Lux used magic in another way that the world would have thought impossible. She used her own light magic to make a mold in the shape of Noctis’ left arm. She used the physique of his right arm as a reference for the size and shape. The mold was extremely complex, as it included the muscle tissue and nerves to allow him to actually use it. After she made the mold, she had him flood it with his magic. Once the container was filled, she began to use her magic to stitch his magic into a stable form. By weaving her magic around his, it bound it to where his arm had been cut off. After removing the mold and attaching the nerves to it, he was able to once again use his arm.

She knew he would happy that his arm was returned to him, but what she wasn’t expecting was for him to kiss her suddenly. They stayed exactly like that for about 10 seconds. Still in a daze, she hadn’t realized that she was once again in the starless world with Salus and Exidium.

Exidium figured that now was a good time as any to pull them into this world. He did so in order to confirm whether or not Lux was with them. Last time she had been unsure about the cause to bring about a revolution to the kingdom. After being assaulted and almost killed by troops that were loyal to her father alone, he thought there was a chance for her response to be different from before. “Salus, have you and the girl made up your minds yet?”

“It’s up to her. We haven’t yet discussed anything.” Her grim tone seemed reluctant to go against the kingdom, and consequently, the heavens. In truth she didn’t know what to think about it anymore. They seriously planned on killing Lux, but at the same time, she wasn’t sure if either of these two had the power to face heaven itself.

Lux was still in a state of shock when she realized that she had been called out to. She tried to remember what had been said and then gave up. She sent a message mentally to Salus in distress, and then was told about the current situation.

Before she could say anything someone else responded. Noctis sounding just as confused and out of place as Lux, turned to Exidium and asked, “Wait, why are we here?” It was that moment the two mythical beasts realized that now was not the best time for them to talk about something this serious. But it was too late for that now. Noctis was notified by Exidium what was going on.

“Oh yea, are you still unsure whether or not you’re going help overturn the kingdom?” His question that was suppose to be serious was asked in an extremely nonchalant way.

“I don’t know. It’s still my home. There are people there that I care for. I still belong to the royal family after all.” Even though she was almost killed by her own kingdom she was still unsure. This made Noctis slightly irritated.

“Those people are no good. You say that you care about them, but do they care for you? Your family doesn’t have to define who you are. All those nobles are disgusting humans. Yet you’re different from them all. You’re nice and care for others, while they only care for themselves. You did something that they didn’t like, so they had you come to the labyrinth to die.” Noctis didn’t realize how sharp his words were when he said them. They pierced through Lux, striking a nerve.

“Even though I know they’re not the best of people, I still refuse to believe that they wanted me dead!” She knew the truth. The emblems that represented the king’s guard were near impossible to replicate. She was still in denial though, she didn’t want to believe that her own father intended to kill her.

“So what do you plan on doing? Going back to the kingdom where you’ll either be executed on public order, or get sent out again to be quietly killed by someone else?” Noctis wasn’t saying it to be harsh or mean. He was trying to wake her up from her delusions. She should have known better than anyone that the knights were really from her own country and really were about to kill her. And just because they failed once, doesn’t mean anything. They could always try again, especially if she walked right back into the heart of the problem.

She knew he was right, but she wanted him to be wrong. It wasn’t fair to him, but she couldn’t help but to be unreasonable and then lashed out. “I know that you’ve never had a real place to belong, but that doesn’t mean none of us do! How would you know what it’s like to have that turned over all at once!?”

She immediately regretted those words as soon as they were said. He had been alone for the past 6 years without a place to call home or a family. She said such mean words to him even though she knew that he once did have a family and that it was pulled apart by a noble who fancied his mother. Even though she knew she still lashed out and hurt him. She started to cry at the thought of him leaving her here because of the words that she had just said.

Noctis just stood there and smiled. He wasn’t hurt by her words. She was still here after all. She could technically leave the starless world anytime she wanted. If she didn’t want to be here she didn’t have to be. If she truly wanted to leave him behind she would have already. He walked over and embraced the crying girl. “No, I found my place, right here beside you. That’s why I can’t let you go back.” The starless world faded away and this time she was being held close to him. Being held against his bare chest, she could feel the slow, rhythmic booming of his heart. She was scared, she was uncertain, she was tired, and she had been betrayed by her own father. She let it all out. Ironically the person who caused her fear and anxiety before was now comforting her.

