It couldn't have taken long to get to the Leville, but time in a crisis always seemed to feel as though it passed strangely. Too slow around the individual while everything else moved too quickly to hold onto – to stop.
Gladio's sprint to the Leville wasn't long. He was the next closest person to it other than Noct. But it was still too long. The gunshots had come in the middle of Noct shouting out the location.
Gladio already knew Loqi would be long gone when he reached the roof – Loqi wasn't stupid enough to stay put after all that noise – but he threw everything he had into running all the same. Maybe he could catch something – a glimpse of a goon or an MT. Some sort of trail to follow.
His boots struck the wet ground of the alley he was passing through, the echoes and splashing drowning out Loqi's last words as he continued on briefly after the shots had sounded off.
There were no signs outside the Leville, and Gladio growled in frustration, rushing inside and slamming through the door that led to the roof.
The roof itself was less empty, but no more useful.
Loqi had left Biggs' body there like a discarded piece of trash. Bastard.
The door slammed open again behind him, and Gladio recognized the footfalls as the softer ones belonging to Aranea. Gladio swallowed, stepping aside to allow her past him. Cor appeared from the stairwell then, too, and he took up a similar stance to Gladio beside him.
Aranea approached the body, slowly sinking to her knees and steepling her fingers together as she pressed her pointer fingers to her mouth. Her expression was strangely blank despite the moisture in her eyes. She didn't even blink.
The door to the roof was forced open again, this time by Ignis and Prompto, and Ignis instantly locked on to Aranea. Cor gestured at Prompto to move over by him, and Prompto wordlessly complied.
Ignis approached Aranea the same way she had Biggs – slow but steady, as though someone had forced extra weight onto his legs. He settled a hand on her shoulder, leaving it there for a moment before he knelt down next to her. "I am so sorry…"
She turned into his touch, letting her forehead rest against his chest as she squeezed her eyes shut.
The characteristic sound of a warp reached Gladio's ears as Noct flashed into place. He froze as soon as he'd landed, eyes darting from Gladio to the pair and then back again.
…Why was Noct focusing on him so much? He wasn't the one who'd just lost a friend. He hadn't known Biggs at all, though it was clear to see he was a decent guy. He'd just sacrificed himself for Nyx, and apparently gotten shot due to helping Ignis before. He didn't deserve to be put down like a rabid dog, that was for damn sure.
"Tell me you saw where the bastard went," Aranea growled, pulling away from Ignis suddenly and 'cause him to rise to his feet along with her.
Noct opened his mouth, then closed it, and then opened it again. Still, he was looking between her and Gladio. "I… He split everyone up. Nyx was dragged out first, so I followed him. They've got him at the Leap of Faith tower." Noct shook his head. "I-I'm sorry, Gladio, I don't know where…"
Gladio scowled. Something here wasn't adding up. "What are you apologizing to me for?" And it was then he realized that Cor and Prompto and Ignis were all also staring at him with that weird, apprehensive, and apologetic way. "What?"
And now they looked confused.
"Gladio…" Ignis said quietly, still hovering close to Aranea. "Did you not hear the last of what Loqi said?"
Okay, clearly he was missing something. "No. Couldn't from where I was. Why?"
"Dude…" Prompto sounded mildly horrified.
He looked to each of them, not failing to notice the way Cor's mouth was in a thin line and his hand was tight on his sword. He was affected by whatever this was, that was for sure.
"What is it?" Gladio snapped.
"It's your dad, Gladio." Noct locked eyes with him. "Loqi has him too."
What.
The words registered in his ears, but not with his mind.
His fath– his… this didn't make sense. His father had died protecting the King. He wouldn't have let things go any other way.
Gladio shook his head. "…What? No… that's not… that's not possible."
Noct kept his gaze completely firm. "I saw him, Gladio. On the roof beside Nyx. I don't know how, but it's true."
Gladio didn't even know how to name what he was feeling. It was too much – too many emotions threatening to overcome him all at once. Relief, confusion, dread, confusion, rage, confusion…
How? Why?
He'd never assumed… The thought had never even crossed his mind that his father had survived the Citadel–
His father. Had been in Loqi's hands. Since the Citadel. Suffering. For weeks.
His father was alive.
"What were they doing with Nyx?" Cor asked, getting back to the mission at hand.
Right. Shield. Focus. Noctis first, above all else. That was what his father had taught him.
Noct shook his head. "Not sure. They were chasing people away from the Leap."
"A huge, obvious display like the Leap?" Aranea crossed her arms, looking like she was fuming as much as Gladio felt. "That's another of Loqi's traps."
"Of course it is – you heard him." Ignis looked as though he was trying to push his glasses up before realizing they weren't there. "Nothing about this alludes to subtly. He wants us to choose. He'll likely put Clarus somewhere obvious as well. He wants us to attempt a rescue while he finishes his mission and escapes."
Noct's phone rang, and he scrambled to answer it, answering in a hushed tone.
"Not this time," Aranea hissed. "What do we need to do – save two people and take out one. By my count, that's three teams. We've got enough people for that, and he likely hasn't realized he's got the only key card he has left yet. He doesn't think we can do it all at once. I think we can."
