Chapter 9: Preparations

Everything was in fast forward, almost from the moment Chancellor Izunia had left the citadel. Meeting upon meeting swamped the King and council, the Crownsguard and Kingsglaive were being reassigned, everything was on hold but moving forward at the same time.

Amara had wanted to break down and cry the second she had heard the news that King Regis had accepted the terms of the "peace treaty" Niflheim had offered up. Her fellow Glaives were understandably pissed, with few taking it in stride and the rest trying to not fall apart one way or another. She had opted to stay alongside them in their moment of mourning, knowing that as a Crown City Citizen she would never know the pain they were feeling in that moment, and offering Crowe a hug before the woman who had become a big sister to her took off for a classified mission briefing. Nyx and the injured Libertus were pulled not long after, having to deal with some details that she overheard involved the Prince.

With Noctis on her mind, she took off for her friend's apartment without bothering to change out of her uniform or call ahead.

It wasn't long before she was stepping out of the elevator and walking to his door, giving a loud knock as she also pressed the button on the intercom.

{Be right there.}

And there he was, a slightly shocked looking Noctis, rubbing his neck and only nodding his head to motion for her to come in. His apartment was a wreck, but not its usual kind - boxes were everywhere, being packed with whatever it was the guys were organizing.

"What's going on?"

"You haven't heard?" Gladio looked a little surprised as he stooped down to tape a box shut. "Noct's engaged now."

"Huh? To who? I was only gone for like a day."

"Lady Lunafreya of Tenebrae." Ignis spoke up as the others fell back into silence.

"The Oracle? How? When?"

"It's part of the terms of the treaty," Noctis seemed to find his voice again, and looked at her for a moment before returning to helping the guys. "We're leaving the city in a day or two."

"You're coming back right?" Amara reached out to grab the Prince's arm, not caring how it looked. "I mean, you are coming back to Insomnia after?"

"We'll both be coming to Insomnia after, I think. To be honest I'm still trying to wrap my head around this whole thing."

"He's not the only one." Prompto stood up, and carried a couple photos to her. "Here, Noct wanted you to have these. We found them when we were packing up his old comics."

Photos of them from high school, thumbing through them she couldn't believe how much things had changed. "You guys are going with him?"

"Yes." Ignis placed a hand on her shoulder as he made to pass her, heading for the kitchen. "I did try to ask if you could be made part of the retinue, but alas Uncle has made clear his Majesty wants everyone from both the Crownsguard and the Kingsglaive on standby in the city during the signing."

"Has a date been decided yet?"

"We were going to ask you the same thing." Gladio huffed, reaching up to rub the building exhaustion from his face. "I guess it hasn't been yet."

Silence pressed down on them again, but this time it was a tension in the air that made it be broken.

"I met the Chancellor." she looked around the guys, taking in their shocked expressions. "I was the one who escorted him to and from the Citadel. I knew he had come to offer that damned treaty, but I didn't know any of the details of it... "

"You didn't ask?" Ignis almost sounded as confused as she felt.

"I was… a bit busy asking other things. I didn't realize that we really did look so much alike," she spat out the final part of her sentence with a grimace on her face. "Captain Drautos saw us together when we entered the Citadel and suggested we could share an ancestor or something. Then the guards had these looks on their faces when we stood together again at the car…"

"It must have been a shock to realize the truth behind the rumors, if there even really is any." Noctis spoke with a tone she didn't quite recognize, almost as if he had switched into 'prince mode' or something. "Look, Amara, it doesn't matter if you look like the guy or not, there's no way you're related unless it's something like what Drautos said, but I'm sure it must've been confusing enough for you without the added worry of the treaty."

She nodded and sighed before unbuttoning her uniform jacket and tossing it aside. "I failed as Glaive and a Guard for the few moments I was with him, and for that I apologize. To make up for it, how about I give you guys a break a handle a bit of this mess for you?"

"Sounds good to me!"

The guys laughed as she made an attempt to dive headlong into the task they had started, helping out with some of the sorting Noctis had been clearly doing in his typically lazy way. She did her best to press down the guilt building in her, trying to ignore the slight burn the King's magic had taken on when she spoke of Ardyn. Amara joined them for dinner and a few rounds of King's Knight before finally calling it quits for the night, making sure to give each of them a tight hug and even a peck on the cheek before she told them goodbye (and goodluck, just in case she didn't get to see them again before they left).

