Prologue:

The evacuation was a stressful event during the war between Altissia and the Empire of Niflheim.
An event full of terror, fright and distress and as it was not enough with the infiltration of enemy soldiers, the howler of Gods also echoed through the city.
Tremendous forces made the air around the companies tremble and the concrete buildings in the city went crushed to mere marbles mixed with the blood of unfortunate souls.
Fallen to his aching knees, once again, Ignis Scientia let out a frustrated war cry as he saw what never could to be unseen; the massacre of women and children.
They got ambushed around the ally's corner, their only path forward suitable for children to run.
The scenery made it ache inside of him, the knowledge of failure and betrayal... Altissia had fallen...

Chapter 1: Introductions.

Yet another high-pitched cry of panic left his lips, the smell of blood... no, it was the smell of wood, burning wood, and tea… was it tea? It was all dark except some spots of red and white; his body ached and his hands were trembling out of exhaustion and shock. He put them down carefully, expecting to find blood, pebbles, and concrete but the feeling made him withdrew his hands fast and he clenched his fists against his chest.
It was linen he felt, soft and clean linen, no traces of destruction, no traces of war… where was he? Who was he? Ignis... he was Ignis Scientia... he was the counselor of the court of Lucis, the prince of Lucis... he was a friend to the prince of Lucis. However, where was he? He could not really tell as all the smells, fabric and sounds where alien to his senses... his thoughts were scattered all over, he could not recall what had happened the last few... was it hours, or was it days? It all was so confusing. Where was his ward? Where was the blond bunch of energy? Where was his friend Gladiolus? His hands moved to the covers and carefully lifted them up, he wiggled his toes as if trying out if they still worked and cautiously put them down on the cold wooden floor.
Wooden? There were no wooden floors in Altissian hospitals, not even in the castle and certainly not in the castle of Insomnia. Pain rushed through his head as he seated and he moaned tiredly.
His hands flew to his temples to subdue it but bandages met his naked fingers. Why were his eyes wrapped? That would explain why he could not see. He made another try to rise and this time with success.
Now, all he had to do was to find the door and then find his company.
It was a true struggle to move, especially completely blinded.
He sighed heavily, leaned against something he thought to be a wardrobe, and pinched the bridge of this nose.
"Should I thank you my gods of Eos for my survival? Or should I curse the thoughts of your very existence?" He muttered tired and searched his pocket when he felt his phone buzz.
Thankfully, the one putting him in bed had left his clothes on a long with his belongings.
He answered the call by muscle memory and let out a breath of relief when he recognized the voice at the other end.
"What the hell Specs! I have tried to call you for a week! We have searched everywhere! Where the fucks are you?" Ignis could not do other than laugh at the question, not because it was funny, but he was unsure of what else to say.
"Bless you. It is a pleasure to hear that you are still alive. How about His Highness? Iris? Lady Lunafreya, Prompto?" His voice was hoarse and barely audible over the phone but luckily Gladiolus picked it up nevertheless. A heavy sigh was heard over the line before Gladiolus answered.
"They are all alive... except Lady Lunafreya... we lost her to Leviathan and Noctis are... well... he is still breathing though he has not woken up. Now, where are you? Are you okay?"
The words about Lady Lunafreya stung hard in his chest; the thought of sorrow overwhelming his ward's eyes was nearly too much for the young counselor to bear.
"I... I have no idea Gladio... I cannot recall how I got here either... I seem to have lost my sight, maybe broken a rib. I am bruised and sore for sure but I will heal.
How are you holding up?" At least he wanted to think so; the inner visions were still haunting him, all the blood, the pain and the screams of hurt and fear.
He sunk to the floor, to drain to continue standing up and too much in distress to think about his original plan about leaving the bedroom he was currently in.
A hiss of pain escaped his lips just as his friend started to answer him.
"Specs? Are you sure you are okay? What can you hear around you? What can you feel and smell?" Ignis laughed out again, a shallow and distressed laugh and answered a bit uncertain.
