For all the talk about skewering Loqi that had come up the last couple of days, Ravus hadn't expected to actually witness him being impaled. Let alone for that impalement to happen because Loqi was watching his back.

Surprise had been the ronin's only advantage, and Ravus cut down the daemon without hesitation before whipping around to check on his… ally.

Loqi hadn't gone down instantly. He was staggering, barely able to keep his feet beneath him as he clutched his stomach.

"Loqi!" Ravus sheathed his sword once more, heading to intercept the Imperial.

The man's mind was clearly failing him. He simply removed his hand from his stomach to stare at the blood on it.

And then he collapsed.

"Delilah!" Ravus bellowed, making it to Loqi's side and pressing on the wound as quickly as he could.

A metal arm was not a benefit in this situation.

Loqi lurched under the pressure, a soft groan catching in his throat. A small amount of clarity did return to his eyes, though. He was staring up – not so much at Ravus as through him.

"Fleuret…" he mumbled, surprisingly calm for someone bleeding out on the ground. "Crestholm… My people…"

"Oh, don't be asinine," Ravus said, automatically understanding where Loqi was going with that line of thought. "You'll be around to take care of them yourself."

Would he, though? It already looked like he was fading.

"Sir?" Ravus heard from behind him, as a quick set of footsteps struck pavement.

"Hurry, Glaive!" Ravus barked.

She did so, sliding in next to him on her knees with her fingertips already glowing green. "Move."

Ravus complied, pulling completely away from the Glaive to give her room.

There was nothing more he could do. It was up to her and Loqi's stubbornness now.

…So, in other words, he'd be just fine.


Given the amount of magic Delilah had poured into Loqi, he was mostly stable by the time they reached the hospital – one of the few buildings around actually being used for its intended purposes.

Loqi wasn't completely out of the woods, but his survival was very likely. He'd been lucky Delilah was so close.

"The hell happened to him?" Aranea demanded as Loqi was being transferred onto one of the medical beds near her. "And who beat me to it?"

Ravus snorted, lingering near the door and out of the medical team's way. "A ronin happened – one that was aiming for me. Quite irritating. Now I'll find him more difficult to be annoyed with."

Aranea snickered. "Well, I won't."

Ravus realized then that the bed she was sitting next to held Evan's unconscious form. Of course. That's why she was lurking around here.

Ravus gestured with his chin at the boy. "How is he?" He didn't look injured from what Ravus could tell, though he'd not had long to look him over.

Aranea's brow pinched, and she leaned forwards to brush some hair off of Evan's forehead. "They… think he's okay. Kind of hard to tell, though, since no one is really familiar with his condition."

Well, that was vague. "Which is?"

"I was getting there, Mr. Impatient." She rolled her eyes. "He doesn't have a scratch on him, so the theory is that Luna's blast caused him to pass out since he clearly has some daemonic genetics."

Right. That made sense. If Ardyn was able to control him like he did, that meant Evan probably had more than enough daemonic ties within him to be injured by–

Wait.

"What does that entail for him in regard to daylight, then?" Ravus hated to ask, but it was an important question. "Would he survive exposure to the sun?"

Aranea swallowed, and Ravus realized she'd already been asking herself that question. "…No one has an answer to that."

This was one of those times when Ravus supposed other people would be comforting. He'd never been particularly good at that, but he imagined he could try.

"Prompto never had any issue with it. Perhaps Evan will fare the same."

"Ardyn can't control Prompto like a puppet," Aranea muttered.

…Well, there went his attempt at comfort. No matter. She was a tough woman. The mere chance of something terrible happening in the future wouldn't keep her down for long. She lived with the possibility of terrible things happening every day. They all did.

"Then what choice have we but to wait and see? In all likeliness he'll be killed before the sun returns anyway."

Aranea slowly turned her head to stare at him.

…He was quite bad at this.

"…What the hell is wrong with you, Fleuret?"

Ravus clasped his hands behind his back, clearing his throat. "Childhood trauma?"

Aranea snorted.