After about an hour they left the labyrinth and headed for a nearby village. Since Noctis’ sense of direction was subpar, Lux led the way as they both flew onward. When they arrived at town, they both went to buy some clothes. Noctis because he was lacking a clean change, and Lux because he current attai stuck out too much and was also covered in dirt and blood. Once that was squared away, they used a few gold to purchase about a hundred acres of land, and used another few to have a house constructed on short notice. They would stay in an inn until it was finished.

They agreed that the needed a quiet area to train. Noctis agreed to help Lux improve her sword skills and she offered to help him gain further control of his magic. They started by helping Lux. They traveled to a nearby forest to gain some seclusion. They didn’t want to scare the locals when it came time for Noctis to use his magic, or reveal the identity of Lux, who was currently supposed to be dead.

When Lux asked what sword style he trained in, he realized he had never bothered to learn the name from Exidium, who showed him the basics of the style he used. When he asked, there was short and simple response. “Rising Calamity.”

Rising Calamity fit the sword style well. It was mainly used to find gaps in someone’s defense. Once the gap was found or made, it was exploited with cruel efficiency. It excelled in how unpredictable it was. Noctis had almost perfected it unknowingly during his time in the labyrinth. Although he had to approach it differently than what he was taught. Having only one arm caused a number of problems for a style that was developed for people who had both arms.

The style that Lux had been using was the Royal Sword. A sword style that was passed on from generation to generation by the royal family as the name suggests. When she used it, it resembled Rising Calamity, but it seemed that there were slight differences in some of the basic forms.

“That style is derived from Rising Calamity,” Exidium’s voice appeared in his head. “It seems that his descendents were incapable of even copying it down correctly. Yes boy, it looks familiar because it was based on my Rising Calamity. I only taught it to two people, The original king of Justitia, and you.” It began to make sense to Noctis as he had an idea. He would correct her Royal Sword back into Rising Calamity.

They began to spar with swords. Noctis was confident enough to not wear his armor, but made Lux wear hers. The first time was a complete blowout. She charged in at Noctis and he deflected her sword off target with his new left arm and then pointed his sword at her throat.

The second time, she tried to close the distance between them before attacking. As she approached, he met her halfway, and put 5 shallow cuts across her armor in a single sword stroke. He was careful not to actually injure her and put close to no force within his strikes. “Each one of those cuts represents the number of times I could have killed you in that time frame.”

The third try was a bit different. She charged in like the first time, but feinted a stab instead of actually going to stab. She then switched from the feint to a slash across his body. Noctis was caught off guard and used his sword to intercept the strike and extinguish the force behind it. When Oblivion clashed with Excalibur, a brilliant spark was released.

They were exactly the same age, and she had been considered the best swordsman in the kingdom, but in front of Noctis she was no more than a child randomly swinging around a sword. He was reluctant to tell her that it was because all he did for the past two years, day and night, was fight. When they clashed a little over 2 years ago, he had to use magic in order to deal with her. But this time, there was just too much of a disparity in experience.

When it came time for Noctis to learn how to gain a better control over his magic, he first had to find out just how much it had grown after the fusion. He aimed at a nearby tree that was about a meter in thickness, and sent out a Dark Spine. When it made contact with the tree, the area around the point of contact disappeared along with the initial hole that was made. The tree was barely still standing. “That’s new.”

Lux evaluated just what she was working with and stated, “You have no control over your magic whatsoever.”

As a demonstration, she created a ball of light and bounced it around for a bit. She then threw it at the tree that he had just mutilated. When it touched the tree, it stuck and then slowly disappeared as the tree began to regenerate what had just been destroyed.

Feeling dejected, he tried to come up with an excuse, “Well I have a lot more magic after the fusion, so it’s natural that I don’t know how to control it.”

And so their quiet life of training began.