When Tenebrae fell at the hands of the Empire, Prince Noctis was lost to his father and his kingdom, and declared dead. Amidst the rubble of the Oracle's homeland, Ardyn Izunia spirited the boy away to Gralea to be remade as a means for revenge against the gods: A weapon and inheritor to the Starscourge plaguing Eos. Now, Noctis' time is nigh. (Sequel to "At His Right Hand.")

When Aranea threw in with the imperial army and put her skills to work for His Radiance, she could not have foreseen the amount of suffering the empire would inflict upon the Star. Now, years into her career and well-versed in Niflheim's military acumen, she's beginning to have doubts as to how beneficial "the greater good" is for Eos.

From the corner of his eye, he could see her, see the evident disgust and shock upon her face, in seeming disbelief at the idea that this man - the boy so dearly loved by Asgard's queen - could so easily shrug off word of her unfortunate demise as though she had been but a foot soldier, irrelevant to his interests. Alternate events.

Words wouldn't absolve him of failure. There was horror, and then nothing.