Several days later…

Amara sat the food down on the table, arranging it in a pleasant manner in an attempt to help, but the young boy's mind was elsewhere. His eyes puffy, voice hoarse and body rigidly still, he kept his head down as if not alive.

"Talcott..." Amara started, sitting down. "You have to eat."

Talcott didn't move nor respond, but continued his inaction.

"She's right, Talc." Iris mumbled, looking out of the window.

"I don't care."

Amara sat down, "At least you got him to talk."

"Yeah." Iris mumbled.

'He reminds me of Rav when his mother died,' Amara thought, 'of course… he used to pretend like it didn't bother him. What would that accomplish? But, he is young.'

Amara looked around the frigid room, unsure of how to navigate the flat quiet; when Ravus was in mourning he only offered bouts of anger and insecurity. Never complete silence. To compete with it, she switched on the radio only to hear a news report.

"...has issued the following statement addressing the Imperial blockades across the region."

Amara's ears perked up and for once, she was thankful for the lack of conversation going on.

"We believe the insurgents involved with the attack on the Citadel have taken to Duscae. The blockades are only to root out the criminals."

'If I found a blockade, maybe I could get back quicker,' Amara thought, 'but… maybe that's not too smart. I still don't know how I got here.'

"I'm aware of the hassle the citizenry will go through, but sacrifices must be made for the good of all."

'He sounds different,' Amara thought, turning off the radio.

A strange sound floated through the air and Amara's eyes snapped over to the originator; it was Talcott.

He let out another whimper and wiped his eyes, "The Empire does nothing but hurt people." Talcott whimpered. "B-but… it'll stop. Prince Noctis will stop them and no one will be hurt again."

The corner of Amara's mouth turned downwards and she cast her eyes in the same direction. Nothing came out of her mouth and the only thing she felt was pit of shame in her stomach.

"Huh?" Iris murmured, snapping out of her daze. "It stopped raining."

Amara listened as the heavy rainfall transitioned into light pitter-patter, but it wasn't enough to lift the fog that soured their mood.

Talcott's legs swung back and forth, his cactuar figurines standing off on the counter of a drawer. Amara noticed he hadn't played with them since Jared's passing and figured he wouldn't touch them again until he was further along in his healing.

'It's the least I can do,' Amara thought.

"Hey, Talcott," Amara started, "let's go down to the market and get you something to eat."

Talcott's legs stopped moving, "I don't wanna."

"I'll buy you whatever you want."

"No."

Amara smiled at his familiar stubbornness, "How about ice cream?"

Stifling a grin, Talcott looked up, "Fine."

"Well, let's go."

x

"Like ants to sugar," he muttered, following after them.

Just as the gang arrived at their car, the blonde boy turned around, alerting the group of his presence.

'Won't do you any good,' he thought.

"Uh, guys!" The rest turned around to see him striding towards.

"It's been quite some time, Noctis."

The prince narrowed his eyes, "Ravus."

"You've received the blessing of the storm," Ravus watched him like a hawk. "Yet… you know nothing of the cost." Within a second his blade was at Noctis' throat.

"Step back," Gladiolus stepped in, but was swiftly stopped by the commander's blade.

Holding up a hand, Ravus said, "Keep still. Hmph," he scoffed, studying the prince. "Not what I was expecting from a king."

"Coming from an Imperial rat," Noctis hissed, "Serving at the enemy's feet to hunt down Luna!" He stepped forward into Ravus' grasp, causing the commander to throw the young man back.

"In what world does a commander, serve?" Ravus shot back.

Gladiolus stood in front of Noctis, brandishing his bare hands with the same confidence as his sword.

"His sworn shield," Ravus said.

Gladiolus sneered, "Damn right."

"Let's see how well you protect." Ravus drew and struck in one swift motion, bringing Gladiolus to a crouch. Swinging his elbow into his chest, Ravus sent Gladiolus flying back and hitting the car.

Noctis glared at the commander, "Well if you wanna fight, come on."

"Hmph." Ravus sneered, stepping towards him.

The air turned cold, smothering all with it's frosty temperature and a light shimmered in the air.

"You've done more than enough, commander." Ardyn said, displaying a hand to the prince. "In need of some help, Highness?"

Noctis narrowed his eyes, "Not from you."

"All I want to do is help." Ardyn replied.

"And how's that?"

Ardyn smiled, "By shooing the pesky army away."

'He's always lurking around,' Ravus thought, 'like a snake.'

"We're not stupid," Gladiolus hissed.

Ardyn turned, shrugging off their displeasure, "The next time we'll exchange glances, will be across the seas. As it turns out, we've got dealings of our own with the deity, don't we?"

Ravus glanced over at Ardyn, but kept quiet; he didn't care to deal with the Chancellor.

"Safe travels, Your Majesty," Ardyn said, "do take good care of yourself."

x

"He ate ice cream, huh?" Noctis chuckled. "That's a start."

Amara nodded, "Something like one."

"I want to say thank you," Iris started, fidgeting with her fingers, "for… cheering him up. Distracting him. He's really sensitive so, this is harder for him to take."

The pit in Amara's stomach, consumed her briefly; the act of playing both sides was proving to be more of an emotional endeavor than she expected.

'Why are they so nice?,' Amara thought.

"Uh, sure," Amara mumbled. She shifted in her seat and studied her King's Knight cards, then looked over at Noctis. "So, how did you get your car back?"
Noctis sighed, "Had to take down an Imperial base… even encountered the High Commander himself."

'If I'd gone, maybe I'd be back by now!', Amara thought, 'I wouldn't have to keep… lying to these people. Well, I made the choice to lie, but if I told the truth… ugh, it doesn't matter.'

"I've heard the High Commander is… quite something." Amara said.

Iris put down a card, "He's probably just as disgusting as his soldiers."

"You're not too far off." Noctis added, glancing over at Amara. "Do you feel any better yet?"

She nodded, "Definitely. Jared… made a salve for me and it's helped quite a bit."

"He was always so kind," Iris smiled, "I'm glad he could leave you with that."