I have supporters. Yay! Thanks Azalares, Kurama468, and Wintersong15. You are the best! Anyway, since I have a bit of a lull before the holidays, and in case anyone out there wants more material to help form an opinion one way or the other, I decided to post another chapter. Hope you like it! Feedback/follows always welcome. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!

The Citadel may have been an office building but it was also a royal palace, complete with courtyards. Even if that courtyard was a rooftop terrace on the roof of the building. Noctis was strolling through it, with his wife on his arm. Luna was staring at it in amazement.

"Why didn't you tell me you had something like this here," she exclaimed in wonder.

"Well, it's a big place. I forgot about it till now actually," Noctis replied awkwardly. It was not like he meant to hide it from her.

She reverently reached out and touched a white rose, trailing leisurely against a trellis, the delight in her face obvious.

"From what my dad told me, it is traditionally one of the queen's jobs to oversee the courtyard. You can plant and design it however you want," Noctis told her.

"I think it's nice just the way it is," Luna replied. "Well, maybe I do have an idea or two of possible modifications," she added coyly after a moment of thought.

Noctis smiled. Typical Luna, he thought with tolerant amusement. But he couldn't shake the feeling that there was something else he should be doing. He had no idea what though. It was not like he had had a rocky path to the throne. His father had died of old age just recently, leaving the throne to his son, and Noctis had married his childhood sweetheart Luna shortly thereafter. As an Oracle, it was Luna's primary duty to bring light and hope to the world. However, the world was already full of both. She was on hand to support that effort in case it was required, but for now her primary duty was as the Queen of Insomnia.

He still had the nagging sense that something wasn't right. Something must have shown in his face, since Luna stopped and looked at him sharply.

"What's wrong, dear," she asked him.

"Oh, it's nothing," Noctis replied too quickly, and looked away.

She reached out and touched his cheek, gently turning him to face her once more. "Don't give me that, Noctis. What is it?"

Noctis sighed. He should have known he couldn't (and shouldn't) keep secrets from his wife. "It all seems a little too perfect, doesn't it," he blurted out.

Luna looked at him in shock for a moment. "Are you, not happy with me," she asked in sudden concern.

"Of course not. That's not it. I've never been happier, with you, with everything. It's just, it seems too good to be true."

Luna glanced away, thinking. "I've actually been wondering the same thing. I remember my mother saying how important the role of Oracle is, but I never did anything with it. It somehow seems like, something is missing. Like, I should have done more with my powers."

"It may sound selfish, but I for one am glad of it. I have heard that using the true powers of the Oracle can be deadly for them. And I wouldn't have wanted that for you," Noctis replied firmly.

Luna nuzzled her head against his shoulder. Noctis responded by tilting her head up to kiss her. Even if there was something wrong lurking out there, this part, at least, felt right.

"So, the crystal responded to him," Belenus asked Cor as soon as they returned to the conference room.

"It would appear so," Cor said warily. "I will concede that Lux has a connection to the royal family."

"Yay! I'm a royal," Lux cut in excitedly.

"Adults are talking now," Belenus scolded his charge firmly. Lux subsided with a pout.

Belenus had some questions to answer, and Cor needed the boy out of the way for the moment. It was easy enough to do. He had one of the servants take Lux away to have lunch. After chortling with glee that he was going to eat at the "royal table," Lux danced away happily.

"Who is his mother," Cor asked Belenus as soon as Lux departed.

"Alas, I do not know," the redhead at the opposite side of the conference room table replied.

"Then how did you know he is Noctis's son," Cor demanded.

"Worried he will take your place as ruler," Belenus replied coolly, stating facts. Cor listened intently for underlying malice behind those words, but if it was there, he missed it.

"Any and all claims to the throne must be investigated thoroughly, whether by myself or by a neutral party," Cor replied firmly.

"Well said," Belenus replied. "However, can you really find anyone neutral here? You are the de facto ruler after all."

Cor clenched his hands in frustration. "A neutral party from outside Insomnia could be found. Now, tell me how you met Lux and how you knew he was of royal blood."

"I met him a very short time ago. He was an orphan at Galdin Quay, doing odd jobs to make ends meet. He was otherwise a normal boy, and I paid him no mind. However, while I was there, a fire broke out in the resort kitchen. Lux ran in to try to help the guests. I of course couldn't stand by to watch a kid kill himself, so I went in to try to grab him, to save him from himself as it were. It was then that I saw him warp to grab trapped people and pull them out. I lost track of him, he was so fast. The only people I know who have that capability are the Insomnia Royal Family. I did the math, came to the logical conclusion, and brought him home."

"Why? What's in it for you," Cor asked bluntly.