Now she walked aimlessly through the Crown City, not really wanting to go home but not wanting to really be alone either. So imagine her surprise when a familiar car pulled up beside her, the window rolling down to reveal a more than slightly concerned advisor.

"I thought you were going home, what are you doing out here?"

"I guess I just started walking and stopped paying attention."

"Well hop in, I know just the thing for times like this."

"Excuse me honey, but do I look like the kind of girl who'd hop in a car with just anyone?" she was trying to joke with him, but he shut it down with a single tap of a finger against the steering wheel. "Alright, I'm getting in."

Ignis waited until she was securely fastened before pulling back out into traffic, heading a bit further into the city than she had been planning to go on her own. They arrived at his intended destination a bit sooner than she expected, though, and she was surprised to find them now parked outside a little hole-in-the-wall cafe he was obviously familiar with. Motioning for her to follow him the still-uniformed Glaive was a bit hesitant to do so, though his calm expression urged her after him. The man gave her a gentle smile, waving a hand towards an empty, out of the way table.

"I don't suppose you've decided to entice any other taste changes recently?"

"No, nothing worth mentioning."

"Then take a seat, I'll be right back."

"I don't know Iggy, I'm a bit too tired to make it to the car fast enough to get away with a chair."

"I take it by your jokes I should make whatever I decide to order you a double."

"If you're talking espresso, a four-shot. I'd say a triple but no one makes a machine that only does singles and I'm not wasting perfectly good espresso."

Ignis chuckled and made his way to the counter as she settled into a chair, looking out the window at the nightlife that was a bit too lively compared to how she felt. It was like the people of the Crown City didn't care about what was going on, and with a start she realized that most of them really didn't. Feeling her guilt begin to chew away at her once more she hardly noticed Ignis returning until he sat a large drink and a small plate of cheese danishes in front of her. Giving her a gentle smile the man settled himself across from her, sipping on his own drink for a moment as she eyed hers a bit warily.

"A vanilla frappuccino with a double pump of honey and four shots of espresso. I believe you referred to it as a "honeysuckle"?"

"You actually remembered that?"

"I was the one you forced to try it." he chuckled, reaching over to steal a danish from the plate in front of her. "I suggest you eat one of those before they cool down."

Giving a slight nod she decided to hede his instructions, picking one of the still warm desserts up to nibble on as he allowed himself to look away from her still worried face to the nightlife she had been examining before he returned to her. He waited for her to finish, and allowed her a few sips of her drink before he looked at her again, this time not bothering to let his concern be hidden.

"Amara, what's bothering you so much you'd wander around the city by yourself?"

"That obvious huh?"

"We're all concerned about you. The door had hardly shut before the others started talking about it." Ignis idly tapped his fingers against his cup, almost as if he were searching for the words to say next. "We… were worried that perhaps you were upset because of the situation with Chancellor Izunia, or perhaps as a member of the Kingsglaive you were in a bit of a situation because of the, how should I put this… the number of members you've become so close to over the past few years who are losing their homes to this farce of a treaty."

"I have to admit, I feel pretty guilty about it." she took a moment to rub her face before looking at her friend again. "I don't think I have any right to be as upset as I am, since I don't know what it's like to lose my homeland with only the promise of its retrieval to keep me going, only to have that promise quite literally ripped to shreds without a visible thought. But, these guys are like family to me now, and as guilty as I feel, I'm also pissed at this whole situation. Feels like we fought so hard for nothing…"

"Amara, as a Glaive I'm sure you're aware of just how bad the situation really is for Lucis."

"Yeah, I am, that's another reason I'm pissed. It's not just my hometown that's on the line, it's my nation, its my countrymen and their homes, their lives on the line, and as much as the Empire is dressing up this 'peace offering' I think you and I both know everything outside the wall is going downhill one way or another. The only thing we can do is what we're told, and hope it all goes well until a second stand can be made." though she muttered that last part to herself, it was evident by the look of confidence that flashed across the man's face that he had heard her. "What?"

"Nothing, just glad to hear you sound like yourself again."