And... WE'RE BACK! Apologies for the wait, it took me a while to draft this all out, but I hope that this super-long one is worth the wait.

To reiterate from the update, for those who have skimmed through this story previously, I encourage you to go back and re-read some of the chapters that I had made adjustments to. The reason being that I do not wish to cause confusion with regards to the chapters that I will post in the future that may or not tie up with the ones I've already written.

With that said, please sit back enjoy!


On a normal, regular night like this, the town of Lestallum would be bustling with much activity. With stores lining up on every road, friendly street vendors and whimsical musicians, every single person that lived or visited there, young and old, man and woman, all relished in the peace and tranquility that the serene-like atmosphere that Lestallum brought with it.

And then all it took was for one single person to shatter it like fragile glass once he caught sight of the cohort of mysterious people that had gathered in the middle of the car park, that was now suddenly filled with a couple more cars than prior.

Like falling dominoes, the word began to spread around, until about thirty minutes later when the crowd started to gather at the main road close to the railings that overlooked the car park below. In the next fifteen minutes that followed after, the crowd size began twice as large as the group that was convening amongst ... almost all of them.

With exhausted and weary eye staring at the buzzing bystanders, Monica did her best to maintain her stoic expression even as she tried to refocus herself on those that had answered the call of the Marshal to assemble here in from members of the Crownsguard that had survived the fall of Insomnia, to dozens of Hunters that were still loyal to the Crown, it was clear that she presumably had her hands full with organising each and every single one of them.

And yet while she was hating to even admit to herself, on the inside Monica was silently pleading and praying to the gods at the same time for the crowd to go away and mind their own business. She already had enough on her plate trying to organise the existing parties at the current time – she could not afford to expend her time on dispersing the crowd as well.

The Marshal had given her an order, and when he phoned her using a rather stricter tone than usual, she knew it meant that it needed to be done as quickly and proficiently as humanly possible. He would be arriving soon, alongside the Oracle Lady Lunafreya and Prince Noctis' royal retinue and she would hate for him to arrive to a public spectacle that would have added on to his ever-so-high levels of stress.

Just when she was contemplating sending out the Crownsguard to go herd away the crowd, her ears picked up a familiar humming sound of a flying airship. A Niflheim Magitek engine to be more precise.

With widened eyes of terror, Monica turned sharply around, joining with the rest her fellow associates and the public in seeing a lone airship coming in close to where they were currently situated at.

Almost immediately, people began to scream and gasp in fright, knowing full well that a Magitek engine can easily be distinguished with the Empire. And whenever the Imperials dropped by, a trail of destruction was sure to follow not too close behind, as evident from the last time they showed up to kill an innocent old man.

Acting out of instinct, the entirety of Crowndsguard and Hunters began mobilising into battle formation, their weapons all out and at the the traitorous Kingsglaive, they were fiercely loyal to the royal family of Lucis to the core and were prepared to die if necessary to defend the Crown from the jaws of the Empire.

As everyone watched with tension hanging in the breeze of Lestallum, the red-painted Magitek engine began a gradual descent down towards the carpark, their passive aggression growing ever more as the distance between both parties closed.

Once it was close enough to the ground for its riders to disembark safely, the airship slowed to a halt, the roaring of its Magitek engines filling the quiet atmosphere and making the winds blow in every direction around with the harsh air blowing against her form, Monica chanced a couple of steps forward, her hand raised up and ready to give the order for her men to attack.

So far there was no sign of the Marshal and the Prince's companions, but she was hoping they would show up soon to give them the extra support. Far too many towns and settlements had been decimated in part due to involvement from the Empire, and Monica would be damned if one more would be left in rubble and dust because of the Imperials.

A dreary silence hung over the car park for a few moments, and then there was a hiss of the front ramp of the Magitek airship as it began to open on cue, the Crownsguard and Hunters took a step forward and readied themselves in their attack stances, their eyes narrowed and lour towards the lowering ramp.

Steeling herself for what was to come, Monica inhaled deeply, her determined eyes never leaving the airship as the fingers of her raised hand twitched slightly against the chill of the winds. She was waiting patiently, for just the right moment to cue her comrades to advance.

The wait was agonising, like the gods themselves were slowing down time to delay the inevitable. It was safe to say that if they were not kind towards humanity, they would have considered this entertainment. But since they were on the side of the Lucian Crown and those that rallied behind it, Monica was inwardly praying that a miracle would happen.

Eventually, the ramp had moved low enough for everyone to view the interior of the airship, and then a few moments later, its occupants. The first to step out of the shadows was a middle-aged man with short, brown hair, and light blue eyes that emanate his years of combat and experience upon the grand stage of the theatre of war.

His story was truly one of legend, filled with many life-threatening tales, which made him a living legend in his own "Immortal" as his title goes.

Which was why many eyes began widening in surprise upon seeing him descending down the ramp relatively unharmed. If he were more lax in character, he would have started laughing at all their reactions right now.

Monica stared at him in absolute bewilderment, realising that she was merely a hair's breadth away from signalling her men to attack. She gazed up to her raised arm and quickly wondered to herself why was she still holding it up for. But instead of putting it down though, she chose instead to signal the Crownsguard and Hunter to lower their weapons, which they hastily did before standing at attention in the presence of the Marshal.

As Cor continued to disembark from the airship, following not too close behind at his heels were Lady Lunafreya, who started to have the gathering public gasping and gossiping amongst themselves with a mixture of excitement and concern, and Noctis' entourage, or rather, his remaining members. Ignis narrowed his eyes slightly down at the gathering associates of the Crown, Aranea was discussing something behind him with Gladiolus. Unfortunately they were speaking in hushed tones that Ignis was not able to pick up easily.

As he stopped right in front of Monica, he chanced a glance at the crowd at the main road. He then looked back to Monica and commented wryly, "Quite a welcoming committee you've managed to gather up." Monica sighed and bowed her head before him.

"Apologies, Marshal. The situation got out of hand rather quickly. We had not intended to cause such a stir upon arrival."

Cor shook his head and waved a hand."It's quite alright. I reckon Lady Lunafreya will take care of it."

Monica gave him a curious look before he gestured with his head behind him. Turning around, she saw Lunafreya as she headed over towards the public, probably preparing to give them a speech about what had happened in Altissia and answer whatever questions that they had.

It was then that the Marshal formed a frown on his face, taking notice that one specific group of individuals were not amongst those that had gathered at the carpark.

Calling for Monica's attention again, he asked her, "Where are they?"

Monica raised a brow at this in confusion. "I-I'm sorry, sir?"

"Where are the Kingsglaive?" Cor questioned her sternly.

It took Monica a while to form a response of her own, and it was quite a painstaking process, as memories of Insomnia's fall replayed in her mind. With a sigh of sadness, she looked him directly in the eyes and got right to the point.

"Unfortunately, Marshal, although a message was sent to them to assemble, none of them gave a response of any kind."

Hearing this, Cor could only purse his lips in disappointment. In a way he should have anticipated this, considering the role they had to play in Niflheim's attack in Insomnia. They had been branded traitors, the whole lot of them. The Kingsglaive had turned their backs on King Regis, turned their backs on the gods, and turned their backs on the kingdom that had protected them from the Empire all these years.

And yet even with all these valid reasons to grow spiteful against these turncoats, Cor had also felt a bit hopeful. Hopeful that maybe just maybe, there had been at least a handful of Glaives that were still loyal to Lucis.

After all, on the way here from Altissia, Lunafreya had recounted on her experience during the Fall.

She spoke of a brave Glaive who had sacrificed himself to ensure the survival of both herself and the Ring of the Lucii until his very last breath, how he had used the powers of the Kings of Yore to call upon the Old Wall the end the attack on the city. And then there was another Glaive who had helped escort her out of Insomnia, but there was nothing much to say of him since only she had a brief period of time with him before they went on their separate ways.

But then logic dashed those hopes as well. If those Glaives that had betrayed Lucis wanted to help the Empire in anyway that they could, the most logical thing for them to do was to take out the King's allies first. And that meant the loyal Glaives that had been caught by surprise, especially during the mission to rescue the Oracle.