"Nothing! I just wanted to bring a lost little boy home," Belenus responded in all sincerity.

Cor could take what Belenus said at face value, but then, he had been around Ardyn Izunia, the master of lies. He didn't trust this man at all, but he couldn't discount Lux's affinity with the crystal.

"So what happens now," Cor asked him.

"I'm flattered that you, Chairman of Insomnia, would ask me for advice," Belenus replied brightly. Cor gritted his teeth at the Ardyn-like oil oozing from him, but kept silent. "If it were up to me," Belenus replied, "I would make Lux welcome in the castle. And not to invite myself or anything, but I am the only constant in the poor child's life right now. It would make sense if you grant me permission to stay here with him for the time being, until he gets used to things."

Cor had to concede the point. Even though he wanted to kick Belenus out, he was the only person Lux knew right now. He couldn't traumatize him by taking his guardian away and foisting the kid on strangers. He had no choice: he would have to do exactly as Belenus said. That didn't mean he would welcome the kid with open arms though. He would be investigating the hell out of the kid, and out of Belenus, and if there was any type of treachery, he would uncover it, and stop it.

The throne chair really was uncomfortable, Noctis thought for the 50th time, fidgeting to keep his legs from falling asleep in the hard chair. It didn't help that most of the problems he was solving as king were pretty mundane. He glanced at the paperwork on the table next to him—trade treaties with Altissia, a letter from King Ravus (his brother in law) congratulating him on his wedding once more but cautioning him that if he ever hurt Luna there would hell to pay, etc. He shouldn't complain, he supposed, but it seemed that most of this stuff didn't need him to handle it. It could be left in the capable hands of his prime minister.

"Is there a problem with the paperwork," a cool suave voice cut in from across the room. Speaking of prime ministers, Noctis thought with amusement as the light brown-haired bespectacled man strode into the room, pure business in his stance, and in the dark suit he was wearing. It was always business with Ignis Scientia, Noctis thought. He wondered if Ignis was ever capable of goofing off or cracking a joke.

"Of course not. I was, just getting ready to sign them," Noctis said, doing his best to keep any defensiveness out of his tone. Regardless of rank, Ignis always made Noctis feel like he was caught sleeping on the job. Noctis scrawled his name and gave the paperwork to Ignis.

Ignis looked at him warily. "You shouldn't sign things without double checking them," he cautioned. "As King it is your role to maintain ultimate authority and make sure your government officials aren't doing anything untoward."

"Are you doing anything weird," Noctis asked.

"That's not the point. I could say anything, truth or not, and if you don't read what you sign, you'd never know."

"I get it," Noctis said, resigned.

Ignis glanced at the paperwork to verify everything was in order. "Another job well done," he replied dryly, but with an edge to it that made Noctis pay closer attention.

"What do you mean," Noctis asked.

Ignis shrugged. "It's difficult to say, but it just seems too easy, this Prime Minister thing. Everyone agrees with whatever I say, and acts as though I'm the most competent person in the world."

"Well you are pretty competent. I wouldn't have appointed you if you weren't," Noctis commented idly.

"Thank you, Noct. However, it just seems, too perfect."

Noctis stiffened. There those words were again.

"I've thought the same thing, and so has Luna actually," Noctis said.

Ignis looked back intently. "Hmm. They say once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, three times is enemy action. If all three of us think something is wrong, then perhaps there is something to it."

"What should we do," Noctis asked.

"I say we get our Captain of the Guards. If there is a possible threat, Gladio should be in the loop."

"It's really awesome of you to let me take pictures of all these plants, uh Your Highness," Prompto awkwardly commented to Luna.

"Call me, Luna, please. And I'm flattered that the editor of Insomnia's royal newspaper feels my updates to the garden are front page news."

Prompto beamed. He'd take the editor title. It fit his passion for photography to a tee. Still…

"Yeah. Although…nevermind."

"What is it," Luna persisted.

"Um, nothing," Prompto replied, a shade too defensively.

"Prompto," Luna threatened, brandishing a full watering can and aiming to dump it on his head.

He waved his hands placatingly. "Ok ok. Well, to be honest, I don't really have any front page stories. There's nothing going on. Nothing cool to hook in readers or to take pictures of."

"Yeah. It's like Noctis says. Things are too perfect," Luna replied.

"Yeah totally! That's exactly right. It just seems, weird, you know? As far as I can tell, everyone is peaceful and happy."

"And you think there is something dark behind it," Luna asked.

"Well, I wouldn't go that far. I like it being peaceful and all. It just feels like, a dream that we will eventually wake up from."

