At first Iris thought some new horror was emerging when the sky started to change. The ever steady black gave way to bloody reds and bruised purples. Clouds started to tint gold and gray with a bright blue visible behind them.
Her breath caught in her throat. No. It was simply the first sunrise in ten years.
The daemon she had been fighting started to contort and screech. Iris stepped back and shaded her eyes. The creature slowly faded away as the sky continued to brighten. The same happened to the other daemons around her.
All was silent for a moment as the survivors assessed their situation. Maybe they were all certain it was a sick prank and the daemons would soon return in full force.
But that nightmare did not occur, and soon human voices surrounded Iris. Choked back sobs full of thankfulness were the main sound, with a few cheers that didn't quite travel the way the owner had intended as it passed over the deaf ears of the fallen dead. Interlaced throughout were soft murmurs of surprise and support, whether to the person next to them, or into cell phones that somehow were still working.
Iris pulled out her phone. The screen was cracked and she wasn't sure when it had happened. She dialed her brother's phone. One ring, two rings - her heart started to jump into her throat -
"Iris?" Gladiolus' voice came through clear.
"Yes Gladdy, it's me," Iris said. The words sounded thinner than she had hoped.
"I'm glad you're safe," he said.
"Me too." A wail had started up behind her, someone had found a dead loved one. The sound crept up her back, and the muscles wanted to bunch and arch away. She swallowed and fought down the survival mechanism. "You guys did it." She wanted to say he saved us all, he saved the world, but she knew that wasn't all true. Each person had been important to the victory, right?
"Yeah." Gladiolus' reply didn't sound right. She knew her brother. Something had still managed to go wrong. Someone had been taken from them, even after all they had been through, someone had still been lost. Please, please let that not be so, she thought. None of them deserved to die. Not Prompto, nor Ignis, nor…nor…
No.
Gladiolus said, "It was honorable, I want you to know that first off. Noctis wasn't taken down by an enemy. He knew it was a sacrifice that had to be made to use the ring's power. He was prepared."
The last sentence echoed in her head. He had known. He had lied. He had told her if nothing went wrong, he would come and see her. Or maybe she had told him to say what she wanted to hear, not really listening to what he had actually implied.
There was hard pavement under her free hand, loose gravel digging through the glove. She could feel, somewhere in the distance, the ache in her knees from when she had fallen onto them.
"Iris. Please say something."
She heaved a breath, the air shuddering through her lungs. "I'm so sorry Gladdy," she said. "For you, for the others." She had no right to this pain alone, she told herself. He had just been the friend and charge of her older brother, just her - no, her country's - prince.
She watched the little drips of liquid hit her glove as they beaded off and slid down. It took her a moment to realize they were tears. Her tears. She wished there was a way to protect her heart with such a simple cover of leather too. Maybe then it wouldn't feel so scraped and bruised.
"He had been glad to know you were doing well," Gladiolus said. "That you had grown strong." She could hear the catch in his voice. She didn't want to hear it, it only confirmed that this was really happening. She immediately felt a pang of guilt for being so selfish. Noctis had never led her on, and she had never allowed herself to believe he would have ever been hers.
She blankly gave Gladiolus her location, and he promised to be in that area soon. How soon? Before night fell again? When would that be? Her concept of time - of a day's worth of sunlight - was turned around and suddenly, she didn't want to look up into the clear sky. It was a gift but at the moment, she didn't feel like the price had been worth it.
She rocked back and brought her knees up to her chest, holding the phone in front of her. Before her nerve gave out, she scrolled to the last number before Gladiolus. She didn't even know if it had been his phone. She called it anyway.
It rang.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
"The number you are trying to reach seems to be out of service range…"
Iris dropped the phone was a sharp clatter, resting her head on her knees.
He would have never been hers, after all.
...
Title thanks to 'A Farewell to Kings' by Rush.