The day she reunited with her cousin and the weeks prior that she'd spent trying to convince Ravus and Wyn to pursue the stranger that had killed the commander of their army... They were the good old days compared to where she was sitting now.

Those days of thinking they had all far more power than they could handle... Those were the final days of her youth.

And she squandered them.

In the weeks following the incident with the commander and the guard that was entirely engulfed by the daemons' dark energy, Glauca ordered triple the guards to stand on duty. Because Ardyn sent most of the soldiers away to new lives, the elite cadets were forced to spend their free hours between training and lessons guarding the walls and eyeing the forest. Kara and her friends knew, though, that the threat that killed the commander wasn't from the outside. It was too convenient for the chancellor.

Uneasy, they dragged themselves through duty after duty, only given time to check in as they passed each other between shifts. She hadn't seen Ravus in weeks and Wyn reminded her that the only remaining hours he had left in the day were likely spent with Kylinn. The thought made her insides churn.

As the threat slowly left the forefront of the new commander's mind, she and the rest of the elites were forced to increase their training time. Exhausted, their progress began to slow dramatically and even Ravus was struggling to keep up with their lessons. That's when Kara caught wind of a visitor that was meant to inspire them to work harder. She was scheduled to arrive within the week and strike awe into the hearts of the elites. Something told her Glauca knew nothing about his soldiers.

The murmuring was almost unbearable to listen to. Every guard around Kara pushed up on their toes to get taller, to get close enough to see the mythical creature the Empire paid to do their dirty work. Well, she may as well have been a mythical creature. Kara hung back with her arms crossed and a scowl on her face, watching the crowd gather around her famed cousin. Wyn nudged her playfully, grinning.

"Aren't you happy to see her? It's been years."

"What do you think?" she retorted. Her expression soured and he laughed.

"Jealous?"

"All she does is fly around and cause trouble," she protested. "That's nothing worth worshipping."

Wyn gestured toward the crowd of soldiers. "That's not what they think."

"Well, screw them and what they think."

"That bad?" Her brother couldn't help but snicker at the look she shot him. "Okay, well. At least give her a 'hello.' Maybe she's changed."

"I doubt it."

"You didn't say no."

Kara shot him a dry expression, but the hopeful smile on his face broke her. She rolled her eyes and looked toward the marble stairs. "Fine. One greeting."

"That's the spirit!"

Wyn took her arm and pushed his way through the crowd. Kara kept her eyes on the ground, ashamed to be a part of the wide-eyed teenagers around her. If only they knew the real Aranea… They'd be embarrassed, too. She spotted Mairi and Leo along the outside borders of the crowd and silently pled for them to save her, but they only raised their brows, amused.

"Those bastards hardly know how to hold their own dicks, much less their swords," Aranea snorted. Kara jerked her arm away from Wyn the moment she deemed them close enough. Their cousin slouched against the enormous, jagged javelin she'd dug into the once pristine, white stone. "What do you expect from a king that won't let anyone leave his castle, though? It's like those kids're seeing the sun for the first time."

Kara's stomach churned once she understood what Aranea was explaining in her dry, flat voice. Lucis's soldiers… She's bragging about the men she's killed. She clenched so tightly that her teeth caught her cheek and drew blood, but she hardly noticed. Instead, she recalled the desperation in the spy's eyes and the anger in her voice when she called out for her daughter. Trembling with disgust, Kara crossed her arms tightly.

Aranea's pale eyes caught Kara's scowl and her lips spread into a smug smile. "Well, lookie here. It's a whole family reunion." The crowd split enough that Wyn and Kara stood at the front with mismatched expressions. Aranea raised an eyebrow at the two of them. "You all that's left? Sad." Her scoff made Wyn's smile falter and Kara's jaw clenched tighter. She had to close her eyes to keep herself from speaking. "How're things going with this shitshow?"

"Fine," Wyn replied, attempting to keep his cheery tone upright. "A little messy at the moment, but that's just because of the recent overhaul."

"Hm." Their cousin looked entirely uninterested, rubbing at a scratch on the horned helmet that was tucked under her arm. "I don't have to worry about that bullshit out in the field."

"Bullshit?" Kara repeated, getting more wound up by the second. Wyn pressed his lips together.

"That didn't last long."

"Is the Imperial army rushing through here and burning our homes and killing our families just bullshit to you?" Kara demanded, stepping closer with her nails tearing into her palms. The blatant ignorance in Aranea's words replayed over and over in her head, making her face go red. "Is it inconvenient to you that our father died fighting for us?"

Aranea's lips wrestled a smile. She tipped her head toward Wyn. "His didn't, so why does he care?"

Kara lurched forward a step before she could control herself. It was Leo that clutched her wrist and held her long enough to anchor her back to herself. Control yourself. She wants this. Despite her demanding thoughts, she couldn't rein in her anger, enraged at the mockery Aranea was making of her father and his significance. Aranea didn't bother to stifle her laugh, throwing back her head and waving a hand to shut Wyn up when he opened his mouth to speak.

