Author's Note: These first scenes will be will be frequent in the story timeline. And yes, they are spoilers. Absolutely. But I feel it's important for these friends to know their stories and I think they would have told them this way. So I don't do this just rewrite the DLCs, but to have the others hear the story.

Moments
Part I: The Journey

The Second Camp
by Philippe de la Matraque

Ignis and the others were tired again when they found the next haven. To Ignis, it had been just unnumbered hours as they walked or ran or fought. He couldn't tell the time well by what light of the sun managed to penetrate the darkness of one remaining eye. Slightly less dark was as light as things got for him. The sun was farther away than a campfire so it was even less light than that. But Prompto could not manage not to grumble about the long hours, the shorter day, the longer nights. Gladio just grunted and urged them on.

The training had been mainly defense in the morning. They had focused on his strongest sense: Hearing. He could hear Gladio's steps as they came closer, the sound of his sword swinging through the air. Daemons were rarely stealthy and quiet so it was even easier to defend against them, if there weren't too many surrounding him. Gladio wanted him to dodge that morning. They'd work on blocking later.

The daemons gave Ignis one more advantage. They stank. He'd often heard that when one sense was lost, the others grew stronger. If the wind was right, he sometimes smelled the daemons before he even heard them. And he was getting to realize the different stenches each sort of daemon had. Prompto was helpful to name them as they came to them, so Ignis could begin to make mental notes and add smell and sound to his memories of movements, weaknesses and strengths. In battle, he did as Gladio said. He dodged, only parrying when they were close. He helped Prompto and Gladio when they were down and he threw spells when he could.

But it had been two slightly less dark periods before they reached this haven. With the near constant travel and frequent battles, they could barely stand. Prompto made the fire and Gladio set up the tent. No chairs, he'd said. Don't bother. They wouldn't be up much longer than it took time to warm their food and eat it.

Ignis admitted to himself that even Cup Noodles were satisfying when one hadn't eaten in two days. They slept long into the long night and Prompto woke Ignis when it was still very dark, not slightly less. "It's nine in the morning," Prompto told him. "Not that you'd know it from looking."

"We shall have to learn to live by the clock," Ignis replied. "It won't be long now before you can't see the sun at all."

Prompto surprised him them. "Why didn't I think of that sooner? Give me your phone."

"My phone?" Ignis didn't follow.

"There's gotta be accessibility settings, ways it will talk to you and you can control it by voice," he answered. "I'll set it up for you while Gladio fixes breakfast."

"Surely not Cup Noodles again?" Ignis let himself imagine bacon and eggs at the very least.

"Nah, we've got chili this morning."

"Brilliant." Ignis felt for his dark glasses and cane then left the tent.

"It's what we've got," Gladio stated in his defense. "Better than nothing."

"That it is," Ignis agreed. The fire was going again and Ignis went toward it only to bump into a camp chair. He felt his way around it and sat down.

After they had eaten and had something to drink, Ignis took a steadying breath. "I told you I didn't remember what happened."

"But you do," Gladio said. "Why lie about it?"

"I didn't want to burden Noctis in any way," Ignis replied. "And because it was incredibly, horribly painful."

"Now Noctis isn't here to burden," Prompto said, giving Ignis a little break. "But we're still here for you."

"I know. And I want to unburden myself in this as well." Ignis rubbed the bridge of his nose, unwittingly feeling the scar there. "After I left the dog, I found Ravus standing at the altar. Lunafreya and Noct lay before him. She had her hand, still glowing on his shoulder. But there was blood at her side." He held a hand to the same spot on himself for them to see. "Noctis's chest rose and fell with his breath but she had none. Ravus became incensed at the loss of his sister, and he raised his sword to smite Noct. I stopped him." He held up his left hand, imagining Ravus's arm coming down, and then his right as he pantomimed his dagger blocking the sword. "I pushed him back." Again he acted it out there in his chair and he couldn't stop himself. It was as if it was happening again. He saw it very clearly as he stared blindly at the fire. "Twice I pushed him until he was far from Noct. But he'd lost all sense and I had to fight him. I tried to reason with him, to help him see that Noct was the chosen, that he was not the cause of his sister's death or the fall of Tenebrae. He blamed Regis and said nothing good could come of his seed. I tried to remind him of the Oracle's duty, but it was no good. So I had to keep fighting until, finally, I plunged my dagger into his Magitek arm."

"You defeated him?" Gladio said, and Ignis was brought out of the moment by his bewilderment. Ravus Nox Fleuret had so shaken his own confidence that Gladio had left them to prove to himself that he was worthy to be the King's Shield.

"If it helps, he was emotionally distraught."

Gladio sighed. "I'm sorry, please continue."

