The walk out of Steyliff Grove seemed timeless. Eternal, yet fleeting. Endless, yet finished before Ignis realized he was nearing the exit.

He was in a haze – a haze that felt as though it were a constant weight upon every part of his body.

Never before had Ignis felt such pure despair. Such utter hopelessness.

"Please… take care of my son."

He couldn't… He couldn't fulfill his promise. His oath…

Noct would return… and he would die.

Ignis books struck the mucky water of the Vesperpool as he descended the stairs leading out of the dungeon.

…Where was he to go?

All this time, his search for Noct was what had driven the direction of his travels.

What was his purpose now?

He couldn't return to the city still. Was he just meant to wander aimlessly, hoping that he'd run into further survivors to escort? It was a possibility, but…

How long was he meant to carry on like this? The solitude had been stifling before, but now… with no true goal… no light at the end of the tunnel…

Ignis staggered uphill, reaching out to brace himself on a tree. A dead tree. Because of course it was. All that remained in this world were shells of what had been before.

Lost. He was lost even though he knew exactly where he was.

Alone in the dark...

…Or perhaps not so alone.

Ignis cocked his head, listening.

The sounds of daemons romping about and causing ruckus were all but abstract background noise to Ignis at this point, but there was something else in the distance.

Human yelling. And fighting.

Ignis reaction wasn't as quick as it should have been. Lives were on the line. He needed to be at the source of that noise post haste, but he just felt so bloody tired.

He tried to swallow his feelings as he headed back into the shallow waters around this part of the Vesperpool, yanking at his goggles to secure them before he reached the fight.

Malboros, Ignis pinpointed from the sound.

Bloody wonderful. He hated those retched things. They were a pain in arse with his magic, let alone with his Ardyn-imposed limitations.

The marsh water in Ignis' path sloshed noisily, drowning out many of the finer sounds of the battle. It wasn't until he drew near enough to see the conflict that he realized who was fighting.

Those were not unfortunate citizens struggling to survive in the wild – they were Hunters and Glaive.

Ignis paused his advance.

Dare he risk it? They might have a greater chance of recognizing him.

…Malboros were not beasts to be taken lightly. One false move and it wouldn't matter if those men were experienced fighters or not – they would be writhing on the ground in agony and disorientation. Or drowning given that they'd be falling in the swamp water.

Ignis hissed under his breath in frustration. Perhaps he couldn't save Noct, but he'd be damned if he stood by while those with less set fates died due to his idleness.

He tore his lance out of its sheath, grip tight as he sprinted once more.

Aerial attack to the back – that was his best bet. He could land a solid hit, draw the beast's attention, and then get out of the way before he was slaughtered. With any luck, the hunters would be able to use the distraction to form up and unleash their own combined attack of a more devastating force.

And so he instigated his assault, using a tall nearby rock to add a bit more height to his jump. Malboro skin was thick and resilient – he was going to need every ounce of extra help he could get.

The blade of his lance struck true, driving a sizable cut down the beast's back. Ignis winced at the loud, horrible scream the malboro bellowed out as he dived and rolled, putting as much distance between himself and the monster as possible.

"It's the Guardian!" one of the hunters yelled.

The Guardian? Was that what they'd taken to calling him?

Some guardian he was. He couldn't even save the one person he'd been born to protect.

"Nice to have you with us!" Another hunter tossed him a grin as he circled around to join their main group.

"Stay focused," Ignis said, brushing aside their praise. He didn't want admiration. He was going to assist here and be gone before the waters had settled. "Don't face it head-on!"

"Copy that, survivor expert!" The hunter took off, away from the mouth.

Ignis flipped his lance around, taking measured steps as he circled. He had to be precise. Malboros were tremendously hard to find openings on even when they were outnumbered.

So many bloody eyes… He could best help by keeping as many of those on him. He was quick, but he had to be ready to move in less than an instant.

Ignis kept his gaze locked, not even allowing himself to blink as the writhing tentacles thrashed about.

One of the hunters was near Ignis again, taking position on his left side.

Annoying. Had he not just heard him?

"I said don't–"

"Don't worry, I know how to deal–"

…No.

Ignis' heart skipped a beat as his mind caught up with eyes and ears.

That voice… That was the giveaway. Were it not for the voice, Ignis might have taken longer to realize who was standing next to him. Between the muck of mud and the changed hairstyle, Ignis had completely missed that one of the fighters was Gladio.

Damn. Damn it all!

After all his precautions, Ignis had slipped. And he was not going to be able to brush this mistake off.

"Ignis?" Gladio's eyes were wide with shock, all of his attention on Ignis instead of the fight at hand.

Not good. Getting distracted like that in a fight with a malboro could be a deadly mistake–

"Gladio, watch out!" Ignis dived for his friend, tackling him out of the way of the rancid oncoming cloud of gas.

He didn't have time to realize the full impact of that action has the world warped around him.


Impossible. Impossible.

How could Ignis be here? How could he be alive? It had been almost two years…

But it was him. There was no denying that, even with his drastically different appearance. Gladio probably would have been fooled at a distance, but not this close.

Never before in his life had Gladio been so thrown off during a fight. Getting distracted in battle was a costly mistake, and usually the people that made it weren't around to make it again. He was lucky Ignis had still been paying attention.

As shocked as he still was, Gladio didn't have time to brace himself when Ignis tackled him out of the way of the malboro's oncoming hell cloud.

The air in Gladio's chest left in a sharp whoosh as he hit the shallow water with Ignis on top of him.

Shit. That had been close.

Gladio pushed himself up enough so his head was above the mucky water.

What the hell?

He probably would have been feeling more grateful were his mind not still reeling with just the concept of Ignis being alive–

…Oh shit.

"Ignis?" Gladio questioned as Ignis made a strangled noise of pain above him.

Oh, shit shit shit….

Ignis had taken the impact of the marlboro's hell cloud.

"Iggy!" Gladio rolled them both over, getting his feet back beneath him and snagging the front of Ignis' jacket so he could drag him away from the battle.

"Cover!" He bellowed to the rest of his group as he tried to distance himself and Ignis from the fighting.

But Ignis was making moving him difficult. He'd taken the full bast of that cloud, and effects were already strong. He was twisting and twitching in disorientation and pain beneath Gladio's grip.

Antidote. They needed an antidote, but Gladio knew his whole team was out – they'd used up their last one on the other malboro they'd killed today.

This was bad.

"Stay with me, Iggy!" Gladio demanded, yanking hard and trying to pick up his pace.

He was not going to lose Ignis again after only just finding him alive.

…Six what the hell had he been doing out here for almost two years? Why hadn't he come back to the city if he'd survived that fall? What had he been thinking?

Gladio shook his head. Those were questions that he wasn't going to get answers to right now. Right now he needed to focus on getting Ignis and everyone else out of here alive.

Ignis lurched, crying out with his teeth gritted. His skin was far too pale and he was full-on shivering now. He was definitely poisoned.

Damn malboros.

Gladio needed to get Ignis back to Lestallum yesterday.

"You hang on, Ignis!" Gladio growled, snagging Ignis' jacket with his second hand as well. "I need you alive so I can kick your ass when we get back!"