By that account, what Monica really meant say was "Most of the loyal Glaives had been killed during the attack on the city. The survivors are remaining in the shadows."

Thus he had to make do with what resources that they had. Even with the Hunters, their entire party was still relatively small, but Cor was determined to make the most of it while he still could. Wherever Noctis was at the moment, he knee that he was counting on all of them to prepare for his imminent return to Eos, as well as that Sephiroth stranger that his friends had discussed with him earlier.

With a short but hefty nod, Cor stated, "Right. Then we'd better get to work."

A sentiment that was shared by Monica as her features darkened into considerable seriousness. Too much time was already being wasted on flapping their lips. Officially, every second that was being used to prepare for Sephiroth's invasion was considered precious.

As the pair began heading off to address the gathering Crownsguard and Hunters, Noctis' two remaining friends and Aranea lingered further behind close to the latter's Magitek engine, clearly deep in their own seperate coversation.

"So, do you think Noct's alright?" Gladiolus asked both Ignis and Aranea, his usual gruff voice laced with worry and uneasiness.

Ignis adjusted his spectacles and folded his arms.

"Considering that she and Noct has been close friends for a long time, I am willing to trust Lady Lunafreya as far as I can throw her. She did mention that the Tide Mother foresaw his part in shaping the future of Eos."

And he also could not deny how confident the Oracle had sounded when she spoke to them thr very same words, how her eyes glistened with much hope that their world could survive this Sephiroth character.

"I still have doubts regarding this whole ordeal," Aranea muttered, feeling rather disconcerted.

"Little doubt about that," Gladiolus commented wryly, forming a half smirk as he noticed her nervous expression, "You're shaking like a leaf Commodore."

Aranea waved a hand and sighed out, "Can you blame me for being on edge? I mean, our fancy Prince has been taken into outer space. Outer. Space. In a floating asteroid fortress no less. And now you're all saying that Eos is about to be attacked by a god?"

She folded her arms and took a step closer to the pair.

"As much as I want to believe that this is all some sort of fucked up little nightmare that the Starscourge is giving us, if the Oracle speaks out in volumes of seriousness, and if what happened in Altissia is anything go by, then we've got a real problem on our hands."

Gladiolus nodded his head, his brief moment of making light of the situation gone as he resumed his normal countenance.

Just then, the trio heard the stern tone of the voice of the Marshal calling out to them, "Ignis! Gladiolus! Commodore! Get over here!"

They turned to face him, as well as the others as they all had their focus shifted on their position.

With a simple gesture of his head, Ignis started heading off towards the main group, walking in a more brisked pace than he ever did. As Gladiolus and Aranea raced to catch up with the bespectacled Royal Advisor, the former could not help but notice the tone shift on the gazes of the Crownsguard and Hunters.

Most if not all of them were starting to give off rather antagonistic glares that (unsurprisingly) were being directed at one particular person.

With a slight chuckle, Gladiolus nudged with his elbow the person right beside him who was in-question.

"Looks like you've got yourself a lil' fan club, Commodore."

Aranea stared on ahead at the wary crowd, but she replied back, "And you'll get yourself an amputated arm if you elbow me again."

She made it feel as threatening as she possibly could, but another soft chortle from the strong man was evident enough that he wasn't taking her threat all too seriously.

"He's got a large pair in-between his legs, I'll give him that," she thought to herself with a shake of her head.

In her mind she was thinking on ways that she could do to bruise the bastard's pride, but not too much else his royal Highness wouldn't have a Shield to cower his kingly ass behind.

Once the trio were in arm's distance of the Marshal, he spoke out to them, especially Ignis and Gladiolus, "Brought everyone up to speed on the situation, but since Lady Lunafreya's currently occupied with the public, I figured you'll have the honors of providing all the details on what we're up against here."

He stepped away to one side, a gesture to cue Ignis and Gladiolus to step forth and address the patiently-waiting men and women.

Gladiolus felt rather anxious as to what they were supposed to say. Would they all believe what Serah told them about Sephiroth? Or would they all dismiss it as some foolish fantasy daydream and refocus their time and effort on the Empire? He chanced quick glance at Ignis, silently hoping that he had a way to convince the Hunters and the Crownsguard, especially since he was never really trained in long and formal speeches as well as handling big crowds.

As though he had sensed his uneasiness, Ignis glanced back at him, and his lips formed a thin but reassuring smile.

In Gladiolus' head he swore he could almost hear the Advisor's voice speaking to him telepathically, "At ease, my friend. You need not worry about this. I'll handle the talking part."

Letting go a hitched breath that he never knew that he had been holding in, Gladiolus gave him a short nod of thanks and wishing him the best of luck. In turn Ignis reciprocated the nod and stepped forth to the group that had gathered around to hear what he was going to say.

Briefly glancing at each and every person that were giving him their one-hundred percent attemtion, Ignis drew in a deep breath and then began to speak.

"Fellow members of the Crownsguard and Hunters. By now, I am certain that all of you have been apprised of what had taken place in Altissia."

As expected, many were nodding their heads in response, their face evidently and understandably still in disbelief at what had happened after the rite with Leviathan.

"With regards to the current whereabouts of the soon-to-be King of Lucis, I regret to report... that it is true that he is no longer on Eos."

Reactions to this announcement were mixed. There were all forms of gasps, and murmurs that began to spread all around. How could they have lost another King in just under a month?

"Now I am certain that some of you may have doubts about the future of Eos, but I implore you not to lose hope!" Ignis continued speaking, his voice reverberating strongly amongst the men and women, loud enough even to catch the attentoon of the public crowd and a surprised Lunafreya as she joined the rest in listening to his words.

"The Oracle Lady Lunafreya has brought forth a message from the Hydraean, and through her the Goddess of the Seas has foresaw that a deity named Sephiroth will descend from the heavens, with malicious intent to assmilate all life on Eos into his collective."

At once people became horrified by his proclamation, and the murmurs resumed. While he could not make out every sentence, Ignis was certain that they were all fearful for their lives. And why shouldn't they feel that way? He could sympathise with their predicament. Anyone would be doing the same thing if they were told that the world was possibly coming to an end.

"Yet in the face of such an apocalypse, there is still hope!" Ignis brought everyone's undivided attention back to him, "While the Hydraean has been cryptic in her message, she has also foresaw that the King himself would be playing a part in shaping the ultimate fate of our world. By that account we must assume that His Majesty will be returned to us in due time, but until then we must stand firm, stand strong, and prepare ourselves for the fight of our lives! For the deity that we face harbors a darkness even more dangerous than the Starscourge ever is, and he will not stop until he gets what he so desires. To that end, on behalf of His Majesty the King, I hereby declare a state of emergency. The challenge ahead may be seemingly almost impossible to overcome, but lest we forget, countless lives are counting on us. To protect and safeguard the future!"

Within seconds a sea of small cheers and claps began surging throughout the Crownsguard members and the Hunters, even some from the public crowd were also applauding.

Ignis could not help but let a smile form at his lips. Certainly with his hopeful words, the masses of Lucis, Noctis' people, would live out the next couple of days filled with hope instead of fear and resignation. Otherwise Noctis was going to have a hard time handling this massive headache upon his return.

One last draw of breath, Ignis prepared himself to end of his speech the only he knew how.

"Stand with us, fellow brothers and sisters in-arms! Together we are united as one! To fight Sephiroth! And for the honour and glory of the Kingdom of Lucis!"

All at once, deafening roars welled out from the mouths of newly rejuvenated members of the Crownsguard and Hunters, some even pumping their fists with renewed energy. Then came thunderous applause from the public, and their cheers joined the chorus of the roars in harmonious fashion.

One thing was certain, it was probably the most memorable thing Ignis had experienced in his life. For the budding Advisor to the Prince who had barely even been tested under actual circumstances beforehand, this was truly a moment of triumph. If only his uncle would have lived to see this. He would most definitely have been proud of his achievement, as much as Cor, Gladiolus and Lunafreya were feeling right now.

As he stepped back to where the other two males were, Gladiolus gave hima light pat on the shoulder.

"One helluva speech you made, Iggy," he praised with a proud grin, "What you got in store for an encore, huh?"

