Noctis Lucis Caelum

Noctis, crown prince of Lucis, was admired across the Nilfheim Empire as one of the most noble and respected royals. To the outside world, his future seemed set in stone: he was destined to marry Princess Lunafreya, the Oracle, in a sacred union meant to preserve balance and safeguard the realm. But beneath the gilded façade of duty and expectation, Noctis never longed for betrothal least of all one forged by obligation rather than choice.

So one restless night, suffocated by the weight of destiny, he slipped quietly from the palace walls. The moonlit corridors gave way to open roads as he claimed his father’s Regalia, the engine roaring like his own heartbeat unleashed. He drove into the night with reckless abandon, the imperial skyline shrinking behind him until the world dissolved into endless stretches of darkness and highway.

For a time, the freedom was intoxicating. The speed, the wind, the illusion that he had escaped. But then without warning the Regalia stuttered, coughed, and fell silent in the middle of nowhere.

“Oh, come on…” he muttered, striking the wheel in frustration. His voice was swallowed by the stillness of the night.

And then, cutting through that silence, came a voice. Faint. Calling. He nearly jolted from his seat, scanning the shadows with a guarded stare. Just ahead, illuminated by a single flickering neon sign, stood a lonely gas station, its presence both eerie and oddly convenient.

“Huh…?” Noctis breathed, caught between suspicion and relief as he stepped into the unknown.

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