The In Between awaited. And in it: Ardyn Lucis Caelum lounged beside a half-emptied tea-tray with his chair balanced on two legs and his feet propped on the table.

"Ah, Nephew." He drained a pink-patterned tea cup dry and peered into the bottom of it. "How lovely to see you again. Come to give my proposal an answer?"

"I come to deliver a counter proposal."

Ardyn lifted his feet from the table. His chair fell back on all four legs with a bang. "Oh? How intriguing. Let us hear this counter proposal."

"You wish for me to join your fight against the Astrals. In a way, I already have, though perhaps I have not committed to the level of extermination that you desire. Nevertheless, you make a valid point: The Astrals pose a threat not merely to myself and my family, but to all of Eos. If they truly created the Starscourge, as you claim, then I must oppose them on principle."

"I am sensing a 'but'..." Ardyn said.

"But as matters with Niflheim stand, I cannot well oppose the Astrals. All of my power is drained beneath this siege. Indeed, my true power is held in check by maintaining the Wall, which is necessary to protect my people against the empire. Whatever threat the Astrals may pose, my first responsibility is to my kingdom. And without me standing between them and the empire, they will fall. At this rate, we will all fall within a day, regardless."

Ardyn upturned his empty teacup on the table and leaned back in his chair with a sigh. "Let me guess. You want me to call off the dogs. End the siege. Stop the war."

"While Niflheim opposes me, I cannot well commit to your cause."

"And here I wonder if you would commit to my cause, as you put it, without the threat of doom and destruction hanging over you."

"I can only give you my assurance that, without the empire looming over Lucis, I will endeavor to end the threat the Astrals pose."

Ardyn rose to his feet. He pressed his palms flat against the top of the table and leaned over, scrutinizing Regis. "The word of a Caelum means very little."

"Perhaps that once was the case. But not every Caelum is your brother."

"You may as well be."

"If you will not trust me, I can see no way forward in an alliance."

"Oh? And tell me something, Nephew. Do you trust me?"

"After a fashion," Regis said.

"After a fashion," he repeated. He straightened and rounded the table toward Regis. He had several inches of height on Regis, though it was impossible to tell whether that was real, or mere fabrication made by this place; in the physical world they had never stood so near to each other.

"Then make a show of faith," Ardyn said. "And I'll make mine."

"What do you ask of me?"

"Despite my assurances that I have no interest in your precious daughter, you keep her locked away from me in fear. Dismantle the barrier. Release her magic. Then we will talk."

Distantly, he was aware of sounds in this physical world, but he kept his senses trained on the In Between.

"Well?" Ardyn prompted. "If you wish me to trust you will keep your word, you'll trust me to keep mine."

And if all of this was some ploy to break down Reina's walls in the first place? If the Astrals had nothing to do with the Starscourge? If he was committing himself to an alliance that would only drag him and his family down into darkness and infamy?

A boom echoed in the In Between: not a sound but a sensation given form by Regis' mind. The whole world rocked, and though Ardyn seemed untouched by the rolling ground, Regis was knocked to his knees as pain shot through him.

The cannons were back. He was out of time.

"Think quickly, Nephew."

The In Between dissolved around him: The empty blackness faded away to the dimly lit interior of Regis' bed chamber and Ardyn was no more. Outside, lightning lit the sky, followed by a second series of red blasts, which shattered across the Wall and sent Regis reeling. He curled in on himself, pushing aside the pain and distraction while he gathered up the tattered remains of his magic to thrust into the cracking Wall.

The door to his bedroom flung open. In came Reina, followed by Noctis; she took his hand and a trickle of mana flowed into him. A bare fraction what they would need.

His focus turned inward. Reina and Noctis stood with him in the net that upheld the Wall and power flowed in all directions: between them—leveling out reserves and restoring some of what Regis had burned away—and to the Wall, fixing the cracks that each shattering blow brought. In the brief respite, the twins had recovered much of themselves while Regis had regained so little. It would not be enough either way.

Again the Magitek cannons fired and again the chips and cracks in the Wall were filled with magic. But even as it dragged on Regis' strength and his children struggled to patch the cracks, resources grew low.

One more barrage they could withstand. Maybe.

Make a choice, Nephew.