Ignis chuckled softly under his breath.

"Maybe advertising for the next flavor of Ebony, if they will allow me."

"Wouldn't imagine you going that far, Four-Eyes," Aranea commented with behind him, "Reckon you could become an ambassador of sorts."

Ignis turned to look at her.

"Oh? And what do you suppose I'll be representing?"

Aranea cocked her head and tapped her chin with a finger, as though she was really thinking seriously about what his profession could be.

"Maybe as a seamstress." Was her reply.

In almost a second, Ignis could hear restrained grunts coming from beside him. He turned and gazed at Gladiolus with questioning eyes as the big man attempted to refrain from laughing aloud at his expense.

"Hilarious..." he thought to himself with a unamused scowl on his features.

He turned back to the Commodore and said with a forced calmness, "There is a general term for "seamstress", Aranea. And no, I do not make clothes for Noctis. My job deacription extends far beyond that at a more sophisticated degree."

Aranea formed a small 'O' with her mouth and she was nodding her head feigning surprise.

"I do not like where this is heading..."

"Oh... so you're a butler then?"

Ignis flinched painfully as Gladiolus's laugh escaped his lips in full force, which had many curious eyes turning towards them, making the situation more awkward than it needed to be.

To add more insult to injury, much to his chagrin Ignis took notice from the corner of his eyes, Cor folding his arms and looking away, but his facial expression betrayed whatever action he wanted to convey. A smile was trying to sneak onto his lips and his shoulders were shaking upwards and downwards.

"I'm starting to regret ever making that speech..." Ignis mumbled softly under his breath, just enough for the others to not hear him. Thank the gods at least Lunafreya, Noctis and Prompto were not in on the humiliation.

Understandably the latter two were still in space, whilst the Oracle had resumed conversing with the public. But he also had to be mentally prepared. Noctis and Prompto would be returning to Eos eventually, and he swore to high heavens he was going to stop Gladiolus from bursting open his big fat mouth if it was the last thing he did. Those two would only prolong the embarassment he was now getting at the receiving end.

Noticing how red the Advisor's face was getting, Aranea ceased her giggling and reached out with a hand.

"Relax Specs, I know you ain't a seamstress or a butler," she said assuredly, her hand firmly gripped onto his shoulder, "But you really ought to consider doing something you like outside of your official job title. A hobby if you're comfortable with that."

Ignis sighed deeply, mentally forcing his cheeks to srop flushing too much.

"I would take that into consideration someday. Once things have settled down with this whole Sephiroth ordeal."

The mercenary frowned slightly at this, clearly not pleased with how Scientia had turned the light-hearted conversation back to the more serious issue at hand.

With a defeated huff, she commented coldly, "Sometimes you get yourself too worked up, Four-Eyes. You've suddenly taken a massive task that you barely have experience in."

Ignis gave her a frown of his own.

"Someone has to take leadership and keep a cooler head in the face of this crisis whilst Noctis is far off in space doing gods'-knows-what."

Aranea removed her hand from his shiulder and stared at him with eyes that have been emptied of all the joyfulness of minutes earlier.

"You better not let your duty sap away whatever sprightliness you've got left inside that thick skull of yours. I would hate to have to see His Royal Highness see his Advisor bear the burden all by himself instead of shouldering it with those who want to share it with him."

Without another word, she turned and started marching off back to her Magitek engine, although from Ignis' point-of-view she was storming off with trembling clenched fists. He groaned with fingers rubbing at his temples, frustrated at just how sour the atmosphere instantly got within those few minutes of conversing.

He was growing angry, but not because Aranea's words had cut so deep into his soul wirh deadly precision. Ignis was angry at himself. Here was Aranea, attempting frivolity of a rather harrowing crisis just to lift everyone's spirits up, and what did he do? He crossed a line and shoved her playful nature back in her face, as though her jokes were negligable.

Just because of his total focus on the task at hand, he may have dug himself a wedge between himself and Aranea, and a very deep and steep one even though they had barely knew one another. And when you cross a woman who was a mercernary and a leader of the Empire, then you knew for certain that you were going to be in for a rough time ahead.

But then he thought over the words that she said mentioned to him.

"You've suddenly taken a massive task that you barely have experience in."

As Ignis continued to dwell deep in his thoughts, Gladiolus who had been watching the entire conversation go south, came up close to his side and gave him a gentle pat on the shoulder.

"Don't worry, Iggy. If you've got any worries or if you feel that the load's too much to handle, I'll always be here to back you up," he told his bespectacled friend with an assuring smile.

Ignis glanced to him and stared in silence for a few moments. He blinked slowly before he stared on ahead to the Crownsguard and Hunters, as well as the public crowd.

With a sigh, he asked Gladiolus, "Do you think I can do it?"

"Hmm?" Gladiolus hummed questionably with a raised eyebrow.

"Do you think I can be a good leader, in Noct's stead? I AM his advisor after all," Ignis specified, his eyes glistening with hesitation against the pale moonlight, acting as though he just now realised what he had gotten himself into.

Gladiolus pursed his lips tightly at this, unknowing of what he was going to say about this. Usually he would make a snarky comment or a joke or simply give casual words of encouragement to help his companions move things along without having to worry too much. But that was on a normal day when they were driving all around the continent, before everything went 180° in Altissia. Compared to then (which was merely just days ago), they were now shifting their focus from one major threat to an extremely dangerous situation that could lead all of Eos into peril. From the Empire, all talk was now about Sephiroth and the end of the world. Not to mention that Noctis and Prompto were not there presently.

Ignis was a naturally-gifted leader in his own way, considering the multiple number of times he had been able to take charge of any battle that they came across against the wild beasts of the continent, the Magitek Troopers as well as the daemons.

But taking temporary command of an entire army? That was an entirely different story altogether.

As far as he knew, Ignis had formal training as an Advisor to everything that... well, a Royal Advisor ought to be doing. And that also included taking lead in the King's duties should he be unable to do so because of something that happened, including sickness or a visit to another kingdom or country. But never had he imagined Ignis immersing himself as a military leader. Even King Regis himself couldn't have imagined Ignis in such a role, considering that his uncle had also never experienced the bloodiness of the front lines of war.

"Well... it all depends on what's your end goal," the voice of the Marshal pulls him out of his thoughts, and Gladiolus turned to look at the man as he resumed that stoic expression.

With piercing light blue eyes that bore right into Ignis' own, Cor stated, "If I remember correctly Scientia, you said that you had a reason for wanting to join the Crownsguard, did you not?"

Ignis' eyes widened slightly at his statement, and a breathless gasp escaped from his open mouth. And yet he remained silent as he stared down at the ground.

"You had so much confidence, so much passion for wanting to become the General to the King," Cor continued to recount, "And that was just four years ago. So tell me, what has happened since then to cause such a change in your stance and attitude?"

With clenched fists and front teeth biting at his lower lip, Ignis looked back up to the Marshal.

"Times have changed, and so have my ambitions," he responded briefly.

Cor's brows furrowed and his eyes narrowed in a mix of disbelief and disappointment at his response.

"Now you're starting to sound like the Prince."

Gladiolus now felt the inclining to speak out and balance out the sour conversation, but just as he started to part his lips, there was the sound of car honking. As everyone turned around, they watched as a large yellow-coloured pick-up truck drove its way out of Lestallum's entrance/exit tunnel and drove close the railings of the main road.

Because of its relative large size, a handful of those in the public crowd were to move out of the way so as to not block the vehicle, some of them were sprung into action against their will by the loud honks, thanks to a familiar grouchy mechanic who was sitting beside his niece as she was driving. He consistently reached across and slammed (or rather punched) a fist onto the wheel and grumbled obscenities under his breath.

With an exasperated shake of his head, Cor muttered to himself, "Guess some things never change..."

And without another word to Noctis' silent advisor, he walked off towards the main road. Gladiolus breathed a sigh of relief, happy that the moment was over for now.

Gazing with concern towards his friend, he asked him quietly, "You alright?"

Ignis stared blankly at the ground for a few minutes, before he muttered back, "None the worse for wear."