"I concur." Ignis nodded. "Loqi has no reason to realize that the Marshal is with us. Teams of two for each task could work well."
Gladio agreed too. "So goes after who?" Six, did he want to tear the whole city apart with his bare hands and free his father, but his place was with Noct. He wasn't letting him out of his–
"Loqi's mine," Aranea said.
No one argued.
"I'll take Clarus," Noct said suddenly, flipping his phone closed. "Cindy says he's in the road that leads to the power plan."
Gladio shot him a look of surprise. Noct's warping might have been more useful at the Leap. Also, in the road? What the hell did Loqi have planned for the middle of the road?
Noct crossed his arms. "Look, we've known each other a long time. You wanna go after your dad, but I know you're not gonna let me out of your sight right now. So, we both go. Problem solved."
Gladio couldn't help but feel touched and a little bit proud at the same time. "Gotcha."
"Prompto, you and I will rescue Nyx," Cor stated, leaving little more room for argument than Aranea had as he turned to her and Ignis. "You two will have the most difficult and dangerous task."
Aranea straight up rolled her eyes. "No offense, Marshal, but do I look like I give a shit?"
"This is nothing to dismiss," Cor fired back, but still kept his tone civil. "Not only will you have to face Loqi without your usual strengths, but you need to retrieve the key card from him and escort a civilian mechanic inside to disable the jammer."
"I might also add that give Loqi's past…" Ignis paused, looking to each of them for a moment. "I strongly suspect that once we begin any attempt, the hostages will both be killed. We must coordinate and launch those two strikes simultaneously."
Dammit. He was right.
Gladio crossed his arms. "Then we best start getting into position to figure that out."
"Right," Noct said firmly. "Let's move out."
Aranea was right.
Prompto forced himself to not fidget as he hung in the middle of the crowd that was staring at the Leap from a reasonable distance. The platform that people had been jumping off of during the festival had been commandeered. The safety stuff below was gone, and Nyx was standing on the edge of the Leap, gagged as an MT held his left arm with one hand while it pressed a sword to his neck with the other. There were also two MTs guarding the base of the tower.
There was a zero percent chance that this wasn't a trap.
Cor weaved through the whispering crowd, rejoining Prompto and giving him a firm look. "This will take precision."
Oh, boy. Why did he feel like he'd been here before? "You want me to take the shot."
Cor nodded. "There is a very small target zone for what will actually kill one of them with the current state of your weapons, but I trust you can make it."
"And if I miss?"
"You won't," Cor said simply.
"But if I do?"
Cor was silent for a moment. "Then the MT will likely kill him instantly."
So… yeah, pretty much like last time. No pressure there at all. Prompto licked his lips. "You didn't, like, happen to bring a sniper rifle with you, did you?"
Cor shook his head. "You'll only have what you've been using."
"Right. Great."
"…You okay, hun?" Cindy asked Gladio quietly as they stared out at the scene before them from the extremely low roof they were on.
The look on Gladio's face was darker with rage than Noct had ever seen before. He'd made Gladio mad in the past – they'd had a thousand fights where Gladio raised his voice, but this? This was actually unsettling.
Not that Noct blamed him one bit. If this had been his father…
Clarus had been thrown in the middle of some sort of mock gladiator ring of MTs, a rusty sword his only means of defense he'd been given as one MT stood in the ring with him and tried to kill him. Clarus was barely standing, his grip on the sword shaky.
He looked horrible. Pale, thin, exhausted. Determined too, but that alone wasn't going to cut it. They needed to act soon.
"Fine," Gladio said rawly. He tilted his head. "Iggy, Cor – status?"
"We're in position now," Cor returned after a moment.
"There's still no sign of Loqi on our end," Ignis said. "I recommend you all proceed, so long as you do so simultaneously. I suspect an attack at both points will lull Loqi into a false sense of security. He'll believe us to be occupied and move to finish his work in the city. That was the point of these setups."
"Copy that," Noct said. He looked to Gladio. "You ready for this?"
Gladio narrowed his eyes, watching his father barely evade an MT's sword. "Damn right I am."
"Are you ready?" Ignis asked softly. Aranea stood to his left, scouring the streets below them with a hungry gaze.
She glanced at him. "Are you?"
Ignis took a deep breath. No. And he never would be. But he was ready for this all to be over. "As much as I can be."
"He's not getting away this time," Aranea said, her voice carrying a darker edge. "I'm going to kill the bastard, whatever it takes."
"Hm," Ignis agreed. It was high time this all came to a close. But something was still nagging at him. "And when it does? What then?"
She was silent for a moment.
Stay, he wanted to say. Where could she possibly go otherwise? Back to being a mercenary? Without Biggs and Wedge? Stay with us.
"All confirmed to advance?" Cor's voice broke his train of thought.
"Ready," Noct said.
"Affirmative," Ignis replied.
"Ready," Prompto said.
"Commence in three… two… one… Begin!"
"Godspeed," Ignis whispered, bending his knees and preparing to spring.
HEY HEY. Episode Ardyn is this week!