His own magic was caught up with Reina's. He could die sheltering her from Ardyn and lose her despite everything. Or he could drop the barrier he held around her and gain a smidgeon more of his reserves back. And perhaps much more than that.

Hold on, my dear. He squeezed her hand in his and pressed his magic against the barrier he had built up around her. He reabsorbed it, drawing that little bit of magic back into himself. Then he cut the bonds he had wrapped her in to prevent her from reaching the In Between. Her other sight was free.

And his half of the bargain was fulfilled.

A silent laugh rolled over his subconscious.

Regis' physical eyes saw nothing. But through his magic he sensed the change immediately: a great darkness swept up and across the Wall, crashing like a wave upon the outside. Unlike the cannons, it did not attempt to shatter the barrier, but the pressure was near suffocating, whether intentional or not. What must it have been like for those outside the Wall?

The cannonfire ceased. An inhuman screech ran through the imperial ranks and the world seemed to quiver with it.

His senses freed from the constant onslaught, Regis forced his eyes open and stumbled to his feet. His vision dimmed around the edges, darkness threatening to engulf it completely as he took one step, another step, willing his body to carry him across to the windows. Small hands gripped his hand and elbow, bracing him. He leaned. With that support, he managed the few shaky steps to the window and, leaning against the glass, beheld the chaos he had unleashed outside.

Daemons. Hundreds of daemons, brought in upon Magitek transports to combat Kingsglaive, had turned against their imperial masters. A great, tentacled beast enveloped one of the Magitek cannons entirely. While inky blackness seeped out of it, the Magitek ship fell from the sky and collided with the Wall.

Regis winced. His forehead touched the cold glass as he shut his eyes against the world and let the Wall pull strength from him. Had he saved Lucis, or doomed it? It was too soon to tell.

"Father, please sit down. If you fall I won't be able to catch you."

The hands that gripped his arm tightened and tugged. Regis opened his eyes to find Reina at his side, pulling him down. He sat where he was—she had more sense than he—and watched the unholy battle play out just beyond the Wall.

Someone pounded on the door.

"Your Majesty?" Avun called. "Are you well?"

It wasn't a word he would have used to describe himself. Semi-conscious? Yes. Aware? Unfortunately. Upright? Not entirely. Well? Not precisely.

He had meant to form a response, but his brain snagged on words and his tongue refused to move.

"We're alright!" Reina called back. "You can come in."

The door opened. Outside, the blackness of the storm met the blackness of the scourge to bring down a second Magitek cannon. Lightning struck at the daemons, as if their sudden coherence stirred Ramuh's indignation, but the daemons hardly seemed to care.

"Thank the Astrals," Avun said.

"Regis?" Clarus must have entered with him. Regis couldn't seem to pull his eyes from the sights outside the window.

But Clarus was here. And the others?

He wrenched his gaze free from the battle that now included Lucis only peripherally. "Is everyone safe?"

"All of us are within, but the Kingsglaive and some portion of the army remain outside the Wall," Clarus said.

"Call them back," Regis said. His voice sounded as bad as he felt: like it had been dragged on hot concrete all across lucis. "Full retreat."

"What's going on?" Clarus asked.

"Do it now." It took every ounce of strength to muster that tone, but the result was inarguable. Clarus ducked out of the room: distantly, his voice could be heard delivering orders over his radio.

Regis turned his gaze back out the window. Now that he knew the Kingsglaive was still beyond the Wall, he imagined he could see faint blue streaks of magic in the black fog of daemons. They needed to withdraw now, before any more fell casualty to this deal he had made.

He had made.

His forehead hit the window once more. Somehow the cold was comforting.

"Gods, what have I done…?"

Saved lives, he hoped. If Niflheim had broken down the Wall, would not the Kingsglaive have fallen, alongside Lucis' army? The people, perhaps, would have been largely spared: the empire would take control; they would kill the royal family but the common folk concerned them not at all.

Hands touched his shoulders. He lifted his eyes to find not only Reina, but Noctis standing beside him as well. He reached out, one arm to either side, and pulled them as close as exhausted muscles would permit.

He had saved their lives. If nothing else, he had saved his children. The cost had yet to be tallied, but if it was short of the destruction of Eos, he would struggle to believe it had not been worth it.