Gladiolus was unconvinced by his assurance, but he chose to let it slip by, understanding that Ignis needed time to adjust to his new role for the time being.

"Just give it a while, hmm?" he advised him, "Eventually it'll be like concocting up some new... recipeh."

Hearing the R word that just came out weird from Gladiolus' mouth, Ignis let out a soft chuckle.

"That's not how I normally enunciate that word, but it's close enough to suffice lightening my mood."

Gladiolus was also laughing a little bit at his terrible pronounce.

"What can I say? There's the Iggy way of saying things, and then there's the Gladio way of saying things."

Ignis stroked his chin thoughtfully, now back to being his normal self.

"Hmm... then what would be the Noct and Prompto ways of saying things?"

Gladiolus grinned widely and folded his arms.

"How's about "Vegetables are pure evil" and "Selfie and Gear Goddess worship"?"

The pair laughed even louder at the phrases, knowing that Noctis and Promtpo would be outright embarassed by how true those insults were.

Just then however, both of them heard loud shouts coming from the crowd, and they turned to see what was the commotion.

Within seconds, both Ignis and Gladiolus could make out Cor heading right back in their direction, his face seemingly scrunched up in apparent annoyance and even he was trying miserably to cover it up.

Following close at his heels were where the shouts were coming from. Iris and Cid were constanly hollering at the Marshal - both clearly unhappy about what the man did during the Altissia dilemma. As they got closer, the seentences became much more audible and clear.

"You've a lot of explaining to do for stranding me in Caem, Cor!"

"That was a reckless endeavour, you ol' lout! Chasin' and gallivantin' after that damn space rock like ya did!"

"You hopped onto a Niflheim airship like that and took off without another word like it's some sort of daily routine! How else did you think I supposed to make of that?! You had me worried believing that the Imperials kidnapped you, you know?!"

"And don't get me started on what you did after you lost the Prince! Tellin' me to meet ya here in Lestallum in a couple hours! Ya think I've got hyperdrive fuels in storage?! Cindy was forced to break a couple traffic laws just to get here on time! And the Amicitia girl you left behind with us was houndin' on my ass the entire trip too for the rough ride!"

The voices were too mixed to seperate apart, but it was enough to visibly make Cor close his eyes tightly and rub his head with his hands.

"Looks like the night's getting lively," Aranea's voice suddenly spoke up from behind, and Ignia and Gladiolus jumped in startling surprise as they turned to face her.

The mercernary smirked slyly at their expressions, her spite with Ignis earlier quickly forgotten.

"I'll bet 400 gil that man won't get any good sleep tonight," she challenged.

Gladiolus gave a cocky huff as he replied, "Oh yeah? Then you better cough it up right now. 'Cause the Marshal can sleep at 2am and still wake up at 6 still looking rejuvenated."

Aranea shrugged, "Would if I could, Buff Man, but unfortunately I've still to collect my pay from the Empire."

Ignis' eyebrows quirked up and he took a step forward.

"You do not seriously intend to go back to the Empire after all that has happened?" he questioned her.

Aranea frowned slightly as she turned to him.

"And what's wrong with collecting my paycheck, Specs?"

"I highly doubt that anyone from the Empire would not have seen you aiding us in trying to rescue Noctis. So there's a high probability of you already being branded as a traitor."

To this the Commodore scoffed lightly, acting like this was nothing new to her.

"So be it then," she stated with a surprisingly relieved grin, "Hated working for those nutjobs anyway. Besides, I thought of my position in their High Command as more of a "part-time" routine."

Before more words could be exchanged, Cor finally arrived at where they were, his normal demeanor already having cracked under the stress of having to endure two forms of admonishments.

"I swear to the Astrals..." he mumbled under his breath as he nursed his throbbing skull, "Today's been full of nothing but headaches. I think I won't be able to get enough rest tonight."

Gladiolus stared hard him in absolute bewilderment, clearly not expecting this change in mood from the Marshal himself. A man who had always prided himself for his calm and strict demeanor as well as his unchallenged prowess.

And then he heard Aranea coughing sharply to get his attention. He slowly turned to her to see her smirk and her open palm out to him.

"What was it you said about the Marshal's sleeping habits again?" she rhetorically asked with a chuckle.

Realising what this meant, Gladiolus groaned in defeat and muttered curses under his breath as he begrudgingly shelled out 400 gil from his pocket and handed the money over to the patiently waiting mercenary. Was that the second time today that he had lost a bet? Lady Luck clearly was unhappy about something that concerned him.

Having heard her speaking, Iris peeked over from behind the Marshal's shoulder to see who it was. Upon seeing Aranea, she also caught sigh of her brother. Her eyes widened exponentially.

"Gladdy!" she exclaimed joyfully and she broke into a sprint towards him.

Gladiolus turned around to view her, and he was immediately reminded that his sister was here as well. He grinned widely as she approached him and opened up his beefy arms, allowing Iris to run in for a full embrace.

"Iris!" he greeted warmly as he pulled her close to his chest, chuckling as he felt her snuggling her head into his burliness.

"I'm so glad you're alright!" Iris exclaimed happily, even though her voice was muffled since her face was planted into his chest, "I was so worried about you guys when I heard over the radio..."

And then as though she remembered, her head tilted upwards sharply, allowing Gladiolus to see the worry that was suddenly eteched upon her face.

"About Noct..." she mumbled softly, "Is everything that they said... true?"

And just like that, Gladiolus' grin fell from his face, replaced by a more sullen expression. Oh boy...This was going to be hard to break it to his sister slowly. He had known for a long time that Iris had a bigger crush on Noctis than any other girl in Insomnia, so there was no doubt about what she was going to feel within the next few seconds.

With a deep sigh, he muttered softly, "It's true... he's been kidnapped and taken into outer space."

Iris stared at him in total radio silence for a brief moment, tears had formed at the corners of her eyes, ready to spill out like a leaky faucet.

"I would laugh if it were a joke..." she mumbled, her features laced with sorrow and despair, "But do you think Noct's alright?

Gladiolus' looked away in an aimless direction and then he closed his eyes.

"According to Lady Luna, Noct's gonna come back eventually. Something about having a role in shaping the future of Eos. Until then however, Ignis volunteered himself to lead the Crownsguard and Hunters to preparing for Sephiroth's arrival."

"S-Sephiroth?" Iris questioned with a tilt of her head in confusion, "Who's that?"

Gladiolus pursed his lips, realising that he now had to go on a long-winded explanation about what Serah said to him and his friends back in Altissia. But just as he opened his mouth to respond, he heard more arguing voices shouting aloud.

With a roll of his eyes, he grumbled out, "The hell's going on now?"

Both siblings looked to watch as Cid went off on another ranting tirade, the brunt of his rage now being directed on an unamused Aranea as she simply stood there with folded arms, watching the mechanic make a fool out of himself like there was no tomorrow. Cor on the other hand was standing off to one side, his face buried in his hands, clearly having given up trying to stay on the positive side of life.

With a roll of his eyes, Gladiolus said to Iris, "Sorry sis, looks like your big bro's gotta step in and help the poor Marshal placate the angry old mechanic."

Hearing her brother's mentioning of the Marshal triggered something in Iris, and her saddened face scrunched up into an angry one.

"Oh yeah? Then here's a challenge for you, Gladdy!" she suddenly exclaimed, having remembered why she was angry with Cor.

Before Gladiolus could stop her, Iris stormed all the way to Cor, yelling her head off as she did so. Cor narrowed his exhausted eyes at her and turned on his heels and began storming off, his fingers comically plugging up his ears as he did so.

Iris chose to chase after the man anyway, chiding him again for leaving her (and Talcott) in Cape Caem, not even caring if her raging attracted the attention of others that were close by.

With a roll of his eyes in exasperation, Gladiolus made his way over to Cid and Aranea, taking their argument as the top priority.

As he stopped next to them, he asked in a serious tone, "Alright, what's goin' on here?"

As she stifled a silent yawn that escaped her mouth, Aranea glanced his way and said, "Oh great, next shift's here. Do me a favour and take extra precaution with this old nutjob, will ya?"

Cid glared daggers right at the mercenary.

