It was too much to ask that she sleep through a single night. He kept thinking about the future in terms of 'when this was over,' but it wouldn't be so simple. If they were able to destroy Bahamut and render Lucis safe from his machinations, it would still not be over. The war that ended for the rest of them would rage on within her. Perhaps it never would be over. They could be present and aware for her all they liked, but in the end only so much help could be given. And that wasn't the point anyway. They weren't trying to fix her. If she made it through this to some mythical other side then they would be with her every step. If she didn't, they would still be with her. Whoever she was now, she was still Reina.
Regis rose in the building light of dawn and dressed quickly. He would find her nearby, likely as not. She didn't usually wander far when the sleeplessness took hold. But it wasn't unprecedented for her to disappear entirely without warning and for several days on end.
She was not in any of her usual haunts; neither the balcony outside his rooms nor his private lounge nor the library. She was, in fact, in the main lounge, curled up in the corner of the sectional sofa and leaning up against Cor, who was stretched out with his boots up on the sofa and his hands folded over his stomach. Still her vigilant protector, even in sleep.
Regis smiled and shook his head. They were too much alike, the pair of them; he couldn't decide if it was a blessing or a curse that they had both finally realized that. If Reina had inherited Regis' stubbornness and Cor's rivaled that, here was a team that would argue like two boulders.
He let them sleep. It wouldn't last, but whatever they managed was needed. He ordered breakfast be sent up and ready for when they woke. And he waited. The elevator whirred; a few moments later, the doors opened on Noctis looking very much out of place at this time of day.
"Hey, Dad—"
Regis held a finger to his lips and nodded toward the sofa. He rose and motioned Noctis toward the library door. The walls were made predominantly of glass; they could keep an eye on the lounge and still converse without disturbing Reina and Cor. When the door was shut behind them, Noctis spoke again.
"Guess she didn't sleep through the night."
"Arguably, she did. Although not all in one place," Regis said.
Noctis made a face. "So are we just waiting for them to wake up?"
"And for breakfast to arrive."
"Now that I can get behind." Noctis dropped into one of the armchairs behind the chess table. "Play me a game while we wait."
"You would challenge me to chess?"
"Yeah. So what? Worried, old man?"
"Merely surprised that you would be so eager to meet your defeat, my son." Regis pulled out the other chair and sat down opposite Noctis. "I believe the first move is yours."
Fifteen minutes later, Regis had only beaten him twice. Out of two games.
"How are you so good at this? You don't even play games! You haven't played a game in twenty years!"
"My dear boy, chess is a game of strategy. What, precisely, did you think I do all day?"
"I dunno. Sit on your throne and look kingly."
"That comes naturally and requires no extra effort on my part," Regis said.
"And also run away from your councillors," Noctis said.
"Highly undignified. No, the trick is to convince them to run from you."
"Ri-ight," Noct said. His eyes flicked toward the door over Regis' shoulder. "Uh oh. Hi Rei."
Regis turned. She stood in the open door, leaning against the doorjamb as if she had been standing there for quite some time. She was smiling, but the expression was more reminiscent of tears than of laughter.
"Good morning, my dear," Regis said.
"Good morning, Father."
"I have been educating your brother on the finer points of strategy."
"I can see that."
"He's cheating." Noctis stood up and flicked Regis' king over. "I'm starving. Is breakfast here yet?"
"Yes." Reina glanced over her shoulder. "It arrived five minutes ago, but I didn't want to interrupt your education."
"I'd like to see you play Dad." Noct grumbled on his way out of the library. "See if you're still so smug about it."
"We used to, I think," Reina said. Her eyes drifted toward Regis, a hint of uncertainty showing through. "Didn't we?"
"We did." Regis smiled gently, placing his hands on her shoulders and steering her back out into the lounge. "And I believe you did beat me once or twice."
"You're all cheaters," Noctis said. "Cor, you ever play chess?"
"I try not to," said Cor.
"Great. Me too."
They sat, Reina keping as near to Regis' side as was possible. In that respect, at least, she had changed very little. He was only thankful that, in all she had grown and with all she had learned, she was still willing to overlook enough of his flaws to continue loving him.
"There is a pressing matter that I require a solution for," Reina said. And while the rest of them began on their breakfasts, Reina elaborated on that point.
That Bahamut had been blocking her from Dreaming for the past week was worrisome enough. That he had, last night, pulled her into a vision of his own making was worse. And the revelations therein were simply unconscionable.
"He's gonna kill everyone just to destroy the Starscourge?" Noctis sat with a piece of buttered toast halfway to his mouth.
"He cares very little for human life. It makes no difference to him if the cost of eliminating the Starscourge is the entire human race," Reina said.
"And you have no notion when he might act?" Regis asked.
"No. I could try to Dream it, but so far he's managed to keep me out of the future. I expect we'll have some warning—perhaps a few hours—before all of humankind is destroyed, but it would be best if we have a plan in place before then."
Silence fell among the assembled few. The empire had been the only nation to display any form of air travel, and what little remained of their fleet was grounded across the sea. Not only that, but it was unlikely they could find anyone to fly such a vehicle even if they had one.
"When does the water calm enough to go across by boat?" Noctis asked.
"Near the equinoxes," Regis said. "Though in practice it is nearly impossible to predict the precise day or days when the sea near Angelgard will be traversable."
"So a couple months, and then it's guesswork," Noctis said. "Yeah, that's probably a worse plan than just going to Niflheim."
"There is one potential alternative," Regis said. "I have no notion if it is a viable alternative, but that might be sorted definitively with a phone call."
He had their full attention. This was not, strictly speaking, public information. Perhaps once it would have developed to that point but with various personal dramas rising in between, it had fallen by the wayside, forgotten.
"When I was much younger there was talk of developing a Lucian airship," Regis began. "Work on a prototype began while I was still a prince, but before we had a working model, I fear I rather drove our mechanic away. He left Insomnia and hasn't returned, though we have since settled our differences."
"Cid," Reina said.
They had crossed paths with him already—in fact, it seemed he had helped Reina's retinue reach Niflheim in pursuit of her. This wasn't a story he had told them before, but it wouldn't have surprised him to learn she had heard it anyway.
"Yes indeed, my dear," Regis said. "I have no notion what became of this prototype airship. But if it still exists there is a sliver of a chance that it could take us across to Angelgard."
"Us?" Noctis said.
"I would not presume to speak for you, my son, but I intend to stand beside Reina and face our would-be executioner," Regis said.
Reina stiffened beside him. "Father, no."
He glanced at her and whatever arguments she had died on her lips. She knew she was out of line—not simply to attempt to dictate what Regis could do himself, but in presuming to choose who did and did not stand beside her in the end. She needed someone. In all likelihood, she would need all of them before this was through, but regardless of their numbers, she knew she could not succeed on her own.
Regis looked back around their small group. "I will place a call to Cid. If the prototype airship survived in any form, we shall soon know."