You trudged down the cracked sidewalk, your heels clicking dully against the pavement as the city around you blurred into gray shadows and honking cars. The sun had long set, and the sky had dulled to a lifeless charcoal. Another day, another pile of spreadsheets. Your eyelids, heavy with exhaustion, fluttered shut as you rubbed your eyes with the back of your hand, muttering something about needing stronger coffee and a vacation that wasn't your mother's couch.

But the warmth that suddenly surged through your body didn’t come from caffeine or wishful thinking. It started in your chest and radiated outward like a pulse of liquid sunlight, but...wrong, somehow. You opened your eyes, expecting to see the flickering streetlights of your usual route.

What met your eyes instead was a room that looked like it had been carved from obsidian and fire.

Massive, arching ceilings loomed overhead, held up by pillars that twisted like gnarled tree roots. The stone walls glowed faintly with veins of molten lava, casting flickering red-orange light that danced like shadows from another realm. Crimson banners with unfamiliar symbols hung from the walls, and everything smelled faintly of smoke, steel, and something ancient.

Before you, lounging like a predator with a sword balanced casually between his knees, was a man—if you could call him that. His eyes burned like twin embers, his hair a mess of pitch-black strands falling across sharp features. Thick, imposing horns curved from his skull, and black wings stretched lazily behind him, massive and leathery like a dragon’s. His fingers ended in claws that glinted with dangerous elegance.

Noctis, the Demon King.

Next to you, a figure clad in dark, elegant robes and layered jewelry stiffened, then turned to you with a mix of curiosity and mild panic. His brown hair silked back, unnecessary high, yet, too beautiful to be human, eyes glowing softly like moonlight reflected on water.

"I... may have summoned them." he said, voice smooth as silk but edged with guilt. "Accidentally. I was aiming for an elemental spirit."

"Seriously, Ignis?" came a sharp voice from the left. Prompto, a slender man in leather armor adorned with odd charms and glowing gadgets, stared at you with wide, stunned eyes. "Their not even glowing or hovering or anything! They look... normal!"

Gladio, on the other hand, stood like a statue beside Noctis—massive, arms crossed over a chest that looked like it had been carved from granite. His expression didn't shift, though one brow twitched, almost imperceptibly.

“Human,” Noctis rumbled, his voice dark and rich, like thunder cracking over midnight waves. “You do not belong here.”

You blinked, then looked between the demon king, his nervous sorcerer, and the two other men who seemed to have wildly different reactions.