"Physically I am, but mentally? I start to dwell on that part, to be honest.
Maybe I will finally lose my marbles." He smirked and took a pained breath.
"I hear birds singing, I feel a wardrobe, smell firewood and some sort of tea.
I seem to been taken in by someone and judging by the lack of perfumes and the lingering smell of aftershave I would say it is a younger man in about our age."
Gladiolus muttered something towards Prompto as he listened to what Ignis said with a deep frown.
"Going bonkers huh? Nah, not a chance Specs. Try to find out where you are and give me a call, will you? I have to help the kid out here." Ignis nodded silently and canceled the call; there was so much that he wanted to ask, but also so much that he did not dare too. The thought of being blind disgusted him, he refused to be helpless and he refused to let Noctis down once again. He could not bear the thought of it, he would only be a burden for the one he once swore to protect with his life. The best thing he could do was to stay out of the way.
After he quickly made up his mind about it, he took the battery out of his phone and put the parts beside him. His hands shaking, ribs and head still ached. There was a sound in one of the other rooms, someone whistled, a door closed and steps came closer. Ignis acted on reflexes, despite the pain, felt his way to the door and pressed himself towards the wall behind it with a throwing knife in his hand.
He was bewildered about the thought, what kind of self-secure idiot was letting an armed stranger roam around his house unsupervised? Well, at least it assured him that this man probably was not an enemy. The door opened slowly and the whistling man entered the room with the trey in his hands, Ignis could tell by the shatter of the chinaware.
His voice sounded concerned as he spoke and stopped, probably due to the empty bed.
"So you are awake?" He said and stiffened a little as he felt the knife slightly pressed against his back.
"Nice welcome party, nothing compares to the joy of being threatened first in the morning." He said jokingly but did not move away from the knife threatening to puncture his spine. Ignis frowned but held his ground for a while longer before he stepped back.
"Who are you? Where am I? Why am I here? What happened to my eyes?"
The other man put the tray down at the nightstand and nonchalantly seated at the floor, one knee pulled towards his chest and one arm rested on it turned towards him.
"I am Snow, this is my home, you were found by my gang NORA in a heap of concrete and wood after the attack on Altissia. You have been out for a week, fighting a concussion and fever. You had me worried there for a while, thought you were never going to wake up. I had a doctor look at you; you were pretty banged up then, how are you now?" Ignis frowned, put his hand on his ribs and searched his way back to the bed where he seated.
"My apologies, I will take my leave. I do not wish to be a burden, though I thank you greatly for your assistance." Ignis said and searched with his feet for his shoes. Snow snorted and shook his head while he crossed his arms over his chest.
"Great idea man, surely great, where are you heading? How are you going to get there? A few meters and you fall on your arse. You can at least wait until you have healed enough to walk."
The words struck Ignis as lightning and he turned towards the direction of the voice.
"You do have a point. Now, do you care to tell me what happened to my eyes? Is it permanent?" He asked flatly as if he did not care about the answer; that was of course far from the truth. Unease by the question, Snow scratched his cheek and rested his right hand on the back of his neck.
"I have no answer on that. We found you like that, bleeding eyes and burned... my guess is some kind of explosion. You are lucky to be alive. Were you in a company?" Ignis clenched his fists tight and set his jaw, yet again uncertain about what to answer. He could not really tell the truth for a blunt stranger but he could not lie either, it just was not in his nature.
"I was... three out of four are alive." Snow hummed and rose from the floor again; he had other things to do than to sit around all day.
"Breakfast on the nightstand, eat and try to rest. Feel free to lo... feel around; be aware of the stairs though. The bathroom is straight out and the first door to the left. Only to scream if you need help, I will be outside." He left with those words and Ignis was once again on his own in the darkness. The now blind man searched for the tray with his hands and forced himself to eat some broth and drink some tea before he went to sleep.