"You really do live up to your reputation, little girl." Straightening, she tugged at her silvery ponytail and shot Kara her signature smirk. "Don't you get it? Daddy issues aren't cute anymore, so cut it out and forget the old man. He's a bag of bones by now."

"This isn't about-!" Leo tugged Kara's arm so hard that she bit her tongue. Fed up, she pushed him away and drew closer to her cousin. "What is wrong with you?! That's your father's brother!"

Aranea raised an eyebrow. "And I'm supposed to care? My parents are dead, too, and you don't see me throwing a pity party in front of the entire damn army."

Wyn stepped up to Kara's side to speak up, refusing to stay silenced for long. "Maybe you should agree to disagree, hm?"

Kara shot him a look of bewilderment and Aranea scoffed. That's all you could come up with? Leo pressed his lips together and stepped back into the uneasy gathering of young soldiers, unsure how he could be of any help.

Aranea jerked her javelin out of the ground and eyed its jagged design for a moment. Kara flinched when its cold tip touched her throat, startled by how quickly her cousin was able to move. The soldiers shuffled backward, hushed.

"How about we settle our differences the old-fashioned way, huh?"

"Why would I waste my strength?" Kara snapped.

Aranea arched a brow. "Oh, you're scared? All you have to say is that you forfeit, sweetheart."

"I'm not forfeiting." Kara's grinding teeth were starting to give her a headache. "But I'm not fighting you either."

"Aw, why?" Aranea crooned, sticking out her lower lip in a mocking pout. "Scared to get your second kill?" Her face contorted into an expression of disgust. "Poor Kara wants to lead the legions like her father but faints at the sight of blood."

"Aranea—" Wyn started, though he didn't seem to have any thoughts to finish his sentence.

"I'm not fighting," Kara repeated. Her face hot despite the chill in the air and her palms were sweating, marked with crescents from her nails. She wasn't sure where to go from there. Should she walk away as Aranea jeered after her and the soldiers thought her weak? Or should she change her might and attempt to win a fight she likely couldn't?

Before she could decide, Aranea spat on the toe of her left boot. "That's what I thought. Think you're making a smart choice by picking battles, but you're a coward just like your mother."

The rush that pushed through Kara's veins sent her body soaring forward and her spear forming in her hand. Her jaw clenched and a gritted cry tore through her heart as she swung. Aranea's javelin met the shaft of her spear with a deafening clack and she swung the polearm around to strike the back of Kara's knees. Stumbling, Kara, rolled forward to catch her balance only to take another sharp strike to the back of her head that sent her tumbling over the edge of the tall marble platform of the Manor's outskirts with a sharp twist of her ankle.

Still stunned from the hit to the head, Kara dizzily grasped for any ledge to catch herself on, but, seeing in triples, she was unable to successfully stop the fall and landed flat on her back. The breath in her lungs shot out through her mouth the same time as a stifled grunt did. For a moment, her body was numb and the sky above her spun at a sickening speed.

The pain started in the ankle that twisted on the edge and at the back of her head where the bruise from Aranea's blow smacked against the cobblestone path. It spread like fire, trailing down her spine and toward the tips of her fingers. As she gasped for air, she wanted nothing more than to curl into a ball and plead the gods for mercy, but she quickly found that she couldn't move. Everything looked like it was passing in short, choppy clips as if she was blinking constantly and forgetting every other moment that passed.

Suddenly, faces loomed over her and muffled voices echoed around her pounding skull. Mairi's flickering face slowly came into focus and warmth enclosed her hand. It took a moment for Kara to understand what she was saying until she felt Mairi's hand press to her cheek.

"Kara, please," Mairi pleaded. "Just breathe. You'll be alright."

Someone jerked Kara's head upright and tucked something underneath it; daggers shout around her skull and landed in the back of her eyes. She wasn't sure if she screamed or not, but a tear slipped from Mairi's eye and she hushed Kara once more. Her soothing sounded more like pleading. Kara couldn't collect the words to ask what was happening, if she would really be okay, how she was supposed to help Ravus if she died right then.

Wyn appeared over her and forced a smile, ushering Mairi away. "Aren't lancers supposed to land on their feet like cats?" he teased, brushing Kara's messy hair out of her face. "Don't worry about it, Kara. The field healers are gonna patch you up." A failed attempt at speaking wheezed out of Kara's throat and Wyn shook his head. "Hey, it's okay. Just close your eyes and relax. You're in good hands."

And so she did, letting the numbness sink back in and slipping just below the surface of consciousness with a prayer that she would one day wake up to excuse her weakness.

SORRY ARANEA FANS, I HAVE A STUBBORN HEADCANNON THAT OUR FAVORITE FFXV DRAGOON WAS VERY DIFFICULT TO BE AROUND UNTIL SHE GREW UP A LITTLE PRE-GAME ;)