—
As his body screamed and twitched feebly, Ignis began to accept that he'd reached his end.
It was a terrifying thought.
He… still had so much to do. The Astrals themselves had told him. But Ardyn didn't care.
Six, he didn't want to go like this. Not with Ardyn's sick yellow glare boring into him with so much malice.
But that gaze softened suddenly as Ardyn looked away – looked at something else Ignis couldn't comprehend in his state.
Did it even matter?
Ignis felt his body giving in as his vision failed him fully.
And then suddenly the pressure was gone, leaving Ignis to drag in air past the abused passages of his airway.
It hurt. Six, it hurt. Tears leaked down his face as he hacked – each cough like a sharp punch to his innards.
It took him several moments to regain true awareness past the throbbing of his head.
What…
Ardyn had… stopped?
But he wasn't gone. He was still leaning over Ignis on the bed, just no longer with his hands around his throat.
Ignis wished he could get further away. He'd never felt so trapped in his life. But he couldn't move still. He was no longer under Ardyn's control, but all he could to was slump against his thin hospital pillow.
What was Ardyn doing?
Sitting there. He was just… sitting there. Staring at… at Lunafreya's still-suspended form. And he looked… regretful.
He tore away from the bed, the motion abrupt enough that it sent another spike of fear to Ignis' core before he realized that Ardyn was leaving him alone.
Ignis continued to wheeze as he stared at Ardyn's back.
The Accursed man clenched his fists, bowing his head for a moment.
"You are fortunate she cares for you so greatly," Ardyn growled before he stalked out the door, yanking it open and slamming it shut behind him.
He didn't even use his magic.
Ignis curled in on himself, letting his hand hover just above the skin of his throat.
Important to…
Oh… Lunafreya.
She must have been what made Ardyn stop.
Their connection to each other had strengthened while he was gone, he knew that much. But enough to stop Ardyn from another murder?
On one hand, he was grateful. On the other, the idea of Lunafreya being close to that monster made him feel more ill than he already was, and that was truly saying something at the moment.
Time would restart any moment now, and Ignis could not physically answer any questions Lunafreya would no doubt have when she got a look at him.
He fumbled with a shaky hand for a moment before managing to grab the flimsy hospital sheet so he could drag it up to his chin.
Later. He could tell her later.
Everything could wait until later.
He was done for now, but at least he was alive, which was more than he'd been expecting only moments ago.
Alive was always a good start.
And… he was home.
"Ugh!" Prompto exclaimed right in Gladio's ear, flopping his arms dramatically. "Screw this. I don't care what Ravus says – I'm telling Evan when he gets here!"
"Seems fair since he's keeping his ass hidden," Aranea groused.
Gladio was inclined to agree. There was no way that asshole wasn't dodging them. They'd checked everywhere.
"Don't see why not." Gladio stopped walking. No point in wandering aimlessly if Ravus wasn't going to show himself. "Pretty sure the whole thing about not telling people was because of Ardyn anyway."
Prompto groaned loudly. "Man, I hope he doesn't flip out again."
Yeah, that was a concern, all right. Ardyn's murderous intentions were sporadic at the best of times.
"…Maybe we should have guards by Ignis," Gladio muttered.
Aranea and Prompto both hit him with looks that told him exactly how stupid they thought that was.
"The hell for? Not like they can do anything against Ardyn other than die." Aranea pointed out.
"Dude, Lady Luna is, like, the only guard Ignis is gonna need. If she can't stop Ardyn, nothing will," Prompto added.
"…Has anyone seen her in a while, by the way?" Gladio asked with a frown. Cor was milling about with his duties and Ravus was actively avoiding them, but Gladio hadn't seen any sign of the Oracle since they split earlier.
Aranea shrugged. "Nope."
Prompto shook his head.
They all fell silent for a moment, and then Prompto pulled out his phone. "Evan and the others will be here soon. I could talk to them and help run the supplies that the hospital needs?"
Gladio nodded. That sounded good. With one possible complication. "You figured out how you're gonna break this all to Evan yet?"
"Whadaya mean?" Prompto tilted his head.
