling, stuttering after every word. The driver just nodded, and you weren’t sure if he’d even heard you. The jeep you were in jumped and bucked over the rough mountain terrain, its engine sputtering so loudly that you could barely hear yourself think. The path up the mountain was steeper than you’d thought, and more than once you were sure the engine was going to explode. The larger trucks and caravan vehicles behind you were having no trouble, and you soon found yourselves being pushed up the incline by a giant humvee.
When you crested the top of the mountain you gasped out loud at the sight. Giant wooden gates blocked the rough path that you were on, surrounded by impossibly lush, tall trees enclosing the entire settlement. Standing in front of you, blocking the gates, was the most handsome man you’d ever seen, tall and strong, covered in tattoos. His hair was long and separated into small braids, though the sides were shaved short. He wore paint over his eyes and only a woven cloth wrapped around his hips, his ears and lip pierced with luminescent jewels. Over his ear sat a simple half-crown, black walnut branches twisted into a horn on the side of his head.
Slowly, you got out of the car and approached him, armed guards standing on either side of you. You bowed before looking back up into the man’s eyes—stormy blue and impossibly deep, accented by small tattoos beneath them. Captain Drautos stood several yards behind you, yelling what he wanted you to say to the man. You repeated his words almost verbatim.
“You must be the King,” you said in simple Galahdian, speaking very slowly. “We are travelers, messengers from Lucis on behalf of King Regis.”
“Don’t talk to me like I’m an idiot. We can speak your Crown City Lucian just fine,” the man replied snarkily to Drautos. In perfect Lucian. Well shit, guess I’m out of a job. No need for a translator.
“My deepest apologies—” you started, but the Captain interrupted you.
“Then answer our question,” Drautos yelled, stomping towards the man. “Are you the King?”
The man spat at Drautos’ feet. “I will speak only to her. She has at least made an effort to be civil and diplomatic.” He gestured to you. “Please, follow me.”
Drautos stood there flabbergasted as the Galahdian took your hand. He gave a strange whistle, and the giant gates swung open. You followed your host through the gates, staring in awe at the sight before you. At first it looked like nothing was there, only a giant hole in the ground surrounded by high walls. As you stepped closer, you saw a stairway leading underground. Dug into the top of the mountain was an intricate city, so stunning it took your breath away. Buildings half the size of skyscrapers were carved deep into the rock. Though it was almost twilight, the city was completely lit from within, no electric wires to be seen. About 10 feet below the ground and running the entire length of the city was a beautiful lake carved into the stone, its water clearer than glass. It spilled over the sides of its stone walls, creating an infinite waterfall to the buildings below.
The Galahdian led you to the edge of the stairs before turning to face you.
“What is your name, my flower?” he asked, bending down on one knee and taking your hand in his.
“I—I’m—” you stuttered out the syllables of your name, your nerves practically swallowing your voice. Why was he so attractive? The way he was kneeling in front of you highlighted his perfect chest and abs, muscles rippling as he lifted your hand up to his lips. He pressed a soft kiss to your knuckles before placing your hand over his throat to express his trust.
The Galahdian took a deep breath, closing his eyes as he inhaled. On the exhale he said his name, his rough voice vibrating through your hand, “I am Nyx Ulric, elected leader of the tribe of Galahd. This is our capital city, Ifritius.”
“It’s so beautiful,” you said softly as Nyx rose to his full height again, though you were looking into his eyes and not at the city.
You couldn’t believe you were actually here—only a few people had ever been to the islands of Galahd since they closed their borders over two centuries ago. The language had been well documented before that, but most mentions of the cities and culture had been deleted from written record after their separation from Lucis. As a linguist and anthropologist, the opportunity to visit Galahd after so many years of isolation was a dream come true. Now that you were actually here, it really did feel like a dream—it was all so amazing and more than you could have ever imagined. It was odd that they’d even accepted King Regis’ request to send an envoy, but you remembered that the rest of the group was outside the wall—you were the only one who’d been allowed in.
“We owe everything to the power of the Crystal,” Nyx said, snapping you out of your thoughts. “Which is why you are here, is it not?” he continued.
Your cheeks grew hot at the mention of the envoy’s true mission. “Not me personally, no. I’m here to translate and to learn, to study, whatever you will let me,” you said quickly, not wanting Nyx to think ill of you. “But yes, King Regis did send us to discuss the Crystal.”
“I could tell that you are a scholar,” Nyx replied with a smile, gesturing to your fingers with his eyes. “Ink stains.”
You laughed nervously. “Oh, that obvious, huh? Most people these days do everything via computer, but I still like to take handwritten notes and mark up my books.”