Ignis let himself slip back into the scene, his memories so clear. "Ravus returned to his sister, though he'd lost all his fight. He held her and grieved. Her body disappeared and she appeared, ghost-like over the water, glowing resplendent with a light smile on her face. Then she was gone, though Ravus begged her to stay. Then I heard you call my name." He faced Gladio.

"Me?" he asked. "I wasn't there yet, I don't think. And I was with Prompto."

Ignis nodded, "And I asked you where he was. Should have been my first clue. But you saw Ravus and strode straight to him. You raised your sword and he blocked it with his. And he named you Ardyn."

Prompto sucked in a breath at that. "So he used your face that time."

"He regained his true face and the MT's surrounded me. They knocked me to the ground and pinned me there. Others took Ravus. Ardyn kicked me and I lost consciousness. When I woke, he had Noctis. He lifted him like rag doll and put a dagger to his neck. I couldn't do anything to stop him." Ignis was shaking, his pulse pounding in his chest. He almost didn't hear the chairs moving closer as he saw the blade lower toward Noctis's neck. Gladio, then, put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed lightly. The images slid back a bit, still clear but farther away.

"But you did, right?" Prompto said. "Because he didn't kill him."

Ignis shook his head. "Ravus did. Ardyn dropped Noctis and turned on Ravus. He threw some sort of purple spell at him, and he flew back and landed in a heap some twenty feet away. Then he turned to me. He gave me a choice. Go with him, or join the flotsam rolling out to a watery grave."

He could barely breathe but he needed to tell now. He needed someone to share this burden with him. "But when Noctis had fallen, he'd lost his grip on the Ring."

That caused them both to gasp. "I fought my way up," he told them. "I said, 'I swore an oath to stand with Noct and keep him safe. Whatever it takes, I will protect him!'" His right hand made the motion of slipping the ring onto his left middle finger. "I bade the kings of Lucis to lend me their strength."

Prompto now held his other arm. But he barely felt it. He felt the burning, the pain. He saw the purple flames around his left eye, in his hand. He didn't even realize he was still talking, still telling them. "I saw everything through a purple light and flames around my eye. But the pain went away. And all I felt was power. Unbelievable power. I unleashed it on him. I fought him with everything I had. Until it was gone."

"Gone?" Prompto asked.

"And he didn't kill you then?" questioned Gladio.

Ignis shook his head. "He said that was enough for one day and left. The pain returned and I staggered back to where I thought Noct was. It was hard to see. Hard to breathe. I fell where you found me. I couldn't see him. Ravus returned and told me Noct was alright, thanks to me. He bade me save my strength as he said I had a calling to fulfill. He wished us both well, and Noct. Then I heard my name. You came. I don't remember after that."

Gladio cleared his throat. "I wasn't sure how to get you both off that altar. But Prompto said he could manage Noct, so I carried you. Weskham met us with a boat and we took you both back to the Leville. I laid you on the bed and had Prompto get a doctor."

Prompto picked up the story. "The doctor didn't know what to make of it. He'd never seen burns like yours before. But he said he'd treat the symptoms and hope for the best. He gave you oxygen, antibiotics and a salve for the burns. He said to watch for fever, as he didn't like the look of your left eye. The right wasn't much better."

Ignis's body was calming now, the images were gone where he had no memory. Gladio's voice came back. "By morning, you were breathing stronger, but by afternoon you were shivering and sweating and had a sky-high fever. The doctor came back. He removed your eye and pumped you full of antibiotics. And we waited."

Prompto again. "Your fever broke sometime in the night. You woke up the day after that."

"I remember," Ignis told him. "I wasn't certain I was really awake."

Gladio's voice was quiet. "I've faced daemons and monsters and Gilgamesh himself. But I've never been so scared as I was those three days." He squeezed Ignis's shoulder again. "And I took it out on Noct." Ignis could hear the regret in his voice.

Ignis felt a wave of regret as well. He shook his head, tensing again. "But what was it for?" he cried. "Ardyn wouldn't have killed Noct. He needed him in the Crystal. He was toying with me the whole time."

"No!" Prompto exclaimed. "No, it wasn't for nothing. If you hadn't done it, he would have killed you. He would have taken Noctis and the ring back to Gralea right then and there. And we would have found you and not him and you wouldn't be able to tell us any of it. We would have lost you both. So don't ever feel like it was for nothing!"

And for the second time since leaving Gralea, Ignis wept. The burden lifted and left him shaken and weak. But his friends were there, holding him up until he could manage himself again. "I think you just may be the strongest man I've ever met," Gladio told him. "Cor would be jealous."

"I don't feel strong," Ignis admitted.

"Neither did I," Prompto said. "At least not until Aranea's tough love routine knocked me on my ass." He helped Ignis rise to his feet. "But we have a long way to go. It'll be my turn next time we camp."