There was a rustling over where Loqi was, and one of the doctors yelped. Then there was a hiss.

Ravus arched an eyebrow as one of the new clones crouched down by Loqi's bedside, glaring at the doctor.

Ravus looked to Aranea. "…Dare I ask?"


"This situation has gotten entirely out of hand." Cor pinched the bridge of his nose.

Ravus agreed. It seemed as though every time they were back at this meeting table, things became more ridiculous. At least there would be less people clamoring to get their opinions heard this time, though. Today, their group consisted of himself, Cor, Lunafreya, Prompto, Aranea, and Gladio.

So, in other words, at least Loqi wasn't here to take over the meeting.

And now he couldn't even think that without feeling a twinge of guilt. The man had to go and get impaled on his behalf.

"As much as I loathe to defend him, Loqi did have a point," Ravus said.

"Oh, he got a point all right…" Aranea muttered.

Prompto barked out an abrupt laugh before clapping a hand over his mouth. "That's horrible, 'Nea," he said through his hand.

"Yet you still laughed," she pointed out.

Ravus rolled his eyes. "I was referring to his mention of how he didn't have to follow our authority. The rest of the people in the city submitted themselves to our leadership when they took refuge here. Loqi, however, holds the same position as myself or the Marshal and only came to the city because he was protecting Lunafreya."

Oh, that was right. Ravus owed the dwarf twice over for putting his life on the line for Ravus and Lunafreya. Wonderful.

"He needn't conform to our entire manner of life, but I do expect him to follow the rules of our city while he's in it," Cor said. "Had he gone on his mission alone and on foot, we would have had no reason to stop him, but he procured one of our vehicles and took two of our fighters with him. Those actions are less excusable."

"Fighters," Aranea echoed with distain. "Right…"

Her tone drew Cor's gaze. "Speak your mind, Commodore."

Aranea arched an eyebrow. "That's a funny term to call Evan."

Cor sighed deeply. "You'll note he was just on a mission with you."

"Yeah, his first one."

"And the very next thing he did was break the rules."

"Because that was his first mission in this long," Aranea stressed. "Cor, he's been patient, but this is ridiculous. He knows he's never going to get anywhere like this. He's ready to hop in a truck with Loqi and become a permanent citizen of Crestholm. You know Ardyn could kill any one of us any time he damned well pleased. If he's really set on that, how is keeping Evan out of the field going to help?"

Cor frowned – an honestly unsettling sight with his one dead eye. "His connection to Ardyn isn't the only reason he isn't in the field, as you well know. Mentally, he's still a child–"

"A very capable child. Did anyone else see him earlier?" Aranea didn't wait for him to finish. "He handles combat in the field as well as anyone else around here. And don't give me that crap about what the citizens think and blah blah blah, because none of them even notice him anymore, and if you actually took the time to give his situation a real look, you'd see that too."

Cor sighed again. "I will admit he hasn't been at the top of my priority list."

"No shit," Aranea deadpanned. "He never has been. That's why you and Ravus have both been giving us the same vague as hell crap about this whole thing for years now. You next to ignore his existence unless someone brings him up."

"We've had a few more pressing matters to tend to," Ravus said dryly.

"Well, now this is pressing," Aranea said.

Gladio cleared his throat. "While I may not agree with all she just said, Aranea's right about this needing to be dealt with properly. Evan and Loqi. I say forget about before. What are we gonna do about them now? And the new clones?"

Ravus noticed Prompto wince at that last part, even if he stayed quiet.

Lunafreya took a breath, speaking for the first time. "That trade route on which Loqi has been so fixated – we do need it."

Gladio sat back in his chair, folding his arms. "And you think letting him use those kids is a good idea?"

"Obviously not right this minute, but having them run between cities would give them a purpose and keep them from alarming any citizens wary of being around them." She tilted her head in thought. "Perhaps we should leave the decision to them once they are mature enough to understand."

Gladio looked doubtful. "Cor? Thoughts on that? And what to do about Loqi?"

All attention went to the Marshal as they awaited his reply.