"Oh you ain't gonna get off that easily, ya damned Imperial! You got another thing comin' if ya believe you can sli'her 'way back to the Niffs and report our position!"

Aranea rolled her eyes lamely at his accusation.

"And I already told you - I've defected from the Empire. Officially. You got eight pounds of ear wax stuffed into your ears or something, Gramps?"

Cid growled darkly, "Now that's a pile of chocobo turd if I ever heard one!"

Shaking her head in slight annoyance, she folded her arms and looked back ro Gladiolus.

"Know any good place where we can settle things privately?"

Gladiolus was keen go along with her sensible thinking...

... until her next sentence.

"Think it's time to take Old Yeller behind the shed and put him out of his misery."

Cid looked as though he was about to rupture a blood vessel and have a heart attack, but then gave out loud, humorless bark of a laugh.

"Old Yeller, eh?! The nerve of you to call me Old Yeller!" he basically snarled at her and took a step forward, "I'll show ya this dog still has some bite left in 'im..."

Aranea remained unfazed, but her fingers were twitching slightly at her sides, ready to call upon her trusty lance should things turn really ugly.

It was at that moment that Gladiolus finally decided to step in-between them.

"Come now settle down," he ordered both individuals as calmly as he could as he held back Cid from advancing any further, "There's no need to settle this case with an act of hostility. And no putting the mechanic out of his misery."

He directed a disapproving glower at Aranea with that last statement.

He certainly did not need another one of his friends to start grieving over the death of her Paw-Paw. It also would not help Aranea's case of defecting from the Empire if she killed someone who had ties to the royal family.

Aranea appeared to be thinking the same thing as her cautious stance relaxed, even though she still casted a forward glare at Cid who too had begrudgingly agreed to back down while grumbling obscenities under his breath.

Easing slightly that both had chosen to simmer down, Gladiolus cleared his throat.

"Now I know today has been rather... eventful to say the least, and everyone's on their last nerves, I understand that. But remember what Ignis said earlier about-"

"And what did the spikey glasses kid say exactly?" Cid questioned him with a raised eyebrow.

Gladiolus stared at him somewhat puzzled at his question, and it clicked im his mind. Inwardly, he made a facepalm and groaned, recalling that the old mechanic hadn't been there during Ignis' speech.

With a deep breath, he continued on, "In times like this, dissension and arguments are the last things that we need, especially when we've got a major crisis on our hands."

"Sephiroth, right," Aranea acknowledged with a sharp nod.

Cid gave her a confused look, "Sephiroth? What is that? Some new form of chocobo pox or a new fashion line for elderly folk?"

Both Gladiolus and Aranea fought the urge to roll their eyes at this.

"Basically speaking, he's a god that's hell-bent on destroying Eos," the former clarified in a grim tone.

The mechanic eyed him warily for a silent moment, as though he was trying to pass judgement on the big man's statement. After a few seconds of intense staring, Cid finally softened his look.

"You're not bluffing," he concluded in his gravely serious tone.

Gladiolus immediately acknowledged it as the voice that he had not used since their visit to Hammerhead following the Fall of Insomnia.

"Would I be joking about something if it's dire?" he asked rhetorically, adopting a matter-of-fact, "C'mon Cid, you ought to know us Amicitias better than that."

Cid frowned at his remark.

"Yes... and I see you've also inherited your old man's tendency to be an irritating pain in my ass."

Aranea chuckled softly at this and elbowed Gladiolus in the arm.

"I think he just insulted your father, Mr Big Shot," she commented with a snarky grin.

Gladiolus narrowed his eyes, but his eyes focused on Cid.

"And I'm gonna fracture your arm if you elbow me again," he growled under his breath, even though a hint of embarrassment could be heard in his voice.

Smirking widely at his attempt to remain calm and satisfied that she threw his antic from earlier back at him, Aranea commented, "Touché."

Before Gladiolus could contemplate trying to get back at the mercenary for embarrassing him, Lunafreya suddenly stepped into their little social group, flanked by Ignis who had chosen to commune with her for the past ten minutes.

"Apologies if I seem to be interrupting your conversation..." she spoke as regally as ever, "... but could we now discuss what we are going to do next regarding preparations?"

From her timid expression, it was almost certain that she had caught snippets of the argument that took place just now.

But then her expression darkened slightly as she exchanged glances with Aranea, who simply stared blankly back in response. Gladiolus raised an eyebrow of wonderment and thought to himself, "Man, what would it take for someone to actually get under her skin?"

"Gladio," Ignis called to him and the big man looked in his direction, "If I may ask, where is the Marshal currently at?"

Gladiolus could not help but smirk slyly as he folded his arms.

"Let's just say he's busy with... baby-sitting Iris."

Which was somewhat true, considering how much Iris being "occupied" with the man.

"Oh... so that would explain all of that screaming shouting from Iris earlier," Lunafreya commented thoughtfully, her chin being stroked by her free hand whilst the other held onto the Trident that she continued to keep by her person since the Altissia episode.

"Oh? You guys hadn't noticed?" Aranea questioned with her hands at her hips, "That kid was hollering her head off louder than goblin. Probably half of everyone here in the lot turned to watch it happen."

"Forgive us if we appear to feign ignorance as we were both discussing about the threat of Sephiroth," Lunafreya apologised, but Aranea easily picked up on the sarcasm with amusement.

Who knew that the Oracle was even capable of something as audacious as backchat? But did not mean she was going to back down to someone who was of greater importance than a notorious mercenary.

Sensing the tension rising again, Gladiolus cleared his throat and a took forward.

"Okay, as much as you two ladies wanna go off the rails on one another," he appealed to both females, "It's been quite a day for everyone in Lucis, so I suggest we let cooler heads prevail at least until we can can come with an idea about dealing with Sephiroth? Sound good enough for you?"

Lunafreya and Aranea stared at one another intently, both daring the other to back down or make the next move. But then they both looked away, but their scowls remained.

"Seems reasonable enough."

"Yeah, whatever."

Cid frowned at the childish act displayed by both women and made a irritated huff.

"Women are all the same... no matter what side they're on..." he grumbled to himself as he starts trudging off, "I'm gonna go check on my niece and Jared's grandboy."

He passes by Cor, exchanging nods as they walked past one another, as the latter approached the group.

Noticing that Iris was no longer chasing him, Gladiolus asked, "What happened to my sister?"

Cor glanced him with his tired frown.

"She gave up on pursuing me whilst we were in the marketplace. Said that she needed to catch up with you on some things."

His response prompted a raised eyebrow from Gladiolus. Is that so? Then why was it that she was not around in the viscinity?

With suspicon filled his thoughts, he started looking around to see if he could spot. But then he started looking behind him...

... and came across a grotesque sight.

"BWALALALALALALAH!" Iris screamed in his face, her eyes pointed inwards, her fingers stretching at the corners of her mouth wide enough for all her teeth to be seen, and her tongue sloshing all around like some sick parasite that was embedded in her mouth.

Gladiolus was sent into a state of befuddlement and terror, and he unleashed a loud howl of fright as he jumled backwards.

Aranea's eyes went wide slightly not because of the scary face Iris was pulling, but because the big oaf somehow managed to jump 4ft into the air.

Cor too was also completely stunned by this abrupt action and he stumbled back aimlessly as the male Amicitia landed just a hair's breadth in front of him.

With a hand tightly clenched at his chest, where his pounding heart was, he stared in bewilderment at his baby sister as she began breaking into hysteric laughter.

"Oh gods! That was so on point that time! And it still gets you every time Gladdy!" Iris exclaimed, her hands holding her sides as they began to grow sore.

With cheeks that were flushing as red as a rose petal, Gladiolus eyed everyone else that were looking at him. Somehow he was not surprised to see that they were all giving him amused smiles.

It was more than he could take, knowing that his pride had took a serious pounding from a mere scare antic. His mind shifted to another gear as he stared down his sister who was still laughing. Slowly he started advancing towards her, an evil grin on his face and his arms slowly stretching out.

"Aaaaaand there goes our logic and reasoning," Aranea commented disappointedly, but her smirk still remained.

She clearly was enjoying what was going down.