Luna looked at Prompto with respect. She had always thought him oblivious to things, and wouldn't detect anything even if it hit him the face. The fact that he was perceiving similar things to her and Noctis was surprising, and also disturbing. If even he noticed, there was a problem.

"I agree," Luna replied. "I think you should speak to Noctis. It would make him feel a lot better if he knew he wasn't alone in this."

"Good idea," Prompto said brightly, then dashed off to do just that.

"So let me get this straight: you think because things are so peaceful and prosperous, that something is wrong," Gladio asked in gruff surprise.

"I admit that it sounds strange when you phrase it like that, but yeah," Noctis replied.

"Indeed," Ignis added. "I am a firm believer in the saying 'there is no such thing as a free lunch,' and it seems that ever since Noctis's ascension to power exactly that has been happening to us."

"Yeah," Prompto added in his two cents. "It is a bit boring around here which is weird."

"What do you expect? Foes stepping out of the woodwork at every turn," Gladio snarked back sarcastically.

"Come on, Gladio. Don't you think it's a wee bit suspicious that you haven't had any enemies to fight since you took on your captain of the guard duties," Prompto returned.

"Hmm. You do have a point there. And it's even weirder that after all of this time, nobody has broken the law. Except that one guy who has been imprisoned since just before Noct took the throne."

"Wait! I have a political prisoner," Noctis asked in surprise.

"I dunno what he did," Gladio returned. "Except that he's a bitch and a half to talk to. Whenever guards try to interrogate him, they come out with nothing, and say he manages to rile them up. Not the other way around."

"It seems to me like this prisoner is the one thing that does not belong," Ignis replied. "I think it behooves us to speak to him."

"Good luck with that. As I said, you try to get answers out of him, he gets them out of you."

"I'll talk to him," Noctis stated. "I am king after all. Maybe that will carry some weight with this guy."

Gladio just shrugged. "If you want. No promises though. I'll escort you down when you are ready to go."

"No time like the present," Noctis replied.

"Another critter taken down. Nice work, Iris," Cindy praised, paying out the bounty to the veteran huntress.

"Thanks. What else you got," she replied.

"Look, as much as I appreciate you goin' above and beyond takin care of these beasts round here, shouldn't you be getting back to Insomnia? Cor could probably use your help right now training the new heir to the throne."

"Cor wanted me to hunt in his stead, so I will do that. Besides, I'm no good with kids."

"Better than Cor, I reckon."

"My mind is quite made up," Iris stated.

Cindy sighed. "I'm sure you know what you're doing," she added.

"Maybe," Iris muttered, wandering out of the diner.

She knew Gladio wouldn't want her doing this—he had always been protective of her almost to a fault. He would have had a fit if he knew she was spending her days taking down bounties. Still, it was better than going back to Insomnia. She would never go back there. There were too many memories that she didn't want to deal with. She was going back out to the wilderness where things made sense.

Not before stocking up though. She stopped by one of the weapons trucks parked outside to grab more ammunition—you could be a badass swordsman all you wanted, but it meant nothing if it forced you too close to the jaws of a ravening beast. A bullet or thirty did just as well and from a safe distance.

She was surveying the wares of the gruff shopkeeper, debating the merits versus cost of hollow point bullets against regular bullets when she heard somebody saunter up as well. She looked around sharply—there were few people frequenting weapon shops these days.

"If I were you, I'd go with regular bullet over the hollow points. Even with having to use more of them to get the job done, they end up being cheaper in the long run," Aranea commented.

The clerk opened his mouth to disagree, but then subsided, figuring it wasn't worth the trouble to argue with a potential customer.

"Aranea! What are you doing here," Iris asked in genuine surprise.

"I'm actually on my way to Insomnia to have a little meeting with the new 'King'".

"Cor has not approved him yet," Iris replied swiftly.

"I know. I want to meet this kid to see what his deal is. I seriously doubt he is actually Noctis's son."

"Really! Why do you say that?"

"Remember how Noctis was ten years ago? Do you think a dork like that would have been suave enough to get into a woman's pants?"

"I dunno. Some girls find that cute," Iris replied.

Aranea rolled her eyes. "Think about it. Between hunting, fighting Gods, me, and the Empire, and having a loyal entourage around you at all times, do you really think Noctis would have had time for any sleeping around? Heck, the only women he was around routinely were you, me, and Cindy. And I know I didn't do anything with him. He's not my type."

"Same here! Not that he's not my type, but, I mean, everything was platonic between us," Iris said, flustered.

"And you were only 15 or so," Aranea commented. "If something had happened, I would think much less of Noctis," she added firmly.