“Computer?” Nyx asked, cocking his head to the side as if he’d misheard you.
“Oh...I guess you probably don’t have those here,” you replied, blushing furiously at your silly mistake.
Nyx just smiled at you. “Would you like to see the city?” he asked.
You nodded enthusiastically and he took your hand, guiding you down the stairs. You could see into some of the buildings to your sides as you descended—most of them were homes, full of families preparing their evening meal. You stopped for a moment to look into one of the windows. It wasn’t glass, at least not any kind that you’d ever seen. The material didn’t seem to be attached to the stone wall it was in, it simply hovered over the small opening, like a barrier. Inside was a kitchen, and a young woman putting a pot over a firepit. You let out a gasp as you watched the woman light a fire with her hands, using magic like King Regis and Prince Noctis used.
Nyx noticed your surprise. “Do you not use magic in Lucis?” he asked.
“No...only our royal family and some of our elite soldiers can use magic,” you replied, somewhat embarrassed.
Nyx stared at you as if you had two heads. “How do you live without magic?” he asked, genuinely confused.
“We have technology. We’ve invented things that do magic for us,” you tried to explain.
Nyx shook his head, obviously still perplexed. “But using magic is so much simpler,” he said, almost to himself.
You started walking again, finally reaching the bottom of the stairs and the main road of the city. There were thick trees lining either side of the street, with blue leaves and glowing flowers of every color. As you walked up to one of the trees you saw a large bird hiding in the branches, but it flew across the avenue once you got close. You watched with awe as you realized it wasn’t a bird at all, but a long, thin creature that resembled a dragon. It had bright white hair with small patches of colored glowing scales all over, long whiskers that floated next to it as it flew, and a thin iridescent tail the same length as its body. You instinctively reached into your pocket for your phone so you could take a picture. You’d barely gotten the shot before the creature was safe in another tree. You looked up from your phone (no bars, go figure) to see Nyx staring at it with wide eyes. Several people had come out of the buildings to see the foreigner in their midst, but now they cowered in their doorways or peeked suspiciously out their windows as if you were holding a gun.
Nyx’s eyes were full of fire as he took the phone from your hand, narrowing his eyes at the image of the dragon on the screen. “What is this?” he asked accusingly.
You realized the flash had been when you took the picture—everyone must have seen the bright light coming from your phone. “It’s my cell phone,” you said, knowing full well the words wouldn’t mean anything to the Galahdians.
Nyx just stared at you blankly as you had expected. You took a deep breath, thinking maybe it would be better if you explained in their language, but not knowing the right way to begin. “It is an object that helps me communicate with people who are far away. I can also capture...images...of things I see. We call these ‘photographs,’” you explained as best you could in Galahdian.
Nyx stared at the image on the screen again, watching as you navigated back to your other pictures. “See?” you said.
“It is not a weapon?” he asked, concerned.
“No, no of course not!” you reassured him. “The light flashed to make the photograph brighter, that’s all,” you explained, hoping it wouldn’t sound too far-fetched.
Nyx seemed to relax, letting you take the phone back and gesturing to his people that it was okay. “You don’t have to fear,” he told them in Galahdian, “She can be trusted.”
A little girl who had been hiding behind her mother came running out into the street. She stood in front of you and drew a ball of electricity into her hand, making it flash like lightning. You were afraid at first but Nyx put his hand on your arm and smiled warmly at you. The little girl pointed at the phone in your hand, then lifted up the ball of lightning closer to you.
“She wants you to make a ph—pho—phot,” Nyx started.
“Photograph?” you supplied.
“Yes. Photograph. Of her,” Nyx explained.
You nodded at the little girl, opening your phone’s camera and getting her in the frame. She closed her eyes tightly, grimacing as if she thought it was going to hurt. You couldn’t help but laugh as you snapped the photo; the flash going off and the girl’s surprise when she felt nothing. She immediately reached forward to pull your hand to her, looking at your phone. When she saw the image on the screen she clapped her hands over her mouth, laughing loudly and jumping up and down with delight. She said some words you didn’t understand before running back to her mother. In an instant, the street was filled with little flashes of light. You turned around in a circle, watching as everyone around you flashed their own balls of lightning.
They kept saying “Also me, also me,” in Galahdian as they flashed their lights in your direction.
Nyx raised both hands to signal for everyone to stop. “She will make a photograph of you later,” he told the people. “She has journeyed far and needs to rest.”
Everyone took the cue and went back to what they were doing, though the little girl did give you a shy wave before running back inside.
“You must be hungry. You would honor me by being my guest for dinner,” Nyx said, bowing slightly to emphasize his invitation.
“I’m the one who would be honored,” you replied, trying to curtsy even though you were wearing pants.