As Gladiolus began attacking his sister was a flurry of tickles, Cor diverted the rest of the group's attention towards him.

"Right, "ahem"!" he declared with a loud cough, "While we wait for... Clarus' kids to settle down, might I suggest we convene about how we should deal with the extraterrestrial threat?"

He eyed the siblings again, albeit with grimace. Clarus would be turning in his grave and crying if he could see his grown children acting like five-year-olds in the middle of a tense situation.

Lunafreya nodded her head, her playful smile from earlier now replaced by a very serious frown.

"Indeed we must," she spoke out grimly and then turned to Ignis, "You have the floor, Ignis Scientia. After all, the only people with better knowledge on this case would be from Prince Noctis' retinue."

Nodding his head in concurrence, Ignis adjusted his spectacles and stepped into the middle of the small circle that they had formed. With a deep breath, he began to speak.

"Now as I'm sure you are all aware, Gladiolus, Prompto and I were accompanying the Prince to Altissia with original intentions of getting the Hydraean's blessing. During our brief tenure there, we also met with First Secretary Camelia Claustra, with whom Noctis made a deal to safeguard Altissia's citizens in exchange for the safe protection of Lady Lunafreya here under their jurisdiction from the Empire. But that was when fate reared its ugly head. As we were on our way out of the First Secretary's estate, discussing on how we should deal with the Hydraean, something crashed down into Altissia from the heavens like a meteor. Naturally we decided to investigate the incident up close to see what was causing quite a stir, but when we did arrive at the crash site, what we discovered was quite... out of the ordinary. A pink-haired young female lady."

"Ah... the gal who was trekking along the ledges of the asteroid," Aranea acknowledged with a nod. Ignis nodded his head, "Indeed. She introduced herself as Serah Farron, and if you can believe it, she claims to have hailed from another world."

"Another world?" Iris asked from nearby as Gladiolus finally let up on his tickle attacks. She was holding onto her sides that had taken the brunt of the onslaught.

"That is correct. Aside from that, she also went into a fair bit of detail concerning our newfound adversary Sephiroth. The facts that she gave us about him were quite... troubling to say the least."

"Troubling?" Cor questioned with folded arms. His face had turned into a frown once he heard the last phrase.

Ignis' face turned grim and sullen.

"According to Serah, prior to her encounter with Sephiroth, her world had been destroyed by the god that ruled it. After defeating him, she alongside countless other lost souls began a long journey across space to find a new world that was created for them. But somewhere down the line... they came across Sephiroth's asteroid, and were trapped there by his power. At first nothing happened, that is until Sephiroth and his children began killing them off. Relentlessly, and without any mercy. It was a slaughter. Serah was the only survivor I'm afraid."

Everyone were stunned into silence as the words of the Advisor sank in. No words could describe what emotions were going through their minds right now.

Horror because of the fact that Sephiroth was apparently a mass-murdering psychopath who killed without any hint of remorse or sparing a second thought to those he slaughtered in cold blood.

Fear because if that was what that monster was capable, what was he able to do against an entire world?

Anger at the fact that innocent lives had been lost in the wake of Sephiroth's warpath (even though they were not from Eos), and the possibility that billions more had suffered the same fate across the universe.

Certainty that this could be a fight that they would inevitably lose. Just another batch of souls to add to Sephiroth's collection.

But Cor was unwilling to let the last emotion cloud his judgement. There had to be a way to defeat a god. The Astrals obviously had their flaws in the old legends. Sephiroth should be no different.

"So basically, after killing off everyone else, Sephiroth just sent Serah on her way to warn us right? His next target?" he clarified with folded arms.

Gladiolus hummed in response as he stood next to Ignis.

"Pretty much the gist of it, Marshal. And the rest as they say is history."

Nodding his head slowly, Cor stroked his chin deep in thought. Meanwhile, Iris slowly went up to her brother's side and tugged at his shoulder for attention.

"Gladdy...?" she mumbled softly to him, fear and sadness evident in her eyes, "A-Are we going to... d-die?" The last word triggered something in Gladiolus as he spun around and gripped firmly by her arms.

"No! Don't you dare say things like that!" he growled angriliy as he shook her, "I won't have any of that nonsense!"

"B-But it may be... inevitable..." Iris implored, a look of resignation had suddenly crossed her face, and then a smile of all expressions began to form slowly, "At least... we get... to see Dad again..."

Gladiolus was stupefied into silence by her statement and that goddamned eerie smile. Oh, he did NOT just hear that come out of his sister's mouth! It was very unnerving to see his usually cheerful and free-spirited Iris act this preternatural.

In growing rage and frustration, he shook his sister more violently and snapped, "I said SHUT UP! There's no way in hell I'm gonna let you die like that! Not while I'm still breathing! Listen to yourself! What would Dad say if he saw you acting like this?!"

Iris tensed up fearfully at her brother's enraged voice, and her tearful eyes widened with fear as she stared at him.

Hearing the dangerous tone in his friend's voice, Ignis cautiously took a step away from him. He knew better than to invade Gladiolus' personal space when he really lost his cool. Cor apparently got the same message as he gestured for everyone else to back away slowly from the siblings.

Lunafreya gripped tightly on the Trident with both her hands. Gladiolus current interaction with Iris somehow reminded her of the countless times her own brother Ravus had reprimanded her on an emotional level.

"Whether you like it or not! This is the way things are now! Noctis has been kidnapped and taken into outer space, and Eos is being threatened by a god! Yes, there's a very good chance that we may not survive this and we all will die in the end! But if you think that you're going to die alone, then you better start looking at the bigger picture 'cause all of us are FUCKED!"

With all of his rage spent, he took in deep breaths to compose himself. That was when he caught sight of his sister trembling with a paled look. Her behavior made her look like a little kid again.

"Great. Now she's terrified of you. Way to go, Big Guy," he thought to himself guiltily and sighed.

Raking a hand through his hair, he said, "Look... the thing is... I'm scared as hell myself that I would die during the fight. Heck, all of us here are scared that we will die. But here's the thing Iris: there something I'm much more scared about than dying myself."

"S-Sephiroth?" Iris asked softly, a tear slowly streaking down her cheek.

Gladiolus took notice of it and reached with one finger. He brushed the tear away with his index finger and then responded emotionally.

"Losing you... like we had lost Dad."

There was a moment of silence that hung around the siblings. But then there were sobs, and then there were tears that finally burst free from her eyes as Iris leaned forward and embraced her brother tightly. Her body felt warm against the chilly night air.

In turn, Gladiolus wrapped his arms lovingly around his sister and leaned close to her ear. "I wasn't there to protect Dad, on the day we lost our home. And I hated myself for it," he whispered gently, "And I swear on my life that I won't let the same thing happen to you too."

Chocking back another sob, Iris softly made a smile and mumbled back, "I-I love you... G-Gladdy..."

Stroking her back gently to calm her down, Gladiolus replied back lovingly, "And I love you too..."

But as pleasant as the heart-warming moment was, it was not to last. As he looked up to face the others, he caught sight of something right behind them.

Almost immediately his mood turned sour again and he began scowling. Ignis frowned at his sudden change in mood. "Anything the matter, Gladio?" he asked with concern. But the response he got was only silence as his friend continued to sneer way past the others.

Sensing that there waa someone behind him, Cor tur ed around to see who it was. Almost immediately he adopted a dangerous glare.

"You've got a lot of nerve showing up here..."

Hearing this, Ignis turned around as well with Lunafreya and Aranea, to greet a heavyset young man with brown hair in a ponytail, a chin beard, and blue eyes. He sported a pair of cornrows on the left side of his head that connects to a braid. he wore a gray tank top, an elaborate beaded necklace, shorts and loafers.

Within seconds Ignis recognised who the man was, and so did Lunafreya.

"The one who escorted me out of Insomnia," the latter breathed in utmost surprise, "Libertus."

Hearing the name also caught Iris' attention as she turned around.

"I've met that man before..." she muttered softly, watching as the man in-question limped towards them with a single crutch, "I-Isn't he a..."

"Glaive..." Gladiolus growled out dangerously as he stood in front of his sister protectively and on guard.