"I mean you aren't known for tact and this is a delicate situation."
"Hey."
"Say it ain't so."
"…You suck."
"That's what I thought."
Honestly, Gladio still had no idea how on Eos Prompto managed to be so silent and deadly on the battlefield when he needed to be, because he had the subtlety of a chocobo in a glass shop otherwise.
Gladio paused to lick his lips. Aranea was being pretty much her usual self, but he had to wonder how much of it was a front. She was good at that. But not good enough. He knew her too well at this point. And hell, he didn't even have to know her that well to figure that much out – the facts were simple enough and spoke for themselves.
She had lost the man she loved, struggled to get past it, and then been slapped in the face with the fact he'd been alive and fine the whole time and lying to her, and now he really was injured and she couldn't even speak to him about any of it. She was tough but literally nobody would be okay with this situation.
And Evan… Six, Evan was growing, but he didn't even have half of Aranea's mental fortitude. Telling him was something that needed to be handled by someone with a more delicate hand than Prompto, and Aranea was the closest thing Evan had to a mother. But… her doing it seemed like it would be a load of stress she certainly didn't need.
"Amicitia, chill out on that major thinking of yours – I can see the steam," Aranea said flatly.
"Nah, doesn't have to be major. Steam always pours out of his ears when he thinks." Prompto grinned.
"Ha ha," Gladio deadpanned. He would have bantered back, but he was thinking too hard. "Look… I think you guys should go see Evan together. You're the closest ones to him."
They could balance each other out and share the burden, and Evan would have them both to lean on when his world was turned on its head.
Aranea and Prompto shared a look, and then a nod.
"I'm down," Prompto said. "Just don't murder Ravus without us if you find him."
Gladio snorted. "No promises."
"Do you really plan on sitting back here all night?" Sikozu asked as she paused by the chair she'd supplied Ravus with so he could sit down in the back room of the bar. She'd been coming and going for… Ravus honestly didn't know how long. A while. He hadn't been keeping track of time, but hopefully the bar would be closed soon. He really needed to voice his thoughts to someone that wasn't ready to hit him.
"Just until the lot of them have let their anger simmer down to a reasonable level."
His face still hurt. In fact, he was fairly certain he had a visible bruise right now. He was going to have to avoid the ever-obnoxious press even more carefully now. They didn't need some article about the city leaders fist fighting each other for power over the city or something else equally ludicrous.
Sikozu very slowly raised an eyebrow. "Have you met Amicitia and Highwind? If anything, I'd say their grudges grow with time."
…She wasn't wrong.
Ravus sighed. "Perhaps. But once Scientia is feeling better, I expect they will calm, even if it is only by a small amount."
Sikozu hummed. She glanced at the bar she was supposed to be tending before shifting her weight in a way the Ravus knew she was going to linger a moment more.
"What about you?"
Ravus tilted his head. "What of me?"
"How are you doing with all this? You've been so worried about the others reacting, but you haven't said a word about how you feel personally."
He hadn't, had he?
Ravus shrugged faintly. "I already knew Scientia was alive. It's good to have him back in the city, of course, but the whole matter hardly has the same impact on me as the others."
"You sure about that?" she pressed. "It may not have the same impact, but I wouldn't say it's less of one. I can feel your stress levels rising just being in the same room."
Of course they were. He didn't know what Ardyn was going to do now. He didn't know what Scientia was going to do now. He didn't know how and if his fellow leaders and friends were going to act in regards to him and each other.
"Ravus…" Sikozu drew closer to him, running one hand across his jawline. "You've always wanted to lead, but all I see is your weariness at it. What's wrong?"
Ravus sighed, allowing his eyes to slip shut for a moment. "I always imagined I'd lead with a firm hand over good people and face normal threats. I cannot fight Ardyn. I cannot fight the darkness itself. I wanted to lead my people, not watch them struggle for every scrap of food and cloth while we all wait for rescue or for the darkness to take us. I do not like unbeatable threats…"
The old world… The seemingly endless war. It all seemed so… good in hindsight.
He wished more than anything the children of all the old nations could grow up in those times instead of these.
—