"And Cindy is married to her work. There's no way she would have…"

"I agree. And she's been in Hammerhead forever. If she had had a kid, we would have heard about it from someone. I know I can't rule out the fact that Noctis may have had a kid with someone we don't know, but I strongly suspect not."

"Then who is Lux? And how can he use the crystal? Cor saw him use it with his own eyes, as did a bunch of guards."

"That's the question. I dunno, and I don't like it. That's why I'm going to Insomnia. Maybe I can find out the truth for myself. If you are at loose ends, why don't you join me?"

Iris thought for a moment. She didn't want to go back to Insomnia. The memories of her brother's death and Noctis's were still too raw. Still, she couldn't stand by if the kid was up to no good. She owed it to Gladio's memory to protect the kingdom however she could.

"If you've got room for one more, I'll tag along," Iris finally replied.

Aranea said nothing, but led the way to her black sports car.

Noctis strode down to the "dungeons" of his castle. Well, since his "castle" was an office building, the dungeons were more jail cells in the basement of the building, and equipped with the creature comforts of any modern "civilized" jail. Even if the lone prisoner in there (for now) didn't deserve it.

"You sure you don't want us to go in with you," Ignis asked Noctis warily.

"Nah. I got this," he replied.

"Hmph. I'm right outside if he starts anything," Gladio replied tersely.

The heavy metal door creaked on its hinges upon opening, allowing Noctis his first glance at the prisoner. The man was lounging on the one cot the cell offered, his booted feet curled up and resting on the wall. The man was using his ratty, moth-eaten gray paisley cloak as a blanket, and had a faded gray fedora over his face.

"Time for more bread and water already," the man drawled languidly, but removed his hat and sat up, just to see Noctis and stiffen.

Now that Noctis has a full view of the man, he sized him up. The man had been in here for awhile, and was evidently not being treated well. His auburn hair was tangled and matted, and falling greasily down his shoulders. He was unshaven as well, with a violet-red beard so long he looked like a hermit. Frankly, Noctis was shocked that Gladio would allow a prisoner to be treated like this.

The man stared back in malicious amusement.

"King Noct," the man spoke sarcastically. "I wondered when 'His Majesty' would grace me with his presence."

"Who are you," Noctis demanded. "Why are you the only prisoner here? What did you do?"

The man chuckled smugly. "Surely you remember me? Granted, I was much better groomed when we last met, but seriously, how could you forget me? I am the man who gave you your ascension."

"You're lying," Noctis stated firmly. "I inherited the throne from my late father."

"Ah yes. The one bit of imperfection in this perfect world," the man replied mockingly. "Why didn't the powers that be just cart him away on the back of a unicorn and do away with his death completely?"

Noctis didn't want to encourage this crackpot, but then again, he had sought him out for answers. "What do you mean," he asked coldly.

"Your kingdom. All of this," the man gestured around him flamboyantly. "Is an illusion. You've been given a perfect little paradise here while I get to molder in this petty cell for all eternity. You saved the world though, so there's that," the man mocked.

"I didn't save anything," Noctis said.

His prisoner rolled his eyes. "Oh, Noct. For being so 'noble and wise' you are still just as naïve as you were when I first met you. For your sake, I will be blunt. You, your dear wife, and your royal entourage all gave your lives to save the world and defeat me. Face it. You are dead, and this is your afterlife, just as this cell is mine."

Noctis reeled. "That's bullshit!"

"Need I remind you that you came to me? I assume you wanted answers. I gave them. I have no reason to lie. But if you came to torture me or to gloat instead, well that's your prerogative."

Noctis glared back. "I do not torture prisoners even if my guards apparently do. I will get a barber and hygiene services in here for you," Noctis replied coldly.

"Oh, don't waste your time. Gladio has done the same, and it does no good. It's all part of my penance," the auburn-maned man replied.

"Penance for what," Noctis demanded.

"Why, for attempting to destroy the world, and for killing you and Lady Lunafreya. Well, I actually succeeded in the 'killing' part," the man gloated. "It's a pity the Astrals took your memories away. We'd have so much more to talk about otherwise. Your loss, I suppose," he taunted.

Noctis just turned on his heel and left, mind still reeling from what his prisoner had told him. He had to focus on things logically and on what he knew. From Gladio, he knew the prisoner's name was Ardyn Izunia. He now knew Ardyn was evidently crazy, and Noctis would be a fool to believe anything he said.

That was all well and good. However, logic had nothing to do with the fact that Noctis suspected that there may be something to what Ardyn had told him. He shook his head. From what Gladio said, it was that man's MO to mess with people. And he had successfully planted the seed of doubt in Noctis's mind—doubts about his world and his existence in it.