Ignis also got into a wary stance, prepared for anything if the Glaive did anything suspicious.

As he slowly limped closer towards the Marshal, Libertus took note of the others gazing warily at him, excluding Lunafreya who waa smiling welcomely of his presence.

Turning his attention back to Cor, he commented, "Quite a way to welcome us, sir. Although I don't fault you guys for acting like that."

"I wasn't really expecting you lot to show up," Cor stated bluntly, nodding behind Libertus to his fellow comrades that were being held at a confinement space of the car park by the Hunters, "After what you did in Insomnia."

The weary Glaive sighed deeply with remorse and guilt evident in his features.

"Look. I know what we did that day was wrong. We betrayed the Crown, we get that. But you must understand. We had to make a tough call. Fighting for the King, or fighting for our homes that Niflheim now occupies."

"And you chose to side with the ones that razed your homes to the ground," Cor growled out vehemently, "The Empire took everything from you and still you believed their 'promise' to keep your homes safe."

Libertus was taken aback by the accusation, as truthful as it was hurtful, and was immediately on the defensive.

"Now, now, wait a minute here! We all know how dastardly those bastards can be! But at the end of the day, it was either trading one villain for another or risk losing our homes forever!"

"So that's what you thought him..."

Both men slowly spun around to the femalw who suddenly spoke up with a frighteningly dark growl. Gladiolus was also caught by surprise when he gazed to his sister, who had stepped away from behind him and was now staring down the Glaive with murderous eyes.

"You thought King Regis was a villain this whole time..." Iris snarled, a fierocious sneer had formed, scary enough to even make the Marshal feel rather unnerved.

Libertus stared back at the enraged Amicitia, but he tried remain as calm as possible as he took the full brunt of her attention.

"His Majesty gave us many reasons to believe why he had chosen to forsake us in favour of his son, but little to contradict otherwise. I'm sorry."

Something about the Glaive's words triggered a flip of a switch inside of Iris. She threw back her head and barked out a forced laugh.

"You're sorry?" she questioned in unamused disbelief, "You ass-kissing turncoats betrayed the royal family that protected your people for generations... and you're SORRY?!"

Before Gladiolus could react, his sister began charging right towards Libertus, fuelled by rage and anger, as she internally grieved for the deaths of her father and King Regis, and everything that the latter's son had to go through in the wake of the Fall.

With one swift kick of her leg, she disarmed Libertus of his crutch, which caused him to stumble back in surprise from the lack of balance. And then Iris balled her fist and drove it right into his unprotected chin, which sent him flying back two feet onto the road.

Lunafreya flinched uncomfortably as she watched Libertus go down in a heap, and then became more uneasy as Iris restrained his laid out arms with her legs and she began unleashed an all out assault on the defenceless man.

Iris screamed out her anguish, giving everything she had into her strikes to the Glaive. As far as she was concerned, the treason of the Kingsglaive stung even more than the Empire conquering Insomnia. They were the ones responsible for majorly crippling their defences that allowed the Imperials to abscond with the Crystal. They were the ones that enabled the enemy to get close and do away with Noctis' father. And they were the ones that helped steal away her home just to clear away the last major obstacle that stood between the Empire and world domination.

"This is all your fault!" Iris screamed right in Libertus' bruised face, "We have no home anymore! All my friends died that day! Because of you! We trusted you! I trusted you! And you just had to go and sell us all out just because of your stupid pride and blind honour for your own homelands!"

Feeling that things had gone far enough, Lunafreya turned to Gladiolus, who had been watching the beat down with a look of indifference. "Gladiolus, I implore you to restrain your sister at once and take her as far away from here as you can," she pleaded with him, "Before she does serious harm to Libertus."

Gladiolus glanced at the Oracle and gave a brief nod of understanding before he rushed forth towards his sister. While Iris was still lost in her own fury, he quickly started to pull her away from Libertus and dragged her towards the town, struggling to endure the flailing arms and kicking legs and her demands to release her as he did.

As soon as the Amicitias were gone, the atmosphere became silent and still, as the others slowly recollected themselves from what just took place. At the same time, Libertus slowly got up into a sitting position, hissing from the injuries he got from Iris, as Lunafreya went over to retrieve his crutch that laid just away from where he was.

As he slowly leaned himself to one side to favor his injured leg, Libertus thought back over what Iris had said just now. As much as he hated to admit it, she was right. It was because of the Kingsglaive's surprising defection to the Empire that Insomnia's fall went a lot quicker than anticipated. The subtle coup happened so fast, so timely, that it caught everybody off-guard, including the Emperor himself as he had his sole focus on the Crystal rather than acknowledging allegiances to the Imperial cause.

Yet even as victory seemed inevitable, Libertus was feeling the exact opposite of what his rebel comrades were exuberating. Instead of an overwhelming sense of pride and joy that he had finally helped take down King Regis, he felt a sense of loss and regret over his actions. He had chosen to aid the Lucian rebels and the Empire, yes. But he knew that it was all for nothing, once he had fully realised the implications that this would have on Eos as a whole. Insomnia was the last bastion of hope that people had when it came to fending off the Empire, as the Lucian capital had done so for two millennia. But now that the last obstacle was gone, Eos had been sentenced to an Imperial rule that was fraught with fear and despair.

Now as he reflected upon his own actions, Libertus realised that his support for the other side would not change Aldercapt's mind about improving the states of Galahd and other homelands that he had conquered. That tyrannical monster had lost all sense of reason and compassion, his obsession with the Crystal now becoming a staple of his everyday life.

Thus, Libertus made a decision and rejoined on the side of the Crown, as he helped his friend Nyx Ulric and Lunafreya from the wrath of General Glauca (formerly Captain Drautos), even going so far as to taking the latter out of the city central as his friend sacrificed himself to defeat the giant daemon the Empire had unleashed that night.

While his actions did affect the course of the future majorly, it would still be a footnote in history, but he could care less about being remembered. As he saw the woman that he rescued came up to him and offer him the crutch, he could see nothing but gratitude and encouragement radiating from her eyes. Those inner emotions meant much to him in his current predicament. If the Oracle was able to forgive him that easily, then the others would forgive him too. With time and patience of course.

With a nod of thanks, the Glaive accepted the crutch and used it to slowly hoist himself up on his good leg, hissing as his bad other stung just a little. Thankfully Lunafreya went over to his side and helped him up by his arm, giving him extra support and removing pressure off of his bad leg.

Once he was back up on his feet, he was approached by Cor who folded his arms and stared him squarely in the eyes.

"As you would've gathered from Iris'... feedback... what you and the Glaives did that day is something that is almost near-impossible to forgive. I will give you lot this opportunity to atone, but you have a long way to go before we can be assured of your unwavering loyalty again. That, as well as the judgement Prince Noctis will pass onto you upon his return."

Libertus winced visibly at the mentioning of Regis' son. That's right, the son was still alive and well, destined to take his place as the next King of Lucis.

It was almost a certainty that amongst everyone else that were unhappy of the Glaives' betrayal, Noctis was going to be the most furious of them all. After all, Regis was dead because of their lack of involvement on his side of the confict.

And since all hopes of realigning with Lucis fell to the decision of its heir, Libertus knew that he and his fellow comrades had to tread very careful. One wrong move and they would be forever branded enemies of the Crown.

With a forced look of guilt written on his features, Libertus managed a small nod of his head in compliance.

With that issue subsided, Cor resumed the discussion about their plans for Sephiroth.


"You know? You don't have to babysit me here, Gladdy," Iris stated with a pouty frown as her brother paced back and forth around her.

Currently, they were situated just outside of the Leville, and by now Iris had all but calmed down from the lack of Glaives gracing her sight.

With a steely frown, Gladiolus said to her, "Someone has to make sure you don't go off-the-rails crazy and cause another scene back there at the car park."

Iris let out a huff and folded her arms, "Well excuse me if I wasn't trying to make a point about us working alongside those traitorous scumbags."

"Yeah? Well I don't like this idea as much as you do, sis, but if the Marshal made the call, then it's most definitely the best solution that we've got for now. After all, there's a god out there somewhere in space and he's got our planet next on his hit list."