Nyx took your hand in his again and guided you down the street. You passed more similar buildings—homes and shops, mostly—and a whole grove’s worth of trees as you continued walking. The street wasn’t busy at all with everyone staying inside for dinner, though you did notice a few people on the edges of the street, pacing outside the buildings with strange bows and arrows tied to their backs.
“What are they doing?” you asked.
Nyx sighed. “They are part of our army. We have many of our buildings under official guard since Niflheim began sending their agents to spy on us. We haven’t had an open attack on the city yet, but we need to stay prepared,” he said sadly.
As you walked you saw a grand, domed building at the end of the street, surrounded by high fences and armed guards. The building was spectacular—it looked like it had been carved out of marble, with elegant columns and high arches all around it. The domed roof was one giant gemstone, lavender in color and similar to the jewelry Nyx wore. The truly fantastic sight was the alternating pattern of colors lighting up the entire roof, as if the stone itself was glowing from within. It was mesmerizing to watch, almost like the aurora you’d been to see in the northernmost part Lucis.
“That is our city meeting place, and my home,” Nyx explained. “Our Crystal lives there. That is where the light comes from.”
“It’s one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen,” you said quietly, still staring in awe.
“You are welcome to observe the lights any time, as long as you would like,” Nyx said, “But first, please let me show you where you will be staying.”
You were about to tell Nyx you had to get back to your camp, but the way he smiled at you as you entered the gates to the city hall dissolved any ideas you’d had about leaving that night. “Of course. I’m very grateful for your hospitality,” you said. The idea of spending more time with Nyx was too appealing for you to pass up—not to mention the time you’d be able to spend studying the Galahdian culture.
Nyx greeted each guard and servant by name once you entered the hall. They all spoke to him as if he was a friend, not their esteemed leader. The inside of the hall was more stunning than you’d expected—the floors and walls were all made of different-colored marble, perfectly cut and polished. The construction should have been impossible without modern technology and heavy machinery, yet here it was. There were crystals lining the walls and ceiling like lamps, each glowing brightly as you approached and dimming after you passed. The furniture was simple, yet elegant—beautiful pieces carved out of wood or stone, covered with blankets and cushions made out of beautiful, velvety fur in the most interesting patterns.
Nyx led you up a gorgeous marble staircase and down a long hallway to a decent-sized bedroom. Inside was a wooden bed, simple in style with beautifully woven blankets covering it. There was a small bench at the end of the bed, and a window overlooking the vast gardens behind the hall. Next to the bed and hanging from the ceiling were more crystal lights, glowing softly when you entered the room. There was a small table and chair in the corner, so you took off your backpack and set it down on the table.
“This is lovely,” you said, turning back to Nyx. “Thank you so much for your hospitality.”
“I am pleased that you like it,” he replied. “We do not receive many visitors, so we do not have proper guest rooms.” He gave you a smile so genuine it made your heart ache. “I am happy that you are here.”
You couldn’t calm the butterflies swarming in your stomach as you tried to form a coherent response. “It’s my dream come true to be here—I couldn’t be happier.”
Nyx raised an eyebrow at you. “You have dreamed of this place?” he asked.
You were about to respond with a ‘yes, of course, since I was a little kid,’ but then you realized Nyx might not understand that meaning of the word ‘dream.’
“When I say ‘dream’ I mean my deepest desire, my greatest wish. ‘Dream come true’ means a wish that you did not think would ever happen, but it does happen.” You looked at Nyx to make sure you weren’t sounding like a lunatic.
He gave a nod of understanding. “You wished greatly to visit Galahd?” he asked.
“Since I was a little girl,” you said shyly, staring down at your hands folded in front of you. “I’ve wanted to learn everything there is to know about your people and your culture since I first heard of Galahd.”
Nyx walked closer to you, tilting your chin up so that you were looking at his face. “I will teach you what ever I can,” he said. “I will send some clothes for you to wear for dinner. I look forward to dining with you, Liliya.”
“Lily flower?” you questioned, recognizing the word he used.
He gave you a sheepish smile. “It is common for my people to give new names to people that we feel a connection to. You remind me of a beautiful flower, so I called you Liliya. If you would prefer that I use your real name, please tell me. I am sorry if this offends you.” Nyx noticed that his hand was still on your chin and quickly released it, crossing his arms in front of his chest.
“No, no! Of course I’m not offended! It’s beautiful. Please, keep calling me Liliya. I am honored that you have chosen a nickname for me, truly,” you assured him.
He was staring into your eyes as he took your hand in his, placing a gentle kiss to the top of your hand. “The honor is mine, Liliya. I will see you for dinner soon.” With that, Nyx left you alone in your room.