Aera Mirus Fleuret

Aera Milus Fleuret was the first Oracle and is Lunafreya Nox Fleuret's ancestor. She was the only woman who ever loved Ardyn Izunia. Her hobbies are similar to Lunafreya's as both liked to grow flowers.

Appearance
Aera has short blonde hair held to the side of her temple with a hair clip. She wears a diamond-shape headband across her forehead. She has blue eyes. She wears a long white dress and white gloves, and when traveling incognito she wears a red floor-length cape fastened with a golden clip. She wears a golden necklace with three circular ornaments.

Personality
Aera is a benevolent young woman who wants to protect her fiancé. She enjoys flowers and archaeology.

Story
2,000 years before Final Fantasy XV, the world was in ruin due to the emergence of daemons. The nobles of House Caelum had gained influence and the masses' trust due to using their god-given powers to fight them. The gods sought a leader among men, and a man from the Caelum line was the obvious choice, but they had two options: the young and charismatic war hero and leader of armies against daemons, Somnus Lucis Caelum, or the righteous older brother who dedicates his life to the people, Ardyn Lucis Caelum. As the gods' mouthpiece among men, the Oracle is to deliver their decision, and awaits in the tower where the Crystal, the chrysalis for the soul of Eos, is kept.

While Somnus is out exterminating everyone suspected of being in danger of transforming into a daemon, Ardyn travels the countryside in secret to heal people by absorbing the malady into his own body. Aera sneaks out of the castle to meet him and the two explore ancient ruins whose history is shrouded in mystery. Aera assures Ardyn that even if everyone forgot about him due to the passage of time, she would always remember. Aera returns to the tower and goes to see the Crystal, which begins to shine as Bahamut delivers his message. Somnus seeks Aera to hear the gods' decision, but she is reluctant to tell him. He asks if the Crystal made its choice, but Aera says the stone has no will of its own. She relents and tells Somnus what she learned.

People come to Ardyn telling him the gods have chosen him as the king of people. He goes to the Crystal where Somnus declares himself as the gods' chosen king. Aera is shocked but is stopped from interfering by Gilgamesh, Somnus's sworn shield. Somnus explains declaring Ardyn as king was a ruse to get him to reveal himself, and the two duel. Ardyn seems to be winning but Somnus warp-strikes him with a spear and impales him. Aera runs in-between the brothers and is cut down by Somnus. She smiles at Ardyn as she dies in his arms and he transforms into a monster.

Her death still haunted Ardyn as the years passed, and upon infecting Ifrit via daemonification, he recalled that Aera told him on her deathbed that she was responsible for telling Somnus about the crystal's initial decision to make Ardyn king despite being sworn to secrecy, which led directly to her death. He also recalled how Somnus forced him to deliver the final blow to Aera, which drove him to vengeance.

Aera's spirit appears again during one of the endings of Episode Ardyn. Should Ardyn choose to defy Bahamut's ruling to become a vessel for the Starscourge to serve the True King's purpose, Aera appears and helps shackle and subdue Ardyn. Once Bahamut binds him with his swords, Aera repeatedly stabs him with the Trident of the Oracle. Aera declares that Ardyn's defiance of the gods is futile, as all on Eos is preordained and no human can survive without the blessing of the divine.

Creation and development
In the main game, during the battle against Leviathan, Ardyn displays hatred against Lunafreya. Takefumi Terada, the director of Episode Ardyn, felt by making Aera resemble Lunafreya would made Ardyn's character stand out more. Though she is said to be Lunafreya's ancestor and the first Oracle, she doesn't have further backstory on how she attained the position.

Etymology
Aera is Latin for era or epoch from which time is measured. It is where the English word "era" derives from. It could also relate to the Greek word,

In Japanese her name is, a female name. In the west this name relates to the Norse deity Eir, a goddess or valkyrie associated with medical skill. In Japanese the goddess's name is spelled different from Aera's, however, as エイル, although the goddess of medical skill would be apt for the role of the Oracle in Final Fantasy XV.

Trivia

 * The way Ardyn murders Noctis's fiancée in Final Fantasy XV is paralleled in Episode Ardyn Prologue with the way Somnus kills Ardyn's fiancée, Lunafreya's ancestor and the first Oracle.