"Whether or not the Marshal made the right call or not, I can't really say. But there has to be better alternatives to this," Iris implored, "Maybe we could initiate a mass recruitment program for the Hunters. I mean, there's bound to be tons of folks around the continent that hates the Empire and..."

She paused suddenly and she lifted a hand to her open mouth. A tired yawn muffled through her fingers, but it enough for Gladiolus to guess how tried she must be.

"And I think that's the end of the day for you," he declared with a pinched of his nose bridge, "Since we're just outside the Leville, and the others are probably gonna spend the rest of the night planning, how's about I book you into a room for the night?"

Iris gave him a pouty face and blinked her puppy dog eyes. "But I'm not sleepy..." she pleaded dramatically.

Gladiolus attempted to refrain from chuckling, but then settled with a half-smirk. "Still trying to use guilt trip act on me, eh? Hate to break it to you, but you ain't a kid anymore."

"But I'm still young!" Iris protested, and stomped a foot down in a fuss, "I have to go out and experience life before responsibilities chain my life forever!"

"And you will get to do that, once we take down Sephiroth, and take back Insomnia," her brother stated plainly as he patted her on the shoulder and heads into the main lobby of the Leville hotel.

Iris spun on her heels and gazed down at his retreating form. "That's reassuring of you Gladdy! Kinda like your failure at explaining to me who the hell is Sephiroth!"

She did not get a response from her brother as he was now busy talking with the counter staff about the check-in details.

With a huff of annoyance, Iris whirled back around to view the scenery. Gazing all around, she noticed that aside from herself, there was no one else that was spending the night doing outdoor activities.

"They're probably all at the main road looking at Ignis, the Marshal and the others like they've no better things to do." she surmised thoughtfully with a disappointed shake of her head.

And then she thought back to a time not long ago, to the last time she was here. It had truly been a wondrous experience traversing a new town that was situated outside of the Crown City, and she relished every moment of it.

When compared to Insomnia, the lifestyle of Lestallum was on a different level entirely. From its food, to the female laborers, it was something that was very foreign and alien to Iris, and that why she loved it.

She loved the place down to the core, that she was eager enough to volunteer showing Noctis around the area. And in a way, it was also a win-win solution. While she had a chance to introduce Noctis to a new lifestyle that was different from their home, she also had a chance to do something that she dreamt of for a long while. A date. And while Noctis didn't exactly "agree" with that idea, Iris was determined to make the best out of quite possibly her only chance at alone-time with her crush.

But then her smile left her face, the more that she started thinking about Noctis. Thinking back to the news that she overheard on the radio, Iris thought it was just some dumb mind game fabricated by the Empire. An asteroid descending from the sky like it was some sort of spaceship - what a load of nonsense and crap! But on the other hand, Iris could not help but feel a tinge of worry that something bad would happen. Lo and behold it did happen, with the news reports that came in after the incident, as well as her brother telling her that Noctis was no longer on Eos.

Noctis. Her one and only crush. No longer on Eos. No longer on the freaking planet. After everything that had transpired today, Iris just wanted to believe that it was all just a nightmare that she would soon wake up from. It became too hard and too much just trying to grasp what was real and what wasn't anymore. And it was clearly taking its toll on everyone.

"They were all feeling rather unnerved," Iris muttered to herself thoughtfully, and she wondered how much the loss of Noctis alone would be affecting his other friends including her brother Gladiolus and Ignis.

For her brother, he seemed to acting the normality as best as he could, and yet he still could see the worry in his eyes. She knew how attached he had grown to Noctis, ever since that fateful night that Noctis covered up for her wondering outside of the Citadel. It would kill Gladiolus to have lost his first royal the way he did, and should anything have befallen Noctis wherever he was, her brother would never be able to live with himself.

In Ignis' case on the other hand, well... he was still Ignis. As Noctis' advisor, he had been trained to overtake the roles and responsibilities of the soon-to-be King, should the anything occupy the latter or he falls ill. As this was presumably his time taking on such a massive role, Iris was curious and also worried whether or not he would be able to cope with the pressure. For now it appeared that Ignis was doing alright, but time would tell if his mentality would crack under pressure from all that heavy lifting.

As for Prompto... wait a minute, did she see the blonde cameraman anywhere in the car park? If anything, it had to be assumed that he too had also been taken alongside Noctis into space. He wouldn't leave his best buddy in the dust alone just like that. Considering the lack of references from the others, it also made her feel a little bit angry. Was Prompto truly that insignificant compared to Noctis and this Sephiroth god?

"Iris!" Gladiolus called from the lobby of the Leville. Snapping out of her thoughts with a sharp shake of her head, she spun around to face him.

"Good news. Cindy's already booked a room for Talcott to stay in. I'd suggest to head over there and take over from the gal," her brother informed her.

Acknowledging this with a nod of her head, Iris replied back, "Right. Thanks Gladdy."

With a one last sigh, Iris tilted her head upwards to stare up at the night sky. With all the lights of the town shining all around her, it was definitely hard to pinpoint the stars. But she knew that they were there, faintly from her point-of-view.

Somewhere out there, was Noctis, and she was dreading to think what might have transpired to him out there in the beyond. And she absolutely hated the fact that there was nothing anyone on Eos could do about it, especially since their beloved Prince was light years away.

All that she could do now, was hold fast to hope. Hope that soon, he would come back and save the world from Sephiroth. Everyone was counting on him to survive.

"Noct... wherever you are... please be safe... for us..." she prayed softly to herself.

She stared at the sky for a seconds before heading inside of the Leville, unaware of another presence that was watching her from a distance away.

A middle-aged man with red-violet hair, donned in a black long coat and pinstripe trousers, who was lying against the wall of the building, tossing up and down an Oracle Ascension Coin in his hand.

He had seen everything that had happened at the car park, and had observed the conversation between brother and sister from the safety of the shadows of the alley.

As far as he was concerned, whatever everyone here was doing was of little importance at the moment. His focus was entirely on one issue. And he was still extremely furious once his plans went up in smoke following the incident with Leviathan.

It had been going so well. It was so perfect, so precise. How was it that everything went horribly wrong within just a matter of minutes? Well there was one answer to that.

Whoever this Sephiroth god was, he was certainly starting to become a hindrance to his plans. It was no thanks to that little show in Altissia that he been deprived of his one chance to do away with the Tenebraen bloodline once and for all and to move along the Scourge at a faster rate.

But if the words of that accursed Oracle were anything to go by, then his other prey would be coming back sooner rather than later to face off against this new evil foe. So the issue of who would confront Sephiroth was already taken care of. Stepping out of the shadows and revealing his true self would be unwise and very risky.

And yet that did not mean he would be sitting on his laurels though. He would have to thoroughly re-evaluate his strategy, create new plans. After all, the Chosen King had arrived and he was not about to let his one chance for redemption slip through his fingers.

For now however, he would still go along with Aldercapt's little game. Oh, and speaking of which, he had a little situation conference to attend.

With amber eyes gazing up into the heavens, he muttered cryptically to himself, "And so the wait begins... for the Chosen's Second Coming..."

And with a stroke of his fingers on the brim of his fedora, Ardyn Izunia turned and sauntered off back into the darkness of the alley, vanishing like he was never there.


And that's a wrap for now!

There's a couple of points I'd like to note before the end of this chapter.

1. It has been stated (according to Final Fantasy's Wikipedia page that Ignis had intended to become Noctis' General of the Crownsguard.

2. There is a moment in Brotherhood: Final Fantasy XV where Iris wanders outside of the Citadel just to chase after a cat.

3. Iris and Libertus met once before as stated in the web novel Final Fantasy XV Prologue Parting Ways.

4. A possible Sephiroth vs Ardyn has been contemplated upon a quite some time, but ultimately I decided against it, considering the bout would be more befitting of Noctis who will represent Eos as its Champion against the One-Winged Angel.

And that's enough of that for now I suppose. Please leave a review if you think there's something I can improve on. After all I've been away from writing for quite some time, so my skills are a bit rusty at the moment.

Well, until next time my friends! Now if you'll excuse me, I've got